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One cable decides whether a Kent lithium installation communicates at all. This page is the pin card for that cable and the checks that prove it.
For trained/authorized installers only. Comm-cable work happens next to live battery terminals — Battery Safety rules apply throughout.
A straight RJ45 patch lead never communicates on this pairing. The Kent battery carries CAN-L on pin 4 and CAN-H on pin 5; both Kent inverters expect the opposite. Use only the labelled Kent battery comm cable (pins 4 and 5 swapped). Symptom of a straight cable: battery comm fault at first power-up, every time.

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The pin card

Kent battery comm cable: pins 4 and 5 cross between battery and inverter — figure KNB-SVG-13

So the correct cable is straight on all pins except 4 and 5, which swap — that is the labelled Kent cable. One such cable per bank: it runs from the master pack’s CAN port to the inverter BMS port.

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Before power-up: three cable checks

  1. Label check — the Kent crossover label is on the cable in use. A generic LAN patch lead anywhere in the battery comm path is an automatic fail. 📷
  2. Continuity check — meter the cable against the pin card above: pin 4 to pin 5, pin 5 to pin 4, all other used pins straight. Do this off-line, both connectors in hand.
  3. Seating check — RJ45s click home at the master pack and at the inverter BMS port; the run is strain-relieved and away from the DC power cables’ pinch points.

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Field fallback — re-terminating one end

No labelled cable on site? Both source manuals give the same authorised fallback for a pin-sequence mismatch: cut off the RJ45 at one end and re-crimp it with pins 4 and 5 swapped, then re-run the continuity check and mark the cable clearly as crossover.
Never “fix” a comm fault in the menus. No battery-model selection, protocol entry or setting compensates for a wrong cable. Cable first, settings second — in that order, always.

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Multi-pack banks

  • Packs interconnect per the battery guide with DIP/address-based parallel comms; set each pack’s address before power-up and record the address map on the commissioning sheet.
  • Only the master pack connects to the inverter — one crossover cable per bank, however many packs.
  • Up to 16 packs per bank.
Pending Kent validation. [KNB-VAL-05] The F1 cable-kit contents (and the exact Kent M1 on-screen battery-brand label) are under confirmation. Pairing, the minimum-pack matrix and the 4-5 crossover rule are confirmed. Until published here: use only the labelled Kent battery comm cable, and verify any re-terminated cable against the pin card above.

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Common mistakes

  • Straight LAN patch lead “because it fit” — guaranteed comm failure on this pairing.
  • Re-terminating both ends — the swap belongs at one end only; two swaps make it straight again.
  • Crossover cable fitted between packs instead of pack-to-inverter — the inter-pack link follows the battery guide, not this card.
  • No label on a field-made crossover — the next technician will “fix” it back to straight.

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When to escalate