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Lithium update

battery solar charging

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#21 PaulT

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Posted 16 June 2016 - 06:08 PM

How do Prius, et. al. handle battery charging in the cold?  I have seen a number of them running around in below zero temperatures.

 

jim

It has been by using NiMH batteries rather than Lithium. Newer battery chemistry will include Lithium. 

This site has interesting information on charging various battery chemistries although I don't know their particular dog in the fight.

 

Paul


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#22 photohc

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Posted 17 June 2016 - 06:04 PM

Thanks for the info on this new solar controller combo unit.

 

Can you explain the photo of your whole system? What components does one need for a complete system? What are the turning knobs on the wall?  Is there a "Shunt" ?

Thats a involved question. Basically, the first switch on the left is just connect/disconnect the solar panels to the controller. There are two inputs to the controller. The first input is dedicated to the solar panels. I'm using the second input for either the truck generator or the IOTA for shore power charging. I select that with the second switch. (Only one can be connected at anytime or completely disconnected) Most of the time, I don't need to connect shore power or truck generator, as the system will usually get back to 100% by Noon.

A "Shunt" is not required as the system is able to monitor the amps in/out without one. To install this system, you need the SBMS controller, switches to connect/disconnect the panels, LiFePo battery and your existing IOTA for shore charging if needed, some basic electrical skills and your done.


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#23 enelson

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Posted 18 June 2016 - 02:19 PM

The Electrodacus SBMS100 has shunts on the input and load and then does power in = power out calculation for the third measurement (SBMS100 to battery).  The SBMS sits in the middle and monitors to disconnect either the load or the input (solar and truck) to maintain the batteries in the proper state for long life.  Also, the SBMS keeps the cells (4 3.3V prismatic batteries) at the same voltage using a voltage balance chip with another set of thin wires that need to be attached across each cell.  The wiring is a bit complicated but it straight forward once you get going.

 

Instead of wiring the output through the SBMS another configuration is to put a shunt on the load and use a SSR to an external output pin on the SBMS 20 pin connector.  This is for people who need to switch a large load current, like off grid house with large inverters.  http://electrodacus..../SBMSmanual.pdf is the user manual for the product.

 

The SBMS is a great unit but is still a hobbyist/enthusiasts toy.  it is still experimental and is not for everyone.  The project is all open source for anyone who wants to get really into the weeds. 


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#24 nebulight

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Posted 28 November 2017 - 06:23 PM

Hi,

 

I'm curious to know how you guys that have installed this SBMS have been working? I have 400ah of lifepo4 (16 total in 4s4p) cells but with an outdated and feature poor BMS (mini BMS v3). I have three charging sources:

 

300W of solar (looking to upgrade to 540W)

Alternator charging through a Blue Sea ACR

Shore power through my Magnum MS2012 inverter/charger

 

I've seriously been looking into this but I've hit a snag with my inverter/charger. Magnum makes an adapter cable to allow you to turn off the inverter from a switch (which is how the SBMS would like to turn off external loads through a shunt see page 13 http://electrodacus..../SBMSmanual.pdf), but they don't have the ability to remotely turn off the charger. For those that have this setup with an external shunt/charger, how are you addressing this? Do you have a separate charger like a progressive dynamics? If so, does it support a switch to shut it off? I don't see any that support and on/off switch. I had thought about installing a relay inline on the positive side to trigger a switch, but it seems like an overly simple fix to a problem that magnum (or another charger) should support.

 

Also those that wire up to your alternator, how has that worked out? Dacian suggest a DC to DC converter like a LTC3780 to get a constant current. However that only supports 10 amps, which seems low. However you could always install a few in parallel, but again that complicates the wiring. Curious to see what others have done.

 

Thanks!


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#25 Vic Harder

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Posted 29 November 2017 - 01:05 AM

A Cteck D250S with Smartpass gives you 120A max. 

