SIMP BMS

Manual V0.25

SIMP BMS V2.3 SimpEco Engineering

2021-12-22
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Contents
Disclaimer................................................................................................................................................ 4
SimpBMS Purchase Overview ................................................................................................................. 5
Basics of the SIMP BMS........................................................................................................................... 6
Currently supported slaves: ................................................................................................................ 6
Features: ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Current working features: ................................................................................................................... 6
Working Modes................................................................................................................................... 6
Work in Progress ..................................................................................................................................... 7
EVSE controls ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Detailed Workings................................................................................................................................... 8
Balancing ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Wiring Basics ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Tesla Slave Wiring ............................................................................................................................. 12
Chevy Volt Gen1 Slaves ..................................................................................................................... 13
Mitsubishi Outlander CMUs .............................................................................................................. 14
BMW I3 CSC modules........................................................................................................................ 15
Outputs and Inputs ............................................................................................................................... 16
Contactors ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Contactor behavior ........................................................................................................................... 17
Trip Shunt .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Main Contactor ................................................................................................................................. 17
Inputs ................................................................................................................................................ 18
Wiring contactors into BMS or Not................................................................................................... 18
Wiring up BMS Slaves ....................................................................................................................... 19
Wiring up Nextion Display ................................................................................................................ 20
Upgrading Nextion display firmware ................................................................................................ 20
Wiring up Chargers ........................................................................................................................... 21
Connection to Victron Color Control ................................................................................................ 22
Serial Interface ...................................................................................................................................... 23
Diagnostic Info Screen ...................................................................................................................... 24
Simp BMS Setup Menu ..................................................................................................................... 25
‘q’ Quit .............................................................................................................................................. 25
‘d’ Debug Settings ............................................................................................................................. 26
‘b’ Battery Settings Menu ................................................................................................................. 27

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 ‘e’ Charging Settings ......................................................................................................................... 29
‘c’ Current Sensor.............................................................................................................................. 31
Configuring an Analogue Current Sensor ......................................................................................... 32
‘k’ Contactor Control ......................................................................................................................... 33
Settings up an Analogue Gauge ........................................................................................................ 34
‘a’ Alarms and Warnings Settings Menu ........................................................................................... 35
‘i’ Ignore Value Settings .................................................................................................................... 36
Settings modified by sending “ ‘ID’ ‘New Value’ ” via the serial terminal, will refresh values in
terminal ............................................................................................................................................. 36
Common Setup Issues and Errors ......................................................................................................... 37
Series Cells Fault ............................................................................................................................... 37
CANBUS ................................................................................................................................................. 38
Termination Resistor......................................................................................................................... 38
Canbus Expansion ............................................................................................................................. 38
Outlanders BMS SLAVES ................................................................................................................... 39
CAN Current Sensor .......................................................................................................................... 39
CAB 300 ......................................................................................................................................... 39
VW/Panasonic BMS Slaves................................................................................................................ 39
Chevy Volt BMS Slaves ...................................................................................................................... 39
Victron VE-CAN ................................................................................................................................. 39
Can Bus Controlled Charger .............................................................................................................. 39
Other CAN Devices ............................................................................................................................ 39
CAN Messages ............................................................................................................................... 40
Firmware Updating ............................................................................................................................... 42
Links .................................................................................................................................................. 42
Flashing the HEX................................................................................................................................ 42
Changelog ............................................................................................................................................. 43

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Disclaimer

Please read this manual and understand it, questions are allowed. You the purchaser of this product
are responsible for installing this system yourself. You NEED knowledge of battery systems,
automotive wiring and general computer knowledge.

THIS IS NOT A PLUG AND PLAY SYSTEM, USER CONFIGURATION AND WIRING REQUIRED

The device is provided "as is". Simp Eco Engineering makes no warranties, expressed or implied, and
hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties, including without limitation, implied warranties
or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual
property or other violation of rights. Further, Simp Eco Engineering does not warrant or make any
representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials in
this manual or otherwise relating to such materials.

Damages
In no event shall Simp Eco Engineering or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without
limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption,) arising out of the use
or inability to use the devices supplied by Simp Eco Engineering, even if Simp Eco Engineering or a
Simp Eco Engineering authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the
possibility of such damage.

