Frequently Asked Questions

General

Lithium Watch is a remote battery monitoring platform built by Elite Security. It uses compact wireless devices (LW Nodes) to monitor your lithium batteries via Bluetooth Low Energy and reports all data to a secure cloud dashboard you can access from anywhere.

Anyone who relies on lithium batteries in remote or hard-to-reach locations. Our clients include security companies, ecological surveyors, telecoms operators, fleet managers, solar installers, construction firms, and emergency services. If you have batteries you can't easily check in person, Lithium Watch is for you.

Lithium Watch is a modular platform. You start with core battery monitoring and add services as your needs grow:

Battery Monitoring — Included with every system. Real-time SOC, voltage, current, temperature, and cell-level data.
GPS Tracking — Real-time location tracking with map view and history.
Geofencing — Virtual boundaries with entry/exit/dwell alerts.
Relay Card — 4-channel IoT control with automation rules.
IoT Connectivity — Cellular fallback for sites without Wi-Fi.
Advanced Analytics — Trend analysis, reports, and CSV export.
On-Call Scheduling — On-call rotas, timed escalation, and full alert lifecycle.

Visit our Services page for full details.

Pricing is based on the number of LW Nodes and the services you enable. Battery monitoring is always included. Add-on services are priced individually. Contact us for a tailored quote based on your requirements.

Lithium Watch works with any lithium battery that uses a JBD (Jiabaida/Xiaoxiang) Battery Management System (BMS). This is one of the most popular BMS systems used in LiFePO4 batteries worldwide, including all batteries supplied by Elite Security.

Yes! A single LW Node can discover and monitor multiple JBD BMS batteries within its Bluetooth range (approximately 10 metres). All discovered batteries appear in your dashboard for approval.

Elite Security is one of Yorkshire's most established security companies with over 30 years of experience in CCTV, access control, intruder alarms, fire systems, and manned guarding. Lithium Watch extends our expertise into remote asset monitoring and IoT.

Battery Monitoring

The LW Node reads everything your JBD BMS exposes, including:

State of Charge (SOC percentage)
Pack voltage and individual cell voltages (up to 16 cells)
Charge and discharge current
BMS temperature (one or more sensors)
Charge/discharge MOSFET status
Cycle count and remaining capacity
Cell voltage imbalance (calculated)

The LW Node scans and reports battery data every 60 seconds. This gives you near-real-time visibility of your battery status at all times.

Cell-level monitoring reads the voltage of every individual cell inside your battery pack (up to 16 cells). This is critical because a single weak or imbalanced cell can cause the entire battery to fail prematurely. By monitoring each cell, you can spot problems months before they become critical.

Yes. You can create alert rules based on any metric: low SOC, high temperature, cell imbalance, voltage too high or too low, and more. Each rule can have its own threshold, severity level, and notification channels. You can create site-wide rules or battery-specific rules.

If a node stops reporting for a configurable period (default: 4 minutes), the system automatically marks it as offline and sends an alert. This covers both power loss and network issues.

Telemetry data is stored in the cloud for 90 days by default. Cell voltage data and alert history are also retained. With the Advanced Analytics add-on, you can export data as CSV for long-term archival.

GPS Tracking

The LW Node has a built-in GPS module that reports latitude, longitude, speed, and satellite count alongside battery data every 60 seconds. All your nodes are plotted on an interactive map in your dashboard.

GPS accuracy is typically within 2–5 metres in open sky conditions. In urban environments or near tall buildings, accuracy may vary. The satellite count indicator in the dashboard shows GPS signal quality.

Yes. The system stores GPS history so you can review where a device has been. This is useful for tracking fleet movements, verifying deployment locations, and investigating incidents.

GPS requires a clear view of the sky to receive satellite signals. If your LW Node is installed inside a building or metal enclosure, GPS will not work reliably. For indoor installations, GPS tracking is not recommended.

The GPS module does consume additional power compared to a non-GPS node. However, since the LW Node is USB-C powered (not battery-powered), this has no practical impact on your installation.

