New Generation Product Range

User Manual:

On-board User Interface

1. General Operating Instructions
   

The information displayed on the battery’s on-board OLED display can be controlled via the CTRL button. By pressing the CTRL button in a shortly manner, the OLED display will scroll through & display the different pages in sequence, as described in the following sections.

The interface consists of several main pages as well as some sub-menus. The characters -> represent an arrow and indicate that a sub-menu is available for access from within a specific page, as can be seen on line 3 in the example below:

• To access a sub-menu, press & hold the CTRL button for ± 3 seconds. Once the CTRL button is released, the first sub-page of the sub-menu should be displayed. Subsequent pages within the
  

sub-menu can then be scrolled through by shortly pressing the CTRL button.

• To exit a sub-menu & return to the original page, press & hold the CTRL button again for ± 3 seconds.
  

2. Start-up Pages
   

Upon switching the battery on, the following start-up pages (in some instances referred to as splash screens) should be displayed on the OLED display for a few seconds each:

Note: The last page mentioned above is technically not a start-up page, but in fact the main summary page as described in the following sections. It is nevertheless displayed during start-up for diagnostic purposes.

IMPORTANT: If any errors have been detected up to this point, an error message will be displayed on the OLED display. Please refer to the product user manual for troubleshooting.

If no errors have been detected up to this point, the following page will be displayed, indicating that the battery has initiated connection to the inverter/charger. This is the last start-up page, after which the battery’s integrated impulse relay should close with an audible metallic sound:

1. Main Summary Page
   

Shortly after the above start-up pages have been displayed (and provided that the battery has successfully connected to the inverter/charger) the OLED will display the main summary page again:

2. Main Pages
   

From the main page above, the following pages can be viewed in sequence by pressing the CTRL button in a shortly manner:

4. Cell Voltages
   

Individual cell voltage values can be viewed by accessing the sub-menu from the main page below:

Keep the CTRL button depressed for ± 3 seconds to access the cell voltage sub-menu. The voltage values of the first 3 x cells should then be displayed. Press the CTRL button in a shortly manner to scroll through the rest of the sub-menu & view the rest of the cell voltages. Note: 13V batteries should have 4 x cells, 26V batteries should have 8 x cells, 52V batteries should have 16 x cells and 104V batteries should have 32 x cells:

Keep the CTRL button depressed for ± 3 seconds to exit the sub-menu & return to the main page below:

5. Temperature Calibration
   

Temperature can be calibrated from the main page below. IMPORTANT: Temperature calibration should only be performed when the battery is at 25°C room temperature.

Keep the CTRL button depressed for ± 3 seconds to access the sub-menu illustrated below:

6. Override
   

The override procedure is primarily used to connect an over-discharged battery to the connected inverter/charger/DC bus, to initiate recharge. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the inverter/charger is set up to commence recharging immediately as soon as the battery’s impulse relay closes during this procedure.

To override conditions that normally prevent the impulse relay from closing & connecting the battery to the installed system, scroll to the main page below:

IMPORTANT: After the battery’s impulse relay closes, it might be necessary to keep the CTRL button depressed for a few minutes until the battery’s voltage reaches sufficient levels to remain connected to the inverter/charger. In such cases the load should be disconnected from the system, if possible, until the battery’s voltage reaches or exceeds the associated float voltage setpoint.

7. Reset Wi-Fi
   

Please note that not all new generation batteries were fitted with a Wi-Fi module. To determine whether a battery has Wi-Fi, inspect the inside of the fuse holder for the orange dot marker. NG batteries with the marker has Wi-Fi functionality. 

Note: The orange marker procedure mentioned above has been implemented in June 2020. Some batteries supplied before this date might not have such a marker but nevertheless include WiFi functionality.

Previously configured Wi-Fi connections between batteries and on-site Wi-Fi access points can be reset from the main page illustrated below:

Note: Once a previously configured Wi-Fi connection has been reset, the battery’s integrated Wi-Fi module should start broadcasting its own access point again. It could take up to 5 minutes for the battery’s access point to appear on the list of available access points in some cases.

To reconnect the battery to an on-site Wi-Fi access point, please reference the specific product’s user manual and/or other relevant company documentation.

8. Error Log
   

Each cell (or cell group, if connected in parallel) of a BlueNova battery is connected to an integrated electronic cell board. These cell boards collectively form part of the battery management system and, as such, should be able to communicate with each other. To determine whether these cell boards are functioning correctly, navigate to the main page illustrated below (This feature was only included in version 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4):

The first sub-page illustrated below should then be displayed. Press the CTRL button in a shortly manner to scroll to individual sub-pages in sequence.

Note: 13V batteries should have 4 x cell boards, 26V batteries should have 8 x cell boards, 52V batteries should have 16 x cell boards and 104V batteries should have 32 x cell boards.

IMPORTANT: Status [Cell 5: Fail] in the example above is not necessarily an indication that cell board 5 is not functioning to the point that the battery or BMS will not function either, but often only an indication of the stability of communication to/from the respective cell board. 

9. Update Firmware
   

Wi-Fi firmware update

This is only applicable on batteries with Wi-Fi functionality, see section 7 to determine whether a battery has Wi-Fi

1. While the battery is turned on it will broadcast a Wi-Fi hotspot, use your smartphone or laptop to connect to the hotspot. (Ensure that the battery is not currently configured to be connected to a local network for the hotspot to be active)
   

2. While connected open your internet browser and navigate to the following URL:
   

http://10.42.0.1:9000

3. The following blue screen monitoring page will load:
   

4. Click on the manage firmware button on the bottom of the page.
   
5. Select the firmware file you want to upload (the .hex file which corresponds to the battery model). Note that the .hex firmware file must’ve been previously stored on the PC being used.
   
6. Then click on the update firmware button, the firmware will now update, and the battery will restart. 
   

USB firmware update

This is only applicable on batteries without Wi-Fi functionality.

For batteries without OTA update functionality, previously installed firmware can be updated as follows:

The following sub-page should then be displayed:

Note: A male-to-male USB cable is required to connect the battery to the respective device from which firmware will be updated. Such cables are included in the master enclosures of batteries supplied by BlueNova. Open the lid of these enclosures to obtain the cable.

IMPORTANT: Before initiating the firmware update procedure above, please contact BlueNova Technical Support to ensure that you have everything required to complete the procedure.

Download the “flash_loader_demo” program and make sure to install the FTDI drivers as well from the link below:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1__pZkcjYaklPVu1LgmRRz-BGOUlfIIdb

Run the “flash_loader_demo” program while connected to the USB port of the battery. 

Select the port name of the battery (this can be determined from the device manager), select the baud rate as 115200 and click next three times.

Select: “Global erase”, “jump to the user program” and “verify after download”, select the firmware .hex file to upload. When clicked next the firmware upload will start. After completion the battery should be restarted.

10. Baud Rate
    

Baud rate is the rate at which information is transferred in a communication channel. The baud rate of the CAN-bus in BlueNova New Generation batteries can be adjusted to either 250 kbps or 500 kbps.

Note: The example below illustrates how to change the 500 kbps baud rate of a battery to 250 kbps.

In the same way, a 250 kbps baud rate can be changed to a 500 kbps baud rate. This is not illustrated below.

This process is only applicable to batteries with firmware v3.4 or later.