question

aviatorhh avatar image
aviatorhh asked

EM540 on VE.bus (RS485)?

Hi,

I have purchased an EM540 for our 3-phase MP/II ESS. It has not arrived yet. It has to be connected via RS485 to our Cerbo GX. I read about a RS485/USB adapter. The VE.bus on the Cerbo GX is already a RS485 bus (MP's on it). So why not just crimp a cable instead of using USB?

Please clarify.

Thanks

Nicholas

Energy MeterVE.Busrs485
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2 Answers
aviatorhh avatar image
aviatorhh answered ·

According this https://github.com/victronenergy/venusgx-hardware/blob/master/VE_BBB_Cape_v0.80_released.pdf the VE.bus looks as if it has RS-485 in it. The SN65HVD72 seems to be a driver for RS-485.

Has anyone tested it?

EDIT:

This document clarified it: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Technical-Information-Data-communication-with-Victron-Energy-products_EN.pdf

In fact it is RS-485 but the protocol running over the line is MK2/MK3 which I doubt the EM540 is speaking. So I guess a USB/RS-485 adapter is indeed needed.

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Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

VE.Bus isn't standard RS485. You can't connect the EM540 to the VE.Bus, you need to use the RS485 to USB adapter.

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Related Resources

Additional resources still need to be added for this topic

What is VE.Bus?

Energy Meter Selection Guide