The QSO Battery Active Balancer Upgrade. And how a tiny switch makes a simple task impossible!

Рет қаралды 19,844

Жыл бұрын

One of my complaints about the QSO battery was, that the cells were not top balanced when it was delivered. The BMS turned off charging at around 55V and prevented the internal balancer from doings its job (balance start voltage is set to 3.45V which is 55.2V pack voltage).
In the last video ( • Manual Top Balancing o... ), we tried to manually balance the battery using light bulbs and a power supply to either discharge cells with higher voltage or charge cells with lower voltage. That works but is a daunting and repetitive job!
So, here comes the first upgrade of the QSO battery and we will install an active balancer which will perfectly and automatically top balance all 16 cells. We're also going to install a manual switch to turn this balancer on if needed. As we know from many tests we have done with these balancers, it should not let it run all the time because it will create an imbalance if the battery is not on a higher voltage and almost fully charged.
I almost gave up on installing this switch and I had to overcome some problems with the little, tiny switch...
I also need someone's help who has a 3D printer. More about this at the end of the video.
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Пікірлер: 311

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

OK, OK, OK, I have now a few people offering help with the 3D printing. Thanks everyone for getting in touch!

@1over137 Жыл бұрын

Caution on material. PLA softens and melts at >50*C. I might be worth looking into a high temp plastic like ABS for electrical stuff which could get hot.

@norbert1487 Жыл бұрын

Hallo Andy... ich wußte es nicht, Bbis zu diesem Moment deiner Lieben Worte. Evtl ist das auch der Grund das ich dich mit meinem Baggerloch Englisch verstehe. Vielen Dank für deine tollen Videos.. ❤👍

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Danke Dir! Hab noch zwei deutsche Kanaele. Link in der Beschreibung.

@trevortrevortsr2 Жыл бұрын

The start of this post made me smile so much

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Nice!

@SkypowerwithKarl Жыл бұрын

Hey Andy. Over on the Diysolar forum there’s a thread titled “Active balancer, make it smart”. In the more recent threads they’ve mentioned some really nice little voltage controls for turning on the Heltec so you don’t need to intervene to start balance manually.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Yes, seen that partly, thanks. If we only had a solution for 48V system. I'll see if I can Hankzor to provide a small voltage relay for our needs as an additional device to turn on the balancer. They exist for 12V/24V systems but not 48V.

@1over137 Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Those parts exist. They are called voltage supervisors. You give them a voltage which might vary and they only connect it when it reaches a certain level and disconnects it if it drops below that level again. Used to prevent "brown out crashes" on microcontrollers there is no reason they can't drive a mosfet to close the "RUN pads" on the balancer

@dustins4194 Жыл бұрын

@@1over137 this sounds amazing. Do you have one you trust?

@mattr8202 Жыл бұрын

German swearing part definitely the best part, no idea what he says but it’s perfect 👌🏼

@chuxxsss Жыл бұрын

Nice sunny day here for the long weekend. I finish the bathroom. I will soon be back doing my wonderful batteries. 😢 Unless my wife wants more. I remember arcing out a Leopold tank battery when working on it. Welding the tools circle part together. lol, big spark, I was 32 years old then.

@grubboy3514 Жыл бұрын

Loved the German swearing at the end Andy 🤣🤣🤣

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Needs to happen sometimes to make things work! 😂

@keithcress1335 Жыл бұрын

Breaker! Breaker! Breaker! Breaker! Breaker! There's 5 votes for the breaker Andy! LOL I'd do the breaker right thru the top in that big space next to the balancer.. It should be easy there as both the battery cables are crazy long and could land on the breaker. Heck, you will need to crimp new ends on, so you could even cut the cables leaving the existing ends as the sides going to the battery. Essentially, just cut the cables where they pass the top mounted breaker. Oh yeah.. The BMS battery sense leads would still be connected... So just single pole it. Never understood why both were needed anyway. One will stop any energy leaving the battery.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks, Keith. How can I decline 5 votes for a breaker solution? 😂 We cannot use these cables though as the breaker would sits between the battery and BMS which can cause massive problems. Imaging the breaker is off but all balance cables are still connected and we also have a common ground through the comms cable to another battery.

@michelnaunidda4912 Жыл бұрын

15:40 🤣🤣 the Schalter is on the ass, leider geil mein lieber

@klassichd10 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this episode. In great danger or anger the native language dominates. I am not sure, if this switch will really remain operational. Using tuinner cables makes it easier to handle these kind of switches.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

The switch was old and faulty, came apart. The new one is solid💪

@Carsten-PV-DIY Жыл бұрын

Thanks Andy for sharing your idea and experience as an improvement for the manufacturer. Good night from Hamburg. 😎😉☺

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Working on an automated solution for the balancer now.

