Solarpowerstore.ca Zero technical support after buying batteries

[DaveF]

[UPDATE] May 30, 2023 They finally responded with a password. I'll refresh my other questions and see how it goes.

I recently purchased three, 24V 200Ah batteries from Solarpowerstore.ca Solar Lithium Battery Server Rack - LiFePO4 24V 200Ah 5120Wh Smart BMS
and have had no response to my technical inquires since.

The batteries themselves seem just fine: separate power switch + breaker with pre-charge startup. Tested to rated capacity.
They arrive with 2AWG 18" cables with the specialized plug-type connectors needed for the battery, but you'll have to snip and re-lug them to connect to a standard bus-bar.

The manual is minimal, and although it says it can connect to a wide variety of inverters, the BMS parameters can't be set from the front panel, there's no way to set the communication protocol, and unlike other locked down batteries the order page does not offer to set the protocol before shipping (and since I didn't know it was locked down, I didn't ask).
I couldn't see what brand BMS it uses without taking the battery apart further than I was comfortable with, and they won't say what it is.

They did provide the BMS monitoring software BEFORE the purchase, but it requires a password that, so far, they haven't provided.

 

[Steve_S]

That is a generic battery pack BUT the Screen Display (Assuming it is just LCD & NOT Colour) and the RJ45 connectors + the Dry Contact relay narrows it down to either a PACE BMS, or a Seplos BMS or TDT BMS. Features & functions vary between them somewhat and that "may" help narrow it down. Jakiper Batteries are similar and they are also locked from the user. Short of pulling the BMS out to identify it there "may" be hints in the displays & software. Provide the name of the software as that may twig some folks... look for docs, readme txt files in the software directory too... See if there is a "Help / About" in the software app which should provide some more info too.

NOTE for anyone looking for prebuilt battery packs, make sure to specify an UNLOCKED BMS.

This is also a Heads Up about this vendor and the terrible customer support... Really sad that such happens.

 

[pollenface]

Out of curiosity what parameters would you change in the BMS?

 

[houseofancients]

That is a generic battery pack BUT the Screen Display (Assuming it is just LCD & NOT Colour) and the RJ45 connectors + the Dry Contact relay narrows it down to either a PACE BMS, or a Seplos BMS or TDT BMS. Features & functions vary between them somewhat and that "may" help narrow it down. Jakiper Batteries are similar and they are also locked from the user. Short of pulling the BMS out to identify it there "may" be hints in the displays & software. Provide the name of the software as that may twig some folks... look for docs, readme txt files in the software directory too... See if there is a "Help / About" in the software app which should provide some more info too.

NOTE for anyone looking for prebuilt battery packs, make sure to specify an UNLOCKED BMS.

This is also a Heads Up about this vendor and the terrible customer support... Really sad that such happens.

seplos is ruled out : they only have internal relays through plugin connector for heating pad
also their bms's have no rs232 connections ; only inverter ( CANBUS/RS485 dual identity) and rs485 a and rs485 b

 

[DaveF]

Out of curiosity what parameters would you change in the BMS?

The rs485 and/or the canbus protocol….

 

[DaveF]

That is a generic battery pack BUT the Screen Display (Assuming it is just LCD & NOT Colour) and the RJ45 connectors + the Dry Contact relay narrows it down to either a PACE BMS, or a Seplos BMS or TDT BMS. Features & functions vary between them somewhat and that "may" help narrow it down. Jakiper Batteries are similar and they are also locked from the user. Short of pulling the BMS out to identify it there "may" be hints in the displays & software. Provide the name of the software as that may twig some folks... look for docs, readme txt files in the software directory too... See if there is a "Help / About" in the software app which should provide some more info too.

NOTE for anyone looking for prebuilt battery packs, make sure to specify an UNLOCKED BMS.

This is also a Heads Up about this vendor and the terrible customer support... Really sad that such happens.

Google image search on the BMS.exe window revealed the software is used by TAICO. ( Manual here )
Unfortunately, the password mentioned there didn't work.

Is that sufficient to say what BMS it is? Even knowing the brand, it doesn't help solve the communication issue - but if the BMS is good enough then the batteries may be sufficient to use in dumb mode.

 

[houseofancients]

Google image search on the BMS.exe window revealed the software is used by TAICO. ( Manual here )
Unfortunately, the password mentioned there didn't work.

Is that sufficient to say what BMS it is? Even knowing the brand, it doesn't help solve the communication issue - but if the BMS is good enough then the batteries may be sufficient to use in dumb mode.

normally all these battery support Pylontech by default...
are you 100% sure you've checked the pin out on the comm cable ?
normally these need to be plugged correctly ( read as : inverter end need to go in inverter, bms end needs to go in bms) ?
does the manual state ( or TAICO manual if it si the same bms) anything about the pin-outs?
have you checked what the required pins are on your inverter?

