Taking your house, shed or garage 'off-the-grid' is a very exciting thing to do. On this channel, I share my experience and thoughts of taking my garage offline, disconnecting it from the power supply and run it solely from solar and batteries (for teaching and testing purposes). We will do a lot of testing here on the channel, batteries, cells, BMS, electronics, solar charge controllers and even panels.
I will explain how everything works in a beginner friendly way. We will also do smaller side projects to break things down and make it easy to understand. So no previous knowledge or experience necessary to build your own solar-battery system.
You can get more information on my website: off-grid-garage.com
DISCLAIMER By watching these videos, you agree: All electrical work must be carried out as per your local laws, rules and regulations. Installations and setups shown in my videos are for test and demonstration purposes only and may not satisfy regulatory requirements.
Hello you helped me before I'm trying to find your video on charging batteries that have different amp hours in battery bank I need to watch it again can you send me link please
So, what is the title of the video that answers the question presented in this video? The next videos appear to discuss the "reset" issue with the JK Inverter BMS.
With Charge Balance off on a JBD 200A BMS, balancing only happens when there is no current flow in or out. That scenario works with bench charging but not when a battery is never idle like on a boat.
Hey Andy off topic a bit from this video. But if the JK inverter BMS is off can you safely connect that battery then to an inverter without getting a spark and then turn it on after to power the inverter? I know they have a button to turn the BMS on and off and was wondering if it does fully disconnect the BMS such that you would not need a recharge resistor?
I'm renting an old shop with flourescent tubes and was wondering about how much power is still used by the ballast with the led tube replacements. Thanks for looking into this and making a video on it! This was really useful.
I recently did the same to charge my cells before running them through the EBC, I have two different models of DC Buck converters, the one from your thumbnail and a smaller version (amazon description says 12A). I thought connecting a 20A Buck (capable of 22A continuous under heavy cooling) and a 12A (14A is the fixed CC limit) buck together would give me 36A, but no, the small 14A fixed converter suddenly went to 17A and more, running extremly hot. So please check carefully if different converters work together, even when their output voltage is within less than 0.01V
Thanks Andy, I've been looking for something like this. I tried this with 2 JBD and 1 JK BMS, but the JK is missing some perimeters like SOC and total pack voltage. Are others seeing this also? Any ideas anyone?
*So I have a Samlex SA1500 that I bought for my Off Grid solar to run off Alum batteries. My org intent and currently is to run off other lead acid cells because with the ALum conversion that was a flop as they did not maintain a sufficient current to make this worthwhile, however the inverter (along with 5 others remain, The SA-1500 at 12v [12v due to alternator tie in] has a range of 9.5v - 17.1v So with this version you would certainly be able to avail yourself more of the full range.* *I'm looking to upgrade to Sodium Ion's for travel since I dislike Lithium's thermal runaway inclinations. But mainly the BMS part. because I have been using 18650's in my bike light for some 9 years in a variety of temps) My interest would be at what voltage point the Sodium Ions have a cut off point by not being able to run a resistive load like even a soft start cap Frigidaire 5k btu Window AC unit because in my tests the LA's as well as the Lithium were at around 65% in my battery bank.* *Creds: over 7k mono crystalline solar panels, 3 Midnite Classic 150's, 5 Samlex Pure Sine Inverters 300, 600, 1500, 2, 2000 and 1 3000 (+ a 24yo 1500 watt Modified Sine and along a 750 and some smaller ones too) with 1 Go power 3000 I use with my Welder. Noctua cooling fans throughout. 4/0 copper welding cables with 60/40 Kester Solder and tinned copper lugs. 2 IOTA dls 90 and a 45, power supplies and also a 100 amp Powermax 220 version (for travel using unused J1772 EV chargers) Again Noctua PWM fans throughout the entire system. Makes a huge difference in alleviating noise pollution. Currently about 1500Ah battery bank)*
Cant understand why flexible busbars are mandatory? Think of the stress on the post from even a small expansion? Tip I use domestic copper pipe wall clips, ca 20p each good for 50A, double up for 100A. You can solder you bms leads directly onto the bridge and add an auto style spade push connector for convenience. Put a loose pvc sleeve over to protect
There are some current leaks between the cell terminal and the aluminum case of the cell sometime. The very thinny blue wrap plastic around the cell is not resistant enough to protect the cell aluminum case from electrical contact.. Even more on the edges and corners where there are concentration of forces. So it can happen that without insulator material such as polycarbonate or G10 or FR4 sheet, that two adjacent cells make electrical contact together thru the fragile blue plastic and the current leak would unbalance thece cells over the time and make the BMS work harder to keep up.. This have been discussed a while ago already. It is preferable to use insulating sheet between cells to avoid these problems. Also compression reduce internal resistance and preserve the anode and cathode current diffusion more uniform inside the cell. over the lifetime of teh cell which lead to better overal SOC. That's why automotive manufacture all strap these cells under compression. Making the Electro-chemical Impedense Spectroscopy test of the compressed cells vs uncompressed will tell you that too.
