How to program MPPT RS relay?

Q&A and troubleshooting
, , , ,
1

I have two of the MPPT RS 450/200 units and am trying to figure out how to program the relays on them to turn on an Orion. In the remote console I can see the MPPT relay is off, but don’t see any button to turn it on or off. Also, the “relay control” node in Node Red does not allow for selecting the MPPT relay in the drop down box, it only shows Venus relays.

The manual says:

“3.9.2. Programmable relay
Programmable relay which can be set for general alarm, DC under voltage or genset start/stop function. DC rating: 4A up to
35VDC and 1A up to 70VDC”

“Programmable relay
Can be programmed (with a smartphone) to open or close on an alarm, or other events.”

Do I have to use a smart phone in order to program the relay? Is there any way to program the relay in Node Red?

2

You have to program the mppt itself to work the relay directly using Victron connect

1 Like
3

Okay, sounds like Node Red is out for that relay then. Many thanks.

4

@AlaskanNoob

Find if that relay has a path inside Venus OS dbus.
Usually it has and is /Relay/0/State and it’s found in something like com.victronenergy.solarcharger or similar.
Then use the Node-Red to modify that dbus path value.
Still, that path is usually not writable at first, but you can modify the attributes.csv inside Venus OS’s Modbus driver to make it writable.
Don’t forget to set the relay to be under “Manual control”.

I can confirm for my Multi RS Solar that I can access the relay and modify its state after I’ve done the above.

1 Like
5

Thanks Alex. I’ll dig into this a little bit further to see if I can take advantage of that. Appreciate it!

1 Like