Victron Smart BMS CL 12/100 - Battery Management System for Lithium Batteries

Victron Battery Management System 12/100: BMS for lithium ion smart batteries

The Smart BMS CL 12/100 is a battery management system for intelligent lithium iron phosphate batteries (LiFePO4) from Victron. It was specially developed for 12V systems with a 12V generator.

The BMS CL 12/100 monitors and protects each individual battery cell within the battery (or battery bank) and switches off the generator, charging sources or DC loads in case of low battery voltage, high battery voltage or overtemperature.

The dedicated generator input provides current limiting and one-way traffic from the generator to the battery, allowing any size generator (and starting battery) to be safely connected to the Smart Lithium battery or batteries.

The BMS is also equipped with a remote on/off port to turn off the BMS (and the system) via a remote switch, as well as a pre-alarm contact to give a warning signal before the BMS disconnects the batteries from the system.

Alternator and battery protection
The input current is electronically limited to approximately 90% of the fuse value. A 100 A fuse, for example, therefore limits the input current to approximately 90 A.
Choosing the right fuse will:

• a. Protect the LFP battery from excessive charging current (important for a low capacity LFP battery).
• b. Protect the alternator from overload in case of a high capacity LFP battery bank (most 12V alternators will overheat and fail if run at maximum power for more than 5 minutes).

Protection of the starter battery
This function is similar to that of a Cyrix battery combiner or Argo FET battery isolator. Current can only flow to the LFP battery when the input voltage (= voltage at the starter battery) exceeds 13 V. And no current can flow back from the LFP battery to the starter battery, thus preventing possible damage to the LFP battery due to excessive discharge.

Remote on/off input
The remote on/off input controls the charging process via the alternator. When switched off, charging via the alternator is disabled while the BMS functionality remains active, allowing all loads and chargers to continue to operate regardless of the state of the remote input. When the "System on/off switch" is activated via VictronConnect, the BMS functionality is also deactivated. It consists of two terminals: Remote L and Remote H. Between H and L a remote on/off switch or a relay contact can be connected. Alternatively, terminal H can be switched to battery plus or terminal L to battery minus.