question

logic28 avatar image
logic28 asked

Battery CAN Bus to Cerbo

I am using all Victron in my system apart from batteries, img-20230918-100517-775.jpg


I have tried connecting one of them (Odipie 5.1kWh) to the Cerbo GX via CAN bus cable first with a Part B cable, as it states in the battery's manual, then with a Part A cable just in case that would work but nothing seems to appear on the display.

odipie.jpgtype-a-b.jpg

I was wondering if there is a need to activate the communication either from Cerbo or from the Battery or both in order to see the battery amongst the devices.


Many Thanks


Mauro



cerbo gx
odipie.jpg (284.4 KiB)
type-a-b.jpg (79.7 KiB)
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4 Answers
Alexandra avatar image
Alexandra answered ·

@Logic28

No there is no need to activate anything from the GX side.

Since the battery is an unsupported (aka untested battery) some experiments may be needed.

Are you making your own cables here? If you are try only connecting the can h and can L pins. Leave all other pins empty.

The other option is to switch it into the other can port (not the BMS can which is fixed at 500kb/s) and try 250kb/s speed for Comms.

That option for speed change can be found in the GX menu under settings - services - ve can port - can bus profile.

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logic28 avatar image
logic28 answered ·

Thank you Alexandra,

Yes, I make my own cables very accurately but I did include the ground pin as opposed to their latest video showing only Can H and Can L.

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/bfc84ca962008e3050b7ff34d085e22320231023020230/cb25545e187de7224886f57fa8bfeef720231023020246/1d5ad8

This video, received today from the manufacturer, only applies to the communication to a Victron inverter and not to the Cerbo GX so I'm waiting for an explanation on that.

I'm not sure if by saying "switch to the other can port" you mean on the Cerbo end or the battery end so perhaps you would be kind enough to expand on that.

Thanks

Mauro


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nickdb avatar image
nickdb answered ·

Does the battery support the Victron messaging over CAN?

The pin outs is only a minor part of it. Victron uses proprietary messaging based on NMEA2000, so if your BMS can't send the right data packets, having the perfect cable won't make any difference.

The battery cannot talk directly to the inverter as that is VE BUS which is specific to Victron devices.

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logic28 avatar image logic28 commented ·

Yes, it does and I made sure before purchasing but if you check the link in the above message, you will see that the video only mentions connecting the battery to the Victron inverter and not to the Cerbo so I have raised the question to them and expecting a response.

However, this is only my starting battery in order to test the system as I am currently testing 16 x 304 Ah battery cells for my next unit which will be equipped with Seplos 200A BMS and hopefully that one should not have any such problems.

here's the link again in case you missed it

https://wetransfer.com/downloads/bfc84ca962008e3050b7ff34d085e22320231023020230/cb25545e187de7224886f57fa8bfeef720231023020246/1d5ad8

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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ logic28 commented ·

The video is using a multiplus GX with integrated GX.

They are using VE CAN because that is all that model has, then ask you you to change it to 500kb.

So you will need to use the BMS CAN port on the Cerbo which is 500kb, no changes needed.

It should work, properly terminated and with the right cable.

Have you followed the steps to configure the battery BMS for Victron? Seems it does not by default support Victron until you run their config utility.


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logic28 avatar image logic28 nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
Thanks, that all makes more sense now, I have not found any instructions for setting the CAN internally nor they are giving us details about what software to use for managing the battery parameters & settings although they provided the USB adapter cable.

So that is another issue to investigate.

Are most BMS monitor software interchangeably usable for this purpose?

Perhaps some here in the community will be able to suggest a couple of them,

meanwhile, I keep on searching

Thanks again



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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ logic28 commented ·
Generally they are proprietary unless they use a generic BMS. Not being familiar with this brand I can’t comment.
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Rabeendra Tilakaratne avatar image
Rabeendra Tilakaratne answered ·

Dears,

I have the same issue. I tried to connect the battery to my Cerbo GX but failed. I fabricated the cables.

The battery supplier (Felicity Solar) confirmed that their battery is compatible with Victron. Attached the compatibility list herewith. Can anyone let me know whether they have tested this communication with Felicity batteries.

felicity.jpg


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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ commented ·

Please open your own topic as it is a different brand to the original post.

Also, searching for this brand on the forum's search function would take you to existing topics:

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/203717/felicitysolar-lithium-battery-communication-with-v.html

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Rabeendra Tilakaratne avatar image Rabeendra Tilakaratne nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
Noted. Will do
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