|
Post by vasko on Nov 9, 2020 10:10:15 GMT
Are you going to have one BMS or two BMS modules ? Vasco , as stated earlier i will us 2 BMS . One for each string. But if I connect the two string parallel without a BMS in between them ( to get direct connection to the bow thruster) then the two strings are not protected from each other no ? Regards Yes - you will have issues with bypassing the two BMS modules in the same time effectively you will connect in parallel the cells before the BMS modules - my suggestion will be to have more powerful BMS modules or connect oy one of the batteries before BMS to bow thruster or windlass.120 ah LiFePo4 should not have issues with 3C discharge - check the cell spec
|
|
|
Post by jy51 on Nov 9, 2020 10:57:40 GMT
Vasko,
I have bluetooth on my Epsilon Super B Lithium battery's BMS, and although I find it very useful to view the battery status from my iPad, I do have a number of on going problems.
This (second) season, on setting up the bluetooth, one of the batteries, although seen by the App would not connect, a message kept telling me that the battery might already be connected to another device.
Examining the battery, I noticed that the LED lights indicated that the battery was in sleep mode. This is very odd, as the only way a battery would return to sleep mode is if someone had pressed a button or used the bluetooth to initiate a sleep mode or if the voltage had dropped over the previous winter and to safeguard itself, the battery shut down, (this theory doesn't answer why all three didn't shut down) or, as I had never really given the batteries a second thought since the commissioning, it might have never come out of sleep mode from being installed on the boat,(this theory doesn't explain why when connected to a charger the batteries automatically come out of sleep mode) So I'm none the wiser and if not a fault generated by the BMS must concede that fat fingers is to blame when first setting up bluetooth.
It is interesting to note that I have their hard wired battery monitor, but it only seems to be daisy chained to two of the three batteries, the two which were functioning and was indicating 100% charge even though the third battery in the bank was sleeping and had a minimum voltage.
The sleeping battery would not restart by carrying out the procedure recommended in the owners manual. A marine electrician advised me to separate the sleeping battery from the rest of the bank and try again. This worked and the battery, not only started to charge but the bluetooth connection started working again. After restarted the sleeping battery I managed to balance the voltage and charge of all three.
However, my success was short lived. It didn't take long before another lost its bluetooth connect, even though it was visible on the App and then to make matters worse, the previously shut down battery gave up as well. Now I am left with bluetooth access to one battery.
I have tried everything possible to get the bluetooth to work, next season I will first try by deleting and reinstall the App, then I will separate all three batteries from the bank and try accessing each one separately, hopefully this might work. I also need to get some info from the manufacturer if the installation, connecting only two batteries to the monitor is correct. If you have any good ideas I am all ears!
|
|
garyt
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Jeanneau Model: J54
Home Port: NEW YORK HARBOR
Country: USA
|
Post by garyt on Nov 10, 2020 2:27:33 GMT
Join the club, I have been having the same issues with one battery not showing up on app. Also at beginning of season one battery would not charge kept giving me a red light on battery. From what I know each battery needs to be brought up to 100 percent charge before they are all connected to boat charger. I am still still having difficulty with batteries coming up to 100 percent charge. Question for anyone can you leave the boat charging system on all the time when away from the boat for a long period of time.
|
|
|
Post by vasko on Nov 10, 2020 3:58:32 GMT
From what I read - it sounds to me that you have either issue with faulty cells , cell connections or software bug - I also did had a connection stability in one of the cells (the spot welding was not good) and I have redone the spot welding after that I do not have any issue : You can see how my battery banks perform on the daily chart here - (I have a 4G camera and bunch of electronics that works 24/7 on the boat e,g consume power overnight and solar panels that charges the house bank during the day - the start battery is also lifepo4 but is charged only from engine: www.boat-vitals.com/display.html?link=11-101-ec2c284ef0-Celcius-dd_MMM_HH.mm-GPS5
|
|
|
Post by dslittle on Nov 16, 2020 9:07:22 GMT
Any advice gratefully received. Our boat is a 2012 Jeanneau 42DS currently in Arzal, France. I have all the wiring diagrams etc. and i have scanned all the threads regarding Lithium here, especially those from Vasko, but whilst I have reasonable DIY skills I am not an electrical engineer. Thank you, and apologies for raising the topic YET again, Robert. Robert I shall watch this thread with great interest, and offer a wee bit of help in the future if needed (and if we ever get out there again!!!)
|
|
|
Post by jy51 on Nov 16, 2020 10:04:01 GMT
Join the club, I have been having the same issues with one battery not showing up on app. Also at beginning of season one battery would not charge kept giving me a red light on battery. From what I know each battery needs to be brought up to 100 percent charge before they are all connected to boat charger. I am still still having difficulty with batteries coming up to 100 percent charge. Question for anyone can you leave the boat charging system on all the time when away from the boat for a long period of time. I think the answer to your question is yes, you can leave a battery charger permanently connected, a charger will always revert to a trickle charge once the batteries are fully charged, and I believe the BMS on a Lithium battery would also protect the battery from over charging. However, I don't like the idea of running a charger permanently connected when I leave the boat for a long time. The same applies to dehumidifiers and fridges. Boats have been know to catch fire and sink due to overheating of faulty batteries or appliances. I appreciate that all batteries, self discharge when left over time, so during the winter months I ask the boatyard to plug me in for a day every few months, just to keep the batteries topped up.
