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rvizzle asked

Color Control GX monitor install - how to connect MPPT and BMV?

I am working on a customer's 2021 Grand Design Solitude fifth wheel here that I'm installing a victron Color Control GX monitor in.


I'm installing a 3,000 W victron inverter. Pre prepping for the new Smart Phase Selector that he got on the waiting list to purchase on release.


He already has aVictron MPPT 250/100 charge controller for the solar array, and a BMV712 battery monitor that I installed when he bought the 5th wheel.


I have some questions about connecting all this gear to the color monitor.


1. The info that I received with the Color Control gx says that the 250/100 charge controller connects to the VE Direct port on the back of the monitor, but the charge controller has VE Can connector on it. Can I use this port to connect to the monitor with cat-6 cable? Or does it have to be VE Direct, if so, I need the correct cable part number to connect it.


2. The BMV712 is listed as VE Direct connected to Color Control GX. I need part number for this cable also. The wire that connects to the display for BMV712 has phone line connector on both ends.

color control gx add-ons require quite a lot of disassembly to install and I'd rather not have to remove these wall panels more than once to get these jobs done.


I appreciate your help in this, and I'm sure my customer will also.

installation
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1 Answer
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marvs answered ·

The Color Control GX supports VE.Can, VE.Direct and VE.Bus so you can plug in any device that uses one of those ports and it will work just fine. In the case of the VE.Bus interface, any UTP (internet cable) should work just fine. I believe you may need to keep the length at or below 10 meters. I know that max length applies to the other interfaces withou using special equpment.

In reality you don’t need both the Color Control GX AND the BMV 712 battery monitor. if you have the SmartShunt you can connect that via VE.Direct to the Color Control GX and get all the same information as the BMV 712.

As for part numbers, for cables, they can be found on the Victron website.

Hope this helps.

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