@edwardvanhazendonk Жыл бұрын

As you always advertise, safety first. So I would go for a fuse inside and attach the breaker outside the box, as you have done with your other packs. Thanks for sharing Andy, you see how an decission of a manufacurer keeps you busy for weeks. QSO should have watched a few of your videos, and act accoringly. Then they would have a great accu with BMS which could be used with lot's of applications. Just my €0.02 😀🤔

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

It's not that hard to build a good battery if they would just check what is out there on the market and the concerns people have. Take this all onboard and you make the perfect battery and BMS.

@kingjnr2677 Жыл бұрын

Hi Andy, love the videos. I installed a service disconnect with 100a built in fuse between the two battery banks where you have the link. Not the cheapest option but felt it was worth it for my setup. I also placed a 2pole dc breaker on the main outlet. Keep up the good work!👍🏻

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks, James. Do you think the BMS will freak out if you disconnect the two battery strings? I'm concerned that there might be some serious current going through the balance cables because the main current path is now interrupted.

@kingjnr2677 Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Hi Andy, not sure what would happen. Maybe a new test for you to try!🫣😁I plan only to use the service disconnect in an emergency as anyone can remove it without any tools but would definitely be interested in what would happen to the bms when it is removed.

@keyem4504 Жыл бұрын

Nice build. It's no fun of everything works from the beginning. 😜 Before you put in any breakers you should consider the communication cables. They might be connected to battery negative. And you probably don't want them to carry the whole load that triggered the breaker. That's why I stopped fusing the negative, only the positive gets a breaker/fuse. Replacing the bridge probably is fine but the 2 pole breaker could be problematic, depending on where you put it.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Hmmm, that's a good point. I also bought single pole breakers, so...

@markbrettnell3503 Жыл бұрын

I love it!! when all else fails, swear at it. seems to do something helpful🤣🤣🤣👍👍👍

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

It again worked 😁

@matthiasjoseph Жыл бұрын

Harte deutsche Worte, mein lieber Scholli! Hätte mich aber auch gefuchst. Ach ja, ich spreche mich für den Sicherungsautomat aus! Danke für die unterhaltsame Show!

@yuanitatamrin5118 Жыл бұрын

great idea andy, I'm from Indonesia really like your videos

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot. All the best to Indonesia!

@yuanitatamrin5118 Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia thank you sir, greetings from fellow sun activists... and warm greetings to your family from Indonesia 👍🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

@stanislavmlcuch2085 Жыл бұрын

Andy you have plenty of space on the top of the case, so I think enough for install Mega Fuse holder or ANL fuse holder or knife-blade cartridge fuse or ferrule fuse with proper holder. I cannot recomend to use chines DC breaker, because I dont trust them at all. Rather use MCCB breaker .

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

But the whole battery is made in China. Should I trust the welding, the cables, the BMS? Where to start? The fuse down where the link is, can be the ANL fuse. Why would you think a separate holder would be necessary?

@stanislavmlcuch2085 Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia I saw few chines DC breaker burned down. 10x triped without any problem but on 11 took a fire. So I would rather use some kind of fuse (anl, mega, ferrule, knife) + battery switch for isolation, like you had it on battery 1.0. But this is just my humble opinion. 🙂

@rowton85si Жыл бұрын

Finde deine Videos einfach Klasse, weiter so. 👍

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@benengelbrecht5637 Жыл бұрын

Hi Andy, Greetings from South Africa. My vote is for the fuse....

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks Ben!

@PlexMulti Жыл бұрын

Haha 😂 very funny We enjoy always andy!

@GapRecordingsNamibia Жыл бұрын

Hey Andy, The only thing I might caution against with the double pole circuit breaker is where you electrically locate it. If you opt to do it before the BMS you could run the risk of having current inadvertently flowing through the comms ground plain on the BMS that might not end well, putting the breaker after the BMS might prove to be electrically a more sound location. If you use a single pole breaker just putting it on the positive will not be an issue, I have heard of very funny things happening to BMS mostly failing or mosfets being blown apart when using a double pole breaker ahead of the BMS to break the connection ahead of the BMS thereby wanting to be able to "Isolate" the BMS from the battery, it does not end well, using it after though I do not think will electrically interfere with the BMS.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Well, there are two ways of doing it, One works, one doesn't and causes issues as you described. The right way is to install the double breaker is just before the terminal output of the battery box which will leave the BMS fully connected to the battery if the breaker is off. It may leave the negative connected to other batteries of the system through the comms cable but because the positive is fully disconnected as well, there is no path. What we cannot do is installing the breaker between battery and BMS because it isolates the BMS but leaves the balance cable connected which still carry the battery voltage. I guess this is where the stories are coming from when people did this the wrong way. It'll come soon in a future video... 😉

