[creeky]

Well. My lack of electronic experience is starting to show. I slowly wander through the world of BMS, BMU, Masters and Slaves etc etc.

I have discovered I can read the cell voltages direct from the BMS wiring harness. And there's a temp wire (I hope to read).

I found a manual for the 2012 with pin out diagrams for all the harnesses. I'm hoping they don't change with the 2014. Not counting on that as the 2013/14 got an upgraded chemistry.

One thing to ponder, for those of you who are more adept, note the BMS board has no big heat dissipating resistors. Do you think chip and resistor are on the cell? The harness diagram shows 1 - temp line, 1 "low register" and 6 to 12 cell voltages lines. Nothing else.

I have learned that Chevy went with passive balancing.

So the plan(s) right now are:
a)
- read and monitor the voltages
- balance manually as req. This gives me the advantage of reducing high cells or charging low cells. A simple RC balancer/charger might suffice.

Online reliable sources continue to point to high quality cells from LG, well maintained = very low cell drift.

b) the cost of a fancy BMS is the price of the battery pack and up. So I'm waiting to hear from China.

Charging:

After some odd research I have ascertained (to a reasonable level) that the Morningstar TS-MPPT-60 will support the voltage range I need. Morningstar is now claiming on their website that the battery chemistry is supported.

Further on the RTS hack. I still don't understand it. But you can set your BMS trigger alarm to switch on a resistor on the RTS that dramatically lowers or shuts off the controller. Thus saving contactor drama or having to shut down the whole system.

The Victron inverters continue to be the leading contender. Not just the very low idle draw, but the very low LVD. 37v. Which is suitable for a battery pack where the nominal voltage is 45.6. Fully charged is 50.4. And I'm really looking at operating between cell voltages of 3.4 and 4. Or 41 to 48v. Give or take a few hundredths of a volt.

It's been a wonderful adventure. Learning something new every day. Moving along much faster than I had planned. My start date was end of September. Looking more at July sometime now. And I could start charging today.

Sorry. No pics for today.