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I have enhanced my Chargery BMS driver for Venus OS a lot and it want to share my code! Maybe we can get other BMS data as well to be displayed on Venus/Cerbo etc... My source code (surely open source) is available at https://github.com/Tobi177/venus-chargerybms and surely Victron is allowed to embed it to Venus OS! :) It even have an install script now! :)
Maybe my code can be helpful for any developers! Victron, thank you for your open source support! Much appreciated!
Bye
Tobi
@tobi17 I don't understand how to hook it up. The Chargery BMS has USB ports, the Cerbo GX has USB ports. The FT232RL has a usb port and pins. Where do you connect the pins?
@Tobi17 I have to run the VenusOS-large image (V2.70-4-large-16) and this chargerybms plugin will not work. SOmething with DBus name already exists.
If I switch back to V2.65-7 it works. Switching back to V2.70 does not work.
Could you take a look at that? (I opened a github ticket)
@Tobi17 This is very nice.
1.) Will it need to be updated with Venus/Chargery firmware update?
2.) Does it cover up to the Chargery 24T BMS?
It might swing my choice of BMS.
Regards
Hello Phil,
1) Yes, currently you need to reinstall it. There could be done some stuff with the persistent storage for users on the venus devices, but at the moment I do think reinstallation after Venus OS updates are the best solution.
2) The driver itself should cover all three Chargery BMS 8/16/24! Please do not expect the driver to be fully tested with all different options, but if there would be any problems I am glad to fix the issues.
You need to know, that you must adapt some qml files (for the gui) to display your 24 cells on voltages/impedances page. But this is very easy and done in minutes.
Bye
Tobi
@Tobi17 This looks great. Am I right in understanding this makes all the data shown visible remotely through VRM remote console, though data logs not available through widgets on the advanced tab. Also this is this pure info rather than BMS control data directing the Victron kit to reduce charge etc as is poss over the CAN-bus? Cheers, Edd
Hi Tobi,
Thank you very much for sharing your Software!
Unfortunately I cannot run it. I installed it as you described, I inverted the Tx Signal of the FTDI FT232RL Chip and I see as values only "-1". In the Devices settings of the "Chargery BMS" everything seems o.k.
My system is: 3 Multi2 5000, 3 MPPT VE.Can 250/100 and a CerboGX and the Chargery 16
Any ideas?
Thank you in advance!
Best Regards,
Michael
If all values are "-1", then the Chargery driver is detected and working - but it receives no data from the Chargery BMS! Please check the connection between your FT232R and your Chargery BMS. This is wrong, you need to wire ground and rx/tx!
Thank you for your answer! I just saw it today (I didnt receive a notification... have to check that!)
O.k. I tought that but I do not understand exactely your answer:
"This is wrong, you need to wire ground and rx/tx!"
I have 2 cables from the chargery and I wired the ground and the ((reversed)Tx as you said in your description.
How should I wire both rx AND tx as you said?
Thank you for your help!
IT WORKS!!!!!! YES, YES, YES! I AM SO HAPPY, THANK YOU TOBI!!!
I reversed also the Rx and put the cable on Rx and now it works!So again for all other folks who want to try this: If its not working use the Rx and not the Tx Port on the FT232R chip!
Thank you again, now I can watch the cells. For me it is helpfull because I use now a different cell balancer (active 2A balancer), and the chargery is only the BMS and balancing is turned off. I had bad experience with the chargery as a balancer.
Hi Tobi,
again my question: I did all what you said in the documentation and every value I can see is "-1".
I am not sure how to change the qml file.
Can you help me. I really want to need your tool.
Best Regards,
Michael
Here are the screenshots:
Help me Obi-Wan Kentobi you're my only hope!
;-)
Hi,
I am very grateful to you for the code you provided.
With the help of your code, i created my own driver to integrate a LIONTRON LiFePo4 battery into Venus OS.
It works very well too.
But...
Do you know if it is possible to use the driver as a system battery monitor?
I can select it but no data is displayed in the GUI.
Thank you again for charing your code!!!
No, I cannot tell you if you can use the driver as system battery monitor. I do see the same problems, but I use a BMV-712 for this purposes.
Thanks for your answer,
i have already solved the problem by using the required Path´s of a battery (https://github.com/victronenergy/venus/wiki/dbus).
E.g /Dc/0/Voltage or /Soc or /Dc/0/Current. Than I can use my LIONTRONBMS Driver as main battery monitor. I also have a shunt (Victron SmartShunt 500A) but there where big difference between the Soc´s after a time.
So I only need the BMS of the lithium.