@Razza2250 Жыл бұрын

An idea, Andy. You could turn the balancer on/off using the dry contact relay on a inverter or charge controller instead of a manual switch. Configure the dry contact to close only when battery is above 55v and open once it drops below 54V, for example. You would have completely automatic cell-balancing that only operates when it is appropriate

@GapRecordingsNamibia Жыл бұрын

I would second that, but, it would depend on if he has access to the settings of the relay, I know he has the password for the BMS QSO gave it to him, but, if someone else wants to replicate that would they give them the password as well. Remember, they locked down the BMS so that it could not be altered and Andy has been asked to NOT give out the password. But I would slso like that because then you do not have to do all that drilling....

@grahampahl7100 Жыл бұрын

@@GapRecordingsNamibia I think Mr D is referring to using a contact on a Victron MPPT charge controller or an inverter connected to the battery. Its a good idea IMHO.

@charlesvrogers Жыл бұрын

Hi, use the fuse, and the braker. Try the 5 and dime store for cutting board to mount the cell balancer . Have fun ANDY.

@Slavomir-1977 Жыл бұрын

I had a lot of fun. Great video.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@sirmonsterle Жыл бұрын

Hi Andy, you probably should also have the grips of the whole box turned around with this modification work 😉

@lnxpro Жыл бұрын

Why not both? internal fuse for disaster scenarios, 200A or so. and the external DC breaker to turn off the battery if needed.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Good point!

@theenergyoflife5722 Жыл бұрын

Дякую тобі за такі відео! Дуже все позитивне. Технічно грамотний фахівець. ❤

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks, I guess...

@1301markus Жыл бұрын

Jetzt musste ich wirklich lachen! Ich sehe Deinen Kanal sehr gerne und dachte mir immer: Irgendwie hört sich das wie ein deutscher Akzent an, aber was weiß ich. Nun Dein Schimpfen im Abspann: Habe so gelacht. Also viele Grüße aus Franken to sunny hot Australia.

@JN-ou9ws Жыл бұрын

Hi Andy, I vote for the breaker.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Cool, thanks

@wayne8113 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Andy, Fuse & breaker because you can 😀👍

@amilww Жыл бұрын

Awesome Andy! My feeling is to go with the breaker instead of the fuse. You may also try a single-pole breaker due to space constraints. Why on earth you need such a high-guage wires between the swtich and the balancer?

@55sunturbine30 Жыл бұрын

A Hall effect current sensor module could be used to control a relay that then turns on or off the active balancer

@solexxx8588 Жыл бұрын

I use these on 5 X DIY SPIM08HP 48 volt/2.5 kWh batteries and wired them on a seperate wire harness to the battery cells. I also put a micro-switch on each of the active balancers. I only turn them on when the batteries are fully charged. I don't think grafting them into the BMS leads is a good idea because I was concerned about crosstalk between the balancers and the BMS. They do keep my 5 batteries balanced within 0.005 milliamps and the first capacity test was 13kWh, 1/2 kW above the rating for the batteries. You may have fried the balance board when soldering on the switch. I had one fail and replacing the switch didn't help. There are tiny surface mount components on the other side of the board from the switch pads. Heltec should supply these balancers with the switch wires already mounted with a plug/jumper that you can replace with a microswitch.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Balancer is working fine. They always spark when connecting. The third switch did the trick. I had some really old gear in my DIY box apparently.

@solexxx8588 Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia That's good. Perhaps I just got one bad board or applied too much heat when i soldered on the leads. Cheers!

@ssoffshore5111 Жыл бұрын

We all feel your pain going through all that work, only to find out a part was faulty... It's happened to all of us. I once spend two full days replacing a turbo on a Porsche 944 Turbo decades ago, only to find out the aftermarket turbo was NG (and a replacement was weeks away). Lots of German swearing came out of my mouth too, and I don't even speak German! 🤣

@john_in_phoenix Жыл бұрын

As soon as you started talking about the link between the two banks, what happened when Will played with one lept to mind. Magic smoke was released (Will was using it with two 24v BMS, and it smoked when one disconnected). Odd that I have never needed an active balancer too. As an FYI, the pink plastic bubble wrap should be anti-static, however that just means it has a high resistance (not low resistance or infinite resistance). That BMS is not something that I would keep (or trust). The cells seem fine, but I am not a fan of stacking cells on their sides.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Yeah, the link is not a good spot for a fuse at it lets the BMS half connected and could damage it... I measured the bubble wrap with infinite Ohms. Yeah, the BMS is not great, even it looks similar to the Seplos, it is not...

