Blindsided by BattleBorn/Dragonfly !!!
It has been very difficult to solve the issue that the WakeSpeed WS500 remote alternator regulator was not getting my 12v Balmar alternator to function. It was almost impossible to get tech support from Dragonfly who had bought WakeSpeed about 8 months ago.
I surprisingly, finally broke through last Monday and my life and project became topsy turvy since then. All final work and test has ceased on the new electrical center. When talking with Matthew from Dragonfly about the 12v WakeSpeed he mentioned that we could not use the WakeSpeed to regulate the 48v Balmar alternator, but he did not know why. All of the BattleBorn technical information had said that we could connect (4) 12v batteries in series to produce a 48v battery bank. We did have to charge each battery separately to 14.4v to 14.6v before wiring them together. So I proceeded to do that.
I bought the (2) WakeSpeed WS500’s from Offgrid Software Solutions and I have been monitoring their message board. I asked them why I could not use the WS500 to regulate the Balamr 48v alternator to charge BattleBorn batteries in series. In a couple of days, I got this detailed reply from “Al”.
Hello! A couple of notes. First, the Ws500 works with 48v alternators. We have been involved in 1,000's and 1,000's of such installs, mostly in the RV world -- and they work very well, and have done so from the very beginning (The first usages of the Ws500 was 48v installs in Sprinter vans).
What we do not support is 48v battery systems with no commutations between the BMS and the WS500. (such as the Battle Born drop-ins you noted) 12v, 24v fine (Approved batteries only, see website and app). But for 48v, need some comms. Lithionics, MG Energy, Victron Lynx are a few examples. All good solutions, and all have been deployed in 48v installs. REC should be OK as well, though I am not aware of any in the field.
So, I think your first issue is using the Battle Born drop-ins with a 48v alternator; that is dangerous and a model we do not support. 12v, 24v fine. 48v, no. (BTW, the recent announcement of Dragonfly IntelLigence address this). You should be fine with the DCDC converter approach, but I would recommend you either change the 48v battery subsystem to a supported one with communications, or remove the 48v alternator.
You have not describes what issues you are having with the 12v alternator. I would think it would be rather straight forward; make sure all the required wires are connected; using the app can ease in creating a config file. As a initial troubleshooting approach, you might try removing the Blue Field wire from the alternator (Please be safe here), make sure the batteries are around 60-70% SOC or less, and then while the engine is running BRIEFLY touch the Field terminal on the alternator to +12v. You should be able to hear the engine loading and notice amps being delivered. If not, something is up with the alt. Just do it for a second or so, no longer and should be OK. Balmar alts are good units, and I do not hear too many issues with them, but at items there are issues - and a couple of customers went around for days trying to sort things out just to fine out some quality issue in the alt. The quick full-field test is a way to quickly bring that to closure.
As to the regulator, the most common issue we find is not connecting up all the wires (esp the twored and two blacks!), not installing the 15A alt+ fuse (though the Ws500 issue a FLT code for that), and also over-engineering the config -- typically turning on Expert Mode in the app and adjusting the rose background values. Assuming the alt is good (and they most often are), dbl check the wiring against the our User's guide (there is also a BattleBorn specifc .pdf on the Wakespeed website), create a fresh config w/o adjustments via Expert Mode, and get to a point of working. Then you can fine tune things down the road as appropriate
If you have any specific question on your 12v install, please let us know here and I am sure help will be on the way!
Hope this helps!
-al-"
Wow!! What a shock! I then investigated the batteries mentioned and whether I could use any of the components I have bought. After much research, I determined that Lithionics a=was the only appropriate solution. I would need to purchase (2) Lithionics GT51/150-F24-UL-MOD batteries and connect them in parallel with a remote Lithionics BMS, custom cables and connectors. This would increase the capacity of the 48v battery bank to 51.6v of 300ah.
What I going to do with the (4) BattleBorn GC3 batteries, already charged, mounted in place, waiting to be connected.
At least Dragonfly stood up tall. They said that they would ship a pallets, complete with cardboard boxes and packing materials to me and give me a refund for the entire purchase. In addition, they will pay for the shipping. I would be getting a refund of about $9,500.
However, it would cost me much more to switch to Lithionics and I had to find one of the local distributers. I found one in Sarasota, FL and with some discussion found that I could eliminate packing and shipping of the batteries and components by picking the stuff up at their factory in Clearwater, FL. I have done that before myself.
I do not know how long it would take to get the order. Based on my previous experience with Lithionics, it could take 30 to 90 days. The batteries are built to order and they are not stocked. When I pay 50% at the time of order, they will check their production schedule and give me a delivery date.
I am estimating that this order will be in the range of $18,000 to $19,000. That is double the cost and I get maybe 15% more capacity. If I wire the money, I get a 2% discount. However, the 30% federal tax credit helps some. 30% o $9,500 is $2,850, so I am only out $6.650 with a possible delay of up to 3 months.
When pushing the envelope and exploring new frontiers, sometimes there are very uncomfortable consequences.
I am really stunned and hurting.
This is the preliminary wiring diagram of the new arrangement. At least I can use all of the other components I already have.
View attachment 7701
This is what the installation would look like, I will probably use a 4-position combiner box to allow for up to (2) more batteries if I determine that a generator is really not necessary.
View attachment 7702
