Hi guys, I am really confused about the different way people wire up the balance wires on a BMS. I have seen people wire them to the negative of the p-group, the positive of the p-group and between p-groups. It leaves me with so many questions.
In my logic there would be only one way to wire a BMS, can any BMS be really wired in one of these 3 ways?
Is one method better than another from a cell life point of view or a safety point of view?
I did three (4S-4P) example layouts below, is that the correct wiring for each method? Charge only layout.
I came to e-sk8 from RC hobby and have only used balance chargers so far.
Ya lots of ways to wire depending on bms. I’ve always just copied other people’s projects and followed them as closely as possible. Downside is image are misleading sometimes and can look backwards. It makes sense to me that you can use a multimeter and add your voltsges up of balance wires. But ya other aspects I completely don’t understand Iove these posts though! Do you @b264?
A, B, and C all look wrong; the way to wire them would depend on the specific BMS, and A might be correct for some BMS but probably not for a majority of them.
Ok. This is a relief I feel like I’ve seen only 2 styles so far. I took bout 50 pictures would be cool to identify them all without major thread digging. Hopefully that doesn’t sound 2 lazy
To the comments that all the diagrams are wrong. The Reference wire I have obviously goes where your BMS tells you to put it as this can be routed different depending on the particular BMS.
The point was about which is the best way to hook up the balance wires. If the answer is just follow your BMS diagram, well ok but thats is so dull.
ref is most likely the same as main negative wire, which could be called 0. balance wire 1 is the first positive after 0, so the last/ highest number is the same as the main positive wire.
so ref is correct in C
balance wires are correct in B
generally there’s only two ways to wire. charge only and both charge and discharge. varying slightly with brands.
for charge only setup, you want a small(20awg) black wire to go to the b- on the bms and then from the c- (or p- if there is no c-) to the charge plug.
this is separate to the main black wire, but connected to the same spot on the battery.
hopefully that makes sense, i’ll try find some pics
nothing, the potential is the same. you could also solder it on the - terminal of that serial connection. which would be even more save as you don´t need to add solder on the positve cell terminal with the opening holes.
First, I know this is old thread;
Second, I am using NESE packs…;
Third, to me, OP makes point…to wit, these responses mean nada…to me;
Fourth, we need exactness, that is, the whys and wherefores!
I have experienced another failure 3rd. Admittedly, BMS could be cause, but doubt that…
NESE packs are tops and not only preclude
soldering or welding but make packs easy to do…
a 36v, 10s4p pack consists of 10, 4 cell modules…all the same 3100 ah 18650s.
Each module consists of 4 cells, all + connected and sealed with strip to carry current to a + terminal;
same for -…
One cannot do normal balance connections, as each pack is enclosed. The OP set is fine idea and exemplifies the difficulty here. This pack set works with any rig but balance management is varied…here and not described in detail anywhere…
So…? Some luck and copying is fine, but logic is missing…this is very unscientific and sucks!
Iove these posts though! Do you 
would be cool to identify them all without major thread digging. Hopefully that doesn’t sound 2 lazy 
