Lithium 304Ah Build

[vas]

Yes I will, it is at a price but they have built a well engineered system. This is mine before it shipped.View attachment 129970

is yours a BS kit (as in bistable relay) if so, interested to hear the kit price (if you wish to do so obvs) I notice prices are not listed on the site

 

[LoneHort]

It is both latching (Load) and non-latching (Charge and backup).
The prices are not Vas and to be fair to them there are so many options around the options esp. with relay selection I can see why they prefer the direct contact / quotation method based on your particular requirements/boat.

 

[vas]

OK thanks, was just curious on the overall cost of such a system with separate 200A relays. Yes I've noticed the charge relay is non latching (not necessary tbh).
I've made my decision working with opensource s/w h/w which suits me (and my pocket)
further, having a victron Multiplus I could not possibly use separate load/charge relays so had to resort to decent comms (in this case CANBUS) to let the BMS "instruct" the inverter and charger function separately.
obvs a Victron only system helps in this

cheers
V.

 

[Poey50]

On another forum someone paid 4K+ for a similar sounding kit including 6.7kw of Winston cells.

 

[gregcope]

greg,

make sure it's a rpi3B and NOT a recent rpi4, only old rpi4 work atm. Check before starting pulling your hair!

Thanks. A rather old RPI3 is in my present case/screen thing. It was rather "slow" compiling stuff yesterday which takes me back a few decades compiling linux kernels / mysql when it was slow enough to read the text go past....

 

[vas]

have you also got the 7in touchscreen for it? you're going down a slippery slope but you don't know it yet
download VenusOS 2.81 was officially released day before yesterday after over a year of beta testing.
Unless you plan to start playing with N2K and or instructing the thing from a distance or adding inputs/outputs to the rpi, you probably don't need the Large version, go normal.
Large adds signalK and NodeRed. I use signalk to sent stuff to an offsite influxDB so that I can get all the graphs you've seen

 

[gregcope]

have you also got the 7in touchscreen for it? you're going down a slippery slope but you don't know it yet
download VenusOS 2.81 was officially released day before yesterday after over a year of beta testing.
Unless you plan to start playing with N2K and or instructing the thing from a distance or adding inputs/outputs to the rpi, you probably don't need the Large version, go normal.
Large adds signalK and NodeRed. I use signalk to sent stuff to an offsite influxDB so that I can get all the graphs you've seen

For someone who I have never met, you know me too well. Yes, I have the touchsreen in a smarticase (SmartiPi - Super cool Raspberry Pi cases).

 

[vas]

?
OK, then you also have to install Kevin's GUI tools and all things related to tuning display, etc of a raspberry pi
you start with GitHub - kwindrem/SetupHelper: Helper functions to simplify writing setup scripts that modify VenusOs functionality. The package includes automatic reinstallation of the package after a VenusOs update. and then through that you install Gui tools, rpiDisplaySetup, etc

V.

 

[gregcope]

Ah.

 

[gregcope]

So it took me a while to find
1. Spare sd card
2. Laptop with a working SD card writer
3. Sd imaging software (the new(ish) raspberry pi imager worked a treat in the end).

 

[vas]

Balena Etcher is a v.good write to SD card tool. Massive though, haven't figured out why it's so large!
Good practice is that once you figure out what you want and have your rpi running properly, to shut it down, remove the SD and back it up as an iso file THE LOT.
this way, when if fails (mind it's not IF, it's when) you can easily replicate it with all customisations and be running again in no time. SDs are so cheap that for next season I plan to have a spare with the full setup on a drawer on board.
Best tool for imaging of a unix sd seems to be disk drill.
above tools are on win10 machines, balena is also available in mac, not sure about the disk drill.

V.

 

[gregcope]

The Venos OS is now mounted readonly. Probably to help avoid SD Card corruption issues. I get you point mind of a backup!

Whole new world to play with .

 

[gregcope]

Victron Venus OS on RPI 3B

Todays update I have Victron Venus OS installed on a RPI, connected to WIFI, SSH working.

