Is SmartSolar MPPT v3.16 firmware mature enough?

DIY
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I have a SmartSolar MPPT 250/100 and I live off grid, so this is my only source of power, and I don’t want to risk introducing a problem.

I can’t access the device through Victron Connect, because I am forced to upgrade to v3.15 before I do. I am currently on v3.14. The app doesn’t give any info on what this upgrade fixes, so I am very reluctant to do it. Why isn’t this published anywhere so I can make an informed decision? Then I also read about some new issues with the v3.15.

Apparently there is a v3.16 out now, although Victron Connect doesn’t tell me about it. It says it will upgrade from v3.14 to v3.15 not to v3.16.

So I wonder, should I just stay on v3.14? Or should I go for v3.16 (if the app lets me get there via the v3.15)? How mature and well tested is the v3.16?

If a Victron employee is reading this, I would like to say that preventing me from using the product I’ve bought when a new update comes out is bad policy, even if it is a critical update. And if this really is a critical update, on the level that it might break the product if I skip it, why haven’t I received any info about it by email? And why don’t you tell the users what these updates fix?

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https://professional.victronenergy.com/

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Victron connect also has release notes. Currently firmware is embedded in the app. VC and VRM do not have a shared repository, though that hopefully will change, so there can be a mismatch between what one or the other offers.
All information is available, you just need to know where to look, and a little bit of googling, or even searching on the community, should point you in the right direction.

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I’m a consumer, not a professional, so I don’t have access to that page.

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Anyone can sign up there for free. It is not restricted.

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8 posts were split to a new topic: VictronConnect doesn’t show me anything about what the update does?

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2 posts were split to a new topic: Is this forum the proper way to get product support?

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Hi @BjornM,

I just split a few of the other posts you made into their own topics so it’s a bit easier to keep track of.

Regarding this specific mandatory update; I responded to another similar complaint here:
https://communityarchive.victronenergy.com/questions/312070/mandatory-firmware-updates-a-good-reason-to-avoid.html

It’s now quite rare and in exceptional circumstances we require a mandatory update, and we are working on making it clearer why it is necessary in the app. Fair criticism for now, but we are onto it.

We currently provide a news service so dealers can get email notifications of critical firmware updates. We generally do not know end-customers email addresses nor what they purchased, those are known by the dealers who sold them the product (if they gave it to them) and then the dealers can get in touch.

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Thank you Guy.

How many have upgraded to v3.16 and have any of them reported any issues?