question

chberger avatar image
chberger asked

Pylontech US2000 not showing up in Cerbo GX device list

Hi all,

I have an ESS with the following components

3 x Multipuls II 48/3000

2 x SmartSolar 250/60

1 x Cerbo GX

4 x Pylontech US2000 with BMS


At the moment I am only using one of the three MultiPlus 2, because I am setting up the system and testing it. The other two are switched off. The System is NOT yet connected to the grid, I am just using an electrical heater on AC1 of the first of the Multis, to draw some power for testing purposes.


The question is: why does the battery not show up in the Cerbo GX Device List?


The Battery is connected with the Victron CAN Cable. The "direction" of the cable is correct, the side labeld with BMS is connected to the CAN port of the US2000, the side labeled "VE.can" is connected to the Cerbo GX.

pylontech.png

Image: Connection CAN-Cable on Pylontech US2000

cerbo-gx.png

Image: Cerbo GX

The CAN Terminator is in the LEFT socket, while the Cable is in the RIGHT socket of the two "VE.can" sockets. But I asume that would make no difference - at least from my knowhow about the CAN Bus.

VE.Can is set to 500kBit/s - Profile "CAN-Bus BMS (500kBit/s)"

ve-can-01.png

Image: CAN-Bus settings on VE.CAN Port

and there is communication on the BUS, with no Bus errors:

ve-can-02.png

Image: CAN-Bus communication

As the Pylontech Battery is the only CAN-Bus device connected to the Cerbo GX I assume that the Cerbo is communicating with the BMS. I can also se that the TX counter is regularily counting up 2 Packets, and it is regularily receiving (RX) 14 Packets. For me this looks like that the communication is established correctly.


In the Main Menu / Overview i can see that the System detects a Battery:

menu.png

Image: Main Menu

But in the Device list, there is no Battery, also in the VRM Portal there is no battery

device-list.png

Image: Device List


What have I tried to resolve this?

  • I checed the Cable, if it is connected the correct way: yes it is: the side labeld "VE.can" is connected to the Cerbo, the side labeled with "BMS CAN-Type B" is connected to the Pylontech Master Batters (top battery in Stack)
  • I checked the CAN Speed. Another post in this forum said Pylontech BMS needs 500 kBit/s, and yes, the VE.CAN port is set to this bitrate
  • I switched the connection to BMS.CAN on the Cerbo GX - with no effect
  • I restarted the Cerbo GX - with no effect
  • I shut the whole system down, including cutting of the power from the Panels and the Battery, making sure the whole system is without power for 30 seconds and making a cold start (turning on the batteries, waiting for Cerbo GX has finished booting, switching on PV-Panels, turning on the first MultiPlus 2) - with no effect


The Pylontech Battery does not appear in the Device list.

Question(s):

  • is it eventually "normal behaviour" that the BMS is not appearing in the device list and I am hunting a "ghost issue"?
  • if not: how can I resolve that? Any Hints?


Notes: Firmware of the Cerbo is the latest version (updated yesterday).


Thank you in advance and best regards!


cerbo gxPylontech
pylontech.png (1.2 MiB)
cerbo-gx.png (801.3 KiB)
ve-can-01.png (21.3 KiB)
ve-can-02.png (40.3 KiB)
menu.png (33.1 KiB)
device-list.png (33.8 KiB)
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6 Answers
Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

I'm not sure but the US2000 (without "C") is an old model, can you even buy them as new?

The BMS-Can port should work out of the box because it is dedicated for the use with a CAN battery and set to 500kbit/s by default.

Maybe the old firmware of the batteries is not comfortable with the new firmware of the Cerbo. You could test some old firmwares on the Cerbo. On Victron Professional you can download old versions.

Or you can try to update the firmware of the batteries.

PS: you should use the positive from the first battery and the negative from the last battery (as shown in the Pylontech manual) and you have to connect the battery modules to ground (PE)!

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chberger avatar image
chberger answered ·

Hello Matthias,

thanks for the input! I guess i will try to update the firmware of the BMS. Do you enventually know any links with a tutorial or a description how to do that?

I guess it's version C of the batteries. I bought them in Oktober 2021. But on the frontpanel it only says US2000, without C. This is why I wrote "US2000"

Yes, the Batteries are connected to PE on the LYNX Power distributor ( i forgot that in my list ...). It's not visible in this photo. I have set an extra ground electrode (Kreuzerder) close to the system with a 50mm² cable (had it on stock), and all components are connected to a PE rail (Potentialausgleichsschiene). The whole negative DC Side has earth potential and i have measured the compensating currents (Ausgleichssströme). So far the DC side seems to be good ...

And thanks for the hint about the wiring of the barrery, i will change that!

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Matthias Lange - DE avatar image Matthias Lange - DE ♦ commented ·

Also normalerweise sollte da schon US2000C stehen, wenn es eine ist.
Die sehen auch von den Anschlüssen etwas anders aus.
-57.jpg

Für das Update der FW der Akkus braucht man wohl ein spezielles Kabel/Adapter/Software.
Da gibt es schon ein paar Themen dazu in der Community.
Ich selbst habe das aber noch nicht gemacht, da wir damit bisher keine Probleme hatten.

Einfacher wäre es vermutlich erst mal ältere Cerbo FW Versionen zu testen, ob die Kommunikation überhaupt klappt.

Vielleicht auch mal die Akkumodule einzeln testen.

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chberger avatar image chberger Matthias Lange - DE ♦ commented ·

danke für die Hinweise. Ich bin inzwischen mit dem Support vom Verkäufer in Kontakt. Der hat mir zum einen die Software (BatteryView) nebst Firmware File geschickt, zum anderen auch eine Anleitung. Da schau ich die Tage mal drüber. Das Kabel muss ich mir wohl bauen, Equipment zum Verbinden über RS232/RS485/CAN hab ich.

Meine Akkus sind wohl keine US2000C, laut Rechnung sind es US2000B. Da hat mir der Händler wohl die ätere Version angedreht. Muss jetzt nichts Schlechtes sein, wenn es denn funktioniert, hat aber doch schon ein gewisses "Geschmäckle". Die Firmware werde ich dann erst mal nicht aufspielen, sondern erst nochmal prüfen, ob das nicht die Firmware für die C-Version ist, ich brauche aber B.

Die Firmware-Files für den Cerbo GX hab ich inzwischen auch gefunden, auch das probier ich die Tage mal aus. Ich hatte inzwischen mal auf die Version 2.73 downgegradet, die war noch im Backup auf dem Cerbo, das hat aber nichts gebracht. Ich werd es mal mit einer 2.6er oder 2.5er Version testen. Ich melde mich wieder, wenn es Neuigkeiten gibt.


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chberger avatar image chberger Matthias Lange - DE ♦ commented ·

Hallo Matthias,


ich hab jetzt mal die Firmware-Stände 2.58, 2.66 und 2.77 ausprobiert, ohne dass sich irgendwas geändert hätte. Der Akku ist noch nicht in der Geräte-Liste. Jetzt bin ich wieder auf dem Stand 2.85 (der neueste).


Wenn ich wieder Zeit finde, probiere ich es aus, was passiert, wenn ich nur einen Akku anschließe und die anderen ausgeschaltet lasse. Dann spiel ich auch mal mit den DIP-Switches am US2000B. ATM steht der Switch am Master auf LHLL, alle anderen auf LLLL - laut Pylontech Manual wäre das die korrekte Schalterstellung (Schalter 2 auf High, rest LOW) für "first Battery in Battery Group 1". Wenn am Master alle Schalter auf LOW stehen, wäre das "eigentlich" die Stellung für "Single Battery".


Falls du das zufällig weißt: zählt in der Logik des Pylontech BMS 4 Parallel geschaltete US2000B als "Battery Group 1" oder ist das eine "Single Battery"? Bin mir da nicht ganz sicher. Ich könnte mir auch vorstellen, dass es ein CAN Addressierungs-Problem ist, weil gem. meiner DIP-Schalterstellung der Akku sich als Gruppe 1 anmeldet, während der Cerbo erst mal auf eine Gruppe 0 wartet, die es gar nicht gibt ...


Interessant war auch: jedesmal wenn beim Firmware-Update der Cerbo neu gebootet hat, gingen die LEDs vom Akku an. Das kann Zufall sein, aber das wäre mMn ungewöhnlich, und ich werte es eher als Indiz, dass der Hardware Layer (CAN) I.O. ist, und die Kommunikation durchaus funktioniert.


Danke und viele Grüße,
cb



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ramrot avatar image
ramrot answered ·

Hello.I´m not an expert. But my Pylontechs are connected to BMS CAN of the Cerbo

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chberger avatar image chberger commented ·

i allready tried that, i fact I tried both CAN ports: VE.CAN and BMS.CAN, but with both ports I can not see the battery in the device list.

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ponzoa avatar image
ponzoa answered ·

Not sure if you tried but the older Pylontech (US2000) require a Type B cable to connect to the Cerbo whereas the newer US2000C type batteries require the Type A cable. Have you tried changing the cable or testing to see if the cable is defective?

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chberger avatar image chberger commented ·

i just double checked it: it IS a Type B cable - at least the label on the cable says so, and the "polarity" is correct: the side labeled "VE.CAN" is connected to the Cerbo GX, the other side is connected to the Battery. But I have not yet tested the cable itself. I will do that, as soon as I find some time. Thanks for the input.

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hovyd avatar image
hovyd answered ·

I have the same problem - all connected up properly (according to the "Victron & Pylontech" (live/start- manual) and no battery listed on the Device List. How have you resolved the issue chberger ?

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jose-1973-mr avatar image
jose-1973-mr answered ·

I have the same problem, a pylontech US5000 connected to a Cerbo GX in VE.Can and on the battery in A/CAN and the Cerbo does not detect it. Does anyone know the solution to the problem?img-20221211-172458.jpgimg-20221211-172510.jpg


img-20221211-172458.jpg (184.4 KiB)
img-20221211-172510.jpg (305.7 KiB)
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ponzoa avatar image ponzoa commented ·

Connect your Type-A cable to the BMS port in the Cerbo and it should detect it correctly. You're connected to the VECan port, this is not correct for Pylontech. If you search for Pylontech on the Victron website, you should find a document which helps you do this corectly.


https://www.victronenergy.com/live/battery_compatibility:pylontech_phantom

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jose-1973-mr avatar image jose-1973-mr ponzoa commented ·

Thank you very much, it works now.

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Warwick Bruce Chapman avatar image Warwick Bruce Chapman ponzoa commented ·
The CAN terminator is missing too.
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ponzoa avatar image ponzoa Warwick Bruce Chapman commented ·
You don't need the CAN terminator as it shouldn't be plugged in that port.
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