Modbus capability of Samlex Evo inverter/chargers?

[bri2k]

I just pulled the trigger on a Samlex EVO 4024 for my van build and I'm wondering if there's any chance of getting data out of it through Modbus. @Steve_S, I read one of your posts that indicated you were working on something but you had to sign a NDA. Have you made any progress with your project? Anyone else had any experience pulling data from the EVO? I'd love to use something like a Rpi or Arduino to put together a custom data dashboard.

I'm also wondering, if Modbus is too much trouble, if it would be possible to use a wifi SD card in the evo-rc remote control. It'd be interesting to see if you could retrieve the log files while the evo still has control of the card.

Thanks!

 

[gnubie]

Based on experience with remote panels for other inverters this panel is probably talking to the inverter with modbus itself. It sounds like you are a bit of a techie already so you could think about snooping the serial (rs232 or rs485 probably) between it and the inverter and learn the inverter's register map that way.

 

[Steve_S]

I just pulled the trigger on a Samlex EVO 4024 for my van build and I'm wondering if there's any chance of getting data out of it through Modbus. @Steve_S, I read one of your posts that indicated you were working on something but you had to sign a NDA. Have you made any progress with your project? Anyone else had any experience pulling data from the EVO? I'd love to use something like a Rpi or Arduino to put together a custom data dashboard.

I'm also wondering, if Modbus is too much trouble, if it would be possible to use a wifi SD card in the evo-rc remote control. It'd be interesting to see if you could retrieve the log files while the evo still has control of the card.

Thanks!

Samlex does not make the ModBus protocol stack available to the public. Yes I had to go through the legal process & sign off an NDA to get access to the information. I cannot make that info available unfortunately. The software I am using (Node-Red) is not capable of hiding restricted code by compiling it. IF you want to probe the system you can BUT YOU ARE WARNED that if you mess up any resulting damage will not likely be covered by Samlex. IF you write to any ModBus port (it is BiDi) and do it wrong... well you don't want to go there.

I can say this much.
IF using a Raspberry PI, an RS232/485 HAT can be used to access the port.

Plug one end of the RJ45 cable into Comm 1 or 2 on the EVO, -at the other end of the cable (cut off the RJ45 connector) and wire D+ and D- (pins 4, 5) and ground (pin 7 or 8) to 485 port, aka the PI serial HAT. The MODBUS comms ports are serial RS485 running at 9600 8/1 and none for parity.

The remote can be used at the same time no problem, it’s also 485 MODbus, -but it has as well 12 Volts to power the remote and a pin for turning on (on/off): It’s handy initially having the remote, as you can view the values already decoded on the screen or on the SD card and compare to what you are pulling from your HMI. Once you have your HMI up and running and figured out you can do just about everything from there. (HMI referes to the software I am building)

The remote uses RJ45 straight through here’s the pins looking at the remote jack port:

I think that this is as much as I can provide withouut crossing the line of technicality. But again I have to warn you, if you mess with this stuff on your oown, you are on your own if you mess up the inverter. Do NOT expect Samlex to replce hardware if you mess it up.

Lastly, Contact their TECH SUPPORT give them the model, serial number, and firware versions as shown on the EVO RC-Plus and see if there is an update Firmware so you are up to the most current versions. Yes, they do update the Firmware on their products.

OH YEAH.. the SD-CARD ... Be certain to follow the proper Mounting / Dismounting (loading / unloading) procedures from the RC-Plus, failure to do so can corrupt the stored data. It is finicky. Logs CAN get huge if sampling too often.

 

[bri2k]

@Steve_S thanks very much for the information and the tips. Once I get the unit up and working in a test setup I'll get a rs485 adapter and start watching the traffic. Three quick questions, if you don't mind.

1. Without giving away any info that could be a legal issue, is there a significant amount of extra useful/interesting data that could be extracted through rs485 over what's already being collected by the stock RC remote?
2. Regarding the RC, would you recommend the EVO-RC or the EVO-RC-PLUS? As far as I can tell the only difference is that the PLUS has an extra RJ12 port and a larger screen. I guess the plus is only an extra $15 so I might as well go for it.
3. Regarding your project and the NDA, are you working on a commercial project? Anything you can share to show off what you've been up to? Do you think there's any chance of Samlex allowing someone to do the NDA process as a hobbyist?

Thanks again.