I need some help.
I have installed on my Cerbo GX.
I used the 2-wire cable that came with the Chargery, put the red cable on TX and the black on GND on a USB to TTL RS232 board. It is a FDTI chip on it.
I used FT PROG to invert the signals. Programmed. And plugged it in to a USB on the Cerbo GX (and the connector in the Chargery BMS)
Cerbo GX finds a USB, says it is a chargery bms.
All I see is -1:s
(I did try and switch the red cabe to RX, but same result)
What to do?
@tobi17 Something is really wrong. I have two FTDI devices in my Cerbo GX. One is a RS485-USB for the Energy Meter (ET340). The other is for Chargery BMS. The RS485-USB is ttyUSB0, but is mapped as ttyCHGBMS01. The chargery is connected to ttyUSB1. How do one change this? The energy meter is not working anymore after installing this script and Chargery BMS ofcourse only show -1
Fixed it temporarily..
Since both FTDI adapters are named the same thing, one have to include the serial numer of the device.
I removed the chargerybms from "# The USB RS485 has..."
and added a separate entry with the specific serial number.
after a reboot I see both
Can the install script have a "Enter serial number?" input?
I fixed it here https://github.com/magpern/venus-chargerybms
It seems that the FDTI Chip doesnt send data.
If there is a light on it, is it blinking all the time (i.e. its transmitting data)?
I know that there a lot of chips on the net which are not working.
I would also try the following: You can test your FTDI chip to see if it is working. You use a jumper to connect the Tx und Rx port. With putty (or similar) you open a Terminal connection to the FDTI. The data you send (typing letters in) you have to receive.
Just google for "Loopback test FDTI" and you will find a detailed description.
Then you will be sure if your chip is working before you do Software troubleshooting.
Hi tobi17 just setup the program on our Cerbo with 2.60 fw
Looks Really good , have found two issues.
1. One once you select the screen on the Cerbo you then CANT move off the screen by using the touch screen or when using remote with the mouse. HOWEVER by pressing the esc button you do get the option to move screen.
2. as you can see the time and date are large and there is no data in the green area (there wont be in the red area as no solar contented), however the data is in the settings screen.
I have tried selecting the Chargery as the default monitor as well but this made no difference.
have you any suggestions as to how for fix these display issues
Chargery units is a BMS8T 300 amp shunt but am only using 4 cells at this time
The below are the raw steps that I ended up using.
I used the standard Victon USB to 485 interface cable ASS030572018
FTDI Adapter FT232RL USB TTL Serial (IMPORTANT: Must be flashed with FT_PROG software to invert tx mode)
I used putty as the Terminal connection via my local network
It seems you have to log in twice
password ???
Then logged in again for ssh I could not go straight in with the below login
ssh root@192.168.3.5
password ???
wget https://github.com/Tobi177/venus-chargerybms/raw/master/install/install.sh
chmod +x install.sh
sed -i -e 's/\r$//' install.sh
./install.sh
1) Tap on the Caption "Overview Label" on the top and then you should be able to switch to the menus. "Enter" key also works.
2) You need to update the device sources within the "OverviewTiles.qml" files. Please check: https://github.com/Tobi177/venus-chargerybms/blob/master/gui/qml/OverviewTiles.qml#L9
3) Since I do not use a Cerbo I do not know why the font is that large. This might be fixed, once all data is displayed, but I am pretty sured this can be fixed at the qml files as well.
First step is, to get all of your deviced running.
Bye
Tobi
So, des this allow allow the BMS to control the victron gear? DCL, CCL etc??
I personally have not tested to have the BMS limit by temperature, since I always have above freezing where the batteries are placed. But I use it to report state of charge to victron, and victron respects the values from the BMS.
I have run the code for a week or two. I think there is some stability issue. After some time, venus os stops listening to the incoming data from the BMS and the values freeze.
After a reboot of venus os, the values update again. How to fix this, I don't know.
My code is working here for a couple of months and there seems no issues within the driver software code. It does not have any stability issues. You need to check your hardware environment.
Very rarely I do see the Chargery suddenly rebooting. I run my chargery with the "external batt" switch directly connected to the battery with a schottky diode. Just because to improve the voltage measurements.
Just to add, this graphics is provided by the developer of the Chargery BMS. If you want to use the "external battery switch" and connect it to your battery, you should use the above diode.
I have had it running for 1 week now without hanging. But it has been mostly idle, since here in the nordics sun is a rare thing this time of year.
In my case, the updates just stopped. It was stuck at 22% SOC but on the chargery it was 12%. I rebooted Cerbo GX, didn't touch Chargery. Then SOC updated in Cerbo GX.
