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Which balancing settings are used in EG4 batteries?

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fmeili1

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Jan 19, 2022
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I wonder if we, EG4 users, can get some detailed information about the passive balancers which are included in all types of EG4 batteries BMS' (@EG4TechSolutionsTeam). It's really hard to find answers about this in neither the documentation nor in this forum. I think, it's important to have these information to use the batteries with the best charging profile to let them doing the cell balancing. I'm pretty sure a lot of users are also searching for these information.

It would be great to have answers to the following questions:
  • At which cell voltage (or the pack voltage?) will the passive balancing start?
  • Do all cells need to reach the balancing starting voltage or does it start if just the 1st cell hits the balance start voltage?
  • What is the stop balancing voltage?
  • At which minimum cell delta voltage the balancing will start at all?
  • After balancing started, will it be ongoing until the stop balancing voltage has been reached, even if the batteries are not longer charging?
  • How high is the passive balancing current?
  • Could the balancing start/stop voltage be changed in the battery settings?

In case the above answers will be different for different EG4 battery models, it would be great to know them for all types.
  • EG4 LifePower4 (old and new model)
  • EG4-LL (V1, V2, S - and 4 or 6 dip-switch versions)
  • EG4 Wallmount all weather
  • EG4 Wallmount indoor

I would really appreciate it to know these information. It also would help a lot if you would include these information in future versions of your batteries documentation.

Thanks in advance!

P.S.:
While searching this forum I only was able to find some spare hints about it, but even these are not consistent, here are some excerpts what I've found so far:
 
Last edited:
I've double checked the newest manuals for most of the EG4 batteries and found out at least the following information (in earlier versions of the manual these information was not included):
  • passive balancer (which was expected and out of question)
  • Cell balance protection: "This is always done automatically" (which was expected and out of question)
  • start balancing at >40mV cell delta
  • balancing current is 120mA
Looks like this is the same for all EG4 battery models.

So the remaining missing information are:
  • At which voltage does the balancing starts?
  • and does it start if only the first cell reaches this value or need all cells be over the start balancing voltage?
  • how long does the balancing last (balancing stop voltage)?
Specially the start balancing voltage is important to know. I set my battery absorption voltage to 55.2V (3.45V per cell) and floating to 53.6V (3.35V per cell). I'm pretty sure a lot of users using these "conservative" settings to put not too much stress to the battery and extend lifetime without wasting capacity - it charges only a bit slower. Many users follow Andy from OffGridGarage and use these preferred charger settings!

EG4 recommend an absorption voltage of 56.2V (3.513V per cell) and float voltage of 54V (3.375V per cell).

Now I wonder if the EG4 passive balancer will ever be activated if charging "only" to 55.2V or activated long enough to be able to balance out the cells? Maybe the EG4 recommended absorption voltage of 56.2V is because to make sure that the balancer will kick in?

So it's really important to know the voltage when the balancer starts it's work!
 
There is monitoring software that is available for download from the EG4 website that will provide information as to what the cell balance voltage is set to. For the EG4 LifePower4 V1 batteries the BMS_Test software shows on the "ParamSettings" tab that cell balancing starts when cells reach 3.45vdc and there is at least 20mv difference in voltage between cells.

The software tool is downloadable under each specific battery. For some of the batteries this software is also required for firmware updates.
 
marionw said:
There is monitoring software that is available for download from the EG4 website that will provide information as to what the cell balance voltage is set to. For the EG4 LifePower4 V1 batteries the BMS_Test software shows on the "ParamSettings" tab that cell balancing starts when cells reach 3.45vdc and there is at least 20mv difference in voltage between cells.

The software tool is downloadable under each specific battery. For some of the batteries this software is also required for firmware updates.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this information! Is it also possible for this battery model to change the settings, start voltage and diff voltage with this software?
 
See if this page gets you the software for your batteries. Since I have six LifePower4 V1 batteries the software for mine is different than yours so I have never used the software you need to download

EG4® LL-S 48V 100AH Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

The EG4 LL lithium battery 48v boasts a lifespan exceeding 15 years, over 7000 deep cycles, along with safety features and BMS monitoring.
eg4electronics.com eg4electronics.com

View these threads to build your own cable. verify the pinout on the correct RJ45 port of the battery with the batteries manual (or you can order a cable from whomever you purchased the batteries from).

M

Post in thread 'Help with Pace BMS Comms'

First, do you have the pinout of each RS485 port.
The EG4 Lifepower4 batteries for example use pins 1&2 as an RS485 bus as well as pins 7&8 as a second RS485 bus in the same RJ45 jack.
I purchased a RS485 to USB Converter:
RS485-USB-Converter

Using a spare cat5 cable, just cut of the RJ45 connector on one end, remove about 3 inches of the outer insulation then you can connect the correct pair of wires to the RS485 to USB Converter and plug the RJ45 connector on the other end to the correct port on the battery.
Look at the RJ45 connector on the cable (With my tired old eye I use a...
  • Like

M

Post in thread 'query on SRNE reset times.'

