I have Wakespeed Victron compatible REC BMS. Do I plug the ws500 and the REC into the BMS compatible ports, or the CAN ports on my Cerbo GX
asked
REC BMS, Wakespeed CANbus alternator controller - how to connect to Cerbo GX
Hi @Galatea
That's an interesting product!
I'm sure you have to connect to the same port as the REC BMS, and yes that needs to be connected to the 'BMS CAN port' please keep us up to date about the results.
Still unsure about proper connection. I have the REC and Wakespeed plugged into the BMS CAN labeled ports on the Cerbo. The REC does not show and the Cerbo shows no DC system. I did notice that the BMS CAN port has a selection 500bits or none. So I changed the bit rate to 500 on the REC this did not fix the problem. In the instructions from REC for the set up for Victron it tells you to set the
VE CAN/BMS CAN to 250bits this option is available on the VE CAN but not on BMS CAN. So I should plug the REC and Wakespeed into the VE CAN instead of the BMS CAN? Sorry for the double post
I have the REC BMS, the Wakespeed WS500 and a Raspberry Pi 4 Venus which I would like to plug with a CAN hat.
I still need to install them but I am studying them!
Please keep us updated!
I'll do as well.
Looks really nice. If it worked like it should and I think it will I am going to be tickled and save a ton of money on batteries.
I have a similar system with CCGX instead. The trick is to carefully compare the RJ45 connections from each device. I‘ve had the REC BMS connected directly to the CCGX for three years now and it works very well. Due to my wiring configuration my CAN runs from the REC to the WS500 and then from the WS500 to the CCGX (Don‘t forget the terminating resistor at the CCGX) The RJ45’s are different for the WS500 so I had to modify the RJ45 connectors for the WS500. WS500 has CAN H and CAN L on different pins than the CCGX. All three manufacturers have published their CAN pinouts. I think Wakespeed will also make up cables for you if you describe your system. Wakespeed technical help over the phone was outstanding. Just got this running today and so far it appears to work well. Now if we just get Victron to provide a way to measure and display this alternative energy sources separately from DC Loads.
Will install my Rec ABMS with Cerbo GX the next week. Planning to use the BMS-Can recommended by Rec fdor Cerbo GX.
From Rec ABMS manual:
Update GX device to 2.40 or higher.
Connect BMS and GX device with CAN cable. Use BMS-Can port with Cerbo GX or VE-Can port with other GX devices.
Open Settings menu and select Services. Set CAN-bus profile to CAN-bus BMS (500kbit/s) for Cerbo
GX or VE.Can & CAN-bus BMS (250kbit/s) for other GX devices.
Then in Settings menu select System setup. Change:
- Battery monitor to REC BMS in CAN-bus.
In menu DVCC:
- DVCC→ON
- SVS→ON
- STS → ON
Here is a sketch showing how a REC BMS connects to your Victron Cerbo. Note the colors of the connectors, as the WS500/Victron is a crossover cable and needs to be connected properly. If you want more sketches or instructions on how to create your own electrical drawings using diagrams.net you can download our examples and libraries here.
https://rec-bms-na.com/downloads/
And we did a bit of a primer tutorial on how to use it here: https://youtu.be/DWOKHfCTsBs
Best,
Rick
It should work in either port with a couple of caveats. By default, the BMS CAN port operates at 500kbps, while the VE.CAN port operates at 250kbps (NMEA 2000 also operates at 250kbps). The default datarate used in the REC and Wakespeed configuration is also 250kbps. You can either shift the REC & Wakespeed to 500kbps and plug into the BMS port, or plug into the VE.CAN interface.
As I don’t really want my BMS/Alternator on the rest of my NMEA2K network and want to have it connected to the cerbo, I’m going to be going with options 1 or 2.
Edited: removed part about changing speed of Cerbo BMS port
BMS port can't be changed to 250kbps as it will only operate at 500 since it's for supported batteries only.
Oh, you're right. I saw it in the menu Settings -> Services -> BMS-Can Port and since it mentioned the 500kbps in the input just assumed I could configure the datarate. Turns out you can only disable it from there.
Either way, the REC and Wakespeed can both be configured for 500kbps, if you really want to connect them to the BMS port. That's what I'll be doing.