@clarencewiles963 Жыл бұрын

Thumbs up 👍 So you got switched off good night!

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

😴

@mflo1970 Жыл бұрын

Andy yo le quitaba el balanceador tipo seplos que lleva y le ponía como las tuyas caseras que las has montado y no te Dan problemas un saludo

@petertrebing6875 Жыл бұрын

Guten Abend Andy, es war wohl nicht der Schalter, sondern es hat den Balancer gegrillt?! Da war doch ein Funke… das ist mir auch schon mit einem passiert (4s Modell). Ich habe grad ‚Anne Will‘ I’m Ersten wegen dir verpasst - Herrgott Dunnerkeil Nochemo!! Best, Peter

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

There is always a spark when connecting the balancers when it charges the capacitors. Balancer works fine now with another switch.

@alankinrade5955 Жыл бұрын

Hi Andy, love the videos, but you have not made the one I’m waiting for 😢. I would love to see the second Multiplus II being installed and configured. When???

@TG-zt6ms Жыл бұрын

I am using a microcontroller reading the min/max cell values from the BMS and activating the balancer when one cell reaches top level value. It turns off the balancer when cell difference falls under a certain value.

@FutureSystem738 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Andy, big 👍👍 When you said via overlaid text that the nightmare started, for a second I thought that the whole system was broken. So very glad it was only a faulty switch, (even though that was a pain in the backside). I’m not sure of the advantage of a double pole breaker? I’ve only gone single pole (plus a fuse) …. do you think that’s an issue at all?

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Not a problem at all, Dave. A single pole breaker will perfectly do. I just like to be safe and disconnect both.

@tiborchren Жыл бұрын

Andy, Could you please give your recommended numbers for active balancing and your experiences of using them. When to start balancing? What is the maximum differential between cells that is already OK and does not need active balancing? How often have you used active balancer on 2.0 battery packs, especially with JK BMS? Which active 16s balancer do you recommend, Heltec or Neeey-4th gen? With the Neeey-4th gen I like the smart options and just need to set it up and eventually monitoring with Heltec it needs to be manually turned on and off. Thank you for the answers in advance.

@inmyimage1081 Жыл бұрын

go back through his prior videos as he has done several specifically about balancing including his recommendations. He prefers Heltec for their dead simple functionality and cost but really likes the Neey for its control but given the cost you should have noticed him mention the Neey in this video and either the prior video or one before that but even so he put a heltec in there.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

OK, that's a lot of questions. I'll pack the answer in a video soon. Might be easier. Thanks for the suggestion.

@acinfla9615 Жыл бұрын

It’s a labor of love! Great video Andy 👍 The only German that I know is good-n-tight Not sure what it means but a German girl I used to date taught it to me 😂😂😂

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Hahahahaha 😂

@davidchester1612 Жыл бұрын

Andy, rather than have to wait for someone to 3D print and ship a tray for the balancer, head off to Bunnings and get the Moroday 450 x 3mm x 3m Black Self Adhesive Eva Roll (I/N: 4000085), cut a bit the size of the back and stick on. Alternate if you want something more local sourced, got to the kitchen, grab a plastic cutting board or silicone baking mat, cut to size, and presto, another chance to have a SPAT with the wife. If your less game, a new large size cutting board or silicone baking mat from a local hardware or home-ware store would also work. Another one is if your bench cutting mat is looking a bit used, buy a new one and cut up the old one, the grid lines make it really easy to get it neat looking. There is no need to stick the sheet you use to the back as the 4 bolts will hold them in place, after you have your backing sheet matched up to the balancer run a drill bit through the holes to clear them out before bolting in place. Previously when mounting the 4s sized ones, in one case I didn't use any backing but used the hex shaped stand-offs that are used in PCs to hold the the motherboard away from the case, another time I used longer bolts with a number of nuts to provide spacing, but have found cutting backing from silicone baking mat was just easier, now using the stick on 3mm EVA foam after I got a roll of it to use between cells.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks Dave. I have everything you mentioned in my garage. But I want a tray! 😎

@laurentsantaibambu7324 Жыл бұрын

Hi Andy, And thanks again for this video, it's more and more fun!! Why don't you use the NEYYYY?? you can adjust the desired voltage to start and stop the balancing?? (4A) A switch??? each time, you will need to manage the switch? and if switch breaks down you have to open the battery again?? Concerning the Breaker, but a Unipole on the Positive only. (the fuse at the junction of the 2 packs, for me it's not good?? and still open the battery again if problem??) Have fun Andy, and thanks for sharing.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