 

https://smartercharg...-chargers/#CTEK Smartpass 120


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#26 photohc

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Posted 29 November 2017 - 08:23 AM

Hi,

 

I'm curious to know how you guys that have installed this SBMS have been working? I have 400ah of lifepo4 (16 total in 4s4p) cells but with an outdated and feature poor BMS (mini BMS v3). I have three charging sources:

 

300W of solar (looking to upgrade to 540W)

Alternator charging through a Blue Sea ACR

Shore power through my Magnum MS2012 inverter/charger

 

I've seriously been looking into this but I've hit a snag with my inverter/charger. Magnum makes an adapter cable to allow you to turn off the inverter from a switch (which is how the SBMS would like to turn off external loads through a shunt see page 13 http://electrodacus..../SBMSmanual.pdf), but they don't have the ability to remotely turn off the charger. For those that have this setup with an external shunt/charger, how are you addressing this? Do you have a separate charger like a progressive dynamics? If so, does it support a switch to shut it off? I don't see any that support and on/off switch. I had thought about installing a relay inline on the positive side to trigger a switch, but it seems like an overly simple fix to a problem that magnum (or another charger) should support.

 

Also those that wire up to your alternator, how has that worked out? Dacian suggest a DC to DC converter like a LTC3780 to get a constant current. However that only supports 10 amps, which seems low. However you could always install a few in parallel, but again that complicates the wiring. Curious to see what others have done.

 

Thanks!

I have had my SBMS 60 operational for over a year now. While I have it wired to charge via the alternator or IOTA, I've not used that very much while on the road due to the solar panels (310 watts) ability to recharge the batteries (100ah) quickly. I have used the IOTA a few times at home to run the system. Once the batteries reach 100%, it simply disconnects the IOTA. At that point, the IOTA is just idle until the SBMS reconnects it to add more current.

As for the alternator, I do have it hooked up via a DC-DC converter to provide a constant voltage/current feed (set at 14v/15a). I haven't used it much due to the same reasons of the panels being able to keep up during the day.


Edited by photohc, 29 November 2017 - 08:29 AM.

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#27 nebulight

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Posted 29 November 2017 - 01:36 PM

IOTA is the brand of your charger? I guess it wouldn't need an on/off switch since it's going into one of your PV inputs. Since my inverter/charger is wired directly to the battery (hooked up via an external shunt to the BMS), it would need to be controlled by the SBMS, but my problem is the magnum doesn't support external commands to turn off the charger. I may need to invest in a separate charger.

 

So how do you have your wiring hooked up? Do you have Solar going into PV1 and both your IOTA and Alternator going into PV2? I would assume that's okay since you wouldn't be using them both at the same time. Care to share which DC-DC converter you are using?


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#28 photohc

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Posted 29 November 2017 - 04:19 PM

IOTA is the brand of your charger? I guess it wouldn't need an on/off switch since it's going into one of your PV inputs. Since my inverter/charger is wired directly to the battery (hooked up via an external shunt to the BMS), it would need to be controlled by the SBMS, but my problem is the magnum doesn't support external commands to turn off the charger. I may need to invest in a separate charger.

 

So how do you have your wiring hooked up? Do you have Solar going into PV1 and both your IOTA and Alternator going into PV2? I would assume that's okay since you wouldn't be using them both at the same time. Care to share which DC-DC converter you are using?

The IOTA converter is the standard converter installed by FWC. This is the one: https://www.iotaengi...g.com/dls30.htm

On my previous post in this thread, I discuss a switch tied into the SBMS  input #2 that allows me to select either Alternator or IOTA. Go back a couple pages.

 

The DC-DC converter is one I found on Amazon, one of many available there. I would probably get this one if I was to do it again. http://a.co/9Chvvfo

The first one I got, I had to build a case for it.


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#29 nebulight

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Posted 29 November 2017 - 05:04 PM

Thanks for the info! The new SBMS40 looks nice, but only supports one input. The SBMS120 looks nice as well but a bit more expensive. I'll have to think about what I want to do.


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