I have a Cerbo GX Mk2 connected via NMEA 2000 to my Zeus 3s MFD. I have a Smart Shunt, MPPT, Orion XS, and a touch 50 connected to the Cerbo in a marine lithium setup. The MFD shows only 4 data points that can be added to the screen (the house battery bank - volts, amps, SOC, and time left ). My starter battery is connected to the shunt via the AUX input and this data shows on the Victron app and on the touch 50, but not on the MFD. The MFD does have an “other” category for adding data and in this is “battery supply voltage”. When I select this it shows a value that is 1 - 1.5 volts lower than my starter battery voltage, so I don’t think it is reading that. Also, none of the solar data or Orion XS data is available in any drop down menu on the Zeus 3s to add to the screen. Shouldn’t it be?
More of a concern is what now is not displayed or working on my MFD. I have a Fusion Stereo that has a considerable number of controls on the MFD. When I connected the Cerbo GX to the NMEA backbone, the Fusion connection, and all of the controls, completely vanished form the MFD screen. I have the fuse removed from the Victron NMEA connection cable and am using VE Can port 1 with a terminator in port 2. When I disconnect the Cerbo NMEA connection, all of the Fusion radio function returns to normal, but I of course then have no n2k data at all.
Lastly, no data shows up on my two Triton 2 displays either, in spite of the fact that the Smart Shunt ( and the Fusion radio ) both show up on the NMEA device list on the Touch 50 display. Could a data or device Instance number conflict be the root cause of all of this? I really have no idea at this point or what to do.
Thanks for any assistance!!
I’ve just started seeing something similar. I had my brand new Cerbo GX connected to my N2K network with SignalK relaying all the data to my tablet among a few other plugins. It worked fine for 1000+ miles. Then suddenly all my instrumentation became very flakey, going on and offline, getting GPS lost alerts on my displays, and no N2K data being available within SignalK. Unplugging the Cerbo brought everything back. I’ve also attempted to switch VE.CAN ports. Oddly enough, removing the VE.CAN terminator from the other port on the Cerbo seems to stabilize the network and allows some of the N2K data to appear within SignalK, but not all.
Thanks Sean. I took out the VE .CAN terminator, and bingo, the Fusion data came back to life on the B&G Zeus 3s! That said, none of the other problems were solved. This is indeed odd as several sources I read said the terminator has to be in position for the N2k data to work. Also, the Fusion data on my MFD was there before I installed the Cerbo…so this fix only restored something that was taken away with the terminator in place. Your situation is a little different as the Signal K data, which was working, hasn’t fully returned.
I still wonder if there is a problem with a device or data instance number that won’t allow the data to be displayed? Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Which of the VE.Can ports on the GX have you connected to the N2K network?
Cerbo GX: has to be VE.Can. Don’t use the port labelled BMS-Can. And beware that on the Cerbo GX, the VE.Can port is not galvanically isolated. Which is not ideal, and not according to N2K specs.
Cerbo-S GX: same
Cerbo GX MK2: use VE.Can port 1. Since that is the galvanically isolated one. Connect your Victron VS.Can network to VE.Can port 2.
Ekrano GX: same
Second thing to check:
What CAN profile profile have you selected for the used VE.Can port? Make sure its one of the profiles that says VE.Can 250kbps. And not one that says 500kbs.
Third:
have you enabled the NMEA2000-out setting on the GX?
I have all the connections as per your recommendations already on my Cerbo Gx Mk2. I did try switching the profile from VE.Can & Can- bus to VE.Can &Lynx Ion BMS ( both 250 kbps ) but there was no change.
I wonder now if I may have a NMEA network topology issue. The VE.Can cable from the Cerbo Gx is connected to a N2k backbone that has 5 “T” sections with a terminator at each end. This has the Fusion radio and another device connected to it. Also there are two other connections, a power connection to a switch and a connection to a Simnet backbone that has older devices attached. While I am getting the house battery info from the smart shunt on my MDF, I am not getting the starter battery info from the aux input on the shunt. Also no battery info to either of my Triton 2 displays. Any suggestions?
Wrt the wiring, then definitively don’t also insert a terminator into the empty slot on the GX.
Two terminators, which you have, is enough.
Sounds like a simple enough network, I don’t expect any issues there. Except the simnet network, that is an extension of the same CAN network, but.. CAN is super robust - usually its all fine, except when having too many or too little terminators.
Wrt the missing aux battery voltage and missing data on the triton displays: I’d say thats a configuration issue. Related to instancing and such. I’m not very familiar with how that works on Simrad, perhaps someone else here is?
Thanks Matthijs. Some more info about my issue. The MFD receives more data than it will display in the instrument page. The shunt battery info for the house and starter are shown on the devices data page ( photos attached). The house battery bank voltage of 13.7 has a data instance number of [0] and the starter battery voltage of 12.9 has a data instance number of [1]. I read in another post that the a data instance number of [1] would not display and this number is “reserved”? Is this correct? Is this my problem?
There is a separate data page showing the “system battery" which is the lithium house bank. Does anyone we know how to get the starter voltage to display on the instruments page, or anywhere useful? The photo of this page shows the “supply voltage” ( whatever that is? ) which does not agree with the starter voltage.
Lastly, on my two Triton 2 displays, I can select to display battery voltage or amps, however when I select either one all I get are dash marks…no data. Is this related? The Cerbo Gx does show the Tritons on the VE.Can device list in the N2k section.
It has details about which MFD/Nav equipment brand requires to set-up instances, which is only Raymarine
For all other brands, at least in our tests several years ago, everything worked out of the box. And I see and receive much less questions about NMEA2000 since documenting it in that chapter.
What my colleague writes there in his response is that, for the N2K out feature on the GX, you can set all data instances for the main battery voltage, except 1.
Since data instance 1 is usually used for the starter battery voltage in Victron equipment.
But that should not be an issue, you can use anything else from 0 to 255.
A NMEA2000 network need to have only two terminators, on each end of the network and on the vertical side of the T.
You need to remove all other terminators and best would be to remove all unused Tees too.
Check where the NMEA2000 network becomes 12V.
Per definition there has to be only 1 power source, usually a power T with a cable connected to battery or bus bars.
Use the house battery as if you use engine battery as power source and switch off engine battery switch the NMEA2000 network should/will stop working due lack of power.
If you have devices what provide bus power like modern outboards then you need to use a isolator T what let pass data but has the two power lines interrupted. Device what provide bus power on one side, devices without bus power plus a power T on the other side of the Isolator T.
You may use the Power Isolator also to switch off network power a part of engine related devices not needed when engines are not running to save some amps. AP for example, but you probably get a correct AP connection lost error message when engines are switched off.
Terminator caps only on each end of the whole network for a total of two.
You can measure network Ohm to verify termination, i put the link below.
Some older Fusion radios are known to provide bus power and in some it can be disabled in radios settings.
NMEA2000 cables have the length printed on, add all lengths to verify if your network exceed maximum length.
On the B&G Zeus 3S MFD instrument screen I can customize each individual data panel from a drop down selection. The issue is that no where can I select specifically the starter battery voltage. This is odd, as the starter voltage is shown on the MFD in the data list along with the house lithium voltage on the Smart Shunt device information page. Am I missing something on how the access this data to display it?