Please contact the reseller that has provided you the SimpBMS first for support

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SimpBMS Purchase Overview
The standard items included in the purchase of a SimpBMS are:

• The SimpBMS board

• Teensy 3.2 flashed with requested Firmware

Optional available hardware at extra cost:

• Mating Connectors to the SimpBMS board with terminals

• Nextion 3.2 Inch Display with flylead, loaded with software to work with SimpBMS

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Basics of the SIMP BMS
The starting point for this BMS is to keep it simple, the BMS will not prevent you from harming your
battery if you do not set it up properly or ignore the limits it sends out.

Currently supported slaves:

-Tesla Model S/X
-Tesla battery modules used in other OEM cars
-VW E-Golf and GTE (no balancing currently)
-Mitsubishi Outlander
-BMW I3
-BMW Phev
-Chevy Volt / Opel Ampera Gen1

Features:
Teensy 3.2 based
4 - 5-16V isolated inputs
4 - 12V outputs
4 - Low side switching outputs
2 - analogue current inputs (for dual range sensor)
1 - Serial bus for Tesla modules
1 - Canbus for communication with other modules, current senors or vehicle
1- Spare serial bus for expansion

Current working features:

- Canbus communication formatted for Victron Systems
- Full Control of Slaves, reading temperatures and voltages plus controlling balancing
- Precharge control, timer and current based
- Can based current sensor (CAB300)
- AH Counter Based SOC calculation
- Voltage based SOC correction
- Watchdog timer to reset BMS in event of software error
- Canbus Chargers (Brusa NLG5xx, Chevy Volt, Elcon)
-Display support (Nextion)

Working Modes
Normal Operation (EV)

This mode will function as you would expect from a ‘key’ operated pack, such as found in vehicles.
Precharge will happen with key on ect.

ESS Mode (stationary)

Specifically developed to cater to the needs of stationary or large packs

(dual purpose packs on boats for example)
When powered up Precharge occurs (no key in used) then contactors/relays used to control charge
and discharge allowed. Also a Shunt trip or Main contactor output to disconnect packs when issues
occur.

All features beyond output and input control are identical.

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Work in Progress
EVSE controls
An interface circuit is being developed to allow the SimpBMS to directly interface with an EVSE via
the Control Pilot line.

This will use the following pins (you can use more then one source of signal if needed)

1. AC present, 12V high when EVSE active and plugged in

2. Input 4 to sense duty cycle of the CP signal
3. Charge enable to request power from the EVSE

Functionality currently looking at supporting:

1. Enabling EVSE and charger if values allow

2. Managing the DC current limit based on AC current and Battery limits

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Detailed Workings

Balancing
There is a small difference between ESS Mode and Normal Operation;

-ESS Mode always allows balancing based on balancing settings

-Normal Operation does not balance while in ‘driving’ operation state, this is due to the possibility of
large voltage fluctuations due to high variation of loads.

For the working of balancing please see the setup page with the relevant parameters;
Serial Interface / ‘b’ Battery Settings Menu

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Wiring Basics

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Connector 5 Comms
Supplier Molex
Family Mini fit 8 way
Part no 39-28-x10x
Harness Part 39-01-x10x

Pin Function Switching Type V2 Normal usage ESS Mode Function Pin Pin Function
1 In 1 High Input Key on Storage Mode In 3 6 1 In 1
2 In 2 High Input Alt Charge Current - In 4 7 2 In 2
3 Txspare - Comms - - Rxspare 8 3 Txspare
4 CanH - Comms Can Can CanL 9 4 CanH
5 5V Out - Supply - - GND 10 5 5V
6 In 3 High Input AC present -
7 In 4 High Input CP cond signal -
8 Rxspare - Comms - -
9 CanL - Comms Can Can
10 GND - Ground

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 Connector 3 is compatible with Victron CAN RJ45

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Tesla Slave Wiring

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Chevy Volt Gen1 Slaves
The battery master, located in front of the Chevy Volt Gen 1 pack is connected to the internal
network with the slaves and current sensor.

