Has anyone had problems with closed loop communications between EG4 LL batteries and solar assistant. Battery Manual says to use ID1 for host battery. This will not work with solar assistant. Has to be ID2 for host battery. Using ID2 I can see the host battery but no other ID’s higher.
EG4LL v2 battery closed loop communication with solar assistant.
- Thread starter Gaboy
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Electric_Blue
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2022
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Hi Gaboy, solar assistant will not work in closed-loop. You will need your USB RS-232 from S.A. plugged into each battery independently. I have 8 batteries so battery #1 is ID2 through ID9 on battery #8. You CAN NOT use ID1 because that sets the thing into closed-loop mode. Do not have the batteries daisy chained together either (batt-comm). You only want one ethernet cable per battery connected to the RS485 ports. I had to buy a special harmonica to combine all 9 cables together (1 from S.A. Pi and 8 from batts). Google L-Com TDS2167. Works like a champ. But you will lose the inverter communication.
Dinobot248
New Member
I had the same problem too trying to get SA to read directly but in the end I found it wasn't necessary. I am am using the closed loop communication with the EG4 6500EX with the battery setting to EG4 in the menu. Battery dip switch addresses are 0,1,2,3,4,5.
In SA, use "Use inverter values" in the battery section of the setup menu/tab. I loose the ability to have SA change the battery settings but in a closed loop communication, the system takes care of itself.
I can see all battery settings except for temperature but I think my Lifepower4 do not have temp sensor so it's okay.
In SA, use "Use inverter values" in the battery section of the setup menu/tab. I loose the ability to have SA change the battery settings but in a closed loop communication, the system takes care of itself.
I can see all battery settings except for temperature but I think my Lifepower4 do not have temp sensor so it's okay.
georgepburdell
New Member
I can’t get the eg4 LLv2 to communicate at all with solar assistant. do i need to update the communication protocol on the batteries? or just set the dip switches?
does anyone have pictures of which direction the 6pin dip switches need to go? (they’re sideways, so up/down doesn’t make sense)
i was able to get some info if i setup the batteries in eg4 closed loop with the inverter and just use the inverter settings, however I only saw one state of charge value, couldn’t see each battery. is that all i would get for that configuration? or are they not quite configured right if i only see one? I have 3 batteries and had them set as 1,2,3 in that mode. I may try 0,1,2 instead
does anyone have pictures of which direction the 6pin dip switches need to go? (they’re sideways, so up/down doesn’t make sense)
i was able to get some info if i setup the batteries in eg4 closed loop with the inverter and just use the inverter settings, however I only saw one state of charge value, couldn’t see each battery. is that all i would get for that configuration? or are they not quite configured right if i only see one? I have 3 batteries and had them set as 1,2,3 in that mode. I may try 0,1,2 instead
wildbillpdx
Solar Enthusiast
Start your batteries at 2:
georgepburdell
New Member
i tried that. i can only assume that i’m setting my dip switches wrong
georgepburdell
New Member
this is what i did:
unplug all communication cables. then plugin the usb from solar assistant to the inverter via microusb
then turn off one battery and set dip switches to on/off/on/on/on/on (from top to bottom)
connect to the rs485 port on that battery
turn on the battery, then try to connect.
that didn’t work, so i also tried with other combinations of the second switch opposite of the others in case something was flipped. nothing works
unplug all communication cables. then plugin the usb from solar assistant to the inverter via microusb
then turn off one battery and set dip switches to on/off/on/on/on/on (from top to bottom)
connect to the rs485 port on that battery
turn on the battery, then try to connect.
that didn’t work, so i also tried with other combinations of the second switch opposite of the others in case something was flipped. nothing works
wildbillpdx
Solar Enthusiast
Do you have the 4 or 6 pin DIP? Page 14 of the manual has all the settings for the various IDs available. Also, don't think you're going to get any information by going through the inverter, at least I can't. Have you tried connecting directly to the batteries?
wildbillpdx
Solar Enthusiast
You may want to use a different method. There seems to be an issue with power going back and forth between the inverter and the Pi potentially causing damage to the inverter communication board. Been going back and forth in this post:
Solar Assistant (Possibly) Voids Warranty on EG4 Inverters?
Hi guys, solar assistant is in my opinion one of the best monitoring gadgets out there. The developer is in my contacts and we have spoken at length in the past. The inconvenient fact is that we have too many instances where Voltronic based inverters misperform when an orange pi is plugged into...
diysolarforum.com
georgepburdell
New Member
i can connect with the usb to rs485 cable - i read a bit of that thread but didn’t understand what the recommendation actually was - i figured usb to usb was actually safer than usb to rs485
i have the 6pin LLv2s. i was reading the manual that came with them and going by the id numbers in that manual. the solar assistant website doesn’t seem updated with the 6pin version, so I figured that it might not match exactly.
so when i connect via the inverter, i do see the state of charge, which matches what’s in watch power. i just don’t see individual battery stats. it’s not clear if the previous poster in this thread got the same as me or was able to get individual battery stats through the inverter.
when i try to connect direct to the batteries, i get no connection though.
i have the 6pin LLv2s. i was reading the manual that came with them and going by the id numbers in that manual. the solar assistant website doesn’t seem updated with the 6pin version, so I figured that it might not match exactly.
so when i connect via the inverter, i do see the state of charge, which matches what’s in watch power. i just don’t see individual battery stats. it’s not clear if the previous poster in this thread got the same as me or was able to get individual battery stats through the inverter.
when i try to connect direct to the batteries, i get no connection though.
georgepburdell
New Member
i saw that the pins for inverter and battery communication are different. do i need a conversion cable if i’m using a usb adaptor that’s meant for the inverter?
georgepburdell
New Member
that was the issue. i was using the inverter cable instead of battery cable. still need to get a hub or something to get them all connected though. would definitely be nicer to figure out how to just get the inverter to pass the battery info along
wildbillpdx
Solar Enthusiast
I have the same issue and got a response from SA suggesting an upgraded software package will fix the issue. Was told that the solution is in beta at the moment.
thermopolis
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2022
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- 17
resurrecting this thread a bit, I have been trying for two weeks to establish comms with my eg4ll v1 and v2 batteries with SA. finally, a good cable AND the original version of BMS TOOLS, that i got back in 2022, i was able to determine that the dip switch settings don't mean diddly squat. the older version of the software will scan all addresses and connect to the one it matches, thereby letting you know what that particular battery address is, then change dip switches until you get the address you need, rebooting battery bms between each change of course. Once I did this, i could establish comms between each battery individually, but not daisy chained. I will get the 'harmonica' connector to get all of them on the monitoring page.
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