I just installed a second BMZ battery to my Victron system. Should I be able to see that the system has 2 batteries somewhere in VRM? Thank you...
asked
Should i see 2 batteries in VRM?
Hi @pbilka,
I am presuming that you have connected both batteries to the same CANbus on the same GX device. So the 2 batteries are now effectively 1 battery from the systems perspective (they share a single combined state of charge for example).
One place where you can see a difference would be in the Charge Current Limits, and Discharge Current Limits.
This is shown in the Advanced section of VRM, under the battery widgets.
Thank you so much for your answer.
I can understand the 2 batteries becoming like one when connected in parallel to a dumb system, but these are BMZ batteries for $4000 a piece, so I was expecting a little more intelligence, like for example showing 2 "CAN bus BMS batteries" on the device list, each one with its own parameters. The way it is set up, some of the parameters shown are ambiguous, where we have one value for 2 batteries. For example, in case of temperature, does the value represent average temperature of the 2 batteries, or is it the master temperature?
p.s. I am suspecting the installer did not configure the original battery as "master". I saw they had it on "single" setting when they were using the Service Tool. The second battery is configured as "slave". I think this would pretty much make it invisible on the bus...
I understand.
It is possible to get very detailed cell level information from each of the batteries when you connect directly through their own tool on a laptop. This level of detail is not normally necessary through the charge and discharge control system - so that is usually the priority for development.
Different batteries support different Victron BMS-Can communications features. There are more options potentially available, and it is up to the supported battery manufacturers as to what they want to provide to the GX device. This isn't something that can be improved from Victron's end.
If you aren't satisfied, I would encourage you to talk to your battery supplier, and give them the feedback, so they can pass it onto the battery R&D teams.
I am not sure how the temperature reported to the Victron equipment is calculated by the BMZ.
Regarding the installation master/slave configuration, that is also something to discuss with your installer.
I was very impressed with the VRM until I added a second battery in parallel, with also communication links between batteries linked to the Victron . The VRM now displays battery charge currents ambiguously ! Do I need to analyse the can-data to search for a solution or did someone since 2020 found a solution? Many thanks for your attention !
