question

vga avatar image
vga asked

CerboGX, ET112 and Shore power

Hi,

I have a setup with the Cerbo GX, ET112, BMV712 and a Quick 12v battery charger in a boat. I have the ET112 in-line on the shore power to monitor load. No inverter or Victron charger in the setup by now.

On the GX I can see the ET112 and the power passing through it, and it reports itself as grid. Is there any way I can change this to shore and configure an alarm/notification if disconnected?


-vga

cerbo gxEnergy Metershorepower
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sveines avatar image sveines commented ·

Hi!


I have tried to find out a way to monitor shore power without replacing my analogue Victron Skylla TG charger. Tried a post on the Victron Community to ask, but nobody has responded. Then I found your post, and it seems like you have found the solution.

Like you I have a Cerbo GX.

Is it possible to install Victron Energy Meter ET112 just after my shore power intake on my Yacht to monitor the power from shore?

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vga avatar image vga sveines commented ·

Hi @sveines

I have installed the ET112 by the shore power connector, and I do see the current as a load on the CerboGX panel and in VRM, so the answer to your question is yes, it is possible. But I'm not able to assign the metered value as Shore Power, only Gen or Grid meter, and the AC input says N/A, so I assume that is why I am not able to configure monitor/alarm, either in the CerboGX or VRM.

To get AC input or shore power in the CerboGX panel and VRM I have been told that I need either a Victron Charger or Charger/Inverter by now.

-vga


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4 Answers
JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi @vga

You can change 'Grid' to 'Shore power' within the GX. Go.. Device LIst > Settngs > System setup > AC Input.

Re alarms. VRM has a *lot* to choose from, and it'll email you. Depends what you want there, but with a Victron Multi or Quattro the relay options are wide (say if you want to run a siren). :)


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vga avatar image vga commented ·

Hi @JohnC and thanks for the reply. I have already tried AC Input 1 and AC input 2. Changing to Shore Power, and enabling the alarm with no success. The documentation of the Cerbo GX refers those inputs to wireless sensors only, not the ET112, so that might be why.

But I do see the ET112 under Settings->Energy Meters as 102023T, but only able to choose Generator, PV inverter or Grid.

Yes, I saw lots of options on alarms in VRM, but only under/over votage om the ET112, so I'll try that :)


-vga

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vga avatar image vga commented ·

Hi again,

Have now tried almost any combination there is with the ET112, and I'm not able to make it display as a AC Input, only as load or as an PV inverter (input/output). Also tried to set alarm on low voltage, but that didn't trigger when disconnecting shore power either.

So I'm a bit stuck


-vga

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JohnC avatar image JohnC ♦ vga commented ·

@vga

Yeh, I probably misinterpreted somewhat what you're trying to do.

The 'ac input' boxes are likely 'reserved' for Multis/Quattros, as they will provide the data.

Your Cerbo is a little overkill for the kit you have. Maybe time to complete your plans?

Or, if you can code, VenusOS is opensource. :)



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vga avatar image vga JohnC ♦ commented ·

Ok, no problem :) The setup was a couple of BMVs and a MPPT connected to a RPi and the ET112 for monitoring shore power, but was never able to get the monitoring/alarm of shorepower right on the RPi and assumed that was a RPi restriction. When the PSU for the RPi broke it got replaced by the CerboGX, and hopefully the monitoring got right, but sadly not. Also looking into using the temp sensors and digital inputs/outputs. But I do agree that is a bit overkill, but it give some room for testing new features :)

Hopefully in the future the Quick charger will be replaced with Multi plus or a separate charger/inverter.

I am able to monitor load and voltage as it is not, but not able to get alarms through the GX or VRM


-vga

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pyemarine avatar image pyemarine vga commented ·

Hi VGA

I have the exact same combination of gear, was hoping to do the same thing, but no luck here either trying to use AC input loss alarm to monitor loss of shorepower through the ET112. I am thinking about getting a PMP122120000. new multiplus compact 12v/1200

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vga avatar image vga pyemarine commented ·

Hi @pyemarine,

Also looking into the multiplus, but until that I was hoping I could add the ET112 as a monitor for Shore power, but for now it seems that it only can apply for Grid meter, PV inverter or Generator, and that the GX is restricted for that usage for the ET112 for now. Maybe a future feature :)

-vga

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lsps219 avatar image lsps219 vga commented ·

I’m having the same problem so the et112 setting as a grid meter won’t trigger the cerbo gx as a grid failure? If that’s the case and the only thing that will trigger the cerbo gx with grid failure is having a victron inverter then I just wasted all my money on 4 et112 ...

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Bill avatar image Bill vga commented ·
Will your ET112 monitor both L1 & L2? Looking at the very "sparse" manual online, the wiring diagram only seems to indicate L1 as a connection. Can it accept both leads? Would I have to use 2? Until I can get a MP (my old Magnum is still working well) I would like to populate the AC input in my Cerbo.
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martinis-thanasis avatar image
martinis-thanasis answered ·

I have post a similar problem and a solution i think, hear:

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/110186/vrm-alarm-rule-stop-working-for-et112.html

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Peter Van Tienen avatar image
Peter Van Tienen answered ·

So, I too was testing the ET112 as an option for monitoring shore power connections without having a Victron inverter installed. I couldn't get any VRM alarms working, tried a bunch of configurations and alarm combinations.... So, I wrote something in Node-Red to do it for me. I am using SimplePush (a really nice, simple, push notification tool for node-red), instead of using email or texting for the alarms. I am using the Victron System Node and pulling the data from the Venus system (Cerbo). I am monitoring "Grid Number Of Phases" and I wrote a simple function to check the status. If it returns a "1" I send a "ShorePower is Connected" message, if it returns "null" I send a zero and a message "ShowerPower is NOT connected". Happy to share if anyone wants it, always open to feedback on a better way to accomplish the task as well.


screenshot-2024-04-29-at-70250pm.png



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dc-marine-repair avatar image
dc-marine-repair answered ·

so been stuck on this one and was looking into a energy meter as well. Anyone ever figure a a way out I dont want to learn node red right this minute. The only way I can figure is to use a 120vac to 4vdc plug adapter to trigger a digital input on the cerbo and set an alarm rule or just use a relay but having a hard time finding a relay that looks good and then with the plug I dont really want to add an outlet, proper fusing and what not for a plug. Being able to see energy usage would be nice as well

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