Connector looks as below:

BMS Slaves

Pin Function Color SimpBMS connection

9 5V supply Grey/Red J5-5
10 Ground Black/Purple J5-10
11 Can Low White Yellow J5-9
12 Can High Light Blue/Yellow J5-4
13 - Light Blue -

Current Sensor - dhab s44

Pin Function Color SimpBMS connection

1 5V supply Purple/Red J2-2
2 Ground Black/Grey J2-1
3 High Range Light Blue/Yellow J2-3
4 Low Range Light Green/Brown J2-4

Configuration:

Current Sensor Type: Dual Range

Low Range : 100 mV/A

High Range : 6.15 mV/A

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Mitsubishi Outlander CMUs
Up to a full pack can be used, it is not possible to use more because of the assigned Can Bus Ids per
module.

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BMW I3 CSC modules
Up to a full pack can be used, it is not possible to use more because of the assigned Can Bus Ids per
module.

Designed to be Daisy chained from one module to the next, remember to close the end canbus by
having a 120 ohm resistor between canH and canL.

BMW i3 Slave Connector

Function 5V Power ? CanL CanH GND
Wire Red/White NC Blue Yellow/Brown Yellow/Red White/Brown
Pin 1 2 3 4 5 6
Pin 7 8 9 10 11 12
Wire Red/White NC Blue Yellow/Brown Yellow/Red White/Brown
Function 5V Power ? CanL CanH GND

BMW I3 Pin Function Color SimpBMS connection

1 5V supply Grey/Red J5-5
6 Ground Black/Purple J5-10
4 Can Low White Yellow J5-9
5 Can High Light Blue/Yellow J5-4

If using more then one module you can just do the following:

First BMW I3 Pin Function Next BMW I3

7 5V supply 1
12 Ground 6
10 Can Low 4
11 Can High 5

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Outputs and Inputs
Contactors
It is possible to use both contactors with built in economizers or without.

Contactors with built in economizers MUST be used on the 12V switched outputs

Contactors without built in economizers MUST be used on the ground switched PWM outputs

See for the circuit below, a diode must be used in parallel with the contactor.

SIMP BMS

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Contactor behavior

ESS Mode:

Delay on the Low switching contactor outputs can be set via precharge delay

Function Switching Pin ESS switching behaviour

Charge High 13 Instant
DisCharge High 12 Instant

These outputs are meant to control dumb loads and chargers/sources.

The other outputs to ‘Trip Shunt’ or ‘Main Contactor’ mode

Trip Shunt
In ESS mode OUT2 can be used to trip DC breakers with a shunt trip device. This output goes high
when an over or under voltage or over temperature situation occurs.

Make sure the shunt is rated for the activation signal of 12V.

Function Switching Pin ESS switching behaviour

Shunt Trip High 4 Instant
Not Used High 5 NOT USED

Main Contactor
In ESS mode you can choose to have a single contactor to connect and disconnect the battery.

When an over or under voltage or over temperature situation occurs the battery gets disconnected.
If these faults are not present the battery is allowed to connect.

Function Switching Pin ESS switching behaviour

Main Contactor High 4 Switches on after precharge
Main Contactor Low 6 Switches on after precharge
Precharge High 5 Switched on for duration of precharge delay

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Inputs
Inputs are triggered by giving them anywhere from 5-16V, the inputs are isolated from the micro
controller but must share the same ground as 12V in.

EV Mode:

Pin Name Function

1 Key-on Request BMS to close contactors and go into ‘Drive’ mode via precharge
6 AC-present Request BMS to go into charge mode and command charger
2 Charge Current Not connected – standard limit / HIGH is alternate limit
7 CP conditioned Control Pilot signal monitoring (future implementation)

ESS Mode:

Pin Name Function

1 Storage Mode Charge Voltage now reduced to parameter ‘Storage Setpoint’

Wiring contactors into BMS or Not

Depending on your setup you can decide to have the contactors controlled by the BMS or by the
Inverter/Drive unit.

Please keep in mind:

• Tripping contactors with rotating motors can/will damage the inverter

• The BMS is meant to protect the batteries and not other items
• Wiring items directly to the battery can cause drain that can irreversibly damage the
batteries.

If your motor controller/inverter can control the contactors use this. Wire the BMS positive
contactor 12V output to control a relay that can cut the enable signal to the motor
controller/inverter to protect the batteries. This signal can also be used for a ‘Ready’ light on the
dash for a visual indication.

Depending on the charger you can wire it directly to the battery or via a single contactor depending
on the type of charger used, some require pre-charging.

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 Wiring up BMS Slaves
When reusing existing vehicle battery modules might not be possible to parallel them at cell level.

