You can use a Common port, but for the safety ask the manufacturer.
I did a while ago 16 port for 12 or 13S.
If i connected the empty/ extra cable to the last group.
And it dont work.
It means the bms is faulty?
I believe active balancers like that are most useful for batteries that take forever to top balance at the super low currents most bms’s bleed off the highest voltage cells.
The German off grid garage guy in Australia tested a lot of active balancers on 16S Lifepo4 prisimatics, showing how they work.
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Chances are that the BMS wont allow charging unless theres a nr 13 cell. Tried the same thing a year ago. ended up switching it out.
Seems like you are right.
Got a new bms to try soon.
Update: this unit works very well by itself with configurable voltage ranges for active balancing. Though you can use a traditional BMS in parallel (and connected via UART), I used this by itself. I handle low voltage cutoff at the VESCs and charging voltage cutoff externally. It’s important to note that these active balancers are not wired inline to the charging leads, so you have NO protection from under or over charging.
I changed the parameters below, as I wanted balancing to run at higher voltages as well:
