question

Francesco Pugliano avatar image
Francesco Pugliano asked

Venus GX, UI update, PWM, hotspot

Hi all,

on my boat I have a Venus GX and 3 rigid solar panels of 320 watts each in parallel with MPPT controller and 2 setts of flex solar panels with 2 PWM controllers. This is what my Venus displays:

Three questions:


1) Is this the updated version of the UI or is there a newer one? If yes, can you please explain how to update it in very simple passages for a normal non IT person to understand?

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2) In this view is kind of difficult to understand the output of my 4 flex solar panels because it is shown under the DC Power tile, were I also have the DC loads. Is there a way to have a tile dedicated to my 2 sets of flex solar panels? Here is a pic of my installation:




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3) I have installed an old iPhone 8 on my electric panel as a dedicated display for the GX, unfortunately I also use the iPhone as a Hotspot but when I use it as hotspot I can't connect to the Venus. Is there a solution for this?



MPPT ControllersVenus OSVenus GX - VGX
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4 Answers
ben avatar image
ben answered ·

1) Yes, that is the current UI.

2) No, the Venus device does not read the PWM chargers’ current directly. It infers that power by calculating the difference between the current measurements it does have (MPPT, battery, inverter). Everything it can’t account for directly ends up in the “DC power” tile. And there is no way to add a tile for your PWM controllers directly, I don’t believe.

3) No, the iPhone can only stay on one network at a time. You need a dedicated phone or a separate hotspot if you want both capabilities at the same time.

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Francesco Pugliano avatar image Francesco Pugliano commented ·

Thank you Ben!

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JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi. Nice looking boat, from limited views. :) Just delving here, because you're holding back on the description of your kit.

1) That's current. There's a couple of other displays you could select too, but that's the tidiest/snappiest. To make sure it remains current, just give it some web and update the firmware (well you did mention 'hotspot').

2) Your 2x pwm's don't have direct comms, so their contribution is being calculated and dumped into 'DC Power'. Only possible because you have good batt info from unmentioned kit, perhaps a smart batt or BMV?

3) Clever what you've done with the phone, but perhaps not so suited to multitasking.

Again delving, but if you have the web available, why not the full-monty VRM access, graphs, firmware, - and all free too.. Might mean a few tweaks to your network, but it's stunning, and for me, indispensable.

Tell us more of your situation.

Edit/: Sorry Ben, didn't see your post. Left it up anyway..

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Francesco Pugliano avatar image Francesco Pugliano commented ·

Hi JohnC,

thanks for your comments. Yes I have a Victron BMV 712 Smart. I connect to VRM every once in a while when I'm close to shore and have coverage. On a daily basis to check how my batteries are doing I use the Console.

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eirik avatar image
eirik answered ·

Regarding 3), you should be able to connect the Venus to the iPhone as a hotspot. Currently, it seems that you are connecting your phone to the "hotspot" of the Venus (ip address 174.24.24.1). But you can also do it the other way and connect the Venus to the IPhone hotspot: First note the hotspot details of your iphone (could be 192.168.0.1), and then configure the Venus to connect to that address. The Venus will be assigned an IP address from your iPhone (ie. 192.160.0.2), and then you put that address in your browser/app on your iPhone.

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ben avatar image ben ♦ commented ·

Good idea, but if he toggles hotspot on and off regularly, it will be equally unusable (in the other state).

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Francesco Pugliano avatar image Francesco Pugliano ben ♦ commented ·

Thank you EriK! Unfortunately every once in a while as Ben noted I have to toggle the hotspot off and on again because otherwise my other devises don't see it (I blame Apple for it). So your solution wouldn't work.

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Francesco Pugliano avatar image
Francesco Pugliano answered ·

So the only solution to see upfront how my flex panels are doing would be to connect them to another MPPT controller instead of the 2 PWM?

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ben avatar image ben ♦ commented ·

I believe that’s true.

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