First of all let me start say saying thank you for your videos. My Seplos kit is currently on a slow boat from China so your videos will help a lot when it arrives, along with the cells, which are on another boat. One small observation - it might well be that your UNI-T meter was not showing a voltage because you have it set to Amps!
I hope you enjoy building it. I'm in the middle of building a second one, but was given the wrong accessories kit. Have to wait for a new one. Sharp eyes on the meter by the way. I had checked it on every setting and it didn't work. The temperature sensor was also not working. What you see in the video was just me lazily leaving it on the previous setting. I exchanged it and got a better unit which works as expected.
@@GaryMeatsLife Thanks for the response Gary. My challenges, in advance of the kit arriving are: 1) Working out what mains cable to use to the inverter - Victron say use multi-strand flexible cable without ferrules. I can find low voltage multi-strand but not ones that are clear about being good for 240V. 2) How to setup the Seplos BMS with Victron Multiplus (I will be studying your settings) and 3) how to setup the Victron Dynamic ESS, using Node Red on a GX device. This is to take advantage of the Octopus Agile tariff. It will be a slog but I will get there. I need to document what I find to help others. I am not good enough to do videos like your good self. I know that I will be chanting "Here goes" when I come to switch it on.
@@tonyjarvis4970 Sounds like you have some fun ahead of you. Once I build my second battery, I'll make and upload the BMS Studio video, so hopefully that will give you more help. I can't comment on your other queries, but I don't understand the logic in the suggestion of not using ferrules. Surely good quality ferrules make the most sense unless there is something special about how the victron clamps the loose strand wire. I would love to have something like the Octopus tariff, but I make do with a 4 hour cheap window of around 6.5c per kWh to charge my battery and EVs. If I use the battery, or need more than 5kW (inverter limit) at a time, then I pay 36c per kWh. I intend for that to be exceedingly rare, hence the second battery.
@@GaryMeatsLife Your rate is better than most prices quoted on Agile. Octopus will not allow me to go on their low price EV tariff unless I can prove I own an EV, otherwise I would have selected that route. I look forward to seeing your next video, keep up the good work. Oh - following your comment about the torque wrench I am going to do a simple check on mine. There is a point on the handle 0.2m from the pivot point. If I hang two 1 kg bags of sugar in a carrier bag at that point, with the drive end secured in a vice, it should "click" at (2 x 9.81 x 0.2) = 3.92 Nm . Lets call it 4 Nm. The calculation first converts kg to N (weight x gravity) multiplied by the torque "arm". Update - I couldn't find two bags of sugar so 4 cans of beans and a small can of coconut milk (too much info) = 2.044 kg = 4.006 Nm. The torque wrench clicked at 4.5 Nm, so I have about a 10% under torque. Thanks for the inspiration to check.
Hi Gary, great videos! My kit has just arrived from Frogstar so they will be super useful. Did you top balance the cells first or is this not necessary with the active balancer?
Happy to help. Like and sub, as I have more to come. It wasn't necessary to top balance them. I have just installed my second battery within the last hour and haven't top balanced those. In fact, the first battery SOC is 50% and the second battery is at 30%. The inverter is taking the total SOC% and dividing by the number of BMS's (2) and showing 40% total SOC. I will let the batteries charge up to 100% over the next couple of nights and I will hit the active balancer on both of them at that stage. I'll add the latest video after I have more useful content.
Hi Gary did you calibrate your battery first? Mine was working fine till it charges to 100% and then the over voltage protection kicks in and it won't discharge until I reset it by switching it off and on. I think that the BMS needs an initial calibration but all the descriptions I've seen are quite vague. Eg how do you clear the over voltage alarm to discharge?
I was very tempted to tap the cell and I even picked up a heli-coil set to do it, but was advised to return it for a replacement. I purchased a new cell from NKON and they covered the return postage for the damaged cell and refunded me when they received it. It ended up costing me the price of postage from NKON, because I didn't want to wait for the bad cell to return to them which would have allowed me to avail of the full warranty. BMS Studio video will be uploaded today.
