Cerbo gx questions

[Sportzfann]

Recently purchased a Cerbo gx I have a question about connecting other devices to it.
I have a 1- multiplus 2x120. 2- 100/50 mppt CC and a 1-smart shunt how can I connect all of them to the cerbo? I think the cerbo only has 2 ports for
ve connect cables can I use a combination of cables ? I believe the data cables can be connected as well. I am using my Iphone to view at this time, I can’t afford the touch 50 at this time
thanks,

 

[Jalle19]

The Cerbo GX has three VE.Direct ports. You'd use those to connect your charge controllers and shunt, while the inverter/charger is connected to the VE.Bus ports. If you need more VE.Direct ports you can use a USB adapter.

 

[Sportzfann]

Does the VE bus port on the cerbo use a data cable ?
I also have the Bluetooth device I think it’s the
(ve bus )connected to the multiplus, so I can change settings thru Bluetooth, not sure if it has a hardwired connection for connecting to the Cerbo.

I’m not at home or I could go out and look.

I wanted to be able to see all my gear on my iphone and be able to make changes, maybe later I will buy the touch 50.
The victron gear is nice but a little pricey. Thanks for responding it’s a little confusing to me on how to connect all the victron equipment.

 

[Bluedog225]

This was helpful for me.

I think I saw someone using a small, cheap display for the cerbo. Not sure how that works.

Ignore the yellow marker.

 

[Jalle19]

The VE.Bus ports use standard network cables, yes.

 

[Brucey]

Does the VE bus port on the cerbo use a data cable ?
I also have the Bluetooth device I think it’s the
(ve bus )connected to the multiplus, so I can change settings thru Bluetooth, not sure if it has a hardwired connection for connecting to the Cerbo.

I’m not at home or I could go out and look.

I wanted to be able to see all my gear on my iphone and be able to make changes, maybe later I will buy the touch 50.
The victron gear is nice but a little pricey. Thanks for responding it’s a little confusing to me on how to connect all the victron equipment.

So the ve.bus smart dongle let's you connect via BT to control some settings (AC input amps etc). But you can't use that to connect to VRM. Will need Ethernet cable from ve.bus port on inverter to Cerbo.

 

[Brucey]

This was helpful for me.

I think I saw someone using a small, cheap display for the cerbo. Not sure how that works.

Ignore the yellow marker.

View attachment 221348

That might have been me. Using this as display only (touch is flakey and I don't need it). Changes are made via phone/VRM.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CJNHY3X3

$65 for 7", with stand.

The Victron Touch70 is over $300. If you don't need touch I would recommend the Roadom 7". Less than 1W power consumption.

 

[Sportzfann]

Can the aftermarket roadam be used in conjunction with the I phone ?
Use phone inside the trailer and I can leave the little display screen inside the battery compartment.
Then I won’t have to purchase the touch 70….$$. Sounds like the monitor is just to view settings, not make changes?

 

[Brucey]

Can the aftermarket roadam be used in conjunction with the I phone ?
Use phone inside the trailer and I can leave the little display screen inside the battery compartment.
Then I won’t have to purchase the touch 70….$$. Sounds like the monitor is just to view settings, not make changes?

Yes the display is just connected via HDMI and USB for power, you can leave it active just displaying the GUI summary view, and still use your phone to connect to VRM and remote console to actually make changes if needed. It is a touch screen monitor but I haven't dug into getting the touch to work adequately.

 

[Sportzfann]

Brucey, thanks for the information, inside the box that the Cerbo came in was some adapters that look like dummy plugs for a data port,
I didn’t see where those would be used, the manual was kind of vague when to use those. I will check into the roadom display if that would take the place of the touch 50 panel that is a great savings. I ordered 3 ve direct cables, CC-1and CC-2 and the smart shunt.
I purchased 1 data cable for the multiplus to Cerbo connection. I saw the Cerbo has a temp sensor connection, I have the temp sensor that came with the multi plus can that be used to read temperature thru the Cerbo to monitor my battery bank temps?
Thanks again.

 

[ricardocello]

some adapters that look like dummy plugs for a data port,

Dummy plugs?
Those were probably rj-45 connectors with 120 ohm termination resistors and blue caps for the VE.can bus, I assume.
The cerbo has every bus Victron supports, and it can be confusing.

 

[ricardocello]

I saw the Cerbo has a temp sensor connection, I have the temp sensor that came with the multi plus can that be used to read temperature thru the Cerbo to monitor my battery bank temps?

