Thanks for that. I have to get a cable, then I can change the protocol and hopefully get it to work.
Solarpowerstore.ca Zero technical support after buying batteries
- Thread starter DaveF
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DaveF
New Member
I don’t know if the port needs the Type A vs Type B Victron cable.
I’m connecting to a RPi3,so it’s canbus to canhat.
I actually don't know if there is any real advantage to it. My system is working just fine without it. I'm just of the opinion that if it can do it, I'd like to make it work. In the end, I'll probably go through a bunch of work for something that makes practically no difference.
So, bit of an update.
The guy I sold the SPS batteries to called me today saying they were having some issues, so I drove over and had a look.
Turns out that two out of the 3 batteries had their BMS on/off switches stop working (can't turn the bms OFF) and the reset pin doesn't work either.
The SoC readout is also REALLY off, and it seems that because the inverter saw (an erroneous) 0% SoC on one of the batteries, the inverter shut off.
I assisted him with removing the comms for now and setting some gentle charging settings in the SCC, so the batteries will hopefully top-up properly (now that it's not turning off charging for seeing a 'false' 100% SoC).
Do you know how to reset the SoC readout? Is there a certain voltage it has to hit for it to reset to a surefire 100% (not 100% +/- 40%, like it's showing right now?)
Regarding comms:
Before he bought the batteries, I used the BMS app that SPS provided and set the communication to 'Growatt'.
What worked for him was setting the master battery dip to '1' (up-down-down-down) and having the RJ45 connector plugged into the SECOND CAN port (the one under the word CAN).
On the Growatt SPF inverter (he has a 3000 and a 5000 separately, but they should use the same settings), he connected the RJ45 into the port labelled BMS, and then set program 5 to 'Li' and went with protocol 52 for program 36.
It took a moment, but it quickly showed up correctly on the Growatt and switched to %SoC readout.
edit:
Realized you probably don't use Growatt, but... yeah. Setting the dip to 1 and using the second CAN port, after going into the BMS app and setting the communication protocol to match the inverter, was the trick. He said it only worked in the second port, not the first, and only with the dip settings, so... who knows. xD
That's just what worked for him.
The guy I sold the SPS batteries to called me today saying they were having some issues, so I drove over and had a look.
Turns out that two out of the 3 batteries had their BMS on/off switches stop working (can't turn the bms OFF) and the reset pin doesn't work either.
The SoC readout is also REALLY off, and it seems that because the inverter saw (an erroneous) 0% SoC on one of the batteries, the inverter shut off.
I assisted him with removing the comms for now and setting some gentle charging settings in the SCC, so the batteries will hopefully top-up properly (now that it's not turning off charging for seeing a 'false' 100% SoC).
Do you know how to reset the SoC readout? Is there a certain voltage it has to hit for it to reset to a surefire 100% (not 100% +/- 40%, like it's showing right now?)
Regarding comms:
Before he bought the batteries, I used the BMS app that SPS provided and set the communication to 'Growatt'.
What worked for him was setting the master battery dip to '1' (up-down-down-down) and having the RJ45 connector plugged into the SECOND CAN port (the one under the word CAN).
On the Growatt SPF inverter (he has a 3000 and a 5000 separately, but they should use the same settings), he connected the RJ45 into the port labelled BMS, and then set program 5 to 'Li' and went with protocol 52 for program 36.
It took a moment, but it quickly showed up correctly on the Growatt and switched to %SoC readout.
edit:
Realized you probably don't use Growatt, but... yeah. Setting the dip to 1 and using the second CAN port, after going into the BMS app and setting the communication protocol to match the inverter, was the trick. He said it only worked in the second port, not the first, and only with the dip settings, so... who knows. xD
That's just what worked for him.
tootall602
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My experience with this vendor was similar. Sent 2nd unit back.
After several weeks they could not find a problem with the input voltage reading anywhere from 30vac to 105vac. Even without cables connected. Warranty solution was by a more expensive unit.
DaveF
New Member
IIRC The altered DIP switch setting was the technique used by the Off-grid-garage to get the Seplos comms working, but this failure does not fill me with confidence.
I don't know how to reset the SOC, but I'd try setting the charge voltage to 27.6 rather than the high V used in the manual and use BMS.exe from a PC to monitor the cell voltages and see if the balancer function turns on. Comms with a PC can be used without connecting to the inverter.
Also reconnecting batteries out of order (breaker on, then power switch), or if the V's are significantly different can trigger current limits in the BMS...
Get the follow onto the forum and perhaps we can track down a solution using screen grabs
DaveF
New Member
Vac on a battery?
Apparently his BMS chirps alerts (surge, probably) when turning the breakers on. I wonder if the precharge resistors are pooched.
He does know about the precharge, and has turned the BMSes on before flipping breakers.
AFAIK the batteries have always been used together (i gave them to him at matching voltages, and i'm pretty sure he commisioned them as a group as well, on his end) so it's unlikely any large voltage differential came about.
Regarding SoC, I don't think the batteries have been charging very high, since i bet you the SCC stops when it sees '100%' on the comms.
He said they are charging up much better in dumb mode. I have them charging VERY gently for a few days (54.4 CV, 54.0 Float) so the batteries can even out, and then i'll see if he can up the CV over a few days to get the voltage up for top balancing. I still bet that the SoC will probably reset properly when going above a certain voltage threshold, but who knows. ?