Yes. Geofencing relies on GPS coordinates to determine whether a device is inside or outside a zone. You need both GPS Tracking and Geofencing services enabled for geofences to work.

Geofencing

Geofencing lets you draw virtual boundaries on a map around your assets. When a device enters, exits, or stays in a zone for too long, the system automatically triggers an alert. It's like an invisible fence for your equipment.

You can create circular geofences (centre point + radius) or polygon geofences (draw any shape on the map). Both types support entry, exit, and dwell-time alert triggers.

A dwell alert triggers when a device stays inside (or outside) a geofence for longer than a specified time. For example, you could alert if a delivery vehicle is parked at a location for more than 30 minutes.

Yes. Each geofence has a day-of-week schedule, so you can set zones to only be active on weekdays, weekends, or specific days. For example, a construction site geofence might only be active Monday through Friday.

Yes, if you also have the Relay Card add-on. You can create automation rules that trigger relay channels when a device enters or exits a geofence. For example, activate a siren when a device leaves a designated area.

There is no hard limit. You can create as many geofence zones as you need, each with their own alert settings, schedules, and device assignments.

Relay Card

The relay card is a 4-channel switching module that connects to your LW Node. It lets you remotely turn equipment on and off from the dashboard, or set up automation rules that trigger based on conditions like battery SOC, temperature, geofence events, time of day, or sunrise/sunset.

Anything that can be switched on/off electrically. Common uses include: camera power, heaters, fans, lighting, sirens/alarms, water pumps, charging systems, and signage. Each channel is independent.

You can create rules based on:

SOC — e.g. turn off loads when battery drops below 20%
Temperature — e.g. turn on heater when temp falls below 5°C
Voltage — e.g. disconnect charger above 28.4V
Current — e.g. alert when draw exceeds threshold
Geofence events — e.g. siren on geofence exit
Time of day — e.g. lights on at 6pm, off at 6am
Sunrise/Sunset — e.g. lights on at sunset with offset
Manual — on-demand control from the dashboard

Each channel supports four actions: ON (switch on), OFF (switch off), PULSE (momentary on, then auto-off after a set duration), and TOGGLE (flip to the opposite state).

Yes. You can always manually control relay channels from the dashboard regardless of automation rules. Manual commands take immediate effect.

Yes. Every relay action (manual and automated) is logged with a timestamp, the trigger source, and the resulting state. This provides a full audit trail.

IoT Connectivity (Cellular)

The IoT Connectivity add-on provides a cellular (4G/LTE) connection for your LW Node via the M5Stack SIM7080G module. This means your node can report data even when there's no Wi-Fi available at the installation site.

Yes. The cellular module requires a SIM card with a data plan. We can supply pre-configured SIM cards or you can use your own. Data usage is minimal — typically under 50MB per month per node.

It can work as a primary connection or as a fallback. When configured as a fallback, the node uses Wi-Fi as its primary connection and switches to cellular automatically if Wi-Fi becomes unavailable.

Anywhere with 4G/LTE mobile coverage. The SIM7080G module also supports NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) for areas with weaker coverage. Check mobile coverage maps for your installation location.

Yes. GPS and cellular are completely independent systems. You can use both simultaneously — cellular for data transmission and GPS for location tracking.

Advanced Analytics

The Analytics add-on gives you access to historical trend charts, time-range selection (6 hours, 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days), charge/discharge pattern analysis, and the ability to export all your data as CSV files for reporting or compliance purposes.

You can track SOC levels over time, voltage trends, temperature patterns, current draw, cell voltage divergence, and charging efficiency. These trends help you spot batteries that are degrading before they fail.

Yes. The CSV export feature lets you download raw telemetry data for any battery over any time range. This is ideal for compliance reporting, insurance documentation, or feeding data into your own analysis tools.

Telemetry data is retained for 90 days. You can analyse trends within this window or export the data before it ages out for long-term archival.