Apparently yes if it looks like this:

Victron Temperature Sensor for Quattro/MultiPlus/Cerbo GX | Current Connected

Improve battery performance with the Victron Temperature Sensor. Seamlessly compatible with Cerbo GX, MultiPlus, and MultiPlus-II units!

www.currentconnected.com

 

[Brucey]

Apparently yes if it looks like this:

Victron Temperature Sensor for Quattro/MultiPlus/Cerbo GX | Current Connected

Improve battery performance with the Victron Temperature Sensor. Seamlessly compatible with Cerbo GX, MultiPlus, and MultiPlus-II units!

www.currentconnected.com

Generally I think it's of more use for lead acid batteries and temperature compensated charging. But potentially could be used to enable low temp charge protection?

 

[ricardocello]

Generally I think it's of more use for lead acid batteries and temperature compensated charging. But potentially could be used to enable low temp charge protection?

Agreed.
I use mine to see how hot my utility closet is getting, and log in VRM.
My batteries know their own temperature.

Low Temp protection? Not a bad idea.

 

[Brucey]

Agreed. I use mine to see how hot my utility closet is getting to log in VRM.
My batteries know their own temperature.

Been thinking of getting a couple of these Ruuvi BT tags they can report in to a Cerbo:

Victron Temperature Monitoring with RuuviTag Bluetooth Sensors

Take your Victron system to next level and get insights from environmental data by adding Ruuvi's sensors to Victron Cerbo GX or GlobalLink 520

ruuvi.com

 

[Bluedog225]

The cerbo has every bus Victron supports, and it can be confusing.

Understatement of the decade.

 

[ricardocello]

Understatement of the decade.

Yeah, and don't accidentally plug your VE.Bus RJ-45 from the inverters into the Ethernet, conveniently located right below.
In case you are wondering: My quattros shut down immediately.

 

[Brucey]

Been thinking of getting a couple of these Ruuvi BT tags they can report in to a Cerbo:

Victron Temperature Monitoring with RuuviTag Bluetooth Sensors

Take your Victron system to next level and get insights from environmental data by adding Ruuvi's sensors to Victron Cerbo GX or GlobalLink 520

ruuvi.com

https://www.amazon.com/RUUVI-RuuviTag-Wireless-Temperature-Bluetooth/dp/B09FMYRYBR

Victron does recommend a third party USB BT adaptor to increase its internal BTs crappy range, there's a link to list in that previous link

 

[Brucey]

Brucey, thanks for the information, inside the box that the Cerbo came in was some adapters that look like dummy plugs for a data port,
I didn’t see where those would be used, the manual was kind of vague when to use those. I will check into the roadom display if that would take the place of the touch 50 panel that is a great savings. I ordered 3 ve direct cables, CC-1and CC-2 and the smart shunt.
I purchased 1 data cable for the multiplus to Cerbo connection. I saw the Cerbo has a temp sensor connection, I have the temp sensor that came with the multi plus can that be used to read temperature thru the Cerbo to monitor my battery bank temps?
Thanks again.

As ricardocello mentioned those are to terminate the ve.can bus, need one on each end of the ve.can string.

 

[Sportzfann]

https://www.amazon.com/RUUVI-RuuviTag-Wireless-Temperature-Bluetooth/dp/B09FMYRYBR

Victron does recommend a third party USB BT adaptor to increase its internal BTs crappy range, there's a link to list in that previous link

Where do I find some of these Ruuvi tags ?
That would help keep tabs on my low temperature for batteries. ( or other things)
Also can a usb blue tooth booster be plugged into the cerbo to increase the BT range?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Where do I find some of these Ruuvi tags ?
That would help keep tabs on my low temperature for batteries. ( or other things)
Also can a usb blue tooth booster be plugged into the cerbo to increase the BT range?

You literally quoted the amazon link he provided.

 

[Brucey]

Where do I find some of these Ruuvi tags ?
That would help keep tabs on my low temperature for batteries. ( or other things)
Also can a usb blue tooth booster be plugged into the cerbo to increase the BT range?

Amazon link is there

Yes here's a thread discussing which ones work and which ones don't. The internal BT range of a Cerbo is limited.

Connect ruuvi to CCGX or Venus GX - Victron Community

community.victronenergy.com

 

[sunshine_eggo]

As @ricardocello said, the little blue plugs are terminators for the VE.Can BMS-CAN ports.

Quick guide to connections:

VE.Direct: Smartshunt, BMV and MPPT connections to Cerbo. If you run out, you can use VE.Direct to USB to connect to 2 of the 3 USB ports (the one by HDMI is for touchscreen power only). If you need more, you can use a USB hub and connect up to 15 devices.

