For those of you a little more technically concerned about your lithium, when charging to full this device charges to taper current, the batteries own signal telling us it’s full. It will protect against overcharge at any voltage, especially those below where your charge source controllers or regulators are set. It sounds counter intuitive but if charge doesn’t stop when amp acceptance drops off to below a given level- taper current, even if the voltage your regulator/controllers are set at isn’t reached, you are permanently plating lithium out of solution- overcharging. It should also be noted that with lifepo4 the only state of charge that can be accurately identified is full. And that state is identified by taper current at any voltage between 13.48 and 14.6. Amp counting can only be an approximation (because of inaccuracies and changing internal resistance) and charging to some chosen (random) voltage without taking into account holding it there until taper current is achieved (or stoping charge if taper current is achieved at a lower voltage) is no better an approximation. All those charge to graphs you see on the internet can only be a guideline as to an approximation on a new battery, a certain temperature, etc charged at an absolutely constant rate. And still, just an approximation. Also, as an advocate for charging lifepo4 to full as defined by taper current (the battery’s own signal), it’s the only state to charge to that won’t write a memory cycle. Another very important feature of the bbms is that you can set a voltage to which you would like th lifepo4 to discharge to before it recharges. Again, this is about treating your lithium correctly. Charge to full and discharge substantially. Some say it is overkill or going too far but if you read the science you will see that not doing so will create memory “bumps” that will slowly decrease capacity. While these capacity loss issues, unlike overcharging, can be reversed, why not treat the battery correctly to begin with? (The internet myths of not charging to full, for instance, is rampant because no one has made a device that identifies full correctly. In fact I’ve never seen an available charge system that even discusses how to correctly identify full. And to discharge to a level before being recharged, all the while allowing you to run on solar or any other source when it’s available, what system does that?). And, for those who know the science, lithium should not sit at any charge point (especially above 50%). It’s really simple to use a second small inexpensive low side bistable relay to control a small load on your lithium, in such a way as to allow the bbms to correctly read amps while connected and disconnected, at all times so it doesn’t ‘sit’ idle. I use a small computer fan blowing on the lead at .3amps. With my sized lithium bank I’ve worked my way down to 13v as a ‘don’t recharge until’ voltage. I’m considering dropping lower. You see, with the bbms we’ve got lead. The poor stuff should be able to give up a few useful amps every now and again! 🙂 And remember, the bbms allows you to “discharge substantially” and not recharge until a user set voltage is reached AND allow you to run on solar at the same time, no matter how many days it takes to get down to that voltage. Anyway, treat your lithium right. It could possibly outlive you! Yes, the bbms has the ability to treat your lithium right. No other system that I know of does.

Being one of the 100 people who have one and one of the 2 people with funny lead (or whatever it is) and also not being technical minded enough to understand how the bank manager works between the lead and lithium really appreciate this video that goes into more detail than the previous one on exactly what's going on. Many thanks Clark......

This is what happens when an Engineer, who really understands what is needed, tackles a real need. You get a real solution, one that works.

The Bank Manager is the Coolest invention ever! My last lead bank change cost me 2k and it did not last more than 6 years. This is a game changer being able to go hybrid. Still lead AGM to take care of the bow thruster and anchor windlass and now Lithium for all the rest and perhaps even your DC A/C... How many big companies have made two game-changing inventions for the off-grid community in such a short time? Amazing!

I am certain that the Bank Manager will be a commercial success and you can be rightly proud of your invention. :-)

Flew into Bahamas with two lithium iron 100ah LiFePo4 batteries as recommended by Clarke, and the Bank Manager. On our trawler, for one week now, we have not been off GREEN! We have 1400 watts solar, and combined these two new batteries with 4 AGM LifeLines that are 6 years into 10 year warranty. Toaster, Microwave, Coffee Pot, nothing takes it off Green. We are thrilled! Thank you Clarke.

Excellent Engineering! When I start my cruising life, it will include this!! Thank you both, (we can never forget Emily!)

Always glad to listen to thingies I do not really understand ;.) TY , I learned a lot.

I love this video!! I am waiting on more wire for my final connections, but this is helpful to see it all laid out.

