Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby Burgerman » 18 Mar 2019, 13:20

THREE PAGES AGO I posted this:

Connect the PL8 and be sure its all powered up.
Then, open the PL8 SOFTWARE. and be sure that the COMM PORT SELECTION is AUTO.
It will load the PL8 presets and say ready at the top.

Now, REMOVE the .zip part from the end of that file you downloaded in windows.
And then it will read LiFe use this.PS8


Then, in the PL8 software select the first slot top-left, already used -- the no 1 preset. So its highlighted grey?
Then go to the FILE menu at the top and choose OPEN FILE TO PRESET 1
Then NAVIGATE to your download folder where the LiFe use this.PS8 is waiting... And select it.

It will now be visible in position 1 in the software.
Now, at the bottom, it will say UPDATE and you should.

It is now loaded in position 1 on your charger ready to go.


You replied UNDERSTOOD. And completely ignored me! And now you are trying to copy and past it in...
I give up! :oops:
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby elryko1992 » 18 Mar 2019, 13:26

Graham its very simple czy you accomplices things
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 19 Mar 2019, 20:51

Burgerman wrote:THREE PAGES AGO I posted this:

Connect the PL8 and be sure its all powered up.
Then, open the PL8 SOFTWARE. and be sure that the COMM PORT SELECTION is AUTO.
It will load the PL8 presets and say ready at the top.

Now, REMOVE the .zip part from the end of that file you downloaded in windows.
And then it will read LiFe use this.PS8


Then, in the PL8 software select the first slot top-left, already used -- the no 1 preset. So its highlighted grey?
Then go to the FILE menu at the top and choose OPEN FILE TO PRESET 1
Then NAVIGATE to your download folder where the LiFe use this.PS8 is waiting... And select it.

It will now be visible in position 1 in the software.
Now, at the bottom, it will say UPDATE and you should.

It is now loaded in position 1 on your charger ready to go.


You replied UNDERSTOOD. And completely ignored me! And now you are trying to copy and past it in...
I give up! :oops:


Sorry if I mislead you BM. I was trying to show you that the software thought the preset was already loaded. By dropping down that menu you could see it was clearly saying "Paste preset 25 to preset 25". I did NOT try to paste it in. Also I used Auto mode at all times. I think the PL8 needs to be repaired at the factory and I have already written to Revolectrix. BTW a site member did a Teamviewer session on my PC and after 30 min of trying to import the preset he gave up. I imagine they will contact me today or tomorrow and probably ask me to ship it back to them. Thanks for your help, which is always much appreciated.
cheers
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby Burgerman » 19 Mar 2019, 21:15

The thing you are doing does not even need the PL8 connected. So theres not much point sending that back.

You can load any new preset into the software, in ANY slot at all, occupied or not, if you follow my instructions.

You cannot do it how you were showing. The PL8 has nothing to do with this. You can do that with NO PL8 at all. So it cannot be faulty!

Just installed teamviewer. No clue how it works. Let me at it so I can see whats going on if you want. Put the preset you want to install on your desktop...
Power up the PL8 too. Although it is NOT required to install a preset into the CCS.
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 06 Jul 2019, 01:03

Hi Burgerman
It's been a while and I had to revert to my old 50€ Chinese charger. Revolectrix asked me to return the charger for guarantee work. They were exceptionally slow in dealing with it and only fixed half the problem. The report I received from Vincent Oh was minimalist and pretty much illegible.
I have been waiting for my son to visit from Madrid to fix the PL8 up and start charging each of the 16 x 3.2v 120Ah LiPo cells in preparation for assembling probable a 24v 240Ah pack.
I have a preset sent to me by a member, which is named: LiFe Charge ONE 120 Ah Cell.PS8. Does this sound like the correct preset to be using on the individual cells, as I would have expected it to be called "LiPo" and not "LiFe" ?
Unfortunately even after the PL8 had travelled to Indonesia and back, it was still impossible to install a preset via the SW , with everything powered up . Eventually my son found that one of the small pins on the back of the PL8 in the USB cable socket had been bent double. This was the original fault and Revolectrix had failed to rectify it.

Right now I am trying to discharge and subsequently charge 1 cell. This is the coding of the preset I was given:




// Preset File Created on 04-03-2019 at 21:09:34 for the PowerLab 8v2

// SAFETY HAZARD: Do not edit this file directly. Changing any of the
// data will cause the preset to loose its validation and cause it
// not to run on the PowerLab 8v2.

// ONLY USE THE Charge control software to edit the preset.








