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VE.Bus BMS NG

5. Monitoring and control

5.1. Important warning

Warning

Lithium batteries are expensive and can be damaged due to over-discharge or overcharge.

The shutdown by the BMS due to low cell voltage should always be used as a last resort to be safe at all times. We recommend not letting it get that far and instead either switching off the system automatically after a defined state of charge via the BMS discharge floor limit so that there is always sufficient reserve capacity in the battery or using the BMS remote on/off port as a system on/off switch.

Damage due to over-discharge can occur if small loads (such as alarm systems, relays, standby currents of certain loads, back current drain of battery chargers, or charge regulators) slowly discharge the battery when the system is not in use.

In case of any doubt about possible residual current draw, isolate the battery by opening the battery switch,pulling the battery fuse(s) or disconnecting the battery plus when the system is not in use.

A residual discharge current is especially dangerous if the system has been discharged completely and a low cell voltage shutdown has occurred. After shutdown due to low cell voltage, a capacity reserve of approximately 1Ah per 100Ah battery capacity is left in the battery. The battery will be damaged if the remaining capacity reserve is drawn from the battery; for example, a residual current of just 10mA can damage a 200Ah battery if the system is left discharged for more than 8 days.

If a low cell voltage disconnect has occurred, immediate action (recharge the battery) is required.

5.2. Monitoring and control via VictronConnect

The battery and BMS are monitored and controlled using the VictronConnect app.

VictronConnect has three pages for this purpose: a status page, a battery page and a history page. The individual parameters are explained below.

Status page:

The status page provides information about the current battery and BMS status.

  • State of Charge: Shows the battery charge level in percent.

  • Mode: Displays the system status (On or Off) and allows powering off the system with a tap.

  • Allowed to charge: Shows the BMS status for Allowed to charge. Reasons why the status shows "No" are as follows:

    • Battery temperature below 5 °C.

    • Battery temperature too high.

    • One or more battery cell voltages have reached the high cell voltage threshold (hardcoded in the battery).

    • Disabled via Remote on/off input.

  • Allowed to discharge: Shows the BMS status for Allowed to discharge. Reasons why the status shows "No" are as follows:

    • The configured Discharge floor has been reached.

    • One or more cells reached the hard-coded low cell voltage threshold.

    • Disabled via Remote on/off input.

    Note that "Allowed to discharge" will show "Pre-Alarm" in the event of a pre-alarm.

  • Voltage: The battery voltage as reported by the battery.

  • Current: The battery current that is currently flowing, as reported by the battery.

  • Power: The battery power as reported by the battery.

  • Consumed Ah: Consumed Ah since last full charge cycle.

  • Time remaining: The time that remains at current consumption until the defined Discharge floor is reached.smallBMS NG and Lithium NG battery settings

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Battery page:

The battery page provides information about the installed battery bank and gives more detailed information about each individual battery.

Battery bank info

  • Balancer status: Shows the battery balancer status. Possible states are:

    • Unknown: The current balancer status is unknown. Reasons for this could be:

      • The battery has not been fully charged for more than 30 days.

      • The battery has just been added to the system.

      • State of charge is unknown.

      In all cases, start a new charging cycle.

    • Balanced: All battery cells are well balanced.

    • Imbalanced: An imbalance has been detected between one or more battery cells. Start a full charge cycle to balance the battery.

    • Balancing: The battery is currently charging and the cells are being balanced.

  • Min cell voltage: Displays the lowest cell voltage detected in the battery.

  • Max cell voltage: Displays the highest cell voltage detected in the battery.

  • Min cell temperature: Displays the lowest cell temperature detected in the battery.

  • Max cell temperature: Displays the highest cell temperature detected in the battery.

  • Batteries: Number of batteries installed in the system. This is automatically recognised by the BMS.

  • Battery cells: Number of battery cells in total. This is automatically recognised by the BMS.

  • Batteries in series: Number of batteries connected in series configuration. This is automatically recognised by the BMS.

  • Batteries in parallel: Number of batteries connected in parallel configuration. This is automatically recognised by the BMS.

    Individual battery info

    The lower half of the battery page contains specific information about the selected battery. If there is more than one battery installed, the respective battery can be selected using the "Battery number" selector.

  • The information for each individual battery is: battery serial number, nominal capacity, firmware version, battery temperature, battery voltage, battery current, individual cell voltages.

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History page:

The history page shows information about the battery over time since installation or since the history was last reset.

  • Deepest discharge:

  • Cumulative AH drawn:

  • Discharged energy:

  • Charged energy:

  • Synchcronisations:

  • Cycles:

  • Last full charge:

  • Minimum battery voltage:

  • Maximum battery voltage:

  • Min cell voltage:

  • Max cell voltage:

  • Min battery temperature:

  • Max battery temperature:

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5.3. LEDs, warnings, alarms and error codes

The BMS is equipped with three LEDs: the Bluetooth Status LED, the Error LED, and the VE.Bus Status LED. These indicate the current operating state as well as any faults.

  • Warning, alarm and error codes are reported via the VictronConnect app.

  • A warning indicates a problem that, if not corrected, will result in a system shutdown, while an alarm indicates the reason for the system shutdown.

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The following tables list all LED, warning, alarm and error codes:

Bluetooth Status LED

Description

Off

No system power or Bluetooth is disabled in the VictronConnect app.

Blue on

A Bluetooth device is connected.

Blue blinking

Bluetooth is active but no device is connected.

Error LED

Description

Off

No warning/alarm/error active.

Red blinking

A warning is active.

Red on

A alarm and/or error is active.

VE.Bus Status LED

Description

Off

When the Multi is off, either due to low cell voltage, remote off, or being manually switched off via the front panel switch, the BMS enters low-power mode. In this state, it continues to transmit BMS info frames, albeit at a slightly reduced frequency.

To conserve energy, the BMS status LED does not illuminate in low-power mode.

Single blink every 10 seconds

The Multi is switched on, and BMS info frames are being sent.

LED will flash rapidly

The BMS is stuck in bootloader mode. This can occur, for example, after an interrupted firmware update. To resolve this, restart the update using VictronConnect.

Warning codes

VictronConnect warning code

Message

Instructions / Remarks

W-B01

Low cell voltage

Charge the battery or reduce the load to prevent an imminent system shutdown.

W-B05

Communication with battery lost

Check the cables between BMS and Battery.

W-B07

Low SoC

Charge battery or reduce load to prevent imminent system shutdown.

Alarm codes

VictronConnect alarm code

Message

Instructions / Remarks

A-B01

Low cell voltage

Charge battery. The system will turn the loads back on when the battery is sufficiently charged.

A-B05

Communication with battery lost

Check the cables between BMS and Battery.

A-B07

Low SoC

Charge battery. The system will turn the loads back on when the battery is sufficiently charged.

A-B08

Low bank voltage

Charge battery. The system will turn the loads back on when the battery is sufficiently charged.

A-B09

High battery temperature

The battery temperature is too high for charging. Try to reduce the ambient temperature.

Error codes

VictronConnect error code

Message

Instructions / Remarks

E-B01

Battery configuration invalid

Check VictronConnect ´Battery´ tab for more details. Check if batteries BMS cables are all connected

E-B05

Battery configuration invalid

Check VictronConnect ´Battery´ tab for more details. Check if batteries BMS cables are all connected.

E-B09

Battery voltage not allowed

The battery voltage is too high or too low. Check the battery voltage and check the battery settings in the VictronConnect app.

This error occurs when the battery voltage is outside all system voltage ranges (9V > Vbat > 60V)

E-B11

Hardware error

Contact your Victron dealer.