Can’t wait to receive ours, this will give extra life for our AGMs for sure👌🇦🇺

Ordered and received the Bank Manager and sundry parts in record time. I'm looking forward to adding some Lithium and installing Clark's gizmos into my boat. Thanks Clark!

Just installed Bank Manager 2.0! Perfect solution to avoid having to completely change battery systems. Just watched it switch to lithium at the equalised voltage

Love it guys! I'm retiring to my Roughwater 33 in Western Mexico in November and I plan to check my optima battery system and adding lithium batteries. I love your videos and I've been following AND learning for a few years now. Clark! You're my hero!😊

There are many things here that I find astounding. Mostly it's the number of people commenting that this is a great idea. Cheers

I installed a small solar system (800 watts) to run a deep water well. I debated using an AGM or a LiFePO4 battery. I finally settled on the Lithium battery and purchased this Redodo 12v 200ah plus.

I dont need one just yet. But thanks bunches for doing this stuff. Lovrs the technical videos the best.

Oh sweet jesus! You're going to be rich Clark. This is incredible!

love this guy! I bought one it's in the box still, haven't opened that can of worms yet, but just a warning Clark, I'm going to be buying that Phone number! thank you so much for this video it explained some things I missed before!

The new box is great. Really nice product. I'm all lead right now... and in Canada where border crossing charges are screwy, even when no duty is owed. my steps will be: - update solar from the mish-mash to something more unified so I can use 24v - update controller to mppt from pwm to allow 24v panels with 12v battery Then I can look at adding lithium. As the system seems keep up with the fridge and lights (Georgia Strait requires motoring too). The old rigging may be first, in with repaint. One has to put the available funds in the right place in the right order. When I do get a lithium battery, I will get the contactor first even if I run it on an analog comparitor set a bit low for a bit. I would likely run a balancing resister too, perhaps with a relay. Considering the time scales involved, I will change my mind several times ;) +1 for being able to read the full manual before buying. When I worked at the TV station we used do a complete tear down as well to make sure setup was possible/easy and the device was reparable, ENG crews are hard on equipment. (yes this was in the days of tape)

Well done!

Nice idea. I also do like to keep few AGM batteries as a backup, but basically the house and bow batteries are all 12Kw/h LFP. Have not heard you mentioning the LFP (smart) BMS, that if well programmed can do what’s needed for the LFP by using the same chargers and still keep the AGM happy enough. - all my chargers: The Victron Multiplus, Balmar 170A and Solar HPPT are all programmable to the optimum levels supporting all battery needs.

Now this is sweet . I’m currently adding 3840w of solar and (12) 100ah to my 50a rv. And really wanted to be ahead of the curve for completely off grid .

I am in the process of installing the BBMS this weekend. So far so good and I'm looking forward to powering it up, hopefully, on Sunday. I'm putting together a little video of the install and testing so should be fun.

Yay, I want to get rid of my shunt.!

It is in my plans. Definitely, even if all I have is lithium.

I will attempt instal today and tomorrow

Comment for the algo. Looks good, Clark. Hi, Em!

I thought low voltage over charging was going to be an issue so I built protection against it into my BMS but, over time, I have found it actually wasn’t needed. The reason being that, with high voltage charge cutoff at 14v and all charge sources set for lead acid at 14.4-14.7v 14v was achieved at higher than the full charge current. Engine charging of course got it there no problem and, on a good solar day again it is reached at a good current. On a poor solar day the batteries don’t reach that voltage or even close because power is being used or, if it’s borderline and current is dropping then the end of the day happens and charging stops. I ended up commenting out the code. I found that a cut off of 14v was within an amp hour of so of full approximately. Of course it was closer with low current than high current but that is good as it means the batteries aren’t taking high current right up until brim full which I avoid as per cell spec. I often let the lead carry the load from midnight to sunrise and when the relay pulls in in the morning the connecting current is briefly around 20A as the lead are still pretty full and the lithium are a bit depleted from the evening’s use, the difference today was 13.28 to 12.5 and the initial current was 14A. I do very much advocate lithium hybrid as a working setup rather than one that sits idle however if I did need to leave it idle I would simply change the charge disconnect voltage to the 13.1-13.2v area. It’s not a precise as percent but good enough. I find regular cycling makes percent fairly accurate though prolonged periods with a full charge can make it drift though I can adjust efficiency to compensate or do it automatically. I don’t hold with the idea, suggested above somewhere, of letting the battery go down to a certain level before allowing recharge, in the real world we need to take charge as and when it is available and it is one of the main beauties of lithium that we can do that. All that said congratulations on getting your controller to market, I ran out of interest once I had developed mine, the fun was designing and building it and by then batteries were being built with very capable BMS’s that are fully programmable rather than the apologies for BMSs that the original ‘drop in’ (they weren’t) replacements had that would have been wholly unsuited to hybrid.

