Lithium Battery Smart Manual

If, for a specific reason, the initial charge procedure needs to be performed without a BMS, this is the procedure for it. Please note that this is not something we recommend because this process can be risky. A supervisor must be present, who will need to watch their phone continuously for hours as the battery cell voltages must be checked continuously to safeguard that the voltage of the highest cell never exceeds 4V.

These are the charger or inverter/charger settings when the battery is charged without a BMS:

Initial charge without using a BMS

Charge procedure:

Introduction and when to use this procedure:

After a battery has been discharged far too deep, ie. terminal voltages below 8V for a 12V model and 16V for a 24V model, a special slow recharge procedure is required to try to recover the battery. This procedure is detailed in chapter Battery very low terminal voltage. Read that chapter carefully. After such a too deep discharge, it can happen that the microcontroller does not power up correctly. This chapter explains how to fix that by power cycling the micro-controller. Before opening the battery, first carefully follow below instructions to make sure that it's necessary.  

Note, that when installed and operated correctly, batteries will never be discharged to that level. Make sure to understand why it happened, and amend the installation and/or the operation of the system accordingly.  

Lastly, be informed that this chapter is added to the manual for the benefit of installers and technically qualified users – to help to recover from such a situation without having to ship the battery out for repair. This does not at all mean that it is required to carry out this procedure yourself. The Victron service points and repair centres are happy to carry out the procedure when that is preferred. And, again, do note that once discharged as deeply as described here (cell voltages below 2V), the battery will be damaged and its usable capacity will, at best, have been reduced. And in the worst case the battery needs to be replaced.

How to recognise a stuck microcontroller:

First, make sure the system is within operational parameters:

Now, verify that the BMS still signals loads and chargers to disconnect. This table details how to do that for all available BMS-es:

Lastly, check that the battery is not visible in the VictronConnect device list. If the battery shows, the micro-controller is running normally and a power cycling is not required.

Micro-controller reset procedure:

1		Tools needed: Nylon or rubber hammer Scraper, chisel or flat screwdriver Insulated torque socket wrench M10 (electrical tape can be used to insulate the socket and part of the wrench) Electrical tape
2		Remove the battery terminal wiring. Remove the terminal hex nuts.
3		Carefully loosen or break open the lid. This can be done with a scraper, flat screwdriver or chisel. When it creaks, it comes loose. Then continue a bit further until the lid is completely loose.
4		Remove the top cover.
5		Insulate the negative busbar terminal located next to the positive battery terminal. Do this by covering the busbar with electrical tape. See red tape in the image on the left. Notice The electrical tape is a precaution to prevent a possible short-circuit between the positive battery terminal and the negative busbar.
6		Loosen and remove the bolt that holds the positive circuit board wire cable lug.
7		Leave the positive circuit board cable lug disconnected for a few seconds.
8		Reinstall the positive circuit board cable lug and the bolt. Fasten the bolt using a 10Nm torque. Remove the electrical tape.
9		Put the cover back on the battery. Reinstall the terminal hex nuts. Reinstall the battery terminal wiring.
10		Check if the BMS is now allowing loads and chargers to connect to the battery. Check to see if the battery appears in the device list of the VictronConnect app*. If the BMS is allowing loads and chargers, the procedure was successful. * Note that if the battery does not appear in the device list, this can be because Bluetooth has been disabled. See the VictronConnect issues chapter for more information.