VESC Harmony 16
From: €119.99 ex VAT
The Harmony 16 BMS can manage up to 16 cells in series for batteries discharging up to 320A
The Harmony 16 is a high-power BMS which can manage up to 16 cells in series for batteries discharging up to 320A. An on-board ESP32 micro-controller running open-source VESC Software enables precise real-time monitoring and balancing of individual cell groups. VESC Tool enables complete flexibly to configurable all the parameters of the BMS so that the battery can be operated safely. With a maximum charge current of up 15A and real-time monitoring of cells, the battery can be wirelessly monitored while waiting for the battery to charge. This BMS also features short circuit protection up to 320A with a 10µs response time.
CAN-bus connectivity allows for seamless integration with other VESC devices for effective communication between all devices in the system. Other communication methods include USB-C, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for convenient and flexible options to connect, configure and monitor the device using VESC Tool.
Suggested applications include small electric vehicles such as E-bikes, E-Scooters, electric skateboards, go-karts, trikes or buggies.
The following items are included:
- 1x VESC Harmony 16 BMS
- 4x JST-GH 2 pin 500mm cable
- 1x JST-GH 6 pin 500mm cable
- 1x JST-GH 8 pin 500mm cable
- 1x JST-GH 10 pin 500mm cable
24 month limited warranty
- Maximum input voltage of 80V (16s Li-Ion cells)
- Short circuit protection up to 320A with 10µs response time
- Charge current configurable up to 15A
- Built-in power switch with 1A constant current precharge circuit
- Open-source firmware and scripting support custom applications running on the onboard ESP32-C3
- Four configurable temperature sensor inputs compatible with NTC 10k Ohm 3380 B, with ambient temperature sensing on T4
- Integrated temperature sensors automatically protect the system during high power draw
- Broad range of communication interfaces including USB, Bluetooth, CAN-bus, and Wi-Fi
- Cross-platform customization and monitoring through VESC Tool, available on desktop and mobile, for easy battery configuration and cell monitoring
- Fully configurable integrated sleep mode with ultra-low sleep current, under-voltage lockout, and auto power-up and shutdown
- Integrated ESP32-C3 supports both station and access-point Wi-Fi connections alongside BLE 5
- Monitor the state of charge by voltage or coulomb counting
- Balancing after charging allows lower balancing currents over longer periods to manage large imbalances without excess heat
- Includes 4GB of integrated memory and a real-time clock for timestamp logging and time synchronization with other devices like displays
What is the maximum regeneration current?
It mainly depends on what the battery cells can handle rather than the BMS. The BMS itself can take the same regen current as output current as it goes through the main power path.
Through the charging port it can only go up to the specified charge current.
Charge current, battery current, and battery regeneration current can all be individually configured using VESC Tool to suit your specific application, hardware or performance requirements.
The BMS does not respond and it is impossible to connect over USB/WiFi/Bluetooth
Most likely the BMS has entered sleep-mode. Sleep mode is entered when
- Power is off
- Nothing is connected over USB, Bluetooth or Wifi
- Not balancing
- Not charging
- Block sleep is disabled in the settings
Notice that block sleep is enabled by default, but it will disable itself after a few hours to avoid draining the battery.
In sleep-mode it is not possible to connect to the BMS over USB, Bluetooth or Wifi. To leave sleep mode you can
- Enable the power output by bridging EN and ENs on the comm-port
- Connect a charger
Problems when changing CAN baudrate and/or CAN ID
For the CAN-bus to work all devices on it need to have the same baudrate and different CAN IDs. If both of those conditions are not fulfilled the CAN-bus will be unreliable and often not work at all.