The approach that thus can be taken is to wire all the modules in series and then parallel the strings
to create the complete pack.

Values to determine for your setup:

Battery Capacity – Capacity of parallel cells monitored by BMS Slave

slaves in parallel – How many battery strings are connected in parallel

Cells in Series – total amount of cells that are in series in a string

String

Module Module
with Slave with Slave

Module Module
with Slave with Slave

Parallel
Module Module
with Slave with Slave

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Wiring up Nextion Display

A Nextion Display programmed with the appropriate software will allow the displaying of
information provided by the SimpBMS.

The required connections are on connector 5.

Connector 5 Signal BMS Connection Display

5 5V supply 5V
10 Ground Ground
3 RXspare TX
8 TXspare RX

Nextion Display Connection

Upgrading Nextion display firmware

There are two ways to do this;

1. Utilizing the Nextion editor and provide .HMI file found here:
https://github.com/Tom-evnut/SimpDisplay
2. Saving the “.tft” file onto an SD card, insert into display, power cycle display and wait for
update to complete.

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Wiring up Chargers

SimpBMS can control chargers in various ways:

• Simple on/off control with a relay

• Can bus controlled with a relay as back up (Can Bus info in the Can Bus Chapter)

Depending on how your charger is connected to your pack you can enable the HV contactors closing
if required.

Below is an simplified diagram, this is for illustration only.

If the charger is directly connected to the battery, like the green lines show, the contactors do not
need to close in order to charge.

The variable ; Charger HV Connection would be set to Direct To Battery HV

If the charger is connected to the HV bus after the contactors, the blue lines;

The variable ; Charger HV Connection would be set to Behind Contactors

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Connection to Victron Color Control

Connector 3 on the SimpBMS is compatible with the VE.Can rj45, this means that you can use a
standard ethernet cable to join the two. Please bear in mind that for VE.Can to work it requires a
termination resistor to be added on the second VE.Can port on a color control.

Victron VE.Can terminator: https://www.victronenergy.com/accessories/ve-can-rj45-terminator

The SimpBMS will still require to be powered by an external 12V source.

Example connection to a Color Control GX

The GX control needs to be configured to 500kbps so it can receive the data from the SimpBMS.

The SimpBMS should show up as an available Battery monitor on the GX.

A good start for further workings of a Can based BMS in the Victron system :
https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ccgx:start

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Serial Interface

How to connect to SIMP BMS.

1. Connect the Micro-B USB port on the teensy to your computer with appropriate cable
2. Computer should identify new usb/serial device
3. Open your preferred Serial Terminal Program. Example :
https://www.compuphase.com/software_termite.htm
4. Connected to the Simp BMS via the serial port (115200 BAUD)
5. Now you should see the ‘Debug’ screen info scrolling

Any issues with connecting please check the Teensy Microcontroller troubleshooting guide:

https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/troubleshoot.html

If the Teensy does not show up as serial port please run the Teensy Serial installer
https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/serial_install.exe

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Diagnostic Info Screen

BMS Status : this is what state the bms is in.

Ready : BMS is good and communicating normally, waiting for a drive or charge digital input

Mode that is suggested for a fixed storage solution

Error : A fault is present in the read out from the modules. Possible issues:

Overvoltage

Under voltage

Overtemperature

Under temperature

Precharge : when Key on is high this is initiated, drives the negative contactor and then the
precharge contactor. Once Precharge Timer (5000mS) has ran out AND the current
drops below 1000mA it will close the contactor.* This initiates transition into drive.

Drive : Monitors voltages and temperatures with negative and positive contactor closed.

If key on signal goes low both contactors turn off immediately and BMS goes into
Ready state.

Transition to error state if : under voltage is detected

Temperature currently only derates the transmitted current limits

Charge: When AC present in is high the charger enable output gets turned on until end of
charge is reached or error occurs.

When one cell hits the overvoltage it will stop charging and go to ready.

Rest of displayed information is shown per module, both voltage and temperatures reported

Plus a summary of totals and averages based on pack settings

To open setup send the command: s

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Simp BMS Setup Menu
Not al variants have the same parameters or menus.

This stops the scrolling of the diagnostics info.

This shows the Firmware Version Number, please indicate this when ever requesting support.

And displays the following options:

b - Battery Settings

a - Alarm and Warning Settings

e - Charging Settings

c - Current Sensor Calibration

k – Contactor settings and Gauge Settings

i – Ignore Value Settings

d - Debug Settings

x-Experimental Settings

R – Restart BMS

q - exit menu

‘q’ Quit
Exit the setup menu and resume diagnostics display info

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‘d’ Debug Settings

Inputting a number of the shown options toggles the modes, to stop send the same number.

1 – Can Debug = show can messages

2 – Current Debug = show all the current calculation information

3 – Output Check = cycle outputs !!! DO NOT TURN ON WITH HV CONNECTED TO CONTACTORS

4 – Input Check = show level of all inputs

5 – ESS Mode = turn on and off ESS Mode, ON is 1

6 – Cells Present Reset = recalibrate the cells to check if they are present

7 – Gauge Debug = cycle the gauge output up and down for testing pwm settings for gauge

8 – CSV Debug = Data is now displayed in a Comma Seperated Values makes logging it easier

9 – Decimal Places to Show = how many decimals to show for cell voltage debug

q – go back a menu

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‘b’ Battery Settings Menu
Settings modified by sending “ ‘ID’ ‘New Value’ ” via the serial terminal, will refresh values in terminal

r – Reset AH Counter = Use voltage to determine SOC, best used with open circuit voltage

f – Reset to coded settings, the settings that were written when the code was compiled

1 – Over Voltage Setpoint = Over voltage limit per cell in mV

2 – Under Voltage Setpoint = Under voltage limit per cell in mV

3 – Over Temperature Setpoint = Setpoint at which allowed discharge and charge current is reduced
to zero

4 - Under Temperature Setpoint = Setpoint at which allowed discharge and charge current is reduced
to zero

5 – Balance Voltage Setpoint = Setpoint of cell voltage in mV at which during charging cells will start
balancing.

6 – Balance Voltage Hysteresis = Voltage required to be above the lowest cell to allow balancing of
cell in mV

7 – Battery Capacity = each group of parallel cells monitored per slave capacity in Ah

8 – Max Discharge = maximum discharge current in A, transmitted current limit will taper from max
current starting at discharge temp to zero at over temperature.

9 – discharge voltage limit = used to calculate max discharge setpoint, voltage per cell will get
converted to pack level by BMS

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0 – slaves in parallel = amount of slave strings in pack (will multiply total pack capacity)

a – cells in series = amount of cells in series (per string if wired in parallel)

b - mV setpoint 1 = cell voltage setpoint 1 for voltage based SOC calc

c - SOC setpoint 1 = SOC for corresponding cell voltage

c- mV setpoint 2 = cell voltage setpoint 2 for voltage based SOC calc

e- SOC setpoint 2 = SOC for corresponding cell voltage

SOC vs Voltage
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
3000 3200 3400 3600 3800 4000 4200

g – Storage Charge Voltage setpoint = when in Storage mode in ESS this is used instead of Charge
Voltage Limit

h – Discharge Current Taper Offset = the voltage offset from Discharge Voltage Limit at which the
discharge current Max will start to taper down.

j – Discharge Current Temperature Derate = Temperature above which discharge current starts to
taper to 0 Amps at Over Temperature

k – Cell Discharge Voltage Hysteresis = cell voltage needs to rise this amount above the Discharge
Voltage Limit before discharge is allowed again in ESS mode

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‘e’ Charging Settings
Settings modified by sending “ ‘ID’ ‘New Value’ ” via the serial terminal, will refresh values in terminal

1 – Cell Charge Voltage Limit = End of charge voltage target for cells

2 – Charge Hysteresis = Drop in cell voltage required to restart charging

3 – Pack Max Charge Current = Max allowed charge current into pack

4 – Pack End of Charge Current = Current when reaching target voltage, tapers based on hysteresis

5- Charger Type = Switch can bus controlled charge output messages (Cyclic)

Relay Control – Turn output on and off

Brusa NLG533 – On standard Control Ids

Volt Charger

Eltek Charger – Volvo versions also supported

Victron Charger

6- Charger Can Msg Spd = Interval target between sent can messages

ONLY FOR TESLA FIRMWARE 7 – Can Baudrate = Can network speed, to be changed to match other
items on Can network, see for information the chapter on Can. Will only take effect after exiting the
menu’s fully and then doing a powercycle.

