KJINTF - It is hard to get out of lead acid mindset even after 18 months. Still worry when we get down 50% SOC when boondocking in heavy forest, even though I know I can bring the energy storage (fuel level as the EV crowd calls it) by a kW-hr per hour with our 1.0 kW Honda generator (OK, more like 800 W-hr with inefficiences through the system). Nowadays, even after 8 days of overcast and the battery bank declining (last week), I don't worry (that much). This is false bravado since our daughter has a 30 amp (put in specifically for our use) and 15 amp outlet 10 feet from our rig. It is there if we need it, but we haven't so far.
Don - The blog you referenced is the best I have seen for folks who want information. I have probably read it half a dozen times and have learned something new each time. This is the only blog I have seen that demonstrates how to bottom and top balance the individual cells in a bank.
I like his thought on BMS "...The main purpose of a BMS is to simply protect the bank, at the cell level, from over charging / HVE's (high voltage events) or over discharging / LVE's. That's it, simple really....Think of a BMS as an insurance policy for your expensive cells..."
We "trailed" our old system with glass mat batteries a few years ago. We were visiting nephew in Hillsboro, OR (near Portland) and were staying at a decrepit RV Park (could find nothing decent and the reviews of the other parks were pretty much "set out Concertina wire, set up your field of fire stakes, and arm Claymores before dark") since the state fair grounds (which has nice sites) was in use. It was hot (and we only had 700 W of solar then). I "hooked" up and turned on the air conditioning. It worked great for about 30 minutes and shut off. I had not checked to make sure the 50 amp circuit breaker for the power stand was on. Loved the glass mats and they were still working great after 6 years.
But they and the rest of the rig are in a wrecking yard near Hernandez, Mexico.
Reed and Elaine
