EasyPlus 12/1600/70 Switching itself from "ON" to "Inverter Only"

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David asked Nov 19, '21

EasyPlus 12/1600/70 Switching itself from "ON" to "Inverter Only"

I have a Multiplus (EasyPlus 12/1600/70), running firmware version V430, although I am aware V490 is available to update.

The last day or so I have noticed a few occasions where the Cerbo GX has reported the Multiplus Switch is set to "Inverter Only" when I had had it set at "On". This has happened when I have not been doing anything with the system and so all by itself.

I checked on VRM to see if the AC input had done anything unusual and seems fine. a bit wobbly maybe in terms of a nice level voltage but only a few volts up and down and nowhere close to a disconnect voltage. When the switch changed to "Inverter Only", I can see there is still an active AC input available.

I can't see any reason why this disconnects but it is a bit annoying as when it switches over, the Electric Heater (connected to the "Boiler" MCB) goes off as well so I am losing the room heating - which could be a problem later in the winter when I want to be able to rely on electric heating for frost protection.

I have chosen not to update the Multiplus firmware to date on the principle of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" as I have had no issues until this one (I do update the various and multiple VE.Direct devices I have, but they are all a bit simpler, less critical and cheaper!). So if a firmware update would be known to resolve, I will happily go ahead, but woul like to know why this switch change happens first really.

Multiplus-II EasyPlus

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David answered · Dec 11, 2021 at 12:52 PM

I have what I believe is the reason for this action ....

I have the OS Large Firmware running on the Cerbo GX and have some routines setup when playing with the interface and trying things out. One of the Active nodes is the System Control Node for the EasyPlus to change the setting, and I have a Default Initial Value entered that gets sent to the EasyPlus whenever the Cerbo restarts - that default being to set the EasyPlus to "Inverter Only".

I also have the Cerbo GX configured to restart automatically if it looses connection to VRM for over an hour.

I first noticed the Multiplus changing by itself when on a campsite with a fairly poor mobile reception, so I think what was happening was the Router was loosing its signal, the Cerbo would then reboot itself, the Node-Red routine would then be sent to the Multiplus on the Cerbo restart and I would see the hitherto mystery state change happen.

I have now removed the Initial value entry in the Node and expect that will sort this out. The long-winded explanation I thought might be of use to anyone trying out Node-Red as a heads-up to bear in mind and remember settings they may put in :)

screenshot-2021-12-11-at-12-22-51-node-red-19383-n.png (16.6 KiB)

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Modifications Space

Node Red Space

Answer 1 · 2021-11-19T17:07:13Z

kevgermany answered · Nov 19, 2021 at 05:07 PM

Is it the physical switch or something else?

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David commented · Nov 19, 2021 at 05:12 PM

It is the virtual switch as set via the Virtual Control Panel.

I did have a momentary thought of "is there something knocking the switch on the front panel?" but there is not actually a physical switch position for Inverter only. There is "OFF", "ON", and "CHARGER ONLY".

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Answer 2 · 2021-11-19T20:38:32Z

kevgermany answered · Nov 19, 2021 at 08:38 PM

What are your virtual switch settings? Sounds like a less than ideal AC input is causing it. There are settings for the AC input as well, what are they set to?

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David commented · Nov 19, 2021 at 09:07 PM

I was wondering that was well which is one reason why I checked the voltage on VRM, but all seems fine. I already said the voltage is well within the parameters and nowhere near the low votlage disconnect threshold. I don't think that would actually change the setting to "Inverter Only" either. Maybe someone from Victron Energy might be able to answer that?

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klim8skeptic ♦ David commented · Nov 19, 2021 at 09:25 PM

I would think that the ability to switch states via remote console is much more recent than your multiplus firmware.

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David klim8skeptic ♦ commented · Nov 21, 2021 at 10:11 PM

No, that is not the case. I have been able to control the Easyplus switch state remotely from day 1. I don't know when this feature was introduced (maybe you do?) but I have been able to do this on various Multipluses via various Venus OS based systems for numerous years.

Please note I am not saying it will not change state, but that it started doing it by itself suddenly.

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