Eflex Install Manual

Rev. 1.92
505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966, USA . [phone]. [e-mail] .
www.fortresspower.com
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system is increased with each additional parallel battery. For example, in a parallel system with two
batteries, the available charging and discharging current is twice that compared to a single battery.
Please follow this procedure to commission eFlex batteries in parallel:
1. Turn OFF all equipment in the system
2. Turn on batteries to check voltages independently. Make sure the voltage difference
between the highest voltage and lowest voltage battery is less than 0.5V to ensure
trouble-free start-up of the whole system.
3. Connect the positive and negative common DC bus to the inverter.
4. Prepare and connect communication cable. Each unit comes with one IP65 rated
RJ45 cable is used using the RS485 standard. Daisy chain the RS485
cables to each unit utilizing either one of the RJ485 ports.
5. Plug the can bus terminator into the last RJ485 port at the end of the
daisy chained eFlex units.
a. Open Loop Communication. If open loop communication is to be
used, plug a second can bus terminator into the first RJ485 port on
the daisy chained eFlex units.
b. Closed Loop Communication. If close loop communication is to
be used with a compatible inverter, plug a RJ45 cable into the first
RJ485 port, and then plug the other end into the RJ45 pinout converter.
6. Turn on the first eFlex unit and wait 10 seconds for the diagnostic to complete
before turning on the next eFlex unit.
7. Turn on the inverter system and then the charge controller system. Note: some
inverters have high in-rush current and need to be pre-charged manually, or you can
choose to use BMS pre-charge function to start it up. This may require the inverter to be
turned on first before you turn on the battery.
8. For inverter-specific settings, visit https://www.fortresspower.com/resources/ for the most
recent integration manual for the specific inverter brand.
CAUTION! Installation should be designed to minimize the voltage drop between
battery. There are a few best practices: Maintain identical wire length and wire
construction from each Fortress Power Battery terminal to the common bus. If you parallel
more than 4 units, a battery combiner/bus bar is highly recommended.
CAUTION! For connecting multiple units: Maintain the recommended clearance
between units - at least 0.5 inches (12mm).
CAUTION! When paralleling the eFlex 5.4 batteries without connecting them via RJ45
cable(s), please make sure the difference between the highest voltage and lowest
voltage does not exceed 0.5 volts. A large current flow from the higher voltage battery to the
Canbus Terminator