Hi Gary, Much appreciated for this video. It really got me in trouble when assembling Seplos-L diy box myself cuz tbs the instruction is kinda useless. Then i jt throw it to trash bin and follow your step-by-step tutorial. And i finally made it! I am literally looking forward to more of this!👏👏
Good day! We have the same Seplos product! But we did not receive the balancing fees! We connected everything according to the scheme! we have a Capa Warn (Y) error! Maybe you can tell us what to do about it? Thank you!
Hi. I am not sure what you mean by "balancing fees". Can you clarify? I assume you are getting a battery capacity warning on the battery display and NOT on the inverter display. You are probably getting a capacity warning because you need to enter the correct capacity in the BMS Studio. The capacity on mine is set to 305Ah.
Hi Gary, nice video, unless my eyesight is failing, your uni T meter is not reading the battery voltage because you have set the dial to A - i.e Amps, the dot on the dial is pointing to Amps, and the display is reading A and you are measuring V - Voltage.
Cheers. The Uni-T was faulty. Wrong setting was on during recording, but the meter was checked off cam for Volts, Amps and Celsius and it was completely fecked. Not even continuity worked. I ordered a replacement and works fine. I was just unlucky first time.
Hi Gary, the 3 battery videos are really good. Can you please share the cost of the Seplos 15 kwh unit? I'm considering adding an off grid system with Solis 6K and 10 -15 kwh batteries. Currently have a grid tied system and cannot expand it any more. Are you aware of many clients in Ireland that have already installed the Seplos battery?
Hi Alan. As mentioned in the video, the kit was purchased from www.fogstar.co.uk for about €600. It cost me €50 for it to be dropped off in Northern Ireland where I collected from. The battery cells were from www.eu.nkon.nl and the 16 B Grade cells cost a little over €1200 delivered. If you already have the tools and don't need to buy anything else, I would put a round figure of €2,000 on it, because you will ultimately need to spend money on something else. Fogstar sell the Seplos pre-made for about €2,300 (depending on exchange rate) which is not bad when you consider that the WECO 5kWh battery is being sold for €2,000 for a third of the battery capacity. Pylontech have a slightly smaller rack battery for a little under €1,500. It can be a bit daunting building a battery, even with a kit supplied and you do take on the risk of damaging the battery, your inverter, or both, so caution is advised. I have spent hundreds more on tools and materials, but much of these are tools I wanted to buy anyway, such as hydraulic and RJ45 crimps. I needed. I spent a few hundred on wood for cabinets, but I have improved the part of my property the batteries will be located which is now dry and more pleasant to be in. I'll include these side details in the final video. I know DIY batteries are popular here amongst the enthusiasts, but I wouldn't say they are common, including the likes of the Seplos kits. I have a second one ordered which I will be collecting when I drive to Germany later this month. I plan to have a third battery before the end of the year. With the cabinets built, I might even sell the seplos kits and replace them with bare cells, BMS and balancers. Someone will be blessed with a bargain. I may even offer to hook the battery up if they are local enough to me. I'll see how things go. I'm enjoying the ride, challenging as it has been for a newbie.
@@GaryMeatsLife Thanks Gary for the detailed response. I'd love to know how its working for you so far and please create a video when you receive the 2nd one and expand the system. Alan
@@alanslattery5954I will do. I haven’t added anything new due to PC issues, but I’ve ordered a new PC to build yesterday and will be back up and running soon.
Hi, Could you tell me how to connect positive and negative cables from the battery to the BMS, on the BMA board it is mentioned B- and P- only. And there is a small terminal B+, I am trying to upgrade my ROSEN Power wall Battery from SEPLOS V2 BMS to V3.
@@devgunathillake4726 Take a look at the other video I have in this collection. One of them is a wiring video walkthrough which should answer your questions.