Clark is such badass.

Yes! You got this 100% correct! I cringe every time I see people abuse-charging LFP batteries to zero current based on voltage. You cannot determine when to stop charging LFPs by voltage alone! Great and perfectly thought out solution. You've got this! LFP BMSs are intended as a last-resort safety system, but none of them in drop-in LFP batteries are capable of terminating charging prior to over-charging the LFP battery because they don't have a charge current cutoff algorithm.

Geez well done Clark. Your new BM looks the bees knees.

Watched the bank manager videos and others from your channel, all worthwile to me. Read a lot of comments and questions. I Have a lead acid battery combiner on board but was unable to figure out how to use it for lithium as well. Won't work safely. Does not sync at voltages, only monitors lead bank and turns connection on or off. Really like the adding lifepo4 concept though. The combiner is not the way to go. So ordered a bank manager. Now subscribed as well. And found other good stuff i had not seen. Thanks.

Nice refinements! Are you looking at adding a data-out option (Serial/BluetoothLE) down the road? Would be a great data source for boat management apps. Adding remote management would be even better, but by then you're going to need a lot more help! Thanks again for all the great videos!

Looks great! Congrats.

Don't pay attention to the impatient among us Clark, I love your detailed explanations and I I believe most who watch your channel agree. I wanted to be sure I'm understanding how to set this up with a mixed lead/lithium system. There are a couple of ways to mix and I want to be sure I understand the limits. Like most boats I have a lead system split by house and start batteries. The house currently consists of two 198 ah West Marine AGMs and one 55 ah West Marine AGM start battery. In the current setup, the start battery has it’s own separate charge controller.I understand that keeping the house start split is one way to go i.e. keep my AGM start battery but replace my house batteries w/ lithium. But, are you saying that you can mix batteries on the house side w/ your BankManager? Can I replace only one of my house batteries? Another thing I am not completely clear on is my charger/inverter. I know my current charger/inverter, a Xantrex Freedom 458 charger/Inverter, cannot charge lithium. But in your videos you repeatedly point out that many lithium capable charger/Inverters don’t really do a very good job of this. What I’m not clear on is if I use your BankManager, can I keep my existing charger/inverter or will I still need to purchase a new one that can charge lithium? I think the answer is that I will need to get a new one but I wanted to confirm that. If I am correct in that, is there a lithium capable charger/inverter you like over others that you are willing to publicly endorse? You may have covered this in other videos I have not seen yet, if so, please feel free to direct me to that. Love the content, thank you for sharing your knowledge, be as longwinded as you like!

Well, will look at me--I'm an early adopter this one time! All it does is work. My daily low is rarely below 13.1 volts running two reefers on a relatively small system. That equates to battery life in the ten year range FOR THE LEAD PORTION OF THE BANK. Sorry for shouting. Water use is negligeable as well. Get one.

I like your Bank Manager idea. I've also been hybridizing lithium batteries with lead acid. The main reason is that the charge controller likes to hold the battery bank at 14.4 volts or higher and lithium iron phosphate batteries don't seem to like or need to be held there. I manually disconnect the lifepo4 at around 13.56 volts and reconnect at sundown when the voltage is near 12.5-12.6. I'm hoping to maximize my investment in the lithium batteries. I wish there were more information so it's neat to see your solution.