I have several of these battery cases and would need to buy a few NEEYs. I also want to show what options we have to install an active balancer. The NEEY is like a Batrium BMS. It will just work. That's not what the channel is about. As you know. Yeah, the breaker needs to be single pole only if we leave the communication plugged in. There could be a massive current going through the LAN cable in case the breaker opens. Breaker and fuse should never trigger though, so if it is hard to get to it, it does not matter. We don't need them on a daily base, right?😉

@jameshancock Жыл бұрын

What I’ve done with an active balancer is use a esp32 that is connected to rer485 to the bms and then write a esphome script that when the battery reaches 3.42v turn on a pin that shorts through the switch pins on the active balancer (some don’t have anything hooked up but they now all of the solder joints) using a relay. And on the way down it active balances below 3v. That way it’s all automatic. And with a jk you can pipe it all into home assistant to see everything that’s in the app. Would be really nice if the bms companies would put a balance trigger port on them and do bottom and top triggering then we could easily hook these up and have the bms do the work which is how it should be.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

That sounds complicated...

@jameshancock Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia really isn’t. The work is all done. Ids just a script that says “when max voltage of cells > 3.42 or min < 3.0 turn on. Switch. Like 4 lines. But yes it would be way better if bmses that don’t do high amp active balancing just had a trigger port that was programmable.

@charlesaec442 Жыл бұрын

If you know what you're doing, that Swiss is very important for that balance.👍

@frankbierschneider8785 Жыл бұрын

Großartig - endlich mal normale Leute! ❤ Da musste ich erstmal 4 Bier, also OeTTINGER für Spenden! 🍻🍻 Es muss mehr (auf Deutsch) geflucht werden! 😘

@douglasmorris8364 Жыл бұрын

My grandmother was German and she used to rage at us kids in her native language when we naughty. Of course that made us laugh and made her even more angry. That was nearly 60 years ago

@OffGridGarageAustralia 11 ай бұрын

Hehehe, I do the same when I yell at the neighbour 😂

@jamesdemes146 Жыл бұрын

The fuse between cells 8 and 9 will, over time, cause more cell imbalance than the factory bus bar because it's resistance is greater then the resistance of the other bus bars in the pack. I would leave the flexible bus bar there, it's resistance is likely closer to the rest of them. The markings on the DC breaker make me suspect the breaker is polarized and directional. It could ignite in over current conditions or even if you switch it off while current is traveling in the "wrong" direction while under load. The DC breakers as battery disconnects must be capable extinguishing the arc while the battery is charging and while it is discharging. Testing some DC breakers under load, in each direction would make a great video. Incorporating a class T fuse is obviously the best choice but with space constrained, you may consider an MRBF fuse.... rated to 58V and a lot better than what the pack came with. You do a fantastic job on your videos and the humor is outstanding.

@matthewknight5641 11 ай бұрын

Andy couldnt you use a dc solid state relay with your solar charge controller to activate the active balancer instead of that switch. That way as long as the battery was charging with solar then the active balancer would be working and when there was no charge it would shut off active balancer. I dont really know because my balancers ive ordered are not here yet but it seems like it will work

@wadeholden Жыл бұрын

Andy I would put both a fuse and a breaker .. 👍

@mikebarkley2167 Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot, Mike. Great support!

@svens.5588 Жыл бұрын

Hi Andy, I would really like to know, if you could turn on the active balancer by the victron smart shunt

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

The Smart Shunt does not have a relay, the Victron Battery Monitor BMV has and could be used for that. I've got some other solutions... stay tuned.

@hummmingbear Жыл бұрын

I have a 3D printer, in the US but glad to ship to you. Just need the dimensions and glad to whip something up. You have my email from when you sent me the replacement PCB for the seplos mason, let me know!

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot Brian. much appreciated. I think for now, I have enough offers but I'll keep this in mind. Good to have so many options.

@peetbraun9439 Жыл бұрын

@OffGridGarageAustralia Hey Andy, the fuse in the middle of the battery is a bad idea. Think about a blown fuse. The potential will be ssplit there, and your BMS-Balancer at this stage sees a big voltage differential, not good!

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Very good point! Thanks.

@marlomontanaro3233 Жыл бұрын

That should be known as the Peter Switch. I would be all-in on the breaker. I like breakers better than fuses.

@inmyimage1081 Жыл бұрын

As for insulator, I bought silicone oven baking mats. They are cheap, easy to cut, withstand high heat and of course, non-conductive. As for fuse vs breaker… putting a fuse in between the 2 halves of the total pack seems unwise. How is the BMS going to react if half the cells suddenly disconnect? Wouldn’t that risk frying the BMS? I’m using marine battery switches on each of my batteries in addition to a mega fuse between each battery and the load connection in my system. Part of my decision to use fuses instead of breakers is because in a 12v system in an RV running 200-250 amps through each battery pack is a real possibility and DC breakers that big are hard to find and expensive plus if the breaker fails I can’t just run to a local hardware store and get a new one.

