Aims Inverter/charger SBMS0 Control
Peter Flynn
This is informational for anyone wanting to use an Aims Inverter/charger.
First let me say I am not an expert (not even close), this is the way I did it and it works, please review your setup carefully if you choose to use any of this information, what worked for me might not work for you.
When I started building my system, I already owned an older Aims 3000 watt Inverter/charger PICOGLF30W24V120VR.
This is an older inverter and does not have a specific charge Profile for Lifepo4 batteries, it also does not have an on/off switch for just the charger.
After much research I decided I would like to base my system off the Electrodacus SBMS0 and realized I might not be able to use the AIMS Inverter/charger due to the lack of external controls.
This Inverter/charger does have the connection for a remote, but I did not want to invest extra money in a unit I was not sure would work and the remote would only control the unit on/off not the charger.
I communicated with Aims Support several times through Email and after asking the right questions was told that the best charge profile for Lifepo4 batteries on the older Hardware is to use #4 Sealed Lead Acid, 14.4 bulk and 13.6 float.
The next topic I asked Aims Support was for the Rotary dip switch that sets the Battery profile and includes a setting for charge off.
On the dip switch if I set the charge type to #0, Charge off and soldered wires to the Dip Switch that could make the connection as if #4 is selected, when connected, would this turn the charger on, or off if disconnected and would this have a negative effect on the operation of the Unit.
After a few emails they reluctantly admitted this would turn the charger on/off and should not have any negative effect on the Unit, but to understand this is not what it was designed to do and had not been tested.
I opened the unit and soldered wires to the two small boards (I make very sloppy solder connections) where the on/off for the Unit and #4 four on the Dip switch paralleling the switches.
The values I came up with using my clamp Meter are 5v and 50mA through the wires connected.
These wires I in turn connected to a PC817 Optocoupler that are in turn triggered by EXTIO3 and EXTIO4 (see diagram)
This has served so far to turn the Charger on/off depending on state of charge or turn the Unit on/off at the Low voltage level as determined by SBMS0.
I have only had this setup active for a couple of weeks at this point but it has worked perfectly.
Peter