8 – Charger HV Connection = How does the charger connect to the pack

Direct To Battery HV – connected directly to the battery pack (through a fuse ofcourse)

Behind Contactors – connected onto the main HV bus after the contactors, so during
charging contactors need to be closed.

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9 – Charge Current derate Low = Temperature under which the Charge Current will derate, it will
reach zero at Under Temperature

a – Alternate Pack Max Charge Current = when pin is toggled high this is the newly enforced Max
Charge Current

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‘c’ Current Sensor
Settings modified by sending “ ‘ID’ ‘New Value’ ” via the serial terminal, will refresh values in terminal

c - To calibrate sensor offset = for calibrating analogue sensor offsets*

s - To switch between Current Sensors = switches between sensors types

Undefined = OFF

Analogue Dual Sensor = dual range 5V output sensors

CanBus Sensor = CAB300 or CAB500 supported over CAN

Analogue Single Sensor = single range 5V output sensors

1- Invert current = if current sensor is reading the wrong direction toggle value
2- Pure Voltage SOC = do not use coulomb counting and rely on using cell voltage to do SOC

Recommend for large packs with low discharge and charge currents

3 – Current Multiplication = 1 if all current goes through the sensor , 2 if only one cable (identical
required) passes through the sensor and two are used on one pole.

q - Go back to menu

4 – Analogue Low Range Conv = value for conversion mV/A, enter 10x.

5 – Analogue High Range Conv = value for conversion mV/A, enter 10x.

6 – Current Sensor Deadband = voltage around the zero point which the measurement will be
ignored

8 – Current Channel ChargeOver = at which current level will the alternate channel be selected

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Configuring an Analogue Current Sensor
When configuring an Analogue Current Sensor it must be kept in mind that analogue sensors all will
have drift and variation due to their implementations/wire runs/emc influences.

Data required from manufacturer:

1. Single or Dual Channel

2. Resolution of each channel in mV/A on a 5V reference
3. If a dual channel limit of lowest channel

Select the variant of Analogue Current Sensor you are using, single or dual channel by cycling
through the types using ‘s’.

When the system is powered on but no current is flowing through the sensor you are required to run
the command ‘c’ to calibrate current sensor.

This will now report back some values which are written to the memory logging where the middle
point is thus zero current point.

You now need to input each channels resolution in parameter 4 and 5.

You can leave the current sensor dead band at 5mV to start, you can later tweak this value to suit
your system and sensor.

If you are using a dual channel sensor please input the current limit of the lower range in parameter
8.

Now completely exit the Setup menu using the command ‘q’ twice, this saves the parameters.

Go back into the setup menu and enter the debug screen and use the current debug option to view
the reported values against a known current, keep in mind that a device you are using to determine
what the current should be might have a different way of filtering the values.

Try a few points to get an indication of the deviation.

A current value lower than expect decrease the value for the resolution.

A current value higher than expected increase the value for the resolution.

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‘k’ Contactor Control
Settings modified by sending “ ‘ID’ ‘New Value’ ” via the serial terminal, will refresh values in terminal

1 – Precharge Timer = mS of minimum precharge time

2 – Precharge Finish Current = mA of allowed current before switching in the main contactor

3 – Pwm contactor Hold = PWM duty cycle (values 0-255), lower the value the lower the ‘voltage’ at
the contactor. This only works on the PWM pull low outputs.

Contactors without an internal coil require an diode placed across their ground and 12V feed, as
depicted below, the coil is the contactor.

SIMP BMS

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Settings up an Analogue Gauge

SIMP BMS

The principle of the gauges driver is identical to that of the grounding contactor control.

Please make sure that your gauge works with a grounding signal, usually indicated by the original
sensor having a signal connection and a ground connection.

This output can also be used with a setup the expects a voltage signal, all that needs to be done then
is to have a 1K ohm pull up resistor to 12V so that the grounding output can put it to ground at
varying duty cycles to generate an average voltage.

When a parameter is entered for a gauge value the gauge will snap to this position until the setup
menu has been exited.