Love it! And timely too! Couple questions: 1. Looking at the wire size it looks that the control box could be installed some distance (10ft wire length)from the relay and sensor, correct? 2. Relay and sensor should be close to batteries, correct? 3. The best place for me to install the BBMS is engine room. What is the upper temperature tolerance for your BBMS? KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK GUYS!

I love this concept. I am totally off grid on a large lead acid system, but recently aguired a 500 ah lithium bank that I would love to be able to use. I took the time to read through the instructions and am confident that I could make this system work for me. The bummer came when I went to order and found that there was not a 48 volt contactor. I feel that there is a huge market to tap if you could build a system to handle larger 48 volt systems. If you have plans in that direction I would love to hear about them.

Great….. 👍 another toy for me about to be ordered

The single biggest mistake people make when installing LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries is choosing incorrect charging parameters. Generally speaking, LFP batteries should not be charged from unregulated sources. A proper charge controller is needed. Also, generally speaking, the charge target should be 3.55V/cell (14.2V) and no higher, and should be held for 1-2 hours once reached, and then you drop down to the float voltage of 3.35V/cell to 3.375V/cell (13.4V to 13.5V). Any current taper will take less than 2 hours, but the reason you have to hold the charger target (aka "absorption time" for 1-2 hours is to give the battery's BMS time to balance the cells internally. If you do not give it at least an hour, the battery will likely not be able to balance its cells and you will wind up stressing it more instead of less, as well as cause it to cut-off charging at lower and lower voltages as individual cells over-volt. The balancer in most BMS's can only do between 50mA and 1A, so a few minutes of hold time will balance buckus. When charging from an alternator, you really need a charge controller in-between the alternator and the battery. There are plenty of charge controllers designed for this purpose (designed for charging RV house batteries while the engine is on, for example). * Charge target 3.55V/cell (14.2V). Some LFP battery vendors don't know WTF they are doing and spec higher, and even program the battery's BMS's to require higher in order to balance... sometimes right up to the BMS cut-off, which is stupid. Yell at the cheap brand until they get it right. * Absorption voltage same as charge target. * Absorption time 1-2 hours. * NO CURRENT TAIL SETTING. Do not cut-off the absorption early when current tails off, the battery usually needs a bit more time than that to balance properly. * NO EQUALIZATION. LFP batteries don't need it and it will over-volt the battery anyway. Plus you don't want to regularly trigger the BMS's voltage protection if you can help it. * Float setting 3.35V to 3.375V (13.4V to 13.5V). Indefinite hold for load-support is ok if there are cycling loads on the system. -- Other misnomers that need a bit of clarification: * It is ok if you are unable to fully charge the battery on every cycle. As long as it is in good balance, it will be fine. LFP batteries can usually hold their balance for a few months. * Once charged, it is ok to hold the float voltage indefinitely. That is, 3.35V to 3.375V (13.4V to 13.5V). This will provide load support while leaving the battery at 95%+ SOC. But can this over-charge the battery? The answer is basically "no", but with some provisios. (a) If you have any load at all, such as a fridge or water heater, the battery will discharge slightly while being held in float and will not overcharge. (b) If leaving the boat for long periods of time with zero loads, disconnecting the battery is still a good idea. (c) LiFepO4 batteries can be held at a proper float voltage for a very, very long time without causing issues, even with low loads. Weeks. * It is ok if you are unable to charge to 100%, but charging parameters should always be set to charge the battery to 100%. The battery will remain in balance for months on its own. In the same vein, it is also perfectly fine to charge the battery to 100% every single day. * The BMS cut-off is typically at 3.65V/cell, which is why charging targets are typically slightly lower at 3.55V/cell. Any charge target above 3.40V/cell will fully charge the battery, eventually, but perhaps too slowly for what people expect. Also, it usually takes at least 3.55V/cell for the battery's balancer to run reliably. THIS IS WHY THE CHARGE TARGET SHOULD ALWAYS BE AT LEAST 3.55V/CELL (14.2V). -- Solutions for alternator over-volting on BMS cut-off: * Don't connect an unregulated alternator directly to a LiFePO4 battery, ever. Period. End of story. Don't do it. The BMS only protects from over-volting, it does not protect the battery from over-charging. Always have a charger controller in-between the two. * You can put more than one LiFePO4 battery in parallel, massively reducing the issue. Now an early BMS cut-off of one battery still leaves the other in the circuit. You still have to set the charging parameters correctly so the batteries don't cut-off on pack-over-voltage. * You can add an industrial 18V zener or MOV circuit into the fray, run through a PTC heater or 100W 1 ohm resistor, plus a slow-blow 12A fuse in series. This is more DIY and requires testing, but should work as a solution. Requires testing though, YMMV. * Ok, putting LEAD in parallel works too, but its massively mismatched and you won't be able to maintain the LEAD battery properly (no equalization, for example... though even a dead lead acid battery will still provide the necessary protection). I dunno. I'm not a fan of this solution because I far prefer running a higher house voltage of 24V or 48V. -Matt