@opless Жыл бұрын

Renogy (uk) have some decent looking 12v breakers (though the biggest is 160A) but you should always carry spares even though it's not likely to fail like fuses do (you gotta carry spare fuses, right?)

@inmyimage1081 Жыл бұрын

@@opless Absolutely, 1 for 1, actually right now I have 1.5 spares for every fuse I’m getting ready to install in my new system.

@dirk_p Жыл бұрын

Oh, the Switch finally works🙏

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

I did stay up all night!

@netrocker9990 Жыл бұрын

Mount the switch on the front panel is easy. Use simple push button,not that toggle switch

@evil17 Жыл бұрын

Agreed. A toggle switch is much more susceptible to accidental bumps & knocks, & it wouldn’t need a big bump to destroy those small toggle switches.

@netrocker9990 Жыл бұрын

@@evil17 push button also looks neat compared to toggle switch.

@TommyFleseland Жыл бұрын

Mail sent regarding the 3D-part. ;-)

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

You were the first, so you got the job!

@off-gridmountaineer4515 Жыл бұрын

I would do both the fuse and the breaker because it's not a whole lot of energy to put the fuse in and if you choose to break in you're already putting it in. So yeah I would do both the fuse and the breaker.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Yes! 💪

@caroman6761 Жыл бұрын

Breaker AND Fuse! Stay carefully and next time: Please let us be with you on the next big short. That's what a cam is for ;-)

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

The camera was actually running but because of the time lapse, it was not visible. No shorts any more!

@TheRonskiman Жыл бұрын

That breaker is directional, if it trips with current flowing in the wrong direction it could catch fire. It would also have been a good idea to use a much lighter gauge cable for the balancer switch.

@landonashby2029 Жыл бұрын

Breaker, Breaker Good Buddy! 😆

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

OK, OK.

@regnerusb Жыл бұрын

Good evening!

@pmacgowan Жыл бұрын

Andy, I think the perfect balancer would be a unit that connects to dumb capacitor one and just turns it on/off when one the cells gets to a predetermined voltage. The unit itself does not need to do any balancing, just intelligently control the other one?

@Dutch_off_grid_homesteading 6 ай бұрын

Heya, wel now it works well done

@DipanjanDas23 Жыл бұрын

Big fan of you from india

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot!

@seymourpro6097 Жыл бұрын

Some wide mylar tape may well hide some of the battery tops and bus bars against accidental contact

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Good idea! Usually the case is closed and insulated on the inside but some double insulation for the terminals cannot harm.

@Getget94 Жыл бұрын

Heello andy, I think you soldered the switch on the NC and NO pins and not NO / Common :( . Also, what's the reference of this Fuse ? Thanks :)

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Nah, i soldered the middle pin and one of the others. That was all good. The switch was just old and broken already. That's an ANL fuse with 300A. Victron sells them as 80V fuses (but expensive): www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-Midi,-Mega-and-ANL-fuses,-and-fuse-holders-EN.pdf

@AaronBilger 6 ай бұрын

I bought the 6s version Heltec and the second i connect it it sparks and a little bit of smoke and pretty sure the +3 part on the back looks smoked and when i put a small charge on the lto pack it was connected to is not balancing that one cell. Wonder if i buy another if it would do the same thing or not? thought about the 10 amp one instead it's just a 6 cell lto bank for my 12 volt car.

@OffGridGarageAustralia 6 ай бұрын

Spark is OK but smoke not. Something got wrong connected...

@AaronBilger 6 ай бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia funny cuz i followed the wiring guide for it

@OffGridGarageAustralia 6 ай бұрын

@@AaronBilger 6s battery?

@josephcullen2512 Жыл бұрын

I'm glad it's not only me who occasionally accidentally shorts out batteries

@AxisSync Жыл бұрын

Can you make a test if the balancer confuses the bms because of the voltage drop at 5A balance current.

@rekik1 7 ай бұрын

Indeed, i got this problem. The bms is confused and might trigger an OV. Could you please confirm Andy. Or is there any option to set in the bms software.

@ppi57 Жыл бұрын

Can you add a isolation breaker to the Seplos 280?

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Yes, you can. There is enough space behind the front panel. Should I do it and show you how?

@makestuffwork9205 Жыл бұрын

Just curious why you used that balancer and not the NEEY one? Thanks

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Because I want to show different methods on how to activate the balancer.