// Preset 6

//LCD: LiFe Charge ONE 120 Ah Cell Set10.0A 0Cy
//ID: 000000000
//DateTime: -8586472847112784387
//Description:
//BattBrand:
//UserName:

// LiFe` Charge ONE `
// `120 Ah Cell `

DW 0000000000000010b //0
DW 0000000001001011b //1
DW 0100001100100000b //2
DW 0110000101101000b //3
DW 0110011101110010b //4
DW 0010000001100101b //5
DW 0100111001001111b //6
DW 0010000001000101b //7
DW 0011001000110001b //8
DW 0010000000110000b //9
DW 0110100001000001b //10
DW 0100001100100000b //11
DW 0110110001100101b //12
DW 0010000001101100b //13
DW 0010000000100000b //14
DW 0010000000100000b //15
DW 1001011111000001b //16
DW 1010011011010000b //17
DW 0100000000000000b //18
DW 0011110100000101b //19
DW 1000100011000101b //20
DW 0001001010100011b //21
DW 0000010001011010b //22
DW 0010000000000000b //23
DW 0101010010001000b //24
DW 0001110111101000b //25
DW 0110000011111011b //26
DW 0110101011111010b //27
DW 0000000010010000b //28
DW 1111101001000000b //29
DW 0000101001101101b //30
DW 0000101101011100b //31
DW 0000101110001101b //32
DW 0000101110101011b //33
DW 0000101110110100b //34
DW 0000101110111011b //35
DW 0000101111000110b //36
DW 0000101111010011b //37
DW 0000101111011100b //38
DW 0000101111101011b //39
DW 0000110010100111b //40
DW 0100010000000001b //41
DW 0011001100010000b //42
DW 0100010100000000b //43
DW 1110000010000110b //44
DW 0000011111010000b //45
DW 0010111111000000b //46
DW 0000000000000000b //47
DW 1010000000110110b //48
DW 0100100010000000b //49
DW 1010100100011111b //50


It has been running for <2 hrs, but the graph doesn't show that it discharged to 3.3v or that it has charged to 3.6v. Is this a valid preset? How long should this process take per cell?
Attachments
LiFe-Charge-ONE-120-Ah-Cell--PS8.jpg
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 06 Jul 2019, 01:07

contd......

I would very much appreciate your views an what I am doing and how I can improve in my preparation of these 16 x cells in reediness to build a pack.

best regards

cheers

grazy1949
Attachments
LiFe-Charge-ONE-120-Ah-Cell--PS8-Graph.jpg
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 06 Jul 2019, 01:14

Graph after 2 hours:
LiFe-Charge-ONE-120-Ah-Cell--PS8-Graph-2.jpg
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby Burgerman » 06 Jul 2019, 01:45

I cant really tell what you are doing.

But you appear to be:
Charging ONE cell?
Which is 120Ah?
At only 10A??

Lets say it is 50 percent full. It may be only 10% full. At 10Amps that will take 6 to 7 hours...
Set it to 40A. That will take 2 hours.

Lipo is short for Lithium Polymer. WE dont want or use those. They explode, burn, and have very short cycle life.

We are using LiFe or LiFePO4 which is Lithium Ion Phosphate. Must longer service and calender life, and they dont explode or burn. And they charge at different voltages. Charge a LiFe cell that we use as a LiPo and you will ruin it.
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 06 Jul 2019, 08:32

Good morning BM.

Thanks for getting back so quickly. The charge of the first cell completed after 7 hours as you predicted and was charged with a single cell preset for a LiFe cell. My cells are LiFePo4, do you have a specific preset for this? (apologies for thinking that LiPo was an abbreviation for LiFePo4).

I was told by a member that I should use this LiFe single cell preset to prepare each of my 16 cells individually, before charging them in pack configuration. Could you please advise how I should set up the parameters of the single cell preset I am using. It doesn't apear to be discharging the cell to 3,3v before it starts the charge phase. Any help you can give me on getting this preset configured correctly will be really appreciated. Or even better if you have a preset for a single 3.2v 120 Ah cell, that would be a great help.

cheers

grazy1949
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LiFe-Charge-ONE-120-Ah-Cell--first-cell-completed-charge.jpg
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby Burgerman » 06 Jul 2019, 10:33

You are using one of my presets already?
If so, then change only the charge Amps to 40.

When starting the charge, choose DISCHARGE. It will discharge at a max of 10A. Down to 2.90V per cell, which is around 95% discharged. Why do you want to do that? So will take 12 hours.

What is this 3.3V thing all about? You cannot gain anything by discharging to a 3.3v figure. Why would you want to do that too?

Charge all full, and assemble the pack. Then charge as a pack to balance it.
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 06 Jul 2019, 11:05

Ok so I have been sent your single cell preset, by another member, along with the misleading instruction that all my new cells must be discharged to 3.3v before charging. Thank you for putting me straight on that point. So now I will charge them to 3.6v individually and then assemble the pack and charge it as a pack to balance it.

:worship

Thank you
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby Burgerman » 06 Jul 2019, 11:31

Then post result. Then use the pack, or discharge with the PL8 for 6 or 7 hours, and recharge. All lines should remain close as long as you have healthy cells and good tight clean connections. And you have not ruined the cells by charging as a lipo... :cussing

THIS tells me or anyone else absolutely nothing.