No. The standard dashboard shows real-time data and a basic 24-hour view for every client. Analytics extends this with longer time ranges, advanced charts, and CSV export capabilities.

On-Call Scheduling

On-Call Scheduling ensures the right person is always responsible for responding to alerts. You build a calendar of on-call shifts, assign roles (primary, backup, manager), and the system automatically routes alerts to whoever is on duty.

There are three roles:

Primary — The first person contacted when an alert fires.
Backup — Contacted if the primary doesn't respond within the escalation delay.
Manager — Contacted as a final escalation if neither primary nor backup respond.

An escalation policy defines what happens when an alert isn't responded to. It's a series of timed steps: for example, alert the primary immediately, escalate to backup after 10 minutes, escalate to manager after 30 minutes. Each step can use different notification channels.

With On-Call Scheduling, alerts follow a structured lifecycle:

New — Alert has just been created
Acknowledged — Someone has seen it and taken responsibility
Assigned — Alert has been assigned to a specific person
In Progress — Actively being worked on
Resolved — Issue has been fixed

Every status change is logged in an activity trail with timestamps and who made the change.

Yes. Team members can add comments and notes to any alert, creating a conversation thread attached to the incident. This is useful for shift handovers and post-incident reviews.

Each escalation step can notify via email, SMS, WhatsApp, or Telegram. You can use different channels at different escalation levels — for example, email for initial alert, SMS for backup, and a phone call-style Telegram message for the manager.

Alerts & Notifications

You can create alert rules based on:

Low or high state of charge (SOC)
Temperature above or below thresholds
Cell voltage imbalance exceeding limits
Pack voltage too high or too low
Device going offline (stops reporting)
Geofence entry, exit, or dwell (with Geofencing add-on)

Alerts are checked every 60 seconds as new data arrives. When a threshold is breached, the notification is sent immediately. In practice, you'll typically receive an alert within 60–90 seconds of the condition occurring.

Lithium Watch supports four notification channels: Email, SMS, WhatsApp, and Telegram. You can configure different channels for different alert rules, sites, or escalation levels.

Yes. Alert rules can be scoped to specific sites or applied globally. You can also set different notification contacts per site, so each location's alerts go to the responsible team.

Alerts have three severity levels: Warning (amber), Critical (red), and Info (blue). You set the severity when creating each alert rule. The dashboard visually distinguishes severity levels so you can prioritise quickly.

No. Once an alert fires, it enters a cooldown period. You won't be spammed with duplicate notifications for the same ongoing condition. A new alert is only created once the condition clears and then breaches again.

Hardware & Power

The LW Node is a compact IoT device based on the M5Stack AtomS3 Lite (ESP32-S3). It's the field device that connects to your batteries via Bluetooth, reads their data, and transmits it to the cloud via Wi-Fi or cellular.

The LW Node is powered via USB-C. It comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable. You can power it from a USB port on your Wi-Fi router, any standard USB power adapter (phone charger), or a USB power bank. For installations without USB power, we offer custom 12V, 24V, or 48V DC power solutions.

The LW Node is extremely compact: 24mm × 24mm × 13mm. It's smaller than a matchbox, making it easy to install in tight spaces.

The base LW Node is designed for indoor or sheltered use. For outdoor installations, we provide weatherproof enclosures rated for the environment. Contact us to discuss your specific requirements.

The BLE range is approximately 10 metres in typical conditions. Metal enclosures, thick walls, and other obstructions can reduce range. Position the node with a clear line of sight to your batteries for best results.

Pulsing Blue — Setup mode, waiting for Wi-Fi configuration

Blinking Cyan — Connecting to Wi-Fi network

Solid Green — Successfully connected to Wi-Fi

Breathing Green — Normal operation, scanning and reporting

Pulsing Amber — Registering with cloud server

Blinking Red — Error, Wi-Fi failed or server unreachable

Off — No power

If the node loses power, monitoring stops until power returns. Once power is restored, the node automatically reconnects and resumes monitoring. You will receive an "offline" alert when the node stops reporting, so you'll know about the outage.

