WHY does the old VE.CAN BlueSolar 150/85 (rectangular metal box) not support external BMSes?

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Marius Marais asked Jul 25, '21

WHY does the old VE.CAN BlueSolar 150/85 (rectangular metal box) not support external BMSes?

Almost every ESS battery compatibility page notes that old VE.CAN BlueSolar (150/85 & 150/70) with the rectangular metal case does NOT support external BMSes, because the firmware does not implement the required control instructions.

On the face of it, this makes sense.

However, after a couple of years of this being the case, WHY has the feature not been implemented?

I currently have some of these devices, and they are essentially useless now.

I understand that firmware "space" might be an issue to add this feature, but would it not be possible to build a cut-down firmware that contains ONLY this feature and none of the standalone charging features? That way a "BMS-compatible" firmware can be flashed, since none of the other features matter then.

It really is a shame that these excellent chargers have basically been abandoned now, especially since they were marketed as the top-of-range models initially.

Lithium Battery BMS VE.Can

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Answer 1 · 2021-07-25T11:32:55Z

Matthias Lange - DE answered · Jul 25, 2021 at 11:32 AM

Yes they where the "top model" but they also EOL for a few years now.

Maybe you could use the remote connector to switch off the MPPT with a "high cell" signal.

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Answer 2 · 2021-07-25T11:49:12Z

Marius Marais answered · Jul 25, 2021 at 11:49 AM

Sure, they're EOL, but they're EOL because they're abandoned, not because they were 10 years old at the time.

It feels like the range was a design mistake -- too few processing resources put in initially.

But now the customer ends up being screwed. :)

I completely agree that EOL devices shouldn't be used for new installations, but if you already have them, maybe something is possible here?

OK, less complaining, more problem-solving... Could the GX device toggle a relay to signal "Stop Charging"? I.e. when it would send the VE.Can message to everything else, also toggle the relay?

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