@Simon_Rafferty 8 ай бұрын

I used a switch with an LED on board & connected the LED on the balancing board to it. It's a bit fiddly as the LED on the board is tiny. It works well though.

@OffGridGarageAustralia 8 ай бұрын

That's a great idea. I have some switches here which have LEDs as well.

@doppelnippel Жыл бұрын

i like the german bonus information - kann ja wohl nich ist .... wonderful

@murkymurph8355 Жыл бұрын

Is it possible to use 3 8s active balancers in series to balance a 30s battery?

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Yes, that is possible. They just need to overlap a few cells.

@billkoch2351 Жыл бұрын

I have a similar 400ah pack that would not top balance. I replaced the BMS with a JK.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Yep, that's another solution...

@billkoch2351 Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia ...and full control through bluetooth!

@steffen1182 Жыл бұрын

🤣 Ich drück den Schalter und der jeeet!

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Kennste noch...!

@steffen1182 Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Na klar, ist ein Klassiker.

@xpatrikpvp Жыл бұрын

At this point woudn't it be better to just replace the bms with a JKBMS that has 2A blancer?

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

I want to avoid all these holes on the outside. I need to cover them somehow with a new metal plate or so. Don't know yet. There might be another solution...

@Der_Hannes Жыл бұрын

@OffGridGarageAustralia 🐸 Hey Andy - this BMS should have two dry contacts on Board (one for Alarm status / one for Faul status). You can use the Alarm-Dry Contact to control the Active Balancer then. If you can hear a click if one of the states changes in the Software, you only have to search for the Pins on the connector.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

I could not hear any click sounds when reaching the alarm state, but I will do some more testing in this regards and pay attention to that. Some relays are very quite so I may just measure the terminals. Thanks a lot for pointing this out. That would be a fantastic solution for this battery.

@Der_Hannes Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Can you show us a Close-Up of the BMS next time please? On my BMS, the relays are very tiny and very very quiet too - yours could have SSRs instead? (i mean - yours has builtin BT and Wifi 😲) Good luck my froggy friend! 🐸

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

@@Der_Hannes I found these two relays on the BMS but could not figure out which contact terminals to use for them. After contacting QSO, they confirmed these relays are being used for internal operation of the BMS and cannot be programmed or used by the customer. So that's another 👎for this BMS.

@Der_Hannes Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia I know those companies. They don't know nothing about the BMS and people like us are a pain in the butt. I bet you can hear a tiny Klick if the alarm state is on, and another when the protect is on. Thumbs down for QSO, not for the BMS (in this Case) Can you post a picture of the BMS?

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

@@Der_Hannes I'll post a picture in the community forum here: www.youtube.com/@OffGridGarageAustralia/community

@mathschut505 Жыл бұрын

Ist der ganze Schalter im Arsch 😂

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Aber so was von... wasn Scheissding!

@DG3ACM-Marc Жыл бұрын

Andy, why not using Cardboard under the Balancer and wrapped together with some electrical tape? Is it an idea to put a quick fuse as the bridge down there? The normal I think might be to slow in case of emergency. Wieso geht das *'?%§'-Schalterding auf einmal? /Marc

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Yeah, nah, cardboard is not really a solution for that. I wan't a bit more a professional finish with that.

@DG3ACM-Marc Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Yes, but for TEMP I would either prefer something that is fixed somehow with the circuit board.

@Juergen_Miessmer Жыл бұрын

Hallo Andy. Allways disconect and verify that there is no voltage left before working on electrical components! ;-) Maybe a better idea to switch the balancer automaticly by voltage detection. The Space on top is the optimal place for the fuse you missed. Put a fuseholder close to the positive pole. I think a fuse in the middle of the battery can cause other problems due the bms/balancer cabeling. Why not use some simple riser bolts for the balancer together with a sheet of isolation?

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks Juergen, I want to show a few options on how to trigger the balancer. The switch is just one of them, so we will go from here.... There are many options to mount this balancer, no question. I wanted to involve the community a bit as well and get active 😉

@TheCampersSweden Жыл бұрын

Haha! Put this on a t-shirt ”No nuts i my box” , sry Andy but i just had to comment that, cheers 🍻 😊

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

You must have misunderstood something here 🤦‍♂️😂

@DanBurgaud Жыл бұрын

22:34 I had the same dilemma with my battery pack. Anyone knows adverse effect of using a fuse in this spot? A friend told me that if the fuse breaks, high current could potentially flow through the balance wires; he opined to put a 0.1Ω resistor in parallel with this fuse. Once fuse burns, BMS will log the event as cellovervoltage protection.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

It could cause some issues with the BMS, so that's probably not a good spot for a fuse. I don't think a 0.1 Ohm resistor will help.