I'm going to email SPS and see what they say. If we need to, he's willing to open them up and see if we can swap the whole BMS out for a good JK one. Ideally we get them sorted under warranty, but... Depends on things like 'how much is shipping' and 'how long will they be gone for?'.
We're in south central New Brunswick, and SPS is in Barrie, Ontario, so...
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DaveF
New Member
Apparently his BMS chirps alerts (surge, probably) when turning the breakers on. I wonder if the precharge resistors are pooched.
He does know about the precharge, and has turned the BMSes on before flipping breakers.
AFAIK the batteries have always been used together (i gave them to him at matching voltages, and i'm pretty sure he commisioned them as a group as well, on his end) so it's unlikely any large voltage differential came about.
Regarding SoC, I don't think the batteries have been charging very high, since i bet you the SCC stops when it sees '100%' on the comms.
He said they are charging up much better in dumb mode. I have them charging VERY gently for a few days (54.4 CV, 54.0 Float) so the batteries can even out, and then i'll see if he can up the CV over a few days to get the voltage up for top balancing. I still bet that the SoC will probably reset properly when going above a certain voltage threshold, but who knows. ?
I'm going to email SPS and see what they say. If we need to, he's willing to open them up and see if we can swap the whole BMS out for a good JK one. Ideally we get them sorted under warranty, but... Depends on things like 'how much is shipping' and 'how long will they be gone for?'.
We're in south central New Brunswick, and SPS is in Barrie, Ontario, so...
Mine chirp when turned on (breaker on first, then power! )
hello how are you fine did work with you ? can you send me the cable pin out for Taico and growatt BMS and protocol number ( its work without use the software or must chenge the port type with bms software ) THANK YOU .
I have not got comms working yet and I'm kind of hesitant about it. SPS told me initially that they found comms to be flakey and to just use them as dumb batteries. Haxx said above that the batteries that he sold to buddy sorta flaked out on his growatt and those are the same batteries that I own. I have an lv6548, not a growatt, so it may be different for me, but it might also be the same. The cable I ordered hasn't arrived yet, so I haven't changed anything. There's also a blurb in the manual for the batteries about any modifications made to the bms will void the warranty, so there's that to think about as well.
I asked them (while on the phone, so not in print...) if changing comms-related settings would effect the warranty, and they said it would not.
@MadMac Did SPS really say comms on their own batteries are flakey? That's pretty sad, lol.
I've met some of the guys there, and they definitely put the effort into trying to do a good job, but they seem to be a newer company and still sorting out what works and what doesn't. For example, I really liked their 6-slot battery rack, which they designed themselves (though manufactured in china, like everything else), and I noticed they seem to have their own knockoff MPP equipment (Maple Leaf branded, lol).
I feel like they will either source better parts in their future batteries or discontinue them. Hopefully.
This is from an email that they sent me...I asked them (while on the phone, so not in print...) if changing comms-related settings would effect the warranty, and they said it would not.
@MadMac Did SPS really say comms on their own batteries are flakey? That's pretty sad, lol.
I've met some of the guys there, and they definitely put the effort into trying to do a good job, but they seem to be a newer company and still sorting out what works and what doesn't. For example, I really liked their 6-slot battery rack, which they designed themselves (though manufactured in china, like everything else), and I noticed they seem to have their own knockoff MPP equipment (Maple Leaf branded, lol).
I feel like they will either source better parts in their future batteries or discontinue them. Hopefully.
"We find that with inverter updates, the communication protocols tend to go on and off for people so just setting it manually is better."
Whatever that's supposed to mean. ?
Forgive my stupidity here... I've been poking around the bms program and it's not exactly intuitive. Would you be able to point me in the right direction to change the communication protocol on them? SPS has not returned any of my emails.
Thanks
Is a growatt another version of a voltronic aio? If so, do you know the pinout that was used for the cable?
Thanks
Just answering my own question here... I figured out that a growatt is just a rebadged voltronic. So there's that. SPS just emailed me back and said that it's unsafe to use communication with their batteries and an lv6548. Funny, it doesn't say that in the brochure.
DaveF
New Member
Once connected, unlock with password vking (one the RealTimeMonitoring tab) Then on one of the pages (ParameterInformation) there’s drop-downs for Canbus and RS485 protocols. (From memory, you have to read the settings first)
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Hi there. It's been a minute... Did you get your comms working? Are you even using these batteries anymore? Has it maintained comms if you have got them working? I, possibly stupidly, bought another one of these 48v batteries as they aren't selling them anymore on their site, but had a couple left and are letting them go cheap. Which has led me down the rabbit hole of comms again with these things. Even though they worked perfectly fine in dumb mode all summer last year. I have my other 2 here at home right now for winter storage and can set the comms easily if I want to. Just don't know if it's worth it...
DaveF
New Member
Haven't gotten comms with the Rpi4 working yet. Was in Oz/NZ all fall till just a couple weeks ago, so haven't given it another shot yet.
RPI complicates things a bit, but I suspect it might just be my cables.... we'll see.
The batteries themselves have been rock solid and have performed flawlessly since I got them.
Furthermore, the BMS software shows that the balancer works very well indeed.
If they just had just given me the master password right away I'd not have complained so much.
I'm going to treat them as a reseller without the time, capacity, or expertise to support what they sell.
At least they seem to honour warranties and shipping damage.
Message me directly or post here when you're going to try again.