 

[Steve_S]

1) the data shown can be pulled and settings CAN be modified (hence my warnings, it is not forgiving)
The logging to a timebased DB to like InfluxDB can provide for good graphical representation of activity.
2) the RC-Plus is easier / nice to use, spend the $15
3) My project is NOT a commercial project. I originally intended to code an application is C# but the modbus libs needed to do it like SCADA is insanely priced. With C# I could have embedded the ModBus data in a way to keep it safe from prying eyes... I have a Private NDA with them for development which I will share with them as well... BUT I do not know if they accept private NDA's as there has been problems in the past. I have a unique situation as I was heavily involved with the Protocol Standards & Communications Group for the Canadian Government / Military (which I can't really talk too much about either).

My project when complete (over the course of this winter) will control & manage my Midnite Classic SCC, the Samlex EVO Inverter and pull the data from the four Chargery BMS's and log that all to InfluxDB and use Grafana to display the Data and provide UI in tandem with Node-Red. I have the Midnite Stuff pretty much all worked out, the core of the Smalex Stuff worked out and now I'll be getting into the BMS Data. I was originally building it on a Raspi-3B+ with an SSD drive (did I say data get's big...) but am now switching that to a Raspi-4B/8GB with SSD. I have preliminary screens and such done but it's not worth sharing as it's all rough "hackage".

I suggest you have a look at this thread, there is GOLD in there....

Off-grid Solar / Battery monitoring and control freeware

Im building a freeware realtime software/hardware monitoring solution that provides intimate details and decision making information about a solar system. I intend to be fully off grid in the near future and want to be self sufficient for power. My goal is complete control over every aspect of...

diysolarforum.com

 

[wings2004]

@Steve_S Very interested in what you are doing here. I'm setting up a power wall with a 1224F and have a 1212F that I'm currently using and I'm really interested in different ways to get the data off the device. I currently am using the overkill solar style BMS so I'm not entirely sure how to go about getting the data off that other than the app but I might look into the USB header or otherwise if it makes sense.

 

[Steve_S]

I don't know much about the JBD/Overkill BMS and its data capabilities.
Raspberry Pi's have built-in Bluetooth, theoretically, I think that should be able to connect to any BlueTooth enabled BMS.
How to access the data from there I don't have a clue... I have never played with BlueTooth interfacing. Is there something that can be installed on Raspberry-OS (Linux) that can run an Android App ? I dunno but with the Linux gang I would not be one bit surprised if such exists.

I have some cells en-route along with a JBD BMS with the UART option to build a 12V/280AH pack dedicated to my powerhouse furnace. I intend to hook that up into my system to monitor it as well (this setup is independent of my solar system, it has it's own solar charger). None of that is likely to happen before January ... shipping time & other projects underway.

 

[wings2004]

Sounds good, I've got the Bluetooth modules but I might get the uart modules in order to switch over from phone popup monitoring to more consistent monitoring. There is more data from the BMS than the IC anyway, but I'll plan on that. Should show up some time in January.

 

[twoblocked]

I'm waiting on batteries and a 120A BMS from Overkill. I went with them because they have developed an Arduino Library to read data from the BMS they sell. I'm pretty sure its a JBD. (please correct me if I'm wrong)
If you are an Arduino fan, this Library is the easiest way to write an app for the BMS.

GitHub - FurTrader/Overkill-Solar-BMS-Arduino-Library: Just the Arduino Library for Overkill Solar BMSs

Just the Arduino Library for Overkill Solar BMSs. Contribute to FurTrader/Overkill-Solar-BMS-Arduino-Library development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

I've downloaded the Library and have started to play around with it. It's been a few years since I've written anything for an Arduino board, but it is slowly coming back to me. I'm looking forward to having an app to monitor the BMS in my RV.

Writing an RS-485 app for Raspberry Pi or Bluetooth/SmartPhone from scratch would be a big task. You would have to have the addresses for reading from the BMS as well has develop an RS-485 driver for your program and perhaps a ModBus driver as well.

 

[twoblocked]

@Steve_S Very interested in what you are doing here. I'm setting up a power wall with a 1224F and have a 1212F that I'm currently using and I'm really interested in different ways to get the data off the device. I currently am using the overkill solar style BMS so I'm not entirely sure how to go about getting the data off that other than the app but I might look into the USB header or otherwise if it makes sense.

Check pout this Arduino Library:

GitHub - FurTrader/Overkill-Solar-BMS-Arduino-Library: Just the Arduino Library for Overkill Solar BMSs

Just the Arduino Library for Overkill Solar BMSs. Contribute to FurTrader/Overkill-Solar-BMS-Arduino-Library development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com