New install - red panel light stays on even though BMS says all cell voltages well above 3.1

Just installed a 4kwh system and got outstanding results on just the first road test. I took the attached snapshot after a 12 mile trip on relatively flat roads, 30-50 45 mph, several stops. However, even though the BMS monitor was telling me that all the cells were balanced and well above 3.1V, the red light on the switch panel stayed on the whole time, along with the green light. What could be causing this? What should I do next? I've already posted on the Enginer forum. No response yet. I know some good info exists on the Enginer User forum, and I've been asking for user status on the Enginer forum for over a week but Jack has not been responding. He must be busy as he's been very responsive in the past. So I thought I'd try here. Hope you guys are up tonight!:thumb:

Sometimes the switch is bad. On mine, the red LED glows faintly when the system is at maximum throughput. Presumably with yours, though, the readings that you noticed on the remote BMS display were sensible, particularly the input and output voltages and currents?

After charge, cell volt levels are around 3.4V, Vo=233, Io=6.33, Ii=29.6 and Vi=53.

Now I have another problem. I'm trying to read the SD card, but my HP laptop apparently does not recognize the reader sent by Enginer. Do I need to download a driver from somewhere?

I had some issues to start with, and my system at work still treats the drive as Read Only. However, my system at home works just fine. What OS are you using? Also, do you have more than one USB port on your laptop? If so, try plugging it into the alternate one.

Drove in to work this morning. Again, the kit seems to work great but red light is on from the start. Do I have a blown fuse somewhere?

My home laptop uses Windows 7. My work laptop uses XP. I did not think to try reading the SD card at work. Will bring it in tomorrow.

Hmm, something is not right, the kit should not operate while the red light is on. There is also a small red and green led on the converter itself, what do they show? does the red LED on the switch go out if you turn the BMS off temporarily?

Do the LEDs on the converter show from the outside of the box? When I crain my head to look on the side of the box where the converter is I think I see a faint green glow but no red.

I e-mailed Jack and he said the problem could be a short in the switch panel up front. There is not much space up there and the switch provided by Enginer barely fits through the slot in the panel. All the jostling can cause a short. I'm going to check this when I get home. If I have a faulty switch, would I be safe in just ignoring the red light and paying attention to the BMS since the BMS monitors battery levels as well and gives a red light, and beeping when they are low?

In my expereince the converter will shut itself down (happens at about 46V) well before the BMS interferes. at 46V the cells should be at about 2.8V, if they hit 2.5V they are fully discharged which we want to avoid.

If the voltage recovers sufficiently (seems it needs to go over 50V) then the converter will come back on, hit 46V and go off again. this cycling is not good for the batteries or BMS, so the instructions say turn the kit off as soon as you see the red light. in short, the switch needs to be repaired or replaced.

Hopefully I'll be able to repair it tonight.

I would say the switch is bad or the harness is pinched.

Chris

I have the same problem, though the red light goes off a lot of the time now that I have rewired the ferrite. So I think it has something to do with noise from the inverter, it could be coincidence but it was on all the time before. I rewired ferrite due to radio interference only when kit was switched on I have ordered another ferrite and am going to put the DC wires from inverter to stock battery into some shielded containment to cut the noise down further, I will let you know how I get on.

As to the SD card my laptop keeps telling me I need to reformat it which I might try soon.

Hmm, in the gen3 the HV cable exits the back of the enginer box and the telephone signal cable exits at the side. How close are the two cables to each other in the gen2 setup?

About 3" apart.

Hmmm....the latter might be true given the way the limited space available for the cable in the trim. When I get home tonight I'm going to try a different 6-pin phone cable I have around the house. If a crimp in the line is the problem that is an easy part to fix.

I found out the cause of my red light problem and it was my fault, I clamped the box down with brackets sandwiched with rubber and wasn't getting a constant good earth on the box, I have fitted an extra earth strap and the red light hasn't come on since. I know a few of you haven't bolted your kits down, if you fit brackets as I have, make sure they could hold it down in the event of an accident because you never know.

Hmm, that shouldn't have been a problem, since the switch up front is conencted to the chassis on the brown cable. maybe that connection was not too good?

Well, so long as it's working, that's great. i echo your comments that bolting this thing down is very important. mine is very secure, you can grab the handles and lift with all your might and the back end of the car starts to lift.

The brown wire at the front was fine without it the kit would not switch on, I think it is too small and too far for earthing the whole box. The 8mm earth strap certainly worked instantly. I will report on it's performance but so far I am at 85mpg average and will probably get better as I get used to it.

That's pretty awesome. i know mine will go up once it's fully working again. i hope yours is trouble free from now!

I'm not sure if we are talking about the same problem. From reading your post on the other thread, it seems you are talking about the red triangle coming on. My red light is the red light on the swithc panel next to the green light. Both are always on for me and there is even a faint glow coming from the red light when the switch is in the off position. Jack thinks there is a short in the switch (possibly from all the jostling that was necessary to secure the switch in the panel) and is sending me a new one. Hopefully, that will solve my problem.

In any case, I have secured the kit to the car and it is well grounded. On another note, what benefit do you get from the rubber padding? I have not used any.