My apology for not finding the correct place to post this question on lithium battery chargers: : First many thanks for your Masterclass series. In your series you discussed the the importance that the charger matches the chemistry of the battery and added many? being sold don't measure up. Although I'm a low budget recreational boater whose battery will be in storage the vast majority of the time I'm looking for a decent quality charger and willing to pay. Can you help? PS: The 12V 100 Ah Redodo "Mini" battery I plan to buy only weighs 19 lbs. It will replace a 60 lb. Deka and a 36 lb. Mighty Max used for the TMs in my small Key West and smaller Gheenoe. This is a real game changer as I can get rid of those heavyweights and easily move the Redodo 19 pounder from boat to boat as needed.

I guess I am one of the first 100. Mine has been working great for about a year at my off-grid cabin. It handles my 330 Ah of lead (only a couple of years old) and 200 Ah of a newer server rack battery operating at 24v. I charge with solar via two Morningstar chargers (60 amp mppt and 45 amp pwm), and a wind turbine. My lead is babied and the lifepo4 does most of the work, until the lead is needed, which it is when I use lots of power tools, when it's super cold here on the great plains, or when there is a lot of wind and the turbine needs the lead to keep it operating properly. This has been a very excellent solution at my place, and it works as I'd hoped. I am very pleased, but wonder if the newer version would be worth me upgrading at this point? Mine works perfectly.

Clark, I'm really liking how this project is evolving. The thought came to me last night - adding another uProcessor for CANBUS data. You could have ethernet ports on the box. This would reach a wider market with the display info data via a cross over cable to communicate with Victron Cerbo GX Hardware, and have this available on the GX 50 display.

Hi Interesting video Clark. I had read & seen different videos that did elude to what you are talking about here but it all seemed to me rather incomplete. I live in Australia. I am interested in you BBMS. I recently bought a 200 amp hour lithium & a range of other bits including a shunt, & a DC to DC charger. A budget system but I tried not to spend too cheap. I am new to lithium. I have always been interested in sailing but I am not yet in a potion where I can embark on it. I do sea kayak though but I guess that kind of does not count :0) So I have not installed my system yet, being new to lithium I am a little nervous that I might mess it up. So I have come for a dual lead acid set up (Calcium), one a starting battery & the other a deep cycle with a switching solenoid & connected to solar. I installed it myself on my 4wd. It ran ok for a number of years. My requirements were not huge. I mainly used it to run a travel fridge. But the deep cycle did not last long & did not perform great. I would like to understand how your BBMS works with the DC to DC controller, I imagine I would still need one - no doubt I am showing my ignorance there. The shunt is a Victron, which is BT enabled. The DC to DC is a 25amp Intervolt. I am running a 4.2 litre cast iron block V8, a chev equivalent 1970 vintage. I recently upgraded the alternator from a 55 amp to a 140amp. Apart from a new 95lt dual zone fridge & charging of devices,I am minimal on taking devices with me when touring & camping. I do have a whinch which sees occasional use but I don't imagine it factors big so long as I am running the engine while using it. I have a 110 w solar panel to add to the pending install. Will probably add another 100w panel @ some stage.