Chargery is powered of mains with a 3A 24V transformer so power to Chargery is not a problem. Cerbo is also powered from mains from the same transformer.
I don't doubt that you code is not working, it "smells" like the USB or the FTDI gives up after a while. I do run a fake FTDI chip.
I will do more hands on error searching if it hangs again. Now I have just rebooted Cerbo GX remotely.
It is still unstable and cannot really be used in a production environment. You cannot trust it.
The code for Chargery is not at fault, but every now and then Venus OS (in my case on a Cerbo GX) stops listening to the data.
SOC is locked to what it was when the update stopped, let say 50%. Victron thinks it is 50% and will discharge battery. Battery becomes empty, but victron thinks it is 50%. Chargery triggers the emergency shutdown with the contactor cutting power to victron. Victron does not like being abruptly cut off, and will not start again. So, you will be in a state where nothing works.
If I see that the update has stopped, before this happens, everything is fixed by rebooting the Cerbo GX. As soon Cerbo GX is online again, the real SOC is updated.
This hanging happens about once a week.
possible solutions
automatic reboot every day
watchdog that reboots only the integration
investigate if this is caused by using a fake FTDI chip (i have a fake chip)
That's a shame. There is another option though. An arduino with a can bus shield could read data from the charger and forward the battery data to the cerbo via can bus:
https://github.com/Tom-evnut/VEcan
This might even be a nice all-in-one board for the project:
https://www.longan-labs.cc/1030008.html
My only concern would be non-opto isolated can bus connection creating a ground loop. That may not be an issue though.
I would wait to see if a genuine FDTI chip still causes the issue. Also the new chargery BMS is about to be released, the new P series will have RS232/485 & CanBus (a Bidirectional protocol) so that is a big win,
If your serial number is A50285BI or 00000000 then you most certainly have a fake chip because that is a popular serial number which is written to fake chips
YUP! I have two with me that have A50285BI. I'll give it a try and see if I come up with the same issues.
Great! If you have more than one fake FTDI connected to the venus os, you have to use my version of the Chargery BMS code. (I have two, one rs485 to usb with fake chip, and this rs232 to usb with fake chip).
And again, the "hanging" occurs very infrequently. Last time mine hang was Thu 28.01.2021 01:57:53
Since then I have rebooted my Cerbo GX at least twice (for other stuff, not related to the hanging). I run my Cerbo GX from grid power (BMS too)
Is it possible to make some reconnect in the python script?
Thank you!
So I've got multiple BMS8Ts that I am trying to get to show up. Wondering if there is anyone that could point me in right direction to get this working. So far I've been able to get the Units to show up on the GUI as shown below. This will change if I plug in 1, 2 or 3 of them. BUT what happens is that when there are multiples no information shows up(but works on a single connection). The second also shows with no info.
Disclaimer, not a programmer so just working through this by trial and error. Because the driver has a hardcoded connection to the dbus I created a second (and third) unique 'driver'
Then added the lines into 'start-chargerybms.sh'
Not sure where to look next. I'm thinking all adpaters are maybe getting addressed the same thing and there is a conflict? Any assistance would be appreciated Thanks!
Hi @Tobi17 , Just need some setup help with your chargery software I have it installed and its working but not all the screens have installed on the CCGX running FW 2.72
also is it possible to run 2 x Chargery BMS units on the one CCGX using 2 x USB ports and how would the GUI display work, I can understand that the Device displays would would. and I am aware that the RS232 interface would need different serial numbers. If you could help out please let me know I can also give you VRM access to the site if thats of help , please email me at service@octopusasia.com and ill send you a VRM invite for that site. happy to pay for your time t help out here.
There are missing screens - plus I only have this screen on the CCGX GUI being the below picture
The below screen is missing have you any suggestions as to how to make it appear
Hi @Tobi17 - would it be posiable to have this program added to Kevin Windrem's SetupHelper program so that it could be blind installed using his setuphelper system - this would make life a lot easyer.
Hi, can I used this support on standard multiplus II GX?
I have a jkbms and I’d like to integrate it with my multiplus II gx inverter. What should I do?
Thanks
Hello Everybody!
Thank to Tobi for this great Github-Articel and integration of Chergery to Victron!
I am also starting to get it run, but one question before.
Is it possible also to control the current-limiting function in the cerbo? So if the Chargery send some difference voltage from 100mV i want to reduce the charge current to prevent overloading.
Is this somehow possible?
Thanks a lot!
Best regards
Kevin