I installed GitHub - Louisvdw/dbus-serialbattery: dbus driver for serial battery in VenusOS and as if by magic I now have battey JBD BMS status on the Venus OS;



I was also sent a 10% Valentines offer for BatteryMegastore ... I must resist a Victron Inverter...

I also have some Victron Shunts to configure as well as Victron B2B and MPPT Solar charger. Also in other news another box arrived.

 

[vas]

greg,
once you get a usb->vedirect cable (I did one myself from a FTDI usb cable and a hacked socket from an audio plug of an ancient CDROM ? ) and connect the mppt to the venusOS, you don't have to worry anymore as the BMS will "instruct" VenusOS via DVCC what to do. VenusOS will then instruct all the devices connected to it (MPPT)

Do that, and then tell me that you wont buy a victron inverter as well
finally, configure the B2B (via the GPIO pins of the raspberry) and you're done, everything run from the rpi.

V.

PS. check the BMS screen of Venus and in particular the cell details (if you have the latest ver you should be able to see all cell values and background changing to red if a cell is balancing)

 

[gregcope]

An update;

• Slight Covid related hiatus!
• I am building the final packs (two) ready for the boat). Pictures to follow. Some improvements include
  • Longer external Cables to ease fitting
  • Drilled and threaded holes in the lid to bolt the lid on (M3 bolts only)
  • Internal Cable management and chaffe protection
  • Better end caps, the 1.5mm G10 FR4 plates are too thin and flex. Also the way I had cut mine they were slightly too narrow. Going to try 3mm and slightly wider
    
    Pictures to follow (when its done)
    
• Awaiting parts is a pain ... some things on long lead times
• I am building a new boat battery compartment panel to take on/off switches for all the near battery things (VHF, Charger, Bilge Pump and Windlass power). This is taking longer than expected mostly due for waiting for multiple coats of paint to dry

Also, Andy from Off Grid Garage posted this video about estimated life based on compression, C rates, Depth of Discharge and Calendar life. Worth a watch if interested in this subject;

 

[Dilemma]

Build



"I did a long search to find a battery box that would fit the 280/304Ah cells (there is only around 2mm difference in height) within our battery box. "

Hi Greg, great write up. I'm planning to replace one (at a time) of my210aH AGM batteries, but I haven't been able to find a battery box that will fit the 210mm height of the EVE cells. Can you tell me where yours came from?

 

[LoneHort]

I ended up making mine from closed cell foam and epoxy. Super strong and did not take that long to make.

 

[Dilemma]

I ended up making mine from closed cell foam and epoxy. Super strong and did not take that long to make.

Great idea, but having made a cockpit table and dinghy seat with foam, epoxy and Carbon Fibre, I have exhausted my patience with vacuum bagging. I think I'll make my battery box from 5mm ply unless anyone can point me to a box that will take four of the 280aH EVE cells with room for the compression plates.

 

[gregcope]

@Dilemma

This is one of the boxes I have;

27.29￡ 31% OFF|Turmera 12v 180a Battery Storage Box With Lcd Display For 4piece 280ah 310ah 320ah 3.2v Lifepo4 Battery Solar Energy System Use - Battery Storage Boxes - AliExpress

It fits my LF304 Cells which are the same size. Checkout my pictures at the beginning of the thread as space is tight!

Also, re-compression plates. Watch the video above as it might not be the thing you need.

And... I am replacing my end-plates with 3mm FR4/G10. I was using 1.5mm and these flex when under pressure even when using clamps and packing tape. Plus I made my old ones slightly too small so want the new ones to be slightly larger than the cells (ie 2mm either side) and still fit in the box. The reason for this is to protect the cell edges as much as possible because if there is impact damage to the corners this could go through the rubber and hit the cell corners. So more protection there the better.

 

[gregcope]

I'm planning to replace one (at a time) of my210aH AGM batteries

@Dilemma Are you Your aware of the difference in voltage/charge profiles? Mixed banks are possible. Just need to be careful on any charger(s) settings.