|
|
garyt
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Jeanneau Model: J54
Home Port: NEW YORK HARBOR
Country: USA
|
Post by garyt on Nov 17, 2020 22:09:55 GMT
I am wintering in the water, all systems winterized. Just wondering if I can leave the charger on in case the bilge pump needs to run for and unknown leak, fingers crossed that never happens. should I leave some lights on to cause some draw on the batteries so the charger exercises. Or just go down once a week and turn the charger on if the batteries have some discharge. Is it true that lithium batteries should be put to sleep at 50% charge for the non-use months of winter?
|
|
|
Post by vasko on Nov 19, 2020 18:31:50 GMT
I am wintering in the water, all systems winterized. Just wondering if I can leave the charger on in case the bilge pump needs to run for and unknown leak, fingers crossed that never happens. should I leave some lights on to cause some draw on the batteries so the charger exercises. Or just go down once a week and turn the charger on if the batteries have some discharge. Is it true that lithium batteries should be put to sleep at 50% charge for the non-use months of winter? All options are possible in all cases lithium bats will outlast the rest of the boat...
|
|
|
Post by jy51 on Nov 20, 2020 10:15:58 GMT
I am wintering in the water, all systems winterized. Just wondering if I can leave the charger on in case the bilge pump needs to run for and unknown leak, fingers crossed that never happens. should I leave some lights on to cause some draw on the batteries so the charger exercises. Or just go down once a week and turn the charger on if the batteries have some discharge. Is it true that lithium batteries should be put to sleep at 50% charge for the non-use months of winter? I don't think the issue here is wether the battery charger is charging or just running on trickle or float as is more commonly referred to. My view is that a battery charger, when charging, can create a lot of heat, that's why they have cooling fans. Should a cooling fan bearing seize, it could possibly cause the charger to overheat, resulting in a fire. Less common, but potentially more dangerous, is if the charger developed a fault that caused the batteries to over charge and risk catching fire or exploding. Many will say that modern chargers rarely fail and that fires caused by batteries and chargers are becoming less common, which is true. However, isn't it better to be there, to survey and react to potential problems. I have peace of mind knowing that I pay someone to plug in my shore power for 24 hours every few months to maintain fully charged batteries. Regarding Lithium batteries, they do recommend that storage mode, charged to 80% capacity, will extend the life of the battery, if not used for a long period of time. But this does mean disconnecting the bank and charger before initiating a sleep mode procedure to the BMS. However, it is a general suggestion and nowhere have I read within a Lithium battery owners manual that at each winter layup you must shut down the battery.
|
|
|
Post by vasko on Nov 21, 2020 4:44:02 GMT
Small battery chargers and trickle charges do not have fans - I agree I will be worried to leave something with a fan running 24/7 (although all devices with fans have heat protection - e.g if running hot they will switch off) in my case from the pre-lithium time I have a trickle charger and 6/12A charger - both fan less . But I do not leave then ON - my solar panels are enough to charge the banks - I also have constant running BLE solar controller monitoring, TPZ 4G camera and boat-vitals - you can take a look at the daily chart how the batteries behave : www.boat-vitals.com/display.html?link=11-101-ec2c284ef0-Celcius-dd_MMM_HH.mm-GPS5The house banks have BMS the start battery is drop-in LiFePo4 fune balanced cells with no bms
|
|
|
Post by jy51 on Nov 21, 2020 11:31:37 GMT
Small battery chargers and trickle charges do not have fans - I agree I will be worried to leave something with a fan running 24/7 (although all devices with fans have heat protection - e.g if running hot they will switch off) in my case from the pre-lithium time I have a trickle charger and 6/12A charger - both fan less . But I do not leave then ON - my solar panels are enough to charge the banks - I also have constant running BLE solar controller monitoring, TPZ 4G camera and boat-vitals - you can take a look at the daily chart how the batteries behave : www.boat-vitals.com/display.html?link=11-101-ec2c284ef0-Celcius-dd_MMM_HH.mm-GPS5The house banks have BMS the start battery is drop-in LiFePo4 fune balanced cells with no bms Yes, vasko, I know small charging devices do not have fans, I too have a trickle charger for my car when it’s laid up for months on end, but I was talking about powerful battery chargers that are permanently connected to battery banks on boats which are capable of pushing out anything from 40 to 100 amps, which I assume most boats have. I too have solar on my boat, which was configured and connected directly to my lithium service batteries and keeps them on float charge throughout the winter lay up. My bow thruster, engine and starter batteries are all connected to their own chargers and for that reason I have the shore power plugged in for 24 hours each few months. I understand your interest in these monitoring system but unfortunately, like many, I am still trying to get my head around anything to do with computers and software. It was difficult enough for me to upgrade the software on my navigation system via WiFi let alone get involved with more problems, by the way can you tell me why my Mac takes hours to load, I’ve read every single article on the subject and are non the wiser. (No don’t answer that it will only give me more sleepless nights🤣)
|
|