By default all our devices have CAN baudrate 500 kbps. The default ID is are
- Nanolog, RMCore, WCore, Link: 2
- BMS: 3
- Display: 4
- ESC: random, but not 2, 3 or 4
Due to the random ESC ID you need to check for collisions and change ID accordingly before connecting them together on the CAN-bus
Note
Changing CAN baudrate has to be done on each device individually without having other devices connected over CAN as having different baudrates on the same bus will make communication on that bus stop working completely. VESC Tool has a function that allows changing CAN baudrate on all devices at once; it can be found at the top of the CAN Tools page. Once the update is done using this method it will be stored in the non-volatile settings on each device.
Note
All our devices remember the CAN ID and CAN baudrate across firmware updates. This allows reaching all devices on the CAN-bus on the same baudrate and ID as before even after a firmware update.
Note on motor controllers with an ESP32
Our motor controllers that have an integrated ESP32 (Maxim, Maxim+, Pronto, Duet) have the USB and wireless interfaces connected to the ESP32. When changing baudrate on the motor controller it will no longer be reachable on the CAN-bus from the ESP32. To resolve this, the VESC Express page can be used to change to the same baudrate on the ESP32 - this should make the motor controller appear on the CAN-bus again. The same is true for overlapping IDs - if the motor controller ID is changed to the same as on the ESP32, the ID of the ESP32 can be changed in the VESC Express page to a different one to make the motor controller appear on the CAN-bus again.
UAVCAN and DroneCAN
When changing CAN-mode to UAVCAN (DroneCAN) the VESC CAN protocol will be disabled. This means that VESC Tool can't be used to configure and monitor ESCs or other VESC devices on the CAN-bus at the same time as UAVCAN is enabled. This is especially a problem on the Maxim, Pronto and Duet controllers as they access the STM32 using the ESP32 using VESC CAN. The later firmwares will therefore switch back to VESC CAN on reboot.
Earlier firmwares will not switch back on reboot, meaning that it is possible to lock yourself out from them (Maxim, Pronto and Duet) when changing to UAVCAN. If you have locked yourself out you can either try connecting using the UART-port with an USB-to-UART adapter and 115200 baudrate or you can use USB to reflash the STM32.
So, how do I use UAVCAN on Maxim, Pronto or Duet? Unfortunately we don't have a good solution for that now. As it is now UAVCAN is not widely used among our customers (and VESC-users in general), but if it becomes more popular we will look into improving UAVCAN-support in the firmware. Pull-requests on github are always welcome of course!
Do you offer discounts for wholesale or B2B orders?
Yes, we offer a discount for all customers when ordering 3+ and 10+ units which can be seen on the website.
For order quantities over 25 units please follow the instructions on the request approval for a wholesale account page.
Once your account has been approved for wholesale, go to wholesale products which will show show the updated prices and lead times.
Do you offer OEM or customized solutions?
Yes, we do. Please contact us at info@vesclabs.com with your project requirements and specifications, and our team will assist you with tailored OEM or custom solutions.
Do you offer discounts for student projects, or educational institutions?
Yes, we do. Please send the details of your project and institution to info@vesclabs.com, and our team will review your request.
Do you offer paid integration, setup and tuning support?
Our partner Oliver, also known as Electricfox, offers paid consulting services for BMS and motor controller integration, setup, tuning and load testing. His website is
At the bottom of the page you can find different options to contact Oliver
1 review for VESC Harmony 16
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Mika Norén (verified owner) –
BMS that’s fully configurable. Full score on that.
What’s dragging it down a star is the lack of documentation of the error states. I had it emitting some kind of error-tweet (Two short beeps every 10th minute) while passive/sleeping, and there is no information about what it means. Other than this odd thing, it is fully working. I ended up removing the tweeter.
benjamin –
Thank you for the feedback! I have updated the harmony packages now so that they only beep when starting it using the button or by plugging in a charger. It should no longer beep every hour or so when it does the longer checks during sleep.
To update the Harmony, go to the package store in VESC Tool and first click download latest. Then you can install the Harmony16 package while connected over USB, WiFi or BLE. Just make sure that nothing it plugged into the power output while you do the update.