Hi Gary, I have the same inverter as you, and I'm using it with 16 EVE 304 cells and a JK inverter BMS with an active balancer. I've been running this setup for the past five months. The JK BMS communicates the state of charge (SOC) to the inverter, but the SOC keeps drifting over time. Here's the issue: even when the BMS indicates a 100% SOC, the voltages drift slightly lower with each cycle. Over the weeks, the SOC gradually drifts, so while it shows 100%, each cell and the overall pack voltage are slightly lower than the previous cycle. If I adjust the battery capacity settings, the BMS resets to 70% SOC, and the inverter charges another 3 or 4 kWh. This SOC drift is frustrating because on cloudy days, my 16 kWh battery effectively only charges to 11 or 12 kWh. The remaining 4 kWh stays uncharged because the BMS incorrectly reports 100% SOC to the inverter. To fully charge the battery, I have to keep changing the capacity settings in the BMS back and forth. Is there a way to use this inverter without CAN communication or by setting it as a generic battery? If anyone else has the same issue or knows a solution, please comment and suggest how to fix this problem. Thanks!
I bought the enclosure/kit from FogStar in the UK. They only deliver in the UK. I had this one delivered to Northern Ireland to a delivery depot and collected it myself. I picked up a second one when driving through the UK a month ago, which I am in the process of assembling.
Look at the wiring video in the series. It’s helpful to break it down into smaller chunks. Each section of the build is separate to the next. Hope that helps.
@@1GoldieHappy to help. I agree, the available instructions are poor and some online instructions are incorrect, incomplete, or incompatible. That’s why I created the videos.
Hi Gary. This is Hart from Seplos Technology company. I was browsing RUclips when I was pushed to your video by chance. Thank you for sharing our company's products. It's a very good vedio! If you have any needs, you can contact me and we can exchange products and share experiences.
Hello Hart. Thank you for your comment. I am happy to help the solar community, because they helped me. I do have some ideas and suggestions to help reduce the need for customers to reach out to Seplos or a solar forum after purchasing a kit if there is a problem. I also have a couple of practical product suggestions. What is the best email address to reach you directly?
First of all let me start say saying thank you for your videos. My Seplos kit is currently on a slow boat from China so your videos will help a lot when it arrives, along with the cells, which are on another boat. One small observation - it might well be that your UNI-T meter was not showing a voltage because you have it set to Amps!
I hope you enjoy building it. I'm in the middle of building a second one, but was given the wrong accessories kit. Have to wait for a new one. Sharp eyes on the meter by the way. I had checked it on every setting and it didn't work. The temperature sensor was also not working. What you see in the video was just me lazily leaving it on the previous setting. I exchanged it and got a better unit which works as expected.
@@GaryMeatsLife Thanks for the response Gary. My challenges, in advance of the kit arriving are: 1) Working out what mains cable to use to the inverter - Victron say use multi-strand flexible cable without ferrules. I can find low voltage multi-strand but not ones that are clear about being good for 240V. 2) How to setup the Seplos BMS with Victron Multiplus (I will be studying your settings) and 3) how to setup the Victron Dynamic ESS, using Node Red on a GX device. This is to take advantage of the Octopus Agile tariff. It will be a slog but I will get there. I need to document what I find to help others. I am not good enough to do videos like your good self. I know that I will be chanting "Here goes" when I come to switch it on.
@@tonyjarvis4970 Sounds like you have some fun ahead of you. Once I build my second battery, I'll make and upload the BMS Studio video, so hopefully that will give you more help. I can't comment on your other queries, but I don't understand the logic in the suggestion of not using ferrules. Surely good quality ferrules make the most sense unless there is something special about how the victron clamps the loose strand wire. I would love to have something like the Octopus tariff, but I make do with a 4 hour cheap window of around 6.5c per kWh to charge my battery and EVs. If I use the battery, or need more than 5kW (inverter limit) at a time, then I pay 36c per kWh. I intend for that to be exceedingly rare, hence the second battery.
