Generator status show on GX when a different method for Generator Start/Stop is used

Q&A and troubleshooting
1

All this is my first post so if I am missing something please excuse.
I am running a cerbo gx with latest firmware. I also have a multiplus. I have my generator setup correctly and I have a relay monitoring output voltage of the gen to get status which goes into input 1 and is configured for gen run status. I would like to use the status to show instead of the run command from the cerbo. Sometimes I start it from various methods and need runtime and whatnot to function normally. I would also like to see it identified properly onscreen instead of calling it just grid. It knows it has incoming plus a gen status. Show it as gen instead.

The question is, can I program it to do that.

2

Hello Bob,
To let is show as a Gen, you need to program the Cerbo with the right Inputs, AC1 and AC2!

For the other question, this hould work with the newest (upcomming) firmware.
It is better to raise a new toppic!

3

I am assuming that the grid and generator are using the same input in your system?
I use a digital input and node red to change the name of the input to generator. (Like you would in system set up but automatically changes over so vrm logs its use)

4

Once you have ACIN set to Generator, the real underlying issue here is that the GX relay (set via Gen Start/Stop) is taken as gospel by the system as Gen runtime. When some users (including me) use that relay for something else, the figures don’t represent gen runtime.
I haven’t found a way to change that. To make it worse, the figures in VRM Dashboard don’t match those shown in GUI. And can’t be reset to zero.

There once was a workaround in VRM Reporting, where you could download a .pdf file of daily gen runtime, probably derived from ACIN status. That’s still there, but now there’s no daily listing, and I don’t trust the total published.

This is actually a bit of a mess for genset users.

5

I have not experienced that personally. The input is only set to genset when the generator runs. Otherwise the input is labelled grid.

6

I asume this is improved in the last GUI 3.5+

7

Nope, no change with NewGI.

Never assume anything, Harold. I’m a believer that it’s better to have No data than Bad data. There’s a couple of other examples that aren’t relevant to this Topic, and they really annoy me too. All we can do is report them and hope they make it onto a Developer’s wishlist. Or find an answer that we aren’t aware of…

8

See mainly slide 9

9

Ok, so I didn’t try hard enough to zero the accumulated value. Managed that, but VRM has it’s own mind, and remains with some weird longterm value…

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The trouble is, neither the GUI nor VRM show the actual gen runtime because I’m using the GX start function to remote control an Orion to charge another battery. My gen is always manually started. Like the OP of this thread.

My gen hasn’t run for like 4 months, yet it keeps registering 2 sets of runtimes. That don’t match with each other anyway…