Victron Venus OS

[ncitro]

I embarked on a bit of a crazy exercise this week. I currently run a Victron BMV-700, Smart Solar, and a Magnum inverter. I have been eyeing the Color Control GX for a while now, but could not really justify it since I do not have the Victron inverter. I stumbled across the Victron community site where I discovered that they have opensourced the Venus software to allow it to be installed into other platforms. That led me further down the rabbit hole to find people who had it running on a Raspberry Pi with their 7" touchscreen display. I have done some Pi work for some projects at home, so I thought it would be a fun exercise to get familiar with the system. I ordered a Pi and the touchscreen and a case, as well as two Victron VE.Direct to USB cables to connect my devices. I followed a couple Youtube videos but I have to say the software install was pretty painless, and as long as you are comfortable with ssh and command line the configuration was not bad either. I