As you know, I'm buying a set up …as soon as (guess watt) 😉

Hi Clark, another great video. Thanks for the detailed talk through the system. Did you encounter any difficulties with CE certification for the EU?

Sorry if I missed this. Is there a reason to have lead acid batteries in a system rather than a 100% lithium system on a 28' blue water sailboat? My biggest draw is the starter on a 2022 Merc 9.9 4 stroke outboard. I will eventually add an electric windlass. Everything else is pretty low amps. Solar charging with the outboard as a backup.

Thanks! Great video Question about charging sources. Can I keep my alternator and battery charger set for lead acid and use my solar for the lithium battery?

This seems to be exactly what I would have had when I changed my house bank to lithium last year. Now I almost want to redo the installation and insert a lead battery as well. Does it matter if the lead battery is acid or gel?

Hello Clark, I think your creativity and solution elegance is great. Congratulations. I am, however, curious about a few things that maybe you or your followers can elucidate me on: 1. I find it paradoxical that LFP batteries can accept a very large charge current, but actually have a 'limited' discharge current whereas AGM batteries offer a very large discharge current (think windlass) but much less of a charge acceptance current. I would be grateful to anyone with an electrochemistry background for a layman's explanation. 2. In a combined Li & Pb set up can one think of the Pb AGM as a kind or inductor? I.e. a sink for excess current (once the Li batteries are fully charged)? 3. Many sailors will charge their batteries via their diesel engines. Diesels have an optimal RPM and load where they operate most efficiently (least inefficiently?). Is there a formula where given a diesel engine output, what combination of Li charge acceptance rate (~30% of Li amperage?) & alternator output efficiently (RPMs & output rating) matches the specified engine? 4. Lastly, are there plans to allow the BBM to regulate the alternator's output current either by current and/or temperature? Many thanks. Kieran

👍!!!

Are you looking into getting the device CSA approved? Thanks for the great videos you two, and for developing the Bank Manager.

Dumb question incoming! When you say lead in the system do you mean lead in the house bank system or are you saying connect them all starter battery, lead house battery and lithium house battery into one big system. If the latter is not the case where does the battery chargering devices (for example a mppts, victron multiplus 2 and say a big alternator ) fit into the system. (If this is too much of a specific question, no worries.) Anyway continue the amazing videos you should be proud of what you are doing, it is most appreciated.

Looks like a great product; however, I read that when LiPo batteries are used alone with an alternator, when the batteries disconnect, the alternator could create very high voltage on the circuit, possibly damaging other components around the boat, and that the alternator may overheat at low RPM. Does this circuit solve these issues? Does the lead battery stay connected to the circuit to allow the alternator to work correctly?

Seems like a good solution for a problem I’ve yet to see addressed, what happens when the BMS open circuits on a mppt controller? If that were to happen, the mppt would be damaged but the HV solar with no battery.

I just run a lead battery for my starter. Lithium for everything else. I have 2 more lead batteries onboard that we keep charges with a panel. All other batteries are the latest and greatest.

Could you explain how to choose between the Class T fuse and the HRC fuse like NT00? For the main fuse of a lithium battery, feeding an inverter.

No one’s using Ni-CAD but I’m using 3 huge NI-Mh out of a 07 impala hybrid wired in parallel at 12v

Wow! Thanks! I have a problem of a different nature and was hoping you'd spend 1 minute describing how to add mixed capacity cells to an existing system. Do Batteries must be made by the same company? I have 320 A/H and wish to add more. This is for the Revel. Can I add any amount of battery I choose? My system says it is expandable by 1 more battery. Thank You! Steve

I am enjoying all of your videos and have gleaned much information from them. With that said I'm just getting started and am wondering if this only works with the solar side of charging? or can it be used on the charge side of an inverter charger? I am in an RV and have 600ah of 2 yr old lead and am wanting to add 400-600ah of Lithium.

Love the videos I am looking for a build kit for your air conditioner or at least a parts list. Is there a place available where I can buy this?

