DIY LifePo4 battery connections and BMS connectors

Dear viewers,
In this video I show you the ropes on how I made the DIY busbar for the most positve and ground connection of the battery. These are not off the shelf because i needed specific design, explanation is in the video. Thanks for watching.
I'll do specific videos about the black unit called BMS, battery management system. Subscribe so you're in the first row to see the content.
Tools and parts I used to complete this step:
Copper busbar 3*25*250 : s.click.aliexp...
HSS drillbits 3/5/6.5/8mm : s.click.aliexp...
A metric tap set: s.click.aliexp...
A crimping plier: s.click.aliexp...
Hydraulic crimper: s.click.aliexp...
Shrink tube (18mm): s.click.aliexp...
Good luck....if you have questions, remarks, feel free to post them in the comment section.
Frank
easypowerwall.com

[@Sanwizard1]

Great choice of BMS. It includes a 2amp active balancer, which kept my cells at about .008v deviation.

[@easypowerwall]

Same here....al cells are well balanced. As mentioned in the video, there's no competition today.....and no I'm not sponsored by JK.

[@offgridd]

Goed bezig daar in België!! 😁

[@easypowerwall]

Thanks/bedankt. Opdracht: welke belgische politieker maakt zijn opwachting in volgende video. :-)

[@offgridd]

@@easypowerwall geen idee! 🙂

[@ciciedee5474]

Great video. Keep up the great work 👍

[@universeisundernoobligatio3283]

Great set up, suggest for the copper terminals add some electrical grease to prevent oxidation.

[@easypowerwall]

Hey, thanks for your reaction. Still looking for documention and added value for the grease. My previous setup worked find for 3 years without using grease. Will dig into that topic and hope to learn more. If you have info, please share.

[@universeisundernoobligatio3283]

@@easypowerwall Try electric supply house for the electrical grease. If your batteries are in a dry location oxidation will be less of an issue, but in high humidity it can be a problem. It also can be a problem in the long term is your connections are not tight, but it looks like you are going to the trouble of torquing everything down, which is a good practice. Don't have any documentation, just some experience. This P = I^2 R thing always gets in the way at high currents.

[@BradCagle]

Hey Franky, where do you get those red insulators/standoffs that your busbars are mounted to? and what are they called? Thanks

[@easypowerwall]

Hi Brad, They are called "busbar support insulator" all parts & tools used to built the powerwall are under each video and available on the website: sites.google.com/view/diy-powerwall/partstools?authuser=0 Have a nice day. Franky

[@BradCagle]

@@easypowerwall Thanks, I found some but all red. Would be nice to have red, and black. So strange I can only find red LOL

[@ErikRave]

Hi there, I just received my JK bms. I always assumed that the BMS should connect to the cerbo via a rs485 (like) cable. Apparently this is not the case (right?). So how did you connect the BMS to the Victron system? How does the BMS communicate with the Victron system? Directly via cable? Via NUC/RaspPi? Or is it just stand alone? Your advise will be appreciated :)

[@easypowerwall]

Hi Eric, The JK-BMS needs a RS485 connection to an RPI, and you need to install special software (venus OS). You can't connect the JK-BMS directly to the cerbo. I'm using a victron shunt to read the SOC. In my system. No access to cell voltage here, it adds more complexity for little added value. I check the status of the cells on a regular base with my phone. Working on a solution to monitor remotely, but still in study/engineering phase.

[@ErikRave]

@@easypowerwall I thought the BMS communicates to the system (victron or other brands) by telling the system ‘the battery is full, stop charging’? Or how does the inverter know to stop charging? Via the smartshunt? Or does the BMS shuts itself down and charging will automatically stop? Lots of questions 😉

[@robjuurlink490]

Nice solution. I've a similar BMS. It has 7AWG wires, so I decided to try two 16mm2 lugs and then put them together. Expect to receive my lugs soon. Curious if those self made lugs will have the same electrical connection in the future (tinned vs untinned). Going to check with a thermal camera?

[@easypowerwall]

I'll check the whole setup with an IR camera. Have the camera at hand, but will take another few videos before we get there. Frannky.

[@bjornschrijnemeeckers9521]

Om welke reden heb je de kabelogen zelf gemaakt?

[@easypowerwall]

I couldn't fit the 2 cables from the BMS in a regular connector.

[@jeroendebleecker]

No matter how much I like your project, from connections perspective you have done some things that are unacceptable in my opinion (as professional -Belgian- cable harness manufacturer). 1. The Red, Blue and Yellow crimp connectors are there for a certain wire range (0,5…1,5 / 1…2,5 / 4…6mm2) You have to crimp them with the correct pliers to get a gas-tight connection. Adding solder is not needed (even not advised), soldering only like you did is a bad idea, since eventually the solder cracks or flows under stress, resulting in bad and hot connections over a long period of time, with possible fire as a result 2. Making cable lugs from copper pipes 🫤 Sanitary copper pipes are made from red copper, which is passivated on the inside (=less conductive protection layer). Copper for cable lug’s (also red) isn’t passivated on the inside and is also always tinned. Again crimping with the correct pliers gives the required gas tight connection. Using a general pliers for a general cable lug doesn’t count for a qualified crimp, each brand has different specs on tools and cable lugs. With the majority of the Chinese "quality products" you’ll see that these are not ok: crimped too hard or too soft, which is both not ok at all. The currents in these systems are generally speaking high and last rather long. If you check with thermal camera it might be ok, but not guaranteed it lasts for years in that same state. Again: I like what you do and support this, but seen this is a community thing with a big reach, I definitely advise to reconsider your wired connections.