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panosgr avatar image
panosgr asked

Impossible to create VRM alarm... please help!

Alright, after 4 hours I give up. I have miserably failed to set even one working alarm in the VRM.

What I have:

1) Multiplus 24v 5000

2) Cerbo GX

Both are running latest firmwares. Both are supposed to be installed in a boat but for the time being I have them on my bench for testing purposes.

I wish to cover various bad scenarios with alarms:

1) Multiplus dies completely, thus charging/inverting stops. I wish to have an alarm which will trigger an iOS notification AND an email.

2) Multiplus looses shore power. Alarm similarly must trigger.

3) some more scenarios but for the time being I havent even able to make scenario (1) work!

So, trying scenario (1) has led me after hundreds of hit and miss tries to do this:

a) create new alarm for "VE.Bus System [276]"

b) set to ON (triggers) the "Off" "Fault" and "Power supply" and save the alarm

Then I disconnect the Multiplus from the AC IN (so it dies) and wait and wait..... 10,20,30 minutes later nothing.... If i reconnect the AC IN then after a couple of seconds I receive 2 emails and 2 notifications in the iPhone:

1) VE.Bus state: Fault, wait time: 60 seconds

2) VE Bus state: Absorption, wait time: 60 seconds

So instead of receiving the 1st email & notification 1 minute AFTER the disconnection of the Multiplus, I receive them right after I connect the power back to it AND I receive the 2nd email & notification 1 minute later!!!!

What the hell is going wrong??? Please help!


VRM
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3 Answers
Alexandra avatar image
Alexandra answered ·

Is your internet connection powered by a different power source? If not it will affect alarms. And is the GX powered by a source that allows it to also remain on during the event the inverter is switched off?

There is also this nasty thing called internet lag. So give it a bit more time. Then if the phone screen is off it can also be a bit sleepy in its job.

My husband and I have the same alarms for the same systems, we do not always get the notifications at the same time.

The shore/grid power lost is easy it is set in the GX itself.

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panosgr avatar image
panosgr answered ·

Alexandra: "The shore/grid power lost is easy it is set in the GX itself."<<<<< How??


Both the Multiplus and the Cerbo are on my bench. The Cerbo is getting 24v from an independent source. The Multiplus gets 220v from a completely different source.

Internet: the Cerbo is LAN connected and the internet works 24/7

Ignore iOS notifications. Even emails are not sent! As for waiting time: I wrote my original posting here last night, unplugged the Multiplus and now that I woke up still I handnt received anything.

I re plugged the Multiplus and presto! Email and iOS notification after 60 seconds received (error) and 60 seconds later email and iOS notification received (cleared error).


I think I know what the root cause is but have no clue what to do for it:

The Multiplus gets ONLY 220v. No batteries are connected whatsoever. So when I unplug the 220v I suppose it dies completely and thus does not report ANYTHING to the Cerbo. As soon as it gets re plugged it transmits to the Cerbo both the "error" and the "ok". I suppose this is how it is designed to work but I want a way (any way) to be alerted when the Multiplus completely dies (even with connected batteries).

Is there anyone who can help with this?






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pwfarnell avatar image pwfarnell commented ·
For the grid failure alarm read section 10.4 of the manual, a basic setting. Goto the devices menu, system setup.

As the inverter is designed to be connected to a DC source then you will normally get these alarms. If you are worried about having battery disconnect by a BMS and loss of ac power then a mixture of grid loss and BMS alarms will probably work. The fact that what you are trying to do is not straightforward suggests that it is not a common requirement.

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panosgr avatar image
panosgr answered ·

pwfarnell: 10.4 section of which document??

What I am trying to achieve -in my opinion- is the most basic requirement: a catastrophic failure of the Multiplus (where the unit dies completely) and as a result an alarm which will notify the user. I cant believe that no one has ever considered such a scenario!


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pwfarnell avatar image pwfarnell commented ·

The Cerbo GX manual, RTM, here is a link to the web version.

https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Cerbo_GX/en/ve-bus-inverter-charger-monitoring.html#UUID-370e0ede-6e8b-b5a3-9c33-8e829023f142

In terms of monitoring I am happy with alarms on fault, state, ac voltage in and out and DC voltage, this covers the scenarios that would lead to the boat losing power. The total failure of the Multiplus would be decipherable from other alarms / data and is not on my worry list being well down the probability curve.

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