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spudgun avatar image
spudgun asked

Zigbee LED and Push Buttons

Trying to setup an ET112 meter with a Zigbee RS485 and Zigbee USB pair. I have followed the instructions at this link https://www.victronenergy.com/live/energy-meters:et112 but I am not having any success in establishing a connection. The system is using a MultiPlus II GX for connection of the Zigbee USB converter.

As it is not working out of the box, as I thought it would, I'm trying to figure out what the LED lights are telling me is wrong but I can't find any information on this. I also can't find any information on how to use the pushbuttons to try and manually establish a connection or reset.

I'm getting a constant blue LED on the Zigbee USB but no blinking of the TX/RX led as the instructions suggest.

The distance is about 15m from one side of the building to the other. There are some internal walls but with a range of 1600m I'm hoping that this is not causing an issue.

So the questions are; how do I use the pushbuttons and how should the LED's be when a connection is established?

Thank you for any assistance.

Multiplus-II
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Alistair Warburton avatar image Alistair Warburton commented ·

Not an expert on either product but....

RS455 is a serial interface, typically utilised to carry Modbus protocol in simplex mode. as is the case here.

https://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/VE-energy_meter_et112_manual.pdf
The above may help.

The Zigbee pare may have to be parted up but that is not contingent on a Modbus device being connected, provided both ends have power.
The USB is USB powered. The RS485 end will need a separate supply, See Pages 3-5.

Once you have a link, which is essentially now a virtual RS485 port on the GX yiu need to ensure that the Modbus device address is correct. It looks as though the default is to use 1 USB port per device which would give you several VE.Bus instances each with Modbus device at some, probably the same, device ID.

However there is a note saying that multiple Modbus devices can be connected on the same RS485 interface, which is standard in industry, and that each will need to be configured with a unique device ID. (That would be on the meter itself and then in the GX)

Each meter address is a combination of Instance, the USB port essentially, and a device ID on that interface.

My advice... Check Zigbee first, then check the A-/B+ & ground wiring to the meter as well as the 12V supply to the RS485 end of the link.

Finally check the device address assigned tin the meter and make sure you have that set in the GX on the correct device/port instance.

Hope that helps... Used to most of this stuff but not in this context. That said, it shouldn't be hard and I expect the USB<>Zigbee<>RS485 will work on a PC so testing is also possible with a Modbus test program. The meter is a Carlo Gavazzi, not sure which one but CG are pretty good if you need to call them and will have documents on the coms registers.

I typically use bigger more complex stuff so cant help with specifics.
Of course you should need specifics unless you want to test the kit with a PC, the GX will handle all that normally.

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Alistair Warburton avatar image Alistair Warburton commented ·

https://www.victronenergy.com/accessories/zigbee-converters

Info on the DTK units is above. I haven't read all the docs but I suspect 1 USB end, the hub, can be pared with 1 to many devices... A Zigbee to RS485 pared to a Zigbee to USB hub gets you a USB to RS485 link, wirelessly...

BTW The DTK kit isn't Victron specific. What I called a hub DTK call a Coordinator, with the device end being called aa Router.

It looks like the units are reconfigurable, as either, which means you should check that they are configured as they should be, especially if you have been pushing buttons trying to get them to talk. Interesting bots of kit, I am going to look at them for other purposes.

Hope you get sorted.

Al

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2 Answers
spudgun avatar image
spudgun answered ·

Can the Zigbee units be paired beside each other and then move the Zigbee RS484 to the final installation location or once it powers down does it need to be paired again? First time using Zigbee so not sure on the procedure when the instructions on the Victron instruction page don't work.

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Ben Stanton avatar image
Ben Stanton answered ·

Did you find the information on the pushbuttons? I can't find ANY info on pairing these units either on the Victron site nor the internet - there is a very real lack here.

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