VE.Bus: ONLY for connecting inverters operating in parallel and to the GX device.

VE.CAN: Up to 25 VE.Can capable MPPT can be daisy chained via VE.Can. Lynx shunt is VE.Can as well. 250kbps BMS can be connected with Victron devices.

BMS-CAN: 500kbps VE.Can port specifically for BMS communication with the GX device.

Does the VE bus port on the cerbo use a data cable ?
I also have the Bluetooth device I think it’s the
(ve bus )connected to the multiplus, so I can change settings thru Bluetooth, not sure if it has a hardwired connection for connecting to the Cerbo.

there is absolutely, positively no way to change settings on a VE.Bus Multiplus with bluetooth. Period. The VE.Bus smart dongle allows MONITORING, selecting ON/OFF/Charger only and changing the AC input current setting, but NO OTHER CHANGES.

MK3-USB adapter and PC/MAC/Android is the only way to make config changes to VE.Bus inverters. Can make changes remotely with VRM and a PC running VEConfigure3.

I wanted to be able to see all my gear on my iphone and be able to make changes, maybe later I will buy the touch 50.
The victron gear is nice but a little pricey. Thanks for responding it’s a little confusing to me on how to connect all the victron equipment.

You will be able to see only BT enabled devices on VC. When properly configured to connect to the Cerbo on it's local wifi adapter, you can use remote console to access the Cerbo exactly as you would a touch screen. The only way to MONITOR the VE.Bus inverter is via a VE.Bus smart dongle.

 

[justinm001]

Where do I find some of these Ruuvi tags ?
That would help keep tabs on my low temperature for batteries. ( or other things)
Also can a usb blue tooth booster be plugged into the cerbo to increase the BT range?

I have like 8 ruuvi sensors all around my rig, most are the 4in1 white ones but 2 of the black 2in1 heavy duty ones that I have on my generator radiator.

I use this Bluetooth adapter in the Cerbo, just plug into the USB and it'll work. It has an external antenna port so if I needed to I could move the antenna somewhere, but it works great. Also I have a Prevost XL2 which is completely stainless steel and the cerbogx is in a stainless steel bay and yet still get great Bluetooth signal. Actually so go it's picking up 2 ruuvi sensors on my old RV parked nearby. Ive been looking for these sensors but haven't found them.

The ruuvi batteries last a couple years and the cerbo will constantly report low battery when they get low. Just a couple bucks off Amazon.

They're perfect for the fridge to make sure nothing gets spoiled as it'll email you if high/low, have 1 inside, 1 on each battery bank, 1 genset radiator, 1 on each tank, 1 outside in sun and 2 on the roof right under solar to monitor temps. Cerbogx pulls the ruuvi temps every minute but you can get them every few seconds if you use their app.

Sena USB Bluetooth Adapter 300m Working Dist, UD100-G03 (300m Working Dist. Exchangeable Antenna, Bluesoleil Driver (Works with Microsoft Bluetooth Driver)), red, Black https://a.co/d/eMVDgFB

 

[Sportzfann]

I have like 8 ruuvi sensors all around my rig, most are the 4in1 white ones but 2 of the black 2in1 heavy duty ones that I have on my generator radiator.

I use this Bluetooth adapter in the Cerbo, just plug into the USB and it'll work. It has an external antenna port so if I needed to I could move the antenna somewhere, but it works great. Also I have a Prevost XL2 which is completely stainless steel and the cerbogx is in a stainless steel bay and yet still get great Bluetooth signal. Actually so go it's picking up 2 ruuvi sensors on my old RV parked nearby. Ive been looking for these sensors but haven't found them.

The ruuvi batteries last a couple years and the cerbo will constantly report low battery when they get low. Just a couple bucks off Amazon.

They're perfect for the fridge to make sure nothing gets spoiled as it'll email you if high/low, have 1 inside, 1 on each battery bank, 1 genset radiator, 1 on each tank, 1 outside in sun and 2 on the roof right under solar to monitor temps. Cerbogx pulls the ruuvi temps every minute but you can get them every few seconds if you use their app.

Sena USB Bluetooth Adapter 300m Working Dist, UD100-G03 (300m Working Dist. Exchangeable Antenna, Bluesoleil Driver (Works with Microsoft Bluetooth Driver)), red, Black https://a.co/d/eMVDgFB

Justin, thanks for the info, I will go pick up some of those ruuvi sensors and the Sena usb BT transmitter to increase the range of the Cerbo.
Would be great to see what the battery bank temps, and other temps around the fifthwheel, basement/ fridge etc.