4 – PWM for Gauge Low = PWM duty cycle of Gauge Output to reflect 0% SOC

5 – PWM for Gauge High = PWM duty cycle of Gauge Output to reflect 100% SOC

6 - ESS Main Contactor or Trip = utilize a precharge and main contactor or a shunt trip setup only
available in ESSmode

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‘a’ Alarms and Warnings Settings Menu
Settings modified by sending “ ‘ID’ ‘New Value’ ” via the serial terminal, will refresh values in terminal

1 – Voltage Warning Offset = Offset from Under and Over Voltage limits when an Alarm Flag gets set

2 – Cell Voltage Difference Alarm = Difference below low and high cell to trigger Alarm Flag

3 – Temp Warning Offset = Offset from Over Temperature limit when an Alarm Flag gets set

4 – Over and Under Voltage Delay = the time allowed for cells to be exceeding limits, Overvoltage
and Undervoltage, this is used to allow sag exceeding these limits for heavy discharges or inrush
currents during turn on. Set in mS, please keep in mind that slaves might not be read at a very high
frequency thus you should allow enough time for reading to be done.

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‘i’ Ignore Value Settings
Settings modified by sending “ ‘ID’ ‘New Value’ ” via the serial terminal, will refresh values in terminal

1 – Temp Sensor Setting = Sensor to use, 0 is use all

2 – Voltage Under Which to Ignore Cells = to allow missing cells and then mask false readings

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Common Setup Issues and Errors
Series Cells Fault
When the errors “series cells fault” is shown it means that the BMS is expecting more or less cells to
be present.

Fix: check your settings for parallel strings and Cells in series with your actual connected setup,
correct these numbers to make the error disappear.

If not resolved please check that all slave modules are recognized and communicating, if not please
troubleshoot communications first.

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CANBUS
SIMP BMS will communicate on the canbus at the following speeds (baudrates)

Firmware Baudrate [kbps]

Tesla Programmable
Outlander 500
Imiev 500
Volt/Ampera gen1 125
VW 500
BMW 500

This is used to communicate with the following devices:

• Outlander BMS slaves

• Panasonic BMS slaves
• Volt Gen 1 BMS Slaves
• Can Current sensor
• Victron VE-CAN
• Can Bus based Chargers
• Other devices

Termination Resistor
SIMP BMS does not come with a termination resistor as standard does come with a location for a
0805 resistor to add one.

If you measure the resistance across CanH and CanL if it is not 60 Ohm add a 120 Ohm resistor at the
SIMP BMS connector. If the resistance is still too high add a 120 Ohm resistor at the other end of the
can bus.

Canbus Expansion
The canbus expansion module currently only works with the Chevy Volt / Opel Ampera software.

This allows you to run chargers and DCDC on a bus that is not locked at 125kbps for the slaves.

The Expansion Module plugs into J1, then wire the canbus High and Low into the screw terminal on
the module.

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Outlanders BMS SLAVES
It is only possible to use slaves with unique IDS, so maximum of 10 slaves before a trick is required.

Each slave can monitor 8 (10 possibly) parallel cell groups

CAN Current Sensor

Only one current sensor per SIMP BMS

CAB 300
Bi-directional 350A max

Canspeed : 500kbps

VW/Panasonic BMS Slaves

It is only possible to use slaves with unique IDS, so maximum of 8 slaves before a trick is required.

Each slave can monitor 12 parallel cell groups

Chevy Volt BMS Slaves

Can only talk to a complete pack at most, cannot add any more slaves.

Victron VE-CAN
Communicate using the simple protocol as REC BMS, will share all required information from the
batteries.

You can set the Victron GX systems up to accept 500 or 250 kbps.

Can Bus Controlled Charger

Currently the following chargers are supported, please note the associated can speeds these need
to match everything else on the network.

Charger Baudrate [kbps]

Eltek 500 (possibly changeable)
Brusa NLG5xx 500 default (configuration possible)
Chevy Volt/ Opel Ampera 500
TCcharger /Elcon 250 default (500 available from factory)
Coda 500

Other CAN Devices

Other devices can be connected, these can be setup to display and react to messages from the SIMP
BMS.