Will bank manager work with a smart alternator and lfp ?

if you have a bank manager tying lead and lithium together in a house bank on a sailboat and the house bank is connected to the boats alternator am i going to smoke the alternator because the lithium will take all the charge the alternator can produce or will the bank manager protect the alternator. thanks blair wallace

Maybe BMS manufactures need to do more than just cell balance! But I agree and have experienced that holding the LifePO4 batteries at 13.6 (documented max voltage) will ruin them.

Would a latching relay work in place of the contactor? No quiescent current with the latching relay, correct? Otherwise great product description.

So it is doing a little more than what a good bluetooth adjustable BMS is supposed to do.

It’s for the space shuttle Ithink

I have solar on my boat charging lithium. I have an alternator charging lead. I've also installed ACR that's supposed to combine lithium and lead when it senses charging voltage. I'm not a liveaboard and I rarely need to charge lithium from the alternator. It sounds like I should either add a manual bypass or ditch the ACR and install your BBMS?

I am not a boat owner as a start point. I am an RV owner who has 210amp hours of AGM in a bank that is 4 years old. I have just order a 200amp 12v lithium from Amazon with good reviews. We run very little AC conversion just the basics in the camper are used. We never run AC or microwave off the bank. I am wondering how hard the install of your bank manager is in a small camper and could I keep the current agm's and find a new space for the lithium using your product? I am not an electrician but am not afraid of following directions. ANy insight would be helpful. The current solar and convertor are lithium compatible according to what I have read.

OFF TOPIC (but not really): Do any of the sloop-mounted (or even bigger boats) wind generators really work to charge your cabin batteries? Is there any generators in land-based off-grid solar that actually work? I have an off-grid house where it is often windy at night and I would like to capture some energy from that wind.

Hi Clark, much to my surprise, my first comment is a completely non-technical question. What is the lead time between ordering the bank manager and the device being shipped? We're currently at a marina in St. Augustine, FL. but will be leaving in a few weeks to head north. Love the technical videos!

Could this work with my RV system and a high power alternator?

As an electronics tech I have to ask: if my alternator (Balmar overheat protected) is charging the lithium and the AGM on the boat, when the contacter will open , it will generate a self effect meaning a transient voltage on the circuit. Will the AGM battery absorb it and be able to protect the diodes of the alternator. I ask because I always thought a lead battery will not be able to absorb that sudden rise of energy.

😮 a version 2? I got the first one when It got released my setup is kinda though because I have the owl max 2 from big battery and it instead of terminals it has an Anderson connector the plugs in the batter and has terminal rings on the other that connects to bus bars and as the lead it's the renogy 100amp hybrid gel 😅 I had to connect everything to the bus bars and wasn't 100% sure if the bbms was gonna like that or the hybrid gel but it hasn't failed yet 🤞🤞🤞but now I might get the version 2 seems like it has been improving a lot 😮 I just checked out the new bank manager and the user manual I know my system is kinda like a one off but it would nice to have some diagram as reassuring 😅😅😅

I would love to try your device when can you ship to Australia

So how do you set your chargers, for Lithium or for lead?

Currently I have a DC-DC charger between my lead acid and lithium to protect the 100A lithium BMS from high surge currents from windlass, electric winch and 2kw inverter (these loads are connected to the lead acid batt). Two solar panels have dedicated Victron controllers each, programmed for default lithium in the settings. If I go with a BBMS will I need to remove the DC-DC charger, and if so would I be (once again) placing my lithium BMS in danger from high current spikes from the windlass etc.?

What if you have a mix of batteries and would like to add lithium. I have AGM, lead and a mix of standard and deep cycles. Are any of these not compatible with the bank manager?

Can I use with my inverter / charger, UPS/ATS ?

Clark, I wondered what you set the EPEVER MPPT solar charge controller to for "type of battery". I am adding a solar panel and liP04 battery to a lead acid existing system. Should I set it to "FLD" for the current batteries? Or does it matter? I think I understand the BBMS will take whatever is coming from alternator, solar charge controller, or battery charger and manage the lithium properly. So it stands to reason the solar charger should be set for the lead acid. Correct?

well done now you have another lithium titanate to try a new form if huge ammounts of second life cells apear!!!! would love to see some BIg 2volt lead acid combined with 2.4 lithium titanate that cycle at least 10.000 mOre cycles!!!! ..

what happens when the circular Amp sensor fails? shutdown, fire or alternator destruction?

