RV10flyer
Solar Wizard
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Dan Keaton said they are. It just takes time when you're dealing with engineers halfway around the world.
Trophy Batteries
- Thread starter mvonw
- Start date
wipplewill1
New Member
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- Nov 7, 2021
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Yes, please share. I have two of these batteries.
I just hooked up my 6 Trophy 110ah batteries using victron 8 pole bus bars to my Sol Ark 12K. The Sol Ark immediately started charging on a small test solar array. Did some preliminary load tests and all batteries seemed to charging/discharging within 1% SOC of each other. This is just an initial test, but so far, everything is working perfectly. I don’t have any BMS communication configured (not sure that Trophy has that figured out for Sol Ark’s yet), but I view this a more of a nice to have, rather than must-have feature. I am setting up a dedicated low power PC to monitor them remotely. In addition to battery monitoring, the PC is also being set up to monitor climate and security on my off grid premise, so it’s really a lot more flexible than through the Sol Ark.
Did you have any issues getting the software to work? I've had a heck of a time with four batteries. Tried their software and also wrote my own using node red. Will not work consistently...
Not yet. That’s on the agenda for next week. Dan sent me an updated version of the software. I hope that works, I’m not super concerned if if doesn’t , it’s just a convenience feature. If I get really ambitious, I can write my own interface in C, but I’ve too many paying jobs to mess around with that for now.
The issue I have is that the BMS just sometimes stops responding to the query, or responds with garbage. I've tried various RS485 to USB converters, with ferrite chokes on and off and even watched what is going on with a protocol analyzer. My batteries charge and discharge at different rates even though they go to a common copper busbar with equal length 4 gauge cables so it's something I am concerned about.
If you get something working or want hints as to how the protocol works, hit me up. Happy to share what I know.
Thank-you so much for your offer!
I assume you got the most recent software (not the one on the provided disk)? I haven't delved into this yet, but I assume Dan can provide protocol/interface specifications for the BMS. It has to be an off-the-shelf BMS. I had one apart the other day, I forgot to look for markings on it.
It's the pylon protocol, the documentation is translated and difficult to say the least. I do have the most current software, which has a nice feature in that it provides a log of the traffic, however, even it's own logs show the same issues. Malformed packets and random garbage. Watching it on the packet analyzer, it looks like the batteries sometimes spit out other packets of data in the middle of "good" data. Or sometimes do not respond to a simple "what time do you have" query. As an aside, if you are into this stuff, node-red is awesome. Like you, I am a fluent C programmer, but you can get a lot done in a short amount of time. I have a bunch of different sensors running different protocols all feeding into one logic engine and logging it all to a single database.
T
Ouch. If you are able to capture the same data as the software log, that sort of confirms its a firmware issue that Trophy needs to address. I’m more concerned that the basic bms functioning works (over/under temp/volt) than comms, but i understand why it’s important to some. Trophy isn’t going to be successful unless figure this out…
You are spot on, I am not sure what BMS they are using, I did ask and Dan said it was the latest. During all this we went as far as sending video's back and forth with my setup and the engineers. It would work for a while, and then for no reason, start spitting out stuff. But like you, I am more worried about the basic BMS functions. My batteries are in a remote area that takes me 8 hours to get to so I need them to work. I have starlink internet, so I can monitor and get all the metrics remotely. I use EPEver charge controllers and battery monitors all being watched by Node-Red, which also watches the water pumps, water levels and cooling fans and assorted things that have to be monitored when I am so far away.
We are in the same boat. I am much closer to my place (3 hours), but I too have starlink and am going to monitoring my place and system remotely.. I have a Sol Ark 12k, and it would be great if I could just monitor the whole system through the sol ark platform. I'm up there enough that I can check on things reasonably frequently.
Have you heard any news from Dan? He has not responded to several emails.
Dan is busy travelling. He sent me a note today.
I ran into an issue where one of the four batteries is doing all the work. It cycles between 99 and 45% state of charge while the others sit at 98%, Once it hits the 45% state, the other batteries start helping.
They are all tied into a common bus bar with identical length #4 gauge cable.
I ran into an issue where one of the four batteries is doing all the work. It cycles between 99 and 45% state of charge while the others sit at 98%, Once it hits the 45% state, the other batteries start helping.
They are all tied into a common bus bar with identical length #4 gauge cable.
I have 6 tied together now, but with 2/0 to the bus bar and 4/0 to the inverter and really really stout busbars and they seem to be cycling nicely, but its really too early to tell. I just have some test loads and a small initial test array.
I wonder if the gauge cable is a factor?
I wonder if the gauge cable is a factor?
Koldsimer
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What are the voltages of each battery when this is happening?
How did you fit 4/0 terminations on the batteries? My trophy would only accept 2/0. I have no idea if it matters. This is all new to me and a bit of an experiment (albeit expensive). I would be interesting to measure the resistance on your batteries using one of those specialized resistance meters. Do you have the Trophy batts with the display? Those report the individual cell voltages.
Have you tried rewiring the batteries to see it the same battery is always is cycling?
Have you tried rewiring the batteries to see it the same battery is always is cycling?
It's all down at the ranch so I only have some of the data that I collect remotely. When I get down there I'll rewire and see if that helps. In the meantime, I have some data but not everything. They are all connected to a couple large copper bus bars, and the charge controller and the inverter connects to that as well.
The pink lines are the other batteries, the blue one is the "problematic one", I call it Pack #2. Top chart shows the voltages and they track pretty well. The capacity swings up and down wildly. I read these numbers directly from the RS485 port and it matches the readings from the software that Trophy provides. They charge up to 57.5 volts every day when the sun comes up. The voltages drop at night, once pack #2 hits 52.25 volts, the other batteries seem to "kick in" and we have a floor.
The pink lines are the other batteries, the blue one is the "problematic one", I call it Pack #2. Top chart shows the voltages and they track pretty well. The capacity swings up and down wildly. I read these numbers directly from the RS485 port and it matches the readings from the software that Trophy provides. They charge up to 57.5 volts every day when the sun comes up. The voltages drop at night, once pack #2 hits 52.25 volts, the other batteries seem to "kick in" and we have a floor.
RV10flyer
Solar Wizard
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My 220 Trophy never charges to 100% SOC at 55.5V Absorb and 53.6V float, like my other 9 batteries. The charging current is very limited by the Trophy BMS at 5-15A typical and I have a 68-74F power shed, so no excuse. My other 9 charge at up to 40A. It typically goes up to 80% SOC. If I just connect it by itself, I can only charge to 55.7V, it will then go to 98% SOC before one cell trips BMS due to OV. I have not heard back from Dan on cell pack replacement or communication issues since 4/15/22. I do not recommend these batteries until these issues are resolved.
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So far, I have not seen any issues like this, but I have 6 -110ah Trophies, all the same, but my set up is only few weeks old, so it's really not a good sample set to judge. All charge up to 100 pretty much evenly, there is maybe a 2-3% discrepancy between each battery as they charge/discharge, at least as reported by the BMS (which based on these other reports makes me a bit suspect). Fortunately, the BMS is really easy to swap out on these, if Dan finds they need to be replaced.
I did charge each one individually to 100% before I connected them in parallel.
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