I use a spare ethernet patch cable, cut the RJ45 connector off one end, strip two to three inches of the outer insulation and select the pair of wires I need depending on which pins of the Inverter or BMS I need to use.

For a normal cable pins 1 & 2 are the orange/white and orange. Pins 7 & 8 are the brown/white and brown. I even at times use several of the wire pairs in the same cable.

Holding the RJ45 connector with the pins up and facing you (the latch/lock is facing away from you) pin 1 will be on the left and pin 8 on the right.

I use these as you can never tell which two pins in a...
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Passive balancing activates when a cell’s voltage reaches or exceeds 3.4 volts, and the voltage difference is at least 40 millivolts. A cell will only initiate balancing after meeting these voltage and difference criteria. If the cell voltage is below 3.4 volts or the voltage difference is 40 millivolts or less, balancing does not occur.
 
EG4TechSolutionsTeam said:
Passive balancing activates when a cell’s voltage reaches or exceeds 3.4 volts, and the voltage difference is at least 40 millivolts. A cell will only initiate balancing after meeting these voltage and difference criteria. If the cell voltage is below 3.4 volts or the voltage difference is 40 millivolts or less, balancing does not occur.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

OK, I assume this information is for all of your battery types and models (EG4 LifePower4 v1 and v2, EG4-LL V1, V2, S and 4 or 6 dip-switch versions, EG4 Wallmount all weather and EG4 Wallmount indoor).
Is this correct?

I assume that the wording "a cell's voltage reaches or exceeds" means that the blancing starts as soon as just one cell (the first cell) will hit 3.4V? (I'm asking, because there are BMSs out there which will only starting balancing if ALL of the cells will be over the trigger voltage - which would be bad.)
Is this correct?


Still 2 questions open:
Is the passive balance current 120mA for all of your EG4 battery types and models? (120mA is documented for your EG4-LL-S battery).

At which voltage will balancing stop after it's started at 3.4V after the charging ended and the voltage dropping again?
 
fmeili1 said:
that the wording "a cell's voltage reaches or exceeds" means that the blancing starts as soon as just one cell (the first cell) will hit 3.4V? (I'm asking, because there are BMSs out there which will only starting balancing if ALL of the cells will be over the trigger voltage - which would be bad.)
Is this correct?
Click to expand...
Not answering for EG4, but I’ve watched my LLv1s in BMS_Tools, and the little 4x4 array of green balancing indicators appear to start when one cell exceeds 3.4v. I will double check that.
 
EG4TechSolutionsTeam said:
Passive balancing activates when a cell’s voltage reaches or exceeds 3.4 volts, and the voltage difference is at least 40 millivolts. A cell will only initiate balancing after meeting these voltage and difference criteria. If the cell voltage is below 3.4 volts or the voltage difference is 40 millivolts or less, balancing does not occur.
Click to expand...
Any plan or consideration for implementation of active balancing similar to JKBMS or Neey method in the future?
Or EG4 believes that passive balancing of 120mA is sufficient for the task?
 
EG4TechSolutionsTeam said:
Passive balancing activates when a cell’s voltage reaches or exceeds 3.4 volts, and the voltage difference is at least 40 millivolts. A cell will only initiate balancing after meeting these voltage and difference criteria. If the cell voltage is below 3.4 volts or the voltage difference is 40 millivolts or less, balancing does not occur.
Click to expand...
Not to be <ahem> detail-oriented about this, but is "voltage difference" the delta between the highest and lowest cell, or the difference between _this_ cell and the average, or between _this_ cell and the lowest one?

Thanks!
 
For the EG4 LifePower4 V1, the default balance voltage is 3.45 and 20mv difference. Can be viewed (and modified) on the ParamSetting tab of the BMS_Test software
 
Last edited:
wpns said:
Not to be <ahem> detail-oriented about this, but is "voltage difference" the delta between the highest and lowest cell, or the difference between _this_ cell and the average, or between _this_ cell and the lowest one?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Again, not answering for EG4, but based on what I see in BMS_Tools for LLv1, the voltage difference is the (max cell - min cell).

But I would like confirmation from EG4 on all of these questions.
 
wpns said:
Not to be <ahem> detail-oriented about this, but is "voltage difference" the delta between the highest and lowest cell, or the difference between _this_ cell and the average, or between _this_ cell and the lowest one?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
In viewing the time-lapse movies of the balancing process, it _looks_ like if an individual cell is more than 40mv higher than the LOWEST cell, then balancing will happen. Still wouldn't mind confirmation @EG4TechSolutionsTeam
 
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