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CAN Messages
Message Limits
Message ID 0X351
Byte Bit Signal Scale unit
0 Discharge Current LSB 0.1 A
1 Discharge Current MSB 0.1 A
2 Discharge Voltage LSB 0.1 V
3 Discharge Voltage MSB 0.1 V
4 Charge Current LSB 0.1 A
5 Charge Current MSB 0.1 A
6 Charge Voltage LSB 0.1 V
7 Charge Voltage MSB 0.1 V

Message SOC
Message ID 0X355
Byte Bit Signal Scale unit
0 SOC LSB 1 %
1 SOC MSB 1 %
2 SOH LSB 1 %
3 SOH MSB 1 %
4 SOC LSB 0.01 %
5 SOC MSB 0.01 %
6 -
7 -

Message Status
Message ID 0X356
Byte Bit Signal Scale unit
0 Voltage LSB 0.01 V
1 Voltage MSB 0.01 V
2 Current LSB 0.1 A
3 Current MSB 0.1 A
4 Temperature LSB 0.1 C
5 Temperature MSB 0.1 C
6 -
7 -

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 Message Warnings
Message ID 0X35A
Byte Bit Signal
3 Undervoltage
0
4 Overvoltage
1 7 Overtemp
2 12 Undertemp
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -

Message Low and High

Message ID 0X373
Byte Bit Signal Scale unit
0 Min Cell Voltage LSB 1 V
1 Min Cell Voltage MSB 1 V
2 Max Cell Voltage LSB 1 V
3 Max Cell Voltage MSB 1 V
4 Min Temperature LSB 1 Kelvin
5 Min Temperature MSB 1 Kelvin
6 Max Temperature LSB 1 Kelvin
7 Max Temperature MSB 1 Kelvin

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Firmware Updating

Updating firmware can be done with the simple process explained below, CHECK SETTINGS once you
flash the new firmware. The process can alter memory locations and thus corrupt settings.

Links
Latest files available on Github, including uncompiled code.

Tesla Github : https://github.com/Tom-evnut/TeslaBMSV2

Outlander Github :

https://github.com/Tom-evnut/OutlanderPHEVBMS/tree/master/OutlanderBMSV2

VW Github: https://github.com/Tom-evnut/VW-bms/tree/master/VWBMSV2

BMW I3 Github: https://github.com/Tom-evnut/BMWI3BMS

BMW Phev Github: https://github.com/Tom-evnut/BMWPhevBMS

Chevy volt / Opel Ampera Gen1 Github: https://github.com/Tom-evnut/AmperaBattery

Flashing the HEX

The easiest way to get new firmware onto the SIMP BMS is by uploading the latest ‘ino.hex’ file

Example file name: TeslaBMSV2.ino.TEENSY31.hex

In order to get the hex onto the Teensy (microcontroller of the SIMP BMS) it is required to have
Teensy Loader installed.

Please follow instructions on the PJRC website : https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/loader.html

Once installed and having downloaded the latest hex onto your computer follow the following steps
to update the firmware:

6. Power down the system SIMP BMS is part of

a. This means turning off all chargers and loads attached if these are controlled by the
SIMP BMS
7. Connect the Micro-B USB port on the teensy to your computer with appropriate cable
8. Open Teensy Loader “teensy.exe’
9. Go ‘file’ , ‘Open HEX File’ and select the just obtained firmware HEX
10. Program your SIMP BMS by clicking the arrow curved down (‘Program’ button)
a. If buttons not available hit press the reset on button on the Teensy on the SIMP BMS
11. Use the Teensy loader to reboot the SIMP BMS once Programmed, arrow pointing right
12. Using a Terminal program check all settings on the SIMP BMS, and correct as required

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Changelog
Version Changes
V0.12 Added info on Can Speeds information in Can chapter
Possibility to change them in the Tesla settings charging menu
V0.13 Connector 5 pinout updated IN3 is charge and not IN2
V0.14 Shunt Trip output in ESSmode
V0.15 Chevy Volt battery wiring
V0.16 Mistubishi wiring info, output functions, common troubleshooting
V0.17 Mistubishi wiring correction
V0.18 Volt/Ampera wiring correction and General user Warning
V0.19 -Updated Canbus
-Added info on canbus expansion
-Added info on wiring contactors or not
V0.20 Updated Parameter Menu section
V0.21 Updated ESS contactor Pinout AND BMW I3 connection info
V0.22 Added more info on outputs and functions under ESS mode
V0.23 Charges to ESS mode outputs, now also Low Switching Main contactor
V0.24 Display Wiring Correction added info on Firmware update
V0.25 Updated Links and updated intro pages.

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