question

stevo07 avatar image
stevo07 asked

MPPT off state using Octo GX

Hello,


We have an installation with 4 VE Direct MPPTs and an Octo GX. 3 of the 4 MPPTs are in a constant off state as shown in the photo. Second photo shows that they have an appropriate PV voltage and the battery SOC is only 30%.

We have tried switching the VE direct cables and also different VE direct ports on the Octo but it is always the same 3 units in the off state. The firmware was updated on all units and there is no error state on any of them.


Any ideas?



MPPT ControllersVE.Directgx device
mppt.png (53.5 KiB)
mppt-2.png (40.7 KiB)
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scott-simpson avatar image scott-simpson commented ·

I am the engineer who was on site when this problem occurred. On the remote console connection, under the device parameters for each of the MPPT’s the connection states USB. This should be VE Direct. I believe that the MPPT,s are on the USB Bus not the VE Direct Bus. Anyone have any ideas how to rectify this?

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scott-simpson avatar image scott-simpson commented ·

Here is a screenshot of one of the MPPT's

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mppt-usb.jpg (43.7 KiB)
wkirby avatar image wkirby ♦♦ scott-simpson commented ·

It will most likely be that (some) of the physical VE.Direct ports on the OctoGX talk to the CPU over a USB Bus rather than a native UART.
I don't know of many CPU / MPU chip sets which have that many native UARTs, so a USB Bus would be the only way to present that many serial (VE.Direct) ports to the outside world.
Some of the VE.Direct ports may connect to UARTs on the CPU, but I have not had the back off of an OctoGX, so I don't know for sure.

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2 Answers
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) answered ·

Hi @Stevo07
Engineer logged on to the Octo, the mppt's state the 'remote input' is not ok, can it be the remote bridge connection is missing?


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@Stevo07 & @Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff)

Apologies, there was some site glitch and some of your follow up comments were lost. This is as best as I could recover. I have reported the bug.


@Stevo07 : This fixed the issue, many thanks! It was not immediately obvious that this should be checked, do you know where this info is contained?


@Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) : It is in the start up procedure in the MPPT manual, under cable connection sequence. It also comes connected from the factory, so someone has removed it.

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wkirby avatar image
wkirby answered ·

Is the charger enabled in Victronconnect?
A disabled charger will show an "Off" state in Venus.

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scott-simpson avatar image scott-simpson commented ·

All the chargers are enabled in victron connect.

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Related Resources

MPPT Product Page

MPPT Error codes

MPPT 150/60 up to 250/70 Manual

VE.Direct protocol FAQ

Additional resources still need to be added for this topic