Setup & Installation

About 5 minutes. Plug in the LW Node, connect to its Wi-Fi hotspot from your phone, enter your Wi-Fi details and client credentials, and you're done. The node will start discovering batteries automatically.

Yes. The LW Node requires a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection to send data to the cloud. It does not support 5GHz Wi-Fi. If your site doesn't have Wi-Fi, you can use a mobile hotspot, 4G router, or add the Cellular connectivity add-on.

Your Client Code and PIN are provided by Elite Security when you purchase the system. They link your LW Node to your account, ensuring your data is secure and only visible to your team.

Once connected, the node registers with the cloud, starts scanning for batteries via Bluetooth, and begins reporting data. Discovered batteries appear in your dashboard as "Discovered Batteries" for you to approve and name.

Yes. Setup is designed to be self-service. Power the node via USB-C, connect to its hotspot, enter your details, and it handles the rest. Our setup guide walks you through every step, and support is always available if needed.

Press and hold the button on the node for 10 seconds to enter setup mode (LED turns blue). Then reconnect to its hotspot and enter the new Wi-Fi credentials.

Troubleshooting

Confirm your batteries have a JBD BMS (most batteries we supply do).
Ensure the node is within 10 metres of the batteries.
Check there's no metal enclosure between the node and batteries (metal blocks Bluetooth).
Verify the batteries are powered on (the BMS must be active).
Try moving the node closer to the batteries.

The node will automatically attempt to reconnect. Once Wi-Fi is restored, it resumes normal operation. During the outage, no data is sent to the cloud. If you have the Cellular add-on, the node will fall back to cellular automatically.

Press and hold the button on the node for 10 seconds. The LED will change to pulsing blue, indicating setup mode. You can then reconfigure it from scratch by connecting to its Wi-Fi hotspot.

Contact Elite Security for a replacement node. When you set up the new node with the same name and client code, the system will detect it as a replacement and offer to transfer the battery associations from the old node. Your historical data is preserved.

New batteries will appear as "Discovered Batteries" on your node's detail page. They won't be monitored until you approve them. Log in to your dashboard and approve the new batteries.

Physically move the node to the new site.
If the new location has different Wi-Fi, press and hold the button for 10 seconds to enter setup mode.
Connect to its hotspot and enter the new Wi-Fi details.
Update the node's site assignment in your dashboard if needed.

If the new location uses the same Wi-Fi network, the node reconnects automatically.

Check the following:

Verify your Wi-Fi router is working and has internet access.
Check the node's LED colour (see LED guide above).
If red/blinking, the node can't reach Wi-Fi or the server.
Try power-cycling the node (unplug and replug USB-C).
If problems persist, factory reset and reconfigure.

Account & Security

Yes. Your account administrator can create additional users with different roles: Admin (full access), Engineer (manage nodes and batteries), or Viewer (read-only dashboards and data).

Yes. All data is transmitted over encrypted connections. Each client's data is completely isolated — you can only see your own batteries and nodes. The platform uses session-based authentication with secure password hashing.

Yes. Lithium Watch provides a REST API that lets you pull battery data into your existing systems. This is ideal for SCADA integration, custom dashboards, or automated workflows. API keys are managed from your Settings page and can be revoked at any time.

The REST API allows programmatic access to your battery data. You can query node status, battery readings, telemetry history, and more using standard HTTP requests with your API key. Full documentation is available in your dashboard.

Telemetry data is retained for 90 days. Alert history is kept for 30 days. Data is automatically cleaned up after these periods. Use the CSV export (Analytics add-on) to archive data you need to keep longer.

Yes. The platform supports unlimited sites. Each site can have its own nodes, batteries, alert contacts, and alert rules. You can view all sites from one dashboard or drill into individual locations.

Lithium Watch is hosted on enterprise-grade infrastructure with monitoring and redundancy. For specific SLA requirements, please contact us to discuss your needs.