DW 0000000000000010b //0
DW 0000000001001011b //1
DW 0100001100100000b //2
DW 0110000101101000b //3
DW 0110011101110010b //4
DW 0010000001100101b //5
DW 0100111001001111b //6
DW 0010000001000101b //7
DW 0011001000110001b //8
DW 0010000000110000b //9
DW 0110100001000001b //10
DW 0100001100100000b //11
DW 0110110001100101b //12
DW 0010000001101100b //13
DW 0010000000100000b //14
DW 0010000000100000b //15
DW 1001011111000001b //16
DW 1010011011010000b //17
DW 0100000000000000b //18
DW 0011110100000101b //19
DW 1000100011000101b //20
DW 0001001010100011b //21
DW 0000010001011010b //22
DW 0010000000000000b //23
DW 0101010010001000b //24
DW 0001110111101000b //25
DW 0110000011111011b //26
DW 0110101011111010b //27
DW 0000000010010000b //28
DW 1111101001000000b //29
DW 0000101001101101b //30
DW 0000101101011100b //31
DW 0000101110001101b //32
DW 0000101110101011b //33
DW 0000101110110100b //34
DW 0000101110111011b //35
DW 0000101111000110b //36
DW 0000101111010011b //37
DW 0000101111011100b //38
DW 0000101111101011b //39
DW 0000110010100111b //40
DW 0100010000000001b //41
DW 0011001100010000b //42
DW 0100010100000000b //43
DW 1110000010000110b //44
DW 0000011111010000b //45
DW 0010111111000000b //46
DW 0000000000000000b //47
DW 1010000000110110b //48
DW 0100100010000000b //49
DW 1010100100011111b //50


It represents 50 different settings parameters in a way that only the charger and its built in firmware understands.

I can see those settings and change them. The charger and the normal pc software can change only some of the basic ones. But its simply a text file with a different .xxx file name ending. As such opening it this way is pointless. If you editany of it, then you dont kow what you changed, and worse the charger or the pc software will give an error and think its corrupt.
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 06 Jul 2019, 11:36

Hi BM

It reached 3.612v in 1.7h but the PL8 is still running after 2.2h. Can I alter the preset config to shorten the charge time to circa 2.0h?

cheers

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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby Burgerman » 06 Jul 2019, 11:41

No. That is now the cv stage. Charge will end when its fully charged.
You are not just charging TO some voltage. Providing you have the correct CV termination current set. And the cell is healthy.

TICK THE ADVANCED BOX.
GO TO EDIT,
Under the termination tab, what is the termination current set to (Manual A setting)? And what is the CV timeout set to?

CHOOSE 240mA
CHOOSE 4 hours.

Stop the charge, update the charger, restart the charge.
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 06 Jul 2019, 14:45

Hi,

I checked and your original values are still as you set them ie: CHOOSE 240mA
CHOOSE 4 hours.

:worship

thank you

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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby Burgerman » 06 Jul 2019, 14:53

Then be patient!
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 08 Jul 2019, 08:15

Hi BM,

I charged #14 of #16 , 3.2v 120A cells. They all charged to 3.6v and all took between 2.2h and 2.4h to charge. The graph displayed correctly on my PC. When I reached cell #15
I got a message from the software "No data from PowerLab 8"

Whilst I was loading the Single Cell preset, the info displayed on the screen of the PL8 was correct and the charge initiated and the cell was charged correctly However I had no data shown on the graph.

The red light was illuminated on the USB cable connecting the PL8 to the PC as I was running thru the stages leading up to "charging 1S Confirm?" When I pushed Enter the red light went out and the cell charged without the Pl8 communicating any data to the PC.

NB: When I received the PL8 back from Indonesia, the 3 pin micro plug socket from the PL8 had 1 pin bent over which was not connected to the male plug and the PL8 wasn't communicating wit the PC. This was the original problem I'd had before I sent it for repair and they failed to find it and thus returned it to me in the same condition. My son straightened the bent pin and then he was able to install your preset. I am asking your advice before taking any action to repair the micro socket.

(I suspect that the pin that had to be straightened is now loose and I want to ask you , if it will be OK to remove the socket and by pass it?)
NB: I have tried plugging the lead into different USB sockets on the PC, but that does not fix the problem.

cheers

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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby Burgerman » 08 Jul 2019, 08:33

Well you could take a look.
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 08 Jul 2019, 08:43

My son has just reinstalled the USP serial port converter driver. We now have communication between the SW and the PL8. I will try to run the 1S preset now and let you know what happens.

cheers

grazy1949
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USB-Serial-port-converter.jpg
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Re: Removing BMS & wiring in Pl8v2

Postby grazy+1949 » 08 Jul 2019, 09:52

My son spent another 20 min on the PL8 before rushing back to Madrid. I am happy to report that he got it working again, so the problem wasn't with the multi plug socket for the USB lead to the PC. I am now charging cell #16. After that I will get the battery boxes constructed and then configure the 2 x 24v 120Ah 8S packs and wire them up for balance charging.

cheers

grazy1949
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