question

matej avatar image
matej asked

Victron CAN bus protocol specs

Hi, we are developing solution for complex energy storage remote control and monitoring. The system comprises of solar panels, energy storage (LiFePo batteries) and MultiPlus II inverters/chargers. Our device that controls the process comunicates with MultiPlus II units via Victron VE.Bus to NMEA2000 interface. We went through all specs available on victron web and through standard NMEA specs. However, there are still some things that we do not know:

-PGN 127501 (0x1F20D) - binary status report - we have no idea what is in these messages. We think they might contain device status (ie charging/standby, discharging, ...) however there is no specification for these messages. Does someone know how to decode these?

-PGN 127509 (0x1F215) and 127507(0x1F213) - victron documens state that these messages contain inverter and charger status information. However, data we are getting from these messages do not reflect the state of the inverters - messages tell us that inverters are on standby irrespective of their actual state.

-we are receiving messages with PGNs 61183 (0xEEFF) and 61439 (0xEFFF) that are not specified in either Victron or NMEA documents. What do these mean?

Can someone please help us clarify these data?

P.S. - We already decoded many basic messages from our solution (e.g. we can see basic electric quantities of inverters) - this proves our code is working.

MultiPlus Quattro Inverter ChargerNMEA 2000 - N2K
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

3 Answers
Ole Saether avatar image
Ole Saether answered ·

I don't know much about CAN but have you checked the document "VE.Can Registers Public" on the Victron website? You can download it from this page:
https://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/whitepapers

1 comment
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

matej avatar image matej commented ·

Yes I did. That document does not contain answers to my quesitons.

0 Likes 0 ·
Ole Saether avatar image
Ole Saether answered ·
1 comment
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

matej avatar image matej commented ·

Hi, thank you for your answer. I went through the webpage you posted, however this does not contain binary status explanation for MultiPlus II inverter, only for other products.

0 Likes 0 ·
balint603 avatar image
balint603 answered ·

Hi matej,

have you discovered these messages yet?
We are also developing with CAN interface and have the same problem.
Plus we would like to know the output power, current and voltage (PGN: 0xFDF5, 0xFDF6 and other phases).

3 comments
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi @balint603

The only (more or less) publicly available information as far as I know can be found here:
http://www.rec-bms.com/datasheet/UserManual_REC_Victron_BMS.pdf

Unfortunately we cannot share protocols that other parties don't want to have public. All other protocols are available as you know.

0 Likes 0 ·
balint603 avatar image balint603 Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Thank you Daniël! Our aggregator system would use 3 Multiplus 48/5000/70, they do not send messages with such PGNs described in your linked PDF.

We chose CAN because our controller has this kind of interface and "Canbus is the preferred protocol for third parties to communicate".
Sadly, the output parameters of the inverter could not be read from VREGs like in the case of specific charger devices.

0 Likes 0 ·
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ balint603 commented ·

I'm sorry @balint603

I misunderstood and thought you were talking about BMS comms.

for system control it's best to use Modbus
https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ccgx:modbustcp_faq

0 Likes 0 ·