¶ TROUBLESHOOTING: Charging Not Working
If charging is not happening as expected, it is usually because one or more of your set values is preventing it from charging.
A simple way to fix is by re-running the Wizard as this will enter the default values for your battery chemistry and can, therefore, potentially, fix the issue. It's like a reboot of your settings.
¶ If Controlling Charging Using an Inverter Connected to the WatchMon via CANbus
The important values are found in Control Logic - Remote.
Check whether communication is occurring back and forth.
Check that scaling is appropriate. For example do the Actual and Target look right or are they a factor of 10 out?
Note: Not all inverters transmit back the value (Actual). If it doesn't report this, it will have blanks in Actual and you would need to check the inverter.
The inverter reporting back is good to have, but not essential.
- Check if Actual is above Target. It won't charge in this scenario, so the BMS is doing what it is meant to do.
¶ If Controlling Charging Using a Contactor or Similar using Charging Logic
The important values can be found in Control Logic - Charging and Hardware - Expansion Settings
Check your wiring - if the output is set to Manual On, does charging work?
If it doesn't work, check the wiring and if confident, try an alternative output making sure you are using fusing to prevent damaging the output.
It is very easy to damage these outputs if you aren't careful and this damage is not covered under warranty.
- Check the Charging state - is it in the state you are expecting?
If in ON state and not working, check your wiring again or check if using the correct Expansion Option. Charging ON is the most common one we use.
If in OFF state and you think it should be in ON state, check your settings in Charging Logic.
As an example:
One scenario that would stop charging is shown below where Cell Hi Resume has been lowered. The system works that initially, it will charge till it reaches the Cell Hi Cutout. Then be in the Off state till the Voltage drops below the Cell Hi Resume. This example shows Actual is above the Cell Hi Resume, therefore it is still off.
¶ Other issues may be ignoring the requirements to allow balancing to effectively occur by allowing limitations:
- Low power must be enabled on the charging tab.
- Low power current should suit the bypass capability of CellMon.
- The charger voltage target needs to be sufficient for all cells to reach the bypass threshold.