1.1 About This Manual

This manual explains how to set up and run a battery system with a LiBat™ BMS: which value to choose for a setting, why, and how to check the result. It is written for pack builders and system integrators who commission a LiBat™ BMS with the LiMon™ PC tool.

1.1.1 What This Manual Covers

The other sections of this site describe what each part is. This manual describes how and why to use it, and links to the reference pages instead of repeating them.

Table.1.1.1: Sections of This Site

Section Answers
User Manual How to set up and run the system, which value to choose and why
BMS Hardware, Peripheral Boards What is on a board and where each pin is
BMS Communication What is in each CAN frame, Modbus register or JSON field
LiMon™ PC Tool What each field on each LiMon™ screen means

Most of what the manual describes is BMS firmware behaviour; LiMon™ is where you set it. A page is built around a task, not around a screen, so one page can cover settings from several LiMon™ tabs.

1.1.2 How the Manual Is Organised

The chapters follow the life of a battery system: the basics first, then the settings, then daily operation. The manual grows chapter by chapter; topics that have no page yet are covered by the reference sections.

Fig.1.1.1: Chapters of the User Manual

1 Overview this manual, units and signs, system concepts pages: 1.1 · 1.2 2 Configuration cells, balancing, temperature, current, power path, precharge pages: 2.1 – 2.7 3 Operation & Maintenance protection and recovery pages: 3.1 Coming later installation and wiring, commissioning, integration, monitoring, troubleshooting Reading order for a new system Blue: chapter with pages. Grey: topics that follow later; the reference sections cover them until then.

Table.1.1.2: Chapters

Chapter Topics Pages
1. Overview this manual, system concepts 1.1 About This Manual, 1.2 System Concepts
2. Configuration cells, balancing, temperature, current, power path, precharge 2.1 Cell Voltage Limits, 2.2 Cell Balancing, 2.3 Temperature Limits, 2.4 Current Measurement, 2.5 Current Limits, 2.6 Power Path, 2.7 Precharge
3. Operation and Maintenance protection and recovery 3.1 Protection and Recovery
Coming later installation and wiring, commissioning, more settings, integration with chargers and parallel packs, monitoring and logs, troubleshooting —

Chapters and pages are numbered in reading order. When pages are added, the numbers of later pages can change; the links to a page stay the same.

1.1.3 How a Page Is Built

The configuration pages are built from the same parts, so you can jump to the one you need:

  • Applies to: the boards the page is valid for.
  • How It Works: what the BMS does, in plain words, with a figure.
  • Settings: each setting with what it does, its unit and its default; how to choose it and its range where they help.
  • Example: a worked example with numbers, where the values need a calculation.
  • Checking the Result: what you should see in LiMon™ after saving.
  • Common Mistakes: what goes wrong in practice, how you notice it and how to fix it.

1.1.4 Conventions

  • Sign of current and power: + is charge, − is discharge, on every LiBat™ interface and in every example.
  • Setting names are written in bold exactly as LiMon™ shows them, for example Pre-Charge Time. Where the tab matters it is given first: Current › Pre-Charge Time.
  • Units are SI units with a space before the unit: 500 ms, 26.7 mV/A, 51.2 V.
  • Calculation examples that use chosen values say so; use the values of your own system.
  • TBD marks a value or a function that is not settled yet, for example a LiMon™ option that the firmware does not implement.
  • Figures and tables are numbered by page: Fig.2.4.2 is the second figure on page 2.4.
  • Versions: the manual describes the current BMS firmware and the latest LiMon™ release.

1.1.5 Reading the Figures

The colours in the figures always mean the same thing:

Table.1.1.3: Colours in the Figures

Colour Meaning
Blue a step, the main path of a value, or the first data series
Orange a decision or a check, a warning, or the second data series
Green a good result, an output that is ON, or the third data series
Red a fault, a protection or a limit line
Grey something inactive or OFF, not yet available, or a dead band
Blue label with white text a LiMon™ setting that you change

Numbered cards are steps in the order you do them. Arrows marked yes or no follow the answer to the question on the card they leave.