@@GaryMeatsLife Your rate is better than most prices quoted on Agile. Octopus will not allow me to go on their low price EV tariff unless I can prove I own an EV, otherwise I would have selected that route. I look forward to seeing your next video, keep up the good work. Oh - following your comment about the torque wrench I am going to do a simple check on mine. There is a point on the handle 0.2m from the pivot point. If I hang two 1 kg bags of sugar in a carrier bag at that point, with the drive end secured in a vice, it should "click" at (2 x 9.81 x 0.2) = 3.92 Nm . Lets call it 4 Nm. The calculation first converts kg to N (weight x gravity) multiplied by the torque "arm". Update - I couldn't find two bags of sugar so 4 cans of beans and a small can of coconut milk (too much info) = 2.044 kg = 4.006 Nm. The torque wrench clicked at 4.5 Nm, so I have about a 10% under torque. Thanks for the inspiration to check.
i love bro you work
Hi Gary, great videos! My kit has just arrived from Frogstar so they will be super useful. Did you top balance the cells first or is this not necessary with the active balancer?
Happy to help. Like and sub, as I have more to come.
It wasn't necessary to top balance them. I have just installed my second battery within the last hour and haven't top balanced those.
In fact, the first battery SOC is 50% and the second battery is at 30%. The inverter is taking the total SOC% and dividing by the number of BMS's (2) and showing 40% total SOC.
I will let the batteries charge up to 100% over the next couple of nights and I will hit the active balancer on both of them at that stage.
I'll add the latest video after I have more useful content.
Hi Gary did you calibrate your battery first?
Mine was working fine till it charges to 100% and then the over voltage protection kicks in and it won't discharge until I reset it by switching it off and on.
I think that the BMS needs an initial calibration but all the descriptions I've seen are quite vague. Eg how do you clear the over voltage alarm to discharge?
Great video! Could you fix the broken terminal by taping a new thread? Did you get the replacement cell under warranty or bought it outright?
I was very tempted to tap the cell and I even picked up a heli-coil set to do it, but was advised to return it for a replacement. I purchased a new cell from NKON and they covered the return postage for the damaged cell and refunded me when they received it. It ended up costing me the price of postage from NKON, because I didn't want to wait for the bad cell to return to them which would have allowed me to avail of the full warranty.
BMS Studio video will be uploaded today.
Hi Gary,
Much appreciated for this video. It really got me in trouble when assembling Seplos-L diy box myself cuz tbs the instruction is kinda useless. Then i jt throw it to trash bin and follow your step-by-step tutorial. And i finally made it! I am literally looking forward to more of this!👏👏
Like and subscribe. You’re welcome ☺️
Good day! We have the same Seplos product! But we did not receive the balancing fees! We connected everything according to the scheme! we have a Capa Warn (Y) error! Maybe you can tell us what to do about it? Thank you!
Hi. I am not sure what you mean by "balancing fees". Can you clarify?
I assume you are getting a battery capacity warning on the battery display and NOT on the inverter display. You are probably getting a capacity warning because you need to enter the correct capacity in the BMS Studio. The capacity on mine is set to 305Ah.
Hi Gary, nice video, unless my eyesight is failing, your uni T meter is not reading the battery voltage because you have set the dial to A - i.e Amps, the dot on the dial is pointing to Amps, and the display is reading A and you are measuring V - Voltage.
Cheers. The Uni-T was faulty. Wrong setting was on during recording, but the meter was checked off cam for Volts, Amps and Celsius and it was completely fecked. Not even continuity worked. I ordered a replacement and works fine. I was just unlucky first time.
Hi Gary, the 3 battery videos are really good. Can you please share the cost of the Seplos 15 kwh unit? I'm considering adding an off grid system with Solis 6K and 10 -15 kwh batteries. Currently have a grid tied system and cannot expand it any more. Are you aware of many clients in Ireland that have already installed the Seplos battery?
Hi Alan. As mentioned in the video, the kit was purchased from www.fogstar.co.uk for about €600. It cost me €50 for it to be dropped off in Northern Ireland where I collected from. The battery cells were from www.eu.nkon.nl and the 16 B Grade cells cost a little over €1200 delivered. If you already have the tools and don't need to buy anything else, I would put a round figure of €2,000 on it, because you will ultimately need to spend money on something else.
Fogstar sell the Seplos pre-made for about €2,300 (depending on exchange rate) which is not bad when you consider that the WECO 5kWh battery is being sold for €2,000 for a third of the battery capacity. Pylontech have a slightly smaller rack battery for a little under €1,500.
