This page is in the very early stages and there are probably some errors, however I have had some interest in what I am doing and I thought this was the easiest way to explain what I am doing
After searching the internet and asking many questions regarding the installation of lithium batteries, I decided I wanted a BMS that I could fine tune the settings for the charge and discharge limits of the batteries. The Electrodacus SBMS0 BMS filled my needs perfectly, it has lots of preset profiles and also the ability to personalise the settings myself.
So much data on one display screen, 13.817v battery voltage, underneath is the cell delta which is the difference between the highest (cell 2) and lowest cell voltage (cell 1), which is 0.011v. In a 4 cell battery, the cells are numbered 1,2,7,8.
The 13.817 voltage on the screen above was achieved with my Projecta 20a 7stage smart charger (my workshop battery charger) set to 13.8v power supply. I also achieved the same voltage when installed in the 5th wheeler with a Projecta 35a 7 stage smart charger. This is a conservative voltage, which I will be using, while the same charger, charges the battery to 14.1v on the Gel setting. Some people charge to 14.4v, which is only 1% more than charging to 13.8v and in my opinion is asking for problems. With a 400ah battery, the difference will be negligible with my conservative settings.
I am using a Victron 150/60 solar regulator which has a lithium profile, however I did lower charging voltage to 13.8v. I am also using a Victron Orion 30a DC-DC charger which also has a lithium profile, also lowered to 13.8v.
There is a large learning curve with this bms, the basics can be achieved easily, with the finer points learnt as I go. One setting I would like to learn quickly is preventing charging below 0°C. Lithium batteries don’t like to be charged below freezing temperatures, the SBMS0 has a feature to turn off charging below 0°C. If I really get technical I can add a feature to heat the batteries (this is a long way down the track).
A WiFiUSB card can also added, either at time of purchase or added later, that can be used to view data on a smartphone or computer. I chose this option, found it a little daunting to install, however it is handy to monitor readings from the comfort of my van.
Youtube explanation 1 At the 9min 55sec mark this video shows how to set the low voltage disconnect. I have a Victron Battery Protect 220a that I hooked up for this process across the remote disconnect, replacing the short loop of wire
b
The remote feature on Victron Smart appliances is a fantastic feature to remotely disconnect charging and loads on various products
At this stage by hooking up the monitoring of the cells and having the ability to turn charging and discharging on/off seperately is still better than some basic BMS’s like Daly, the SBMS0 has lots more to offer. Stopping charging in freezing conditions, the ability to heat the batteries when cold and turn off the inverter seperately are some that I plan to investigate in the future
Just for Terry, the 2 links below are the optocoupler and relay I am thinking of using
The SBMS0 uses 2 shunts instead of one in most monitoring systems. This has some advantages and I have seperated charging from discharging circuits and can easily turn off any loads, while still being able to charge the batteries if I flatten the batteries to unsafe levels. Some basic BMS’s do not have this abilty.
I am slowly fine tuning my system and this will be an ongoing learning exercise probably over several years. I also have the ability to remove most of my system if I ever sell and want to take it with me
I have added the user manual below, lots of technical information, however step 1 to step 6 are the basic steps to getting the system up and running. They mention Cat5 and 6 wires, there are multi strand and single strand versions of this wire. The single strand wire is the recommended wire to use. I used some cable that Telstra technicians use.
Latest version added as well below
Chris and Dianne's Ultima adventure 