I installed a Cerbo GX about 5 years ago; according to the specs it’s supposed to have built-in bluetooth, and I think bluetooth was working when I first installed it all those years ago. (My whatchamacallit isn’t as good as it was… ‘memory’, that’s the word I was looking for.)
Settings showed 'No bluetooth adapter connected", but I updated to the latest firmware (3.63) and it shows BT ‘Enabled’. However the Cerbo Bluetooth light is still not lit (i.e. bluetooth is disabled), and I can’t see the Cerbo from VictronConnect or in my phone’s bluetooth settings.
Apparently there’s a known problem where BTcan fail if the Cerbo gets too hot; my Cerbo is in a relatively cool place (NOT the engine room!) so I don’t think that’s the cause.
I need BT working to install a RuuviTag, so hoping one of you has dealt with this and has a magic trick to fix it - one that doesn’t involve buying a USB BT adapter. (I’m cruising and it’ll be hard to pick it up, plus I’d rather get it working right.)
There is no fix the issue is as documented in the manual, you need an external dongle for ruuvis, this is pretty clear in the manual.
Newer code uses more cpu which triggers the same issue.
Thanks, but it’s not clear in the online Cerbo GX manual, which says:
To connect a Bluetooth sensors such as those from Mopeka, Ruuvi or Safiery, the GX device must support Bluetooth:
• Some GX devices have built-in Bluetooth.
• Others can be retrofitted with a standard USB Bluetooth adapter (see the Victron GX product range overview for details).
• Even with built-in Bluetooth, adding a USB adapter can help extend range and improve reliability via USB extension cable placement.
So this implies the internal bluetooth can be used for Ruuvi; it’s a bit confusing, though, as there’s a little footnote about 15 pages later that says “Bluetooth is limited to initial setup and network configuration only. It cannot be used to access Remote Console or connect to other Victron products (e.g. SmartSolar chargers).” (Doesn’t say you can’t use it to connect other devices to the GX, though.)
In the Ruuvi section it says "Ensure Bluetooth is enabled in the Bluetooth menu (enabled by
default). " Nothing about requiring a bluetooth dongle.
In any case, it’s not working so I went ahead and ordered a bluetooth dongle, but I do think this is a design flaw on Victron’s part: if they’re going to ship a bluetooth-enabled device then it should be… well, bluetooth-enabled! All my other bluetooth-enabled Victron devices seem to have full and reliable bluetooth connectivity, so not sure why they chose to compromise on the Cerbo.
Don’t know how to pass this feedback on to Victron - do they monitor this forum, or is there a change request or suggestions form somewhere?
Yes, but as I noted in my original post, I can’t believe my Cerbo ever got that hot – it’s in my wheelhouse, not the machine room. But whatever the cause it’s definitely not working, so I’m waiting for the BT dongle to arrive.
It’s internal cpu temp not ambient or external temp.
It doesn’t take much with newer code to hit that. Add in extra devices and thats the issue. Been discussed here many many times.
Hi Mathias, Yes, I’m running 3.63 at the moment; I tried dropping back to 3.60 briefly but it didn’t seem to fix anything, and I don’t have any other versions saved.
Question: does overheating fry the BT adapter permanently, or does it just disable it temporarily?
