Silencing the audible alarm
Does anyone know if it is possible to silence the audible alarm? I use my system in cold climates, and frequently have to listen to the low temperature alarm until the heater gets the batteries up to 5C, which can take several hours.
no, but its a good question, especially for RV'ers. Of course you can just turn off the BMS until your cells warm up but I wonder if that alarm could be tweaked to only emit a few times, then only have the LED blink ou the code after that. I will pass it back to the factory to see if its something they might be add in a future update.
Hey Tine, any thoughts on this one?
That would be a great tweak! In order to run the heating system, the electrical system (and BMS) must be on. Another possibility is to have the audible alarm transition to 1 cycle per hour after an initial notification. Or, possibly adding and alarm acknowledgement that silences the audible portion.
Well, you know with REC everything is possible when we spend some time and customize the code.
I can make an update to silence the error 7 alarm. The programming/testing would cost 25€, played by the PayPal.
If this is an option, please send me an email to tine@ rec-bms.com with the BMS serial and we will send you the update and PayPal invoice.
Best regards,
Tine
Ed, I am going to take care of this with REC and will post it to our REC North America site. This is what I see as two possible solutions, depending on whether there is a spare input wired into the AMP plug on the BMS.
Preferred option:
- If there is a spare input that can be used as a "Silence" button then:
- When Silence button input is pressed, set an internal latch
- If error clears or any other error is triggered, reset latch
- If latch is set, disable Piezo alarm, Status LED continues to blink (if not hardwired to piezo)
Alternate Option
- If low temp alarm is true and has cycled 3 times, set an internal latch
- Reset latch after 1 hour
- If low temp alarm is true and latch is set,
- disable Piezo alarm, Status LED continues to blink (if not hardwired to piezo)
Tine has provided an updated 2.8.1 firmware bin file for the Active BMS. When asked how he implemented the low temp change, this was his reply.
"No buzzer on the BMS but sent to the inverter as an under temperature alarm. Also 5°C before the warning is sent to the inverter"
He tends to be economical with words. If you can try it and let us know how it works that would be great.
Files are on the REC North America website here:Â Â Â https://rec-bms-na.com/product-manuals/#7-8-wpfd-rec-active-bms
And a video tutorial on how to install it is here:Â Â Â https://rec-bms-na.com/tutorials/
Fantastic! Thank you both for jumping on this. Listening to the alarm for the first two hours of driving my RV was getting old since it's frequently <5C in Hood River, Oregon during the winter.
I'm on a business trip for a few days, but will install the firmware ASAP and let you know how it works. Sending the alarm to the inverter might be the right call since it can be acknowledged and silenced. I'll have to see if the Victron Multiplus alarm reset can be extended from the default of 15 minutes.
Please dm your PayPals so I can buy you a beer (or whatever).
Cheers,
Ed (twitter: @eclarke)
Rick & Tine, I tried to update to the firmware you provided, but there was a problem (shown in the attached .png file). It looks like the firmware you linked to is for an Active BMS, I have the REC Q BMS 16S. Also, my update didn't contain any SPIFs--Is that important? Thanks for helping me with this.
Uploaded files:
Ed, for some reason I thought your RV was 12v. Busy day🤪. For a Q Series you need to send us your serial number to tech@offgridsoftwaresolutions.com as each firmware build is keyed to your BMS.
REC is closed until early January, but we will get it taken care of when they are back.
Email sent… Thanks!
Rick, I sent the info you requested a couple of weeks ago. Did it find its way to the right person?
yes, but REC was closed over the holidays for more than 2 weeks. It normally only takes a few days. I would expect to see it early next week
REC crew, thank you for the excellent support! The new firmware works great, and I'm enjoying driving without the low temperature alarm.