@manuelkrippstadt4519 Жыл бұрын

Löten verbindet 😁👌

@zoe..d Жыл бұрын

My german isnt good enough to follow along with the swearing in real-time, but I did not need a translator for that giggle. Thats universal for "i fixed it now!" Whats the end goal for this unit? Permanent installation to the home or just testing/reviewing/modifying and selling it on afterwards?

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Thanks Zoe, glad you got the message 😊 Not sure what we are going to do with the battery. This will be very far in the future to decide. I have some huge projects coming up over the winter period... Just don't know where to start 🤔

@todamnbad Жыл бұрын

You like that balancer over the neey?

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

It's a lot cheaper and I have a lot of batteries which would need an active balancer.

@todamnbad Жыл бұрын

@Off-Grid Garage I have version 1 and version 2 so I ordered another wire kit, need to find a way to wire the leads to three seplos batteries so the connectors hang out and as needed I can just plug version 2 into each battery to balance them

@TrevorFraserAU Жыл бұрын

We can do the printing for you, but coming from Perth so if someone closer wants to do that then probably better for you

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Well, someone from Norway got the job now. I think it's closer than Perth? Everything is closer than Perth, it feels like 😂 Thanks a lot Trev, you have already done me a huge favour.

@TrevorFraserAU Жыл бұрын

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Like you say, everywhere seems closer than Perth... Always happy to help the helper, you help us all a huge amount! And if you need any printing done in the future, just let me know, we've got a nice Prusa all warmed up and ready to go 😀

@TrevorFraserAU Жыл бұрын

"Dear Mr Garage, your warranty claim has been denied. We seem to have obtained some video evidence of you working outside our warranty guidelines. We thank you for your understanding and wish you all the best. Regards, QSD"..... 🤪

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

Outch, the warranty... 😯

@maxmeyer7299 Жыл бұрын

Oh Andy... no. Since the BMS does not know anything about the current of the balancer, it falsifies the measured values with the thin cables. The larger the balancer current is, you will see, it can come to jumps of the BMS measurement, with some bad luck, the BMS switches off, because it thinks the difference would be too big. But this is only caused by the balancing.

@inmyimage1081 Жыл бұрын

Is this something you have personally experienced? If so can you describe your setup a little, which BMS and balancer, battery pack, etc. Since Andy only uses the add-on balancers on demand when he feels the need to rebalance a battery he hasn’t mentioned seeing this behavior before so I assume he hasn’t seen it. I also haven’t seen anyone else mention it either.

@maxmeyer7299 Жыл бұрын

@@inmyimage1081 You can do the math. 50cm cable with 0.5mm² at 2A current on the cable and 3.2V are about 2% voltage loss. are about 64mV which are suddenly more on the cable. Now a few more contact resistors and a cell difference is suddenly >100mV or even more. In his cabinet, he uses BMS with balancer internally, they know when currents flow and do not measure at such times. As long as the differences are not too large, they do not affect the whole, but if the BMS switches off because of too high cell differences, he will notice it.

@maxmeyer7299 Жыл бұрын

@@inmyimage1081 Andy makes interesting videos, but everything should also not be replicated as he does.

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

It won't have any negative impact as we have seen from our testing in the battery shelf where I had the active balancer in parallel to the BMS for weeks (same balance cables from the terminal block to the batteries). The balancer of this BMS is only 506-60mA and does nothing. Your assumption is not correct as the BMS will either measure or balance but not at the same time.

@inmyimage1081 Жыл бұрын

@@maxmeyer7299 The only BMS in his cabinet that he does not use the active balancer with is the JK BMS because it already has a decent active balancer function. The other 2 BMSs he uses the Heltec Balancer with, note that one of the other 2 BMSs is a Heltec BMS so with that one it’s the Heltec BMS + the Heltec Capacitive Active Balancer

@typxxilps Жыл бұрын

german route would be the breaker for sure - more work, more sweat and more fun

@OffGridGarageAustralia Жыл бұрын

I kind of tend to install the breaker. I like the double pole switch function to fully isolate the battery.

@evil17 Жыл бұрын

Good vid Andy. Bad luck with the switch, I would suggest a push button type, not as vulnerable to accidental knocks. Go with both, the internal fuse & an external breaker switch, I like the idea of using an internal fuse this way, it cant hurt while ur in that deep already.

@StopTheBurn Жыл бұрын

Hey Andy, Get yourself a round magnet with a hole in the center. Stick the magnet around the hole when you drill. All the shitty metal chips will stick to the magnet. No clean up and you don't get metal chips in your electronics boards. To mount your PC board; they make plastic stand offs with adhesive ends. Stick them to the four corners and to the metal plate.. Cheers Mate!