 

[Haxx]

@DaveF try "vking" as the password.

Those guys are swamped as heck right now. This was the password they gave me for the bms software when I wanted to make them work with my Growatts.
They had even mailed me a rs232 usb adapter for free.

There was a certain dip combo that may or may not have been required (they said 0111 but I vaguely remember it being something else (something obvious).

Also i'm surprised you had to re-lug some cables. When I got batteries from them, they included two cables with a ring terminal on one end.

 

[Haxx]

Also, i think they use a jbd based bms?
I saw some serial numbers once in the bms tool, hence that guess.

There was one time i had a cell dip too low, but i turned off the breaker on the battery (can't remember if i turned off the bms too, or if it turned itself off) and it engaged something that balanced it, so I'm guessing they have a separate balancer in there.

Never took one apart so can't say for sure, though.

 

[DaveF]

normally all these battery support Pylontech by default...
are you 100% sure you've checked the pin out on the comm cable ?
normally these need to be plugged correctly ( read as : inverter end need to go in inverter, bms end needs to go in bms) ?
does the manual state ( or TAICO manual if it si the same bms) anything about the pin-outs?
have you checked what the required pins are on your inverter?

The manual has the pinout and I've tried variations of using the 4 Can L/H pins with and without ground.
I finally got the password and set the protocol, but it might be that the Canbus to USB cable isn't talking properly with the RPi3, so I've ordered a CanHat.

 

[DaveF]

@DaveF try "vking" as the password.

Those guys are swamped as heck right now. This was the password they gave me for the bms software when I wanted to make them work with my Growatts.
They had even mailed me a rs232 usb adapter for free.

There was a certain dip combo that may or may not have been required (they said 0111 but I vaguely remember it being something else (something obvious).

Also i'm surprised you had to re-lug some cables. When I got batteries from them, they included two cables with a ring terminal on one end.

Thank you! They finally replied a couple of weeks ago (I've updated the OP) and that's the password, but setting the protocol hasn't cleared things up.

I don't think they've ever connected with Victron equipment, and didn't reply concerning cables etc.
Did they mention to you if the Canbus port was type-A or type-B?

I'm plugging into Venus OS on a RPi3 via USB, so there's other possible points of failure to investigate.

 

[Haxx]

Sorry, no idea on the Canbus type.

I'm looking forward to tinkering with setting up metrics someday, but I just moved off grid last year and am more concerned with "are the batteries full or not" vs "I wonder what my power intake/usage/etc looks like for the month?"

I ended up (for price, serviceability, and how-do-i-make-this-fit-in-this-space reasons) going with DIY batteries (JK BMS + LF280K cells), so I sold my SPS rack batteries before I had time to tinker with them much.

I wasn't able to get them to talk to my Growatt SPF5000 when I gave it a quick try, but the chap I sold them to also uses Growatts and he managed to get it working for his.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Sorry, no idea on the Canbus type.

I wasn't able to get them to talk to my Growatt SPF5000 when I gave it a quick try, but the chap I sold them to also uses Growatts and he managed to get it working for his.

I hope you encouraged that chap to join the DIY Solar Forum...so we can find out what he did to get the comms up!

 

[Haxx]

I should have thought to do that, but i was too busy trying to explain that normal AC panel breakers do not trip based on voltage, and that a floating neutral in a split phase system IS dangerous for anything plugged in... xD

 

[MadMac]

Thank you! They finally replied a couple of weeks ago (I've updated the OP) and that's the password, but setting the protocol hasn't cleared things up.

I don't think they've ever connected with Victron equipment, and didn't reply concerning cables etc.
Did they mention to you if the Canbus port was type-A or type-B?

I'm plugging into Venus OS on a RPi3 via USB, so there's other possible points of failure to investigate.

Hi. I've got the same batteries only the 48v 100ah. The manual looks the same. Did you ever figure out a pin out for a cable? What software did they provide you? I'm trying to get them to talk to my lv6548 and they are telling me to just set them manually and use them in dumb mode.

Thanks for any help.

 

[MadMac]

Looking at the diagrams for the sok battery com cables and the pin out table for the solar power store battery, they look to be the same. So I've made a cable that mimics the sok one and will try it out when I head back out to the cabin tomorrow. I fully expect it to have the wrong protocol programmed into it though and it more than likely will not work.

 

[MadMac]

Was it just the standard pbmstools program that is used?

 

[DaveF]

Was it just the standard pbmstools program that is used?

This is the link they provided. BMS.exe

 

[OffGridForGood]

Do we know what BMS brand the battery is using?

 

[DaveF]

A reverse image search led to this…. The battery is different, but the BMS control interface is identical