Victron VenusOS driver for serial connected BMS - JBD / Daly / ANT / JKBMS / Heltec / Renogy / Tian / ECS

[sergea]

The rs485 port on a jkbms is a 5v level ttl serial interface. If you don't have the jkbms rs485 dongle you need a usb serial ttl interface with 5v level support.

 

[iRomeo]

The rs485 port on a jkbms is a 5v level ttl serial interface. If you don't have the jkbms rs485 dongle you need a usb serial ttl interface with 5v level support.

nope, that was one of the issues. same adapter started working after I switched to 3.3v

 

[sergea]

That's really weird ,-) I asked confirmation to the vendor since Iam working on a jk to pylon converter, I wanted to be sure it works with most 8s and 16s jk bms. Are you using the gps port or rs485 port ? With my test bms Iam using 5v ttl, since my host controller is not 5v tolerant.

 

[iRomeo]

That's really weird ,-) I asked confirmation to the vendor since Iam working on a jk to pylon converter, I wanted to be sure it works with most 8s and 16s jk bms. Are you using the gps port or rs485 port ? With my test bms Iam using 5v ttl, since my host controller is not 5v tolerant.

I might not be all 3.3v… just some (or rather another) weird accident.

Ordered 2 more adapters that support both 3.3 and 5 to test out my theory. Those work on both 5v and 3.3v. The initial one (that worked) works on 3.3v. Weird stuff made in chaina and let’s leave it like that ?

Below photos on the 2 more models tester working. Hope it helps some other folks.

I’ll keep the wh-957 as it has some plastic wrap and return the others.
They were all between 2-5€/$

LE: using the GPS port.

 

[_laurens]

I'm not sure, If you want to use this with a multiplus ii system, will you need the multiplus ii GX version or will a normal version suffice?

 

[Louisvdw]

will you need the multiplus ii GX version or will a normal version suffice

You need a GX device. This can either be a Multi II GX or another Multi/Phoenix and a seperate GX device like a CerboGX or VenusGX. Or you can install VenusOS on a Raspberry Pi. If you have more items than an inverter in your setup you should already have a GX that control these components.

 

[_laurens]

You need a GX device. This can either be a Multi II GX or another Multi/Phoenix and a seperate GX device like a CerboGX or VenusGX. Or you can install VenusOS on a Raspberry Pi. If you have more items than an inverter in your setup you should already have a GX that control these components.

Thanks, that will be painful for the wallet, haha. Was hoping when having a RPI you can connect the normal version.

 

[Noordsolar]

For Louis - when can we expect the next official release of the dbus driver ? the excitement is building up

 

[LS Ulas Minde]

@Louisvdw can you add connectivity information or (a link) to the first post of this thread? (ie, how to get things into a gx device) it would be great to be easy to find this, as I see others struggling to find it.

 

[Noordsolar]

@Louisvdw can you add connectivity information or (a link) to the first post of this thread? (ie, how to get things into a gx device) it would be great to be easy to find this, as I see others struggling to find it.

GitHub - Louisvdw/dbus-serialbattery: Battery Monitor driver for serial battery in VenusOS GX systems

Battery Monitor driver for serial battery in VenusOS GX systems - Louisvdw/dbus-serialbattery

github.com

 

[LS Ulas Minde]

GitHub - Louisvdw/dbus-serialbattery: Battery Monitor driver for serial battery in VenusOS GX systems

Battery Monitor driver for serial battery in VenusOS GX systems - Louisvdw/dbus-serialbattery

github.com

not what I'm talking about, so I realize I didn't type it correctly: can you post an overview of what is specifically needed to CABLE the various BMSes to the GX unit. as in, which rs485 converter is necessary for connecting a jk, etc. there are some nice diagrams too from users.

just so that someone new to the subject doesn't have to dig through other subjects to figure out what they need to get things going.

 

[Noordsolar]

This is all you need

 

[Louisvdw]

which rs485 converter is necessary, etc.

I'm planning to add that to the wiki for each BMS.

 

[LS Ulas Minde]

I'm planning to add that to the wiki for each BMS.

that’s what i was wondering. thanks. (not so much for me but for others. anything getting buried in a thread is only just that. hard to find.

 

[Justice12t]

I just wanted to report that EG4 Lifepower4 monitoring is working great for me. Thanks for all of the hard work!

Now I'm trying to get another USB/RS485 cable for my other battery. I left a message for signature solar on Friday (they sent me one USB cable for two batteries) but, it's probably justified for that to be a low priority request.

It seems pretty normal to need a second USB cable--nothing said I was using both batteries on the same inverter/install site when we ordered two.

I just bought the EG4 LP4 12v/400ah. What cable did you use to connect the battery to the GX device? I've read through a lot but that's one of the things I haven't been sure about yet. Any info you can share would be great. Thanks!

 

[Lilikoi_Heavy_Industries]

I just bought the EG4 LP4 12v/400ah. What cable did you use to connect the battery to the GX device? I've read through a lot but that's one of the things I haven't been sure about yet. Any info you can share would be great. Thanks!

I'm using the signature solar cables. One of them came with my batteries, one of them I paid $5 for.

I think the GX device runs out of USB ports sooner than the RPi, you may need to an a usb hub.

 

[On_The_Road]

Is there any chance the driver can cause issues viewing the Cerbo remotely on VRM?

I installed the driver and got my two Overkill BMSs talking to my Cerbo. But right after I got it working I couldn't view the VRM. It's not updating. When I try to access VRM via Victron Connect it says it's online but stalls at 40 percent.

I fixed it by shutting down the Cerbo and pulling the fuse. But now it's doing it again 18 hours later.

 

[rcr1978]

Ok I'm confused on all the talk for different adapters/converters to make this work. There has been numerous links to some and most of them are broke or amazon links for different countries ect.. To much back and forth between different BMS's to keep straight. I bought two JBD SP04S034 200amp BMS's with the RS485 option, also bought two of the RS485 adapters I thought would be needed to plug them into my Cerbo GX. They may work who knows haven't got that far yet, I do know the adapters do not work with my computer so I think they likely wont work with the Cerbo GX either. I thought I could use them to setup the BMS also but that didn't work out, the driver that was provided for them will not install on the computer. I asked the place I bought it from (Aliexpress JIABAIDA Official Store) to provide another and the one they sent also doesn't work, tried on two computers with no luck. Can someone take a look at these pics and let me know what you think or maybe if you have the same ones how you got them to at least work on the computer. The RS485 port on my BMS only has two pins A&B so if the adapter below is useless does someone have a link to one that will work with the JBD BMS and CerboGX?

 

[On_The_Road]

I am using Overkill BMSs which I think are JBD? These adapters are working with my Cerbo.

USB Module for BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

As to the issue I posted above...I think it is a wifi signal strength issue.

 

[rcr1978]

That one plugs into the Bluetooth/Uart port though doesn't it? I want to be able to use both the blue tooth and RS485 port if possible, been tempted just to order that one anyways since it's known to work.