I have 2 regular lead acid start batteries and 2 agm 108 hr house batteries, will this help?

I have a lithium system at my cabin supplied by solar. I also have a micro hydro backup that I would like to add in but that would create the micro charging problem that kills lithium. If this works can you direct me to the post of how to set it up? Thanks

Could you show a connection diagram which shows an alternator, solar panels, via a split charge relay and solar controller. I'd like to do this for my VW bus

Can your Bank Manager be incorporated in car audio setup?

What I want to know is HOW that hall effect choke affects your power. I can’t find any specs, and I don’t want to just invent numbers; I have a feeling that it’s affecting things more than high-quality shunt would, particularly in the presence of other magnetic fields, or massive aurora borealis! 😉

Hello Clark, will my alternator 12v 90A be destroyed when charging through the high current flow or is there a restriction build in? Best greetings from Austria Adi

Hello! For sistems that have 24 / 48 volts, some recomandations?

So two years ago I started my off-grid lifestyle living off lithium, like most I started with 300 amp-hour deep-cycle lead-acid and found that not to be suitable made a big investment into lithium and always wanted to figure out a way to use the batteries that I did buy in my system I definitely am going to place an order for this because this is just a no-brainer and I can add another 900 ah of lead acid to my 1300 ah lithium Bank One question I do have is, is it critical to have a bigger lead than lithium or bigger lithium to lead or does that not really matter with this bank manager ?

Would this work to add li to a UPS system.

Will the bank manager work with my system, which is GEL batteries, if I add lithium batteries?

Does it have a balancing function?

How does the BBMS solve the problem of the alternator running at max output when the contactor has the Lithium batteries connected? Do I also need to install some sort of "smart" alternator regulator? Say both batteries are full and connected at 13.6 (3.4V per Li cell). I run loads all night and the voltage gradually drops. Now my lead is at full and resting at 12.8V, but my lithium is nearly empty at 12.8V (3.2V per cell), the sun is down and the engine is off, the two batteries are connected. Now just before dawn I start my engine and the old-school voltage regulator tries to ramp up to 14.4V. The lithium happily accepts as much current as the alternator can supply since it is nearly empty. Now the alternator field is fully energized trying to output 14.4V, which it won't be able to do until the lithium charges to nearly full. The alternator now gets really hot running at full bore until the lithium is nearly full.

Totally off topic... As a musician, I use amplifiers, I hate moving them around and of course on a boat there is not much room. I think you guys probably have all the gear you need (notice I did not say "want"... there is a PRS DGT with my name on it somewhere). However for future reference there are some really nice and tiny amps (4.13x3.35x1.18in) with high output (100w, peek to 300w) that are quite cheap and they run on boat power (12 to 24v so 12v system safe). Gotta love class D amps. I have been using a tech21 triod into various amps for years but I put it through an old radio shack 100w amp into a 12in speaker (I know not boat friendly) and got "that sound". It seems that big speaker was the missing link and I can live without an over expensive and heavy valve amp. Unfortunately, that old amp needs a recap.... it sounds like breakfast cooking in the morning, and the caps alone would probably cost as much as the new little class D amp (< 50). So if you ever have an amp fail, it may be worth remembering. Look for subwoofer amps (single channel and have a full range switch) on the big A site.

Would imagine this would work in conjunction with a start battery. The Alternator is always connected to the Lead, so worries if a load dump occurs.

Clark, my wife say's I can't sit on bar stools anymore, I always seem to talk to the girls and not the guys. I take it that a Trombetta contactor would work, only because I already have one. Looks like a cool thing. I do have a question though. Will this work with an autostart for a generator? Specifically a Cummins autostart. I'll have to convince my wife we need one (that happy wife thing) but that should come at some point. Keep the good stuff coming.

Link please to buy your bank manager

I want one for my off grid place. Im not a boat owner but i need this product. I looked at the more place on my phone screen but didnt see a link to buy it. How can i get this from yall?? Help please