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mikey asked

Victron VE.direct to usb losing connection on Raspberry Pi

I am having an issue with everything connected by USB seems to lose it connection randomly and the only way to get them to reconnect is to reboot the system. I have tried two totally different Raspberry Pi with the same outcome. One of the Pi is a 3B the Other is a 3B+ with fresh 2.33 installs. I am connecting a MultiPlus, 2 Smart solar MPPT and a BMV712. My software was set up for the most part using this https://gist.github.com/aaronsb/3a8de2bfc6081ecda268a353125bae14. I skipped the ADAC and CAN stuff. At first I thought it was the USB hat Hub but even if I remove it and use just the pi and display the same thing happens. I am using USB to UART cables that use only the tx rx and ground could they be the issue? I am totally at a loss here.

Venus OSRaspberry PiVE.Direct
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Phil Gavin avatar image Phil Gavin commented ·

I experience the same thing with my BMV, which is connected via a USB hub to a Venus.

This happens about every fortnight.

It is a powered USB hub, albeit a cheap enough version.

I intend (on my next visit to site) to bypass the USB hub and go VE,direct, directly and see if that makes a difference.

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mikey answered ·

So it appears to have been the cables. So far the connection appear to be stable using Victron cables. If I had known they changed the design so the usb plug was on a cable not just attached to the chip I would have bought the Victron in the first place. Hindsight is always 20/20. It all seems to be working great I just need avoid cheap crap from now on.

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striider answered ·

Agree - homemade cables are not reliable. The only solution for me was Victron cables themselves that are $60 usd for two. There is a video from Off Grid Garage showing an isolation device for $36 usd that may work, but $30 a piece for Victron cables was a bullet I had to bite to make this work.

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