question

whafa avatar image
whafa asked

Phoenix going offline after VE.direct change?

Hi everyone! Long time first time.


I recently bought the Cerbo GX unit to add to my existing installation, which has a Victron MPPT Charge Controller and a Phoenix 12/1200 inverter. Prior to the Cerbo, I was using VE.direct bluetooth dongles to connect to the controller and inverter separately. With the Cerbo, I am using VE.direct cables to connect both inverter and controller to the Cerbo. I am *super happy* with this upgrade and the VRM portal; however, my inverter has mysteriously shut itself off 3-4 times since I changed the bluetooth dongle out for the VE.direct cable (24 hours). I was initially worried that it was some kind of software issue, but the more that it happens, I am increasingly convinced that the remote control jumper, which is right next to the VE.direct port on the inverter, is a little loose, and the normal vibration of the inverter during use is causing it to jostle out of place, which then turns the inverter off. The only way I am able to reconnect is to go to the inverter and jiggle the power switch, re-plug the VE.direct cable, etc, and it appears that all of these things are mounted on the same piece of hardware inside the device, because they all move in unison when I jiggle one of them.


Has anyone else had this experience? Is this a plausible explanation? Could this be being caused by a software issue instead? I am planning a major upgrade to my whole system and bought the GX first to play around with it. I love Victron products, which are otherwise awesome, and really want to get to the bottom of this. TIA.


ETA: I don't know why this would start happening upon swap-out of the bluetooth dongle -- that sure points to a software issue. But I think it's possible that it just was stable from having not been touched for over a year, and my messing with it caused a new hardware issue.

cerbo gxPhoenix InverteroffgridVE.Direct
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1 Answer
tozz avatar image
tozz answered ·

Your idea that it might be the remote control jumper sounds plausible, if jiggling helps. You could first remove the connector block, see if the jumper wire is perhaps loose? If that's not the case, it could be that the terminal block has a bad connection to the PCB. In that case you could either claim warranty or solder it back on. You could even try soldering a jumper wire directly on the PCB.

You could try to remove the remote control jumper and see if the result is exactly the same as what you are experiencing. Does the Cerbo give any errors or warnings when you remove the remote control jumper? If it does, but it doesn't when this issue mysteriously occurs it might be something else. If the result is the same, I would focus on that remote control jumper.


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