I am currently in the process of upgrading from a Multiplus II GX 5000 to the new Victron MultiPlus-II 48/6k5/100-50 230V GX - PMP482606000. I have configued the new inverter using a console cable and it is connecte to VRM as expected (both LAN and wifi have addresses)
I am now copying the final setting from the old inverter to the new inverter (manually) and neither the Multiplus II or the VM-3P75CT are showing up in the device list.
The batteries and PV inverter are still connected to the exising inverter until I am satisfied that the new inverter can just be slotted in correctly.
Help would be greatly appreciated as I am at a dead end.
I have now swapped over from the previous 5K model to the new 6K5 model. Everything is working apart from the energy meter VM-3P75CT is not connecting. I have carefully checked the setting between the 5K device and the 6K5 device and the settings appear to be be identical. I can see the device locally in VictronConnect and have also performed a factory reset in case there was a residual pairing with old Multiplus device - still not showing.
I can also ping the device without any problem.
The VM-3P75CT is connected to a local LAN and is allocated an address of 192.168.1.24. The Multiplus II GX is connected to a NightHawk mesh network and is allocated a Wifi Address of 10.0.0.31 and a LAN address of 10.0.0.32. The network is the same as previously used.
Help greatly appreciated (hopefully a trivial setting I’ve missed)
You are using both interfaces, it is not intended to be used this way, one is a backup for the other - see manual.
The new GX software 3.72 allows you to set which must be used as the internet facing device, otherwise routing becomes an issue when connecting the ethernet port simultaneously.
Previously you needed to set the gateway for the LAN interface to 0.0.0.0
I’ve deselected the WiFi network and cleared the “Allow using WiFi for internet acccess” so all acess should be through the LAN connection. I have rebooted the Mutiplus and performed a rescan on the Modbus page and it soesn’t see the VM-3P75CT device.
ssh into the GX. And try ping that EM address. The GX is on a completely different network and both interfaces are on the same network which you shouldn’t do.
You would expect one of the GX interfaces to be on the 192.168.X network or for the EM to be on 10.0.0
Looks like a networking config problem.
if the network is really the same as previous, there must be some settings to bridge traffic between MP2 and VM-3P
This bridging forwarding is usually done for a specific IP-Adress / Port
The 5K inverter had a WiFi dynamic address of 10.0.0.17 and is still showing the power meter. I have changed the address to a 10.0.0.150 (static) and it shows in the device list and updates. I have changed the 6K5 to 10.0.0.17 and it doesn’t work (either LAN or WiFi)
I have run Wireshark and I can see the Modbus Packets on the 192.168.1.x network
I cannot see any UDP packets on the 10.0.0.x network which would explain why the 6K5 is not seeing the device. What I can’t understand is why the 5K device continues to display data.
Given up for today - will look at the router tomorrow and determine what I need to add to push the MODBUS packets to the 10.0.0.x network.
Unfortunatey the energy meter and the inverter are approxiamately 20Metres apart. They used to be in the same plant room but the constant hum was not conducive to sleep. I also increased the number of batteries and took the view that it was better to move the inverter and the batteries into the garage. Configuarion has been running stably for nearly 12 months so was suprised by this odd problem.
As it now seems likely that the cause of the problem is that the UDP packets are not being routed corretly I will change the router to act in bridge mode as it does not have to be paranoid about blocking attacks from the internet. None of my other devices require UDP.
The reason for the different ranges originally was that I had problems with the reliability of the local broadband provides and I had a fallback router that uses a 4G SIM card. New internet provider is rock solid and I have removed the fallback capability.
UDP broadcast traffic is generally blocked between the WAN (Internet) and WiFi (LAN) on Netgear Nighthawk Mesh systems because it violates standard router firewall security protocols. [1]
To enable discovery or communication between devices on different subnets (e.g., a smart device on the main LAN and a controller on a different network) or across the WAN/LAN boundary, you must use workaround methods, as Nighthawk routers typically do not support custom UDP Relay configuration natively. [1]
If the Nighthawk is acting as a secondary router (e.g., connected to an ISP modem/router), setting it to Access Point (AP) mode is the best way to allow UDP traffic. [1]
Result: This bridges the WiFi and WAN ports, placing all devices on the same subnet, allowing broadcasts to pass through.
I eventually got the drum of Cat5 cable out and made up a long cable - something I haven’t done since retirement. Having plugged one end into the main network router and the other end into the inverter it all sprang into life.
I did have a period where the 6K5 was working with over the Wifi, howver after about 20 minutes in vanished. Strange that I hadn’t had any problems over the previous 12 months!
I will at some point draw in a cable through the ducting under the paving but as a temporary hack I’ll use a pair of Power Line Adapters.
This is probably the most bizarre problem I have ever had and I worked in IT for 40 years!
1/ The old 5K Multiplus II had worked without a problem for at least 6 months
2/ The nw 6K5 Multiplus II with an identical configurataion over the same network didn’t work
3/ An access point configured on the 192.168.1.x network didn’t work
4/ LAN extender over the mains disn’t work - Garage and Power Meter on different circuits
5/ Direct cable worked without any problems
I had decided to go with the dierct cable, however I unlugged the direct cable (system running over the cable overnight) and the system failed over to the Wifi that was still configured and the system continued to work.
So I’m now back to a working system, the same as the previous 6 months, and the MUltiplus XX and network configuration are unchanged.