Yesterday I tried the 'jkbms' utility from github - jblance/mpp-solar and found out the 'security' of the older style JK BMS is a joke 😀 When running the tool you get to see your PIN and password while only supplying the MAC address from your BMS. Since I do not live rural and JK does not give us an option to disable bluetooth I could only see two options: - Physically disable bluetooth (some soldering required??) - Keep the bluetooth modules busy, since the only support one connection at a time I went with the second option, got the Venus OS image on a spare Pi and connected to the BMS on BLE. Now if I need to change config i can simply switch off the Pi and all BMS-es are visible again... (had to remove the link, youtube would not place my comment)
I've used Batmon running on a RPi4 and Home Assistant with MQTT for a couple months now. I set it up to serve as a Bluetooth bridge to Wifi as I'm also too far for Bluetooth reach into my home. I monitor numerous Victron devices and a single JBD bms, along with all 9 Bluetooth temp/humidity sensors I have installed in my van (these actually do reach into the house). I've had zero issues with signal or data dropouts and the RPi is right on the ragged signal edge where my phone will no longer connect to any of the devices. It just works. I also don't have the sticky problem with the charge/discharge relay control through HA, that too works fine. I also use BT keepalive which 'secures' access to bms as it only allows one connection at a time. This isn't much a practical problem for my use though...one would have to be 5' from the vehicle. The config settings don't have any negative impact on connection for me. Maybe your NUC Bluetooth adapter is at fault. Try a RPi, super quick to load HA, batmon and mqtt.
A question for the guru of solar educated vuiwers please leave comments. How would you decide what voltage to set-up your solar panel strings to? I'll have about 110 feet from my panels to my inverter.
Have you checked the expansion/bloating of cells inside your Battery Shelf? Mine bloated by 2mm on both sides. I will be redoing my battery shelf soon to add some compression to prevent it from further expansion.
Have you tried the *keep_alive* flag with multiple batteries or a single one? If with multiple then it will explain why you have disconnections happening as the BLE stack on ESP32 doesn't properly support concurrent devices so it has to cycle through all of them. Having dedicated ESP32 per each BMS should fix this and make it more reliable and convenient to use! :)
if you put the current clamp between the input of the multiplus and the pv inverter on the left then if you can set the export of the multiplus to 0 Watts, it should run the loads with the power it needs from the solar/batteries connected to the multiplus, then any excess load would first be taken from the "export" solar inverter but not charge the batteries from it unless you set the multiplus to charge from gird. the Export Solar would continue to export as normal. I think. I makes sense to me anyway. Could be miles out, if the multiplus doesnt use a current clamp to work out it's export
SUMMARY The content discusses the use of Peter boards and BatMon integration for battery management systems (BMS) in an off-grid garage setup in Australia, comparing their effectiveness, reliability, and cost. IDEAS: - Rainy weather can surprisingly increase solar power generation, contrary to common expectations. - Peter boards offer a plug-and-play solution for integrating BMS with Victron systems. - BatMon provides a free alternative for monitoring BMS via Bluetooth and Home Assistant. - The reliability of wired connections for BMS is contrasted with the potential issues of Bluetooth. - Home Assistant can automate alerts for battery issues using data from BMS. - The cost of Peter boards is justified by their ease of setup and reliability. - Tinkering with hardware and software is required for most free BMS monitoring solutions. - Bluetooth's range limitations necessitate strategic placement of Home Assistant servers. - BatMon supports a wide range of BMS devices, offering flexibility in setup. - MQTT protocol enables integration of BMS data into Home Assistant for automation. - Physical cable connections offer more reliable BMS communication than wireless alternatives. - The frequency of data updates is crucial for accurate monitoring of battery systems. - BatMon allows for detailed monitoring without additional hardware, but with limitations. - Direct control over BMS through BatMon may pose safety concerns without proper security. - The ease of accessing BMS data varies significantly between wired and wireless solutions. - Bluetooth interference can affect the reliability of wireless BMS monitoring solutions. - The cost-effectiveness of BatMon is balanced by its less reliable data transmission. - The choice between Peter boards and BatMon depends on user needs for control versus monitoring. - Security concerns arise with the ability to control BMS settings without authentication. - The practicality of monitoring multiple batteries is challenged by wireless communication issues. - Home Assistant's role in centralizing battery data can streamline the monitoring process. - The limitations of Bluetooth connectivity highlight the trade-offs of wireless BMS solutions.
Try this project - syssi/esphome -jk-bms. With Esp32 board i connect to jkbms directly to 4 pin port. Grab all data to Mqtt (to Home Assistant). This project can connect by Bluetooth to BMS. But i prefer directly connection. Finally - grab all data by Wi-fi.
I've been using batmon for quite a while. I have several batteries as well. I found that each Bluetooth adapter can only handle 2 or 3 devices, before it get's overloaded. I added multiple bluetooth adaptors, and kept the count to 2 or 3 per device. This resolved it for me.
I had exactly the same random stability Bluetooth problems when I made an esp32 to HA (rpi4) running under ESPHome. At the time I thought it was a bad esp32 board, so gave up and went TTL to esp (very similar to the Peter board), and that’s rock solid. There must be something wrong with the entire Bluetooth code in HA if totally different hardware gives the same issues.
I just received my first ever order of cells of this size using the link provided by Andy. (TLDR I got 16 MB31 cells and my initial testing and experience matches with what Andy says). I just wanted to share my experience for anyone else who was looking into getting these cells and is ordering cells this large for the first time. I used the link Andy provides on his site to Alibaba store. Put in the order for the 16 cells and installed the Alibaba app. Glad I did because I was contacted by Amy Peng, after the order went in. She let me know the site defaults my order to Express delivery and that the actual delivery will be by sea and take 55-65 days and said Alibaba was show the order as delivered in 10 days but that the actual delivery would show up in 55+ days. I was confused by this a but but agreed that was fine because I expected them to come by ship and take over a month. It did make me a bit nervous as this is a fair bit of money to gable on but over the last month Amy would reach out through Alibaba and update me on the status of my delivery and she let me know when the batteries made it to shore. I ordered the cells as soon as the first video dropped and they showed up maybe even faster than 55 days. I opened one box so far and looked over the two cells. There was no bloating and the barcode was laser etched into the metal of the cell and matched with what Andy found in the videos. The cells looked to be in perfect condition with no signs of them being used and repackaged as new cells. I have personally ran into sellers who have done this on a much smaller order of cell in the past so I was worried a little for this order. I tested them using the same tester Andy has and was able to reproduce pulling 332 amp out of the first cell I have tested. I still have 15 more to test but everything Andy mentioned in the video I am able to confirm worked as he said it would. Andy you do a great job teaching everyone about how batteries work. I have not missed a single video of yours after watching for multiple years now. Keep up the good work and thank you for finding reputable sellers and sharing that information with us. There is a reason your channel is blowing and that is due to your hard work and funny personality, keep up the great work!
Hallo Andy, vermutlich habe ich nicht ganz verstanden, wie Du die JKBMS über Bluetooth verbindest. In den Daten zu dem SMlight SLZB-06(M) wird nirgendwo erwähnt, dass auch eine BT zu Ethernet-Verbindung unterstützt wird. Es ist in den Geräten zwar ein ESP verbaut der dies unterstützen könnte, aber in der Software-Oberfäche zu diesem Gerät habe ich nicht gesehen, dass es eine Konfiguration für BT gibt. Hier wird die Zeilgruppe der Zigbee-Anwender adressiert. Hast Du hier den ESP umkonfiguriert oder funktioniert BT ‚out of the box‘? - Ich hätte gerne meine Victron BT-Komponenten überwacht, aber das BT-Signal reicht nicht so weit wie ich es benötige. Um eine Fehlinvestion zu vermeiden, würde ich sichergehen wollen, dass ich meine Idee damit umsetzen kann. VG
As I found out, the last wire of connector 2 and the first of conn. 3 are internally connected, on some drawings from JK the first pin on conn. 3 is even named 'NC'. But I'm surprised to see how easily you switch on the JK BMS with a short press on the button! If I do so on my 150A Inverter-BMS v15, all LEDs light up as long as I press the button and everything is off if I release it. So I have to press several seconds and sometimes I need some tries till it stays really 'on'. Is that a fault or a feature? It has even switched itself off without any reason once, not the battery but the whole BMS itself!
You don't need to move your homeassistant device. Homeassistant can communicate with remote bluetooth devices with cheap ESPHome Bluetooth Proxy devices.
Hello Andy I've been following your channel for a long time and was very impressed with the introduction of the JK-BMS. Of course, I quickly bought one in the hope that it would work with my system, especially since the 2A balancer completely convinced me. I don't know if I understood correctly that you were or are involved in the development, but in any case I'm eagerly waiting for a firmware update that supports my system because it works perfectly with Seplos-BMS. It's about the interaction of JK_PB2A16S20P (vers. 15.17) with an SMA battery inverter_Sunny Island At Seplos the protocol is called: SMA_CAN or Sofar_Can protocol Do you perhaps have any influence on the developers so that this is implemented in a next FW update? Thanks Keep it up, you keep inspiring me Thomas
Andy bravo for this video which, as usual, deals with very interesting subjects. I appreciate your ability to make controversial videos. I obviously can't let pass the fact that you suggest that a paid solution is necessarily better than an open-source solution! Especially as the paid solution you're referring to is based for the most part on open-source code! I'm not particularly familiar with the Batmon application, but you raise a number of questionable points about it. Most of the criticisms relate to security, so let's take a look at some of these issues. As far as the ability to cut the charge or discharge of the BMS is concerned, the problem, if there is one, comes solely from the BMS and not from the application. As long as this possibility is given, it seems normal to be able to use it. If for any reason you don't want to use it, simply don't show this option on your dashboard. You seem to like the way Peter's card uses the "charging enable" control to actually perform a different operation from what it's called, which is simply to reduce the charging current. If this is what you want to do, it's extremely simple to write a script to do this in HA or, if it's too complicated for you, ask the author of the application to add this option (thanks to responsiveness of open-source developers)! Now, as far as security issues concerning the Bluetooth link is concerned, these have nothing to do with the application, but are problems linked to the use of BLE peripherals. I'm not a great Bluetooth specialist, but from what I understand, unlike normal Bluetooth, BLE doesn't establish a master-slave relationship (which requires the slave to go into pairing mode). The BLE protocol allows you to connect sporadically to the device in order to save energy (hence the name BLE), so there's a risk of intrusion, but the likelihood of someone passing close to your battery with a Bluetooth sniffer and having the right application to control it is, I think, very low. But if you're worried about this, the only solution to guarantee complete security is to use a BMS without Bluetooth connectivity. To sum up, for the two problems you mention, the solution must come from the BMS manufacturer and not from the Batmon application.