It can be a bit daunting building a battery, even with a kit supplied and you do take on the risk of damaging the battery, your inverter, or both, so caution is advised.
I have spent hundreds more on tools and materials, but much of these are tools I wanted to buy anyway, such as hydraulic and RJ45 crimps. I needed. I spent a few hundred on wood for cabinets, but I have improved the part of my property the batteries will be located which is now dry and more pleasant to be in. I'll include these side details in the final video.
I know DIY batteries are popular here amongst the enthusiasts, but I wouldn't say they are common, including the likes of the Seplos kits. I have a second one ordered which I will be collecting when I drive to Germany later this month. I plan to have a third battery before the end of the year.
With the cabinets built, I might even sell the seplos kits and replace them with bare cells, BMS and balancers. Someone will be blessed with a bargain. I may even offer to hook the battery up if they are local enough to me. I'll see how things go. I'm enjoying the ride, challenging as it has been for a newbie.
@@GaryMeatsLife Thanks Gary for the detailed response. I'd love to know how its working for you so far and please create a video when you receive the 2nd one and expand the system. Alan
@@alanslattery5954I will do. I haven’t added anything new due to PC issues, but I’ve ordered a new PC to build yesterday and will be back up and running soon.
Hi, Could you tell me how to connect positive and negative cables from the battery to the BMS, on the BMA board it is mentioned B- and P- only. And there is a small terminal B+, I am trying to upgrade my ROSEN Power wall Battery from SEPLOS V2 BMS to V3.
@@devgunathillake4726 Take a look at the other video I have in this collection. One of them is a wiring video walkthrough which should answer your questions.
Hi Gary,
I have the same inverter as you, and I'm using it with 16 EVE 304 cells and a JK inverter BMS with an active balancer. I've been running this setup for the past five months. The JK BMS communicates the state of charge (SOC) to the inverter, but the SOC keeps drifting over time.
Here's the issue: even when the BMS indicates a 100% SOC, the voltages drift slightly lower with each cycle. Over the weeks, the SOC gradually drifts, so while it shows 100%, each cell and the overall pack voltage are slightly lower than the previous cycle. If I adjust the battery capacity settings, the BMS resets to 70% SOC, and the inverter charges another 3 or 4 kWh. This SOC drift is frustrating because on cloudy days, my 16 kWh battery effectively only charges to 11 or 12 kWh. The remaining 4 kWh stays uncharged because the BMS incorrectly reports 100% SOC to the inverter. To fully charge the battery, I have to keep changing the capacity settings in the BMS back and forth.
Is there a way to use this inverter without CAN communication or by setting it as a generic battery? If anyone else has the same issue or knows a solution, please comment and suggest how to fix this problem.
Thanks!
Do you have the battery connected to a Victron Multiplus?
Hi. I missed this comment. No, I don't have any Victron products. My other videos show more details of the connections and setup.
Where did you buy this enclosure? Do you have a link you can share? Thanks!
I bought the enclosure/kit from FogStar in the UK. They only deliver in the UK. I had this one delivered to Northern Ireland to a delivery depot and collected it myself. I picked up a second one when driving through the UK a month ago, which I am in the process of assembling.
how is it helpful when you skipped all of the circuit board and loom connections
Look at the wiring video in the series. It’s helpful to break it down into smaller chunks. Each section of the build is separate to the next. Hope that helps.
Ahhh yes i see your other videos now, they were very helpful actually! 🤝
the Fogstar instructions are absolutely useless 🫣
@@1GoldieHappy to help. I agree, the available instructions are poor and some online instructions are incorrect, incomplete, or incompatible. That’s why I created the videos.
Hi Gary. This is Hart from Seplos Technology company. I was browsing RUclips when I was pushed to your video by chance. Thank you for sharing our company's products. It's a very good vedio! If you have any needs, you can contact me and we can exchange products and share experiences.
Hello Hart. Thank you for your comment. I am happy to help the solar community, because they helped me.
I do have some ideas and suggestions to help reduce the need for customers to reach out to Seplos or a solar forum after purchasing a kit if there is a problem.
I also have a couple of practical product suggestions. What is the best email address to reach you directly?