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janj avatar image
janj asked

My MPPT VE-Direct go offline ?

I have a motorhome litium and solar setup; SmartShunt500 and 2 pcs SmartSolar 100/20 MPPT

All connected with VM-Direct USB cable to a RaspberryPi-3. Everything via Ethernet and 4G router to the VRM. All have been working excellent for 3-4 months.

Also parked next to it, I have a second similar setup. Litium, solar, MPPT and shunt. The difference is that there is one MPPT 100/30 (instead of the two 100/20). Also connected to a RaspberryPi-3 with the VM-Direct USB cable. This Raspberry is connected to a different Ethernet and a different Router Gateway (not that I think this would do any difference)


My problem is that I loose the VM-direct connection with the 100/30 MPPT. It will reconnect if I reboot the Raspberry, but then MPPT will «drop off» after some time. 1 hrs.. 2 hrs.. 30 minutes. Never any pattern.


My VM-USB cables are Victron made and also home made. Does not matter. Same same.

Could there be any setting in the MPPT for the communication? That I dod not know about?

Bugs me.


I was planning to install a second MPPT in the problem setup as soon as mailman arrive tomorrow. Will tell me a lot.

MPPT Controllers
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5 Answers
wkirby avatar image
wkirby answered ·

Have you tried to use one of the genuine VE.Direct cables on the problematic system?
I'm sure you can appreciate that it's difficult to support an unknown component of a system. Many times we have experienced DIY cables causing problems. My own DIY cables have indeed caught me out on occasion, so I'm acutely aware of the situation.
A faulty Rx line from dongle to MPPT can cause really weird issues as an example.
Please try my suggestion first to set a baseline and rule out any component that we simply can't offer support on.

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janj avatar image janj commented ·
Stay tuned for status report in 24 hrs.
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janj avatar image janj commented ·
Looks like the genuine Victron cable did the trick. My home brew cable working fine on the table, but not in the network. Maybe my home brew was sensitive for routing and other sources of noise? So far I am satisfied. Tnx
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janj answered ·

I have made 10 home brew cables. This one was the one who had a 20-25 more centimeters than the rest of them. Might also be the routing was unlucky done.

Anyway; Tonight I removed my home made VM-Direct USB cable. I did replace this with a Victron original cable and rebooted. So far so good. Been working now for more than 1 hour.

If this is still working tomorrow morning its a fix.

Stay tuned.

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janj avatar image
janj answered ·

My motorhome solar setup include several VM-Direct USB cables. Both genuine Victron and also home made ones. In total I made 10 home brewed cables, all tested on the table. All working fine.

2 Genuine and 3 Home brew ones since then been in operation towards Raspi/WiFi/4G/VRM.

After some time I discovered that one of my Smartsolar MPPT’s dropped of the VM-Direct USB communication with the RaspberryPi-3 (Venus OS).

Now I have replaced the home brew cable with a Victron genuine USB cable. Looks like this is a fix. Earlier the communication would drop off after 15-30 minutes.. maybe more. But it would disconnect for sure. Now the communication still running after 12 hrs.

The moral; using them home brew cables would work.. most of the times. But it could also create a lot of time spend trouble shooting.

In my case the cable in question is working on the table, but create trouble in real use. The physical routing leave the cable longside next to a LiFePo4 battery. Wonder if the battery create some «noise» killing the communication? Over time I will try out alternatives…

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janj answered ·

Today, after replacing my home brewed cable with a genuine Victron cable from the 100/30 MPPT to the Raspi-3, the Vm-Direct USB communication is operating without any glitches or hickups.

Then I did install a additional SmartSolar MPPT 100/20 next to the 100/30, and used the home brew cable for this added MPPT.

At this moment there is no problems with none of the two VM-Direct USB’s… (so far). I have no other explanation than that the first attemt with cable routing close to a LiFePo4 battery was a poor choise of routing for my home brewed cable.

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matthias-reichert avatar image
matthias-reichert answered ·

Hi

I have nearly the same Problem my first home brew Cable works for month when I connect the second home brew cable after some minutes the connection brokes…

I can’t find the problem… the power for the rasp pi 4 is more than enough…

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matthias-reichert avatar image matthias-reichert commented ·
I think it is the long distance of my homebrew cable. The original cable fixed the problem.
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