question

abegweit avatar image
abegweit asked

How to troubleshoot Smart Shunt VE Direct Port

Hello, looking for help to determine if the VE Direct port on my Smart Shunt is working.

The system is composed of a BYD battery with built-in battery monitor connected to a Cerbo GX BMS-CAN port and a Smart Solar 100/20 MPPT connected to the Cerbo GX VE Direct port.

Both the internal battery monitor and the MPPT report data to the Cerbo GX and everything is visible in VRM.

I wasn't happy with the accuracy of the internal battery monitor so I purchased a Smart Shunt and connected it to the Cerbo GX with a VE Direct cable.

The problem is that the Smart Shunt does not show up in the device list on the Cerbo GX. The Smart Shunt is operating and I can access it via bluetooth.

I swapped the VE Direct cables between the MPPT and the Smart Shunt and swapped VE Direct ports on the Cerbo GX. The MPPT will communicate with the Cerbo GX on any of the 3 VE Direct ports and with either VE Direct Cable but the Smart Shunt will not communicate with the Cerbo GX.

I'm thinking that the Smart Shunt VE Direct port is not operating but the unit is brand new and just out of the box so I thought that would be unlikely.

Could this have something to do with the Cerbo GX already having a battery monitor device configured and using the BMS-CAN port?

Thanks

cerbo gxSmartShuntVE.Direct
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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·
@Abegweit

I think this is more if a return to seller item. You have done all of the basic troubleshooting steps.

There is onky one other thing to do but it requires that you purchase a ve direct to usb and try with a laptop or otg to phone. But it will return the same results most likely at the ve direct to ve direct om the cerbo.

Weird it is not working out the box.

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1 Answer
abegweit avatar image
abegweit answered ·

Thank you @Alexandra . I took it back to the dealer today and we decided to test it and the VE.Direct port worked fine in their lab set up.

But the good news is the problem is now resolved after upgrading the Cerbo to V2.93

I had configured the Cerbo to automatically check for new firmware (settings > General > Firmware > Online Updates > Auto Update = "Check Only") and because it did not notify me of a new firmware version, I falsely assumed the Cerbo was up to date. When I did a manual check for updates I realized there was new firmware available. I upgraded the Cerbo and the SmartShunt immediately appeared in the device list of the Cerbo after rebooting.

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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·

@Abegweit

Ah well then we both made the assumption about firmware. I am glad it was resolved though.

Do yourself a favour though and stop the updates now your system is stable and working.

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