Just bought and RS 48-6000 and learned I need to Cerbo GX to go between my ecoworthy battery bank and the inverter. I won’t use my inverter or batteries until I am sure I have the right cables connected so that all devices can talk to each other. Looking in the Cerbo GX manual for instructions on connecting to a multi RS this is what I find:
5.6. Inverter RS, Multi RS and MPPT RS
The Inverter RS, Inverter RS Solar, and Multi RS are equipped with both VE.Direct and VE.Can interfaces. However, for these products:
A GX device must be connected via VE.Can.
VE.Direct cannot be used to connect these devices to a GX system.
The VE.Direct interface on these models is intended solely for programming, using a VE.Direct to USB adapter.
Is is just me or it true that this does NOT in any way shape or form say how to connect the Multi RS to the Cerbo GX? I just want to know what cable to buy. Any ideas?
Why would you order specific VE Can type A cables when you would only need regular UTP cables with RJ45 connectors? And these VE Can type A cables won’t even work when used between the Cerbo GX and Multi RS 48-6000.
Well I was willing to try anything that might work short of a clear answer on what type of cable was required (please see above). What compounded my confusion was that I could neither connect to the Cerbo GX nor the Multi RS via bluetooth so I assumed that the standard ethernet cables that I had originally used were not the right ones. On top of that Ecoworthy’s technical support, who were first to come back to me said this:
Hello. As a preliminary note: due to limitations inherent in most Victron inverters—specifically their inability to directly interpret communication protocols or manage and control external systems—a Victron gateway device is required to act as an intermediary for relaying data transmitted by the BMS to the control system.
1.First, you will need a GX device (such as a Cerbo GX or Color Control GX). Connect the inverter to this GX device via the inverter’s VE.Bus port.
2.Next, use a “VE.Can to CAN-bus BMS Type A Cable” to connect the battery to the GX device via the CAN port.
3.Please ensure that you configure the communication protocol for the battery’s CAN port to “Victron” within the accompanying app.
I finally managed to connect to the Cerbo GX via the Venus wifi and short of a very rudimentary GUI which gave me no info on the system status. I still can see the inverter on my bluetooth list but when I connect to it and then scan the QR code the VE connect app comes up and shows only the Cerbo GX on the device scan. It’s really in desperation that I ordered the VE CAN type A Cables.
After seeing this note I plugged in an old RJ45 cable that came with my Epever programming unit and hey presto the RS now shows up as a device on the Victron Connect app. So after putting in the Bluetooth pin it goes into an inifinite loop where is say ‘charging’ (going up to 95%) and then seems to re-initialise showing “connecting” ..then on to “charging” and on and on.
I’ll look out for any further advice but will be playing at the French darts championships in Vannes for the next 4 days (sorry that’s not a social media plug..just to say I can’t respond before Monday really).
I am back from darts! I finally managed to connect to the RS via bluetooth! What a major feat! Not sure what did it actually but I did all of he following: (i) I plugged the newly delivered VE.Can to CAN-bus BMS Type A Cable” into the cerbo GX can port and into the battery. (ii) I reset the bluetooth pin by entering the puk code (youtube silver bullet video) (iii) I forgot all blutooth devices on my android and then reinstalled VE connect. This time the RS popped up and I connected to it no problem. I was so excited about finally being able to go off grid. Only…on following the recommendation to update the firmware this process hung at 22%. So victron connect doesn’t work any more because it doesn’t recognise the firmware version of the RS which is no 0 instead of what it should be (1.29) from memory. I tried connecting via pc using my trusty old dongle in the hope that I could upload/update the firmware this way but whereas the Multiplus devices were instantly recognised the VE Config software didn’t get further than trying to autodetect the comport.
So I am back to square one. A month or so after taking delivery and not a single watt used for my house and Engie just sent me a nice letter to say they are increasing my tarrifs.
I’m getting very close to letting Victron go as a bad solution and just buying another inverter but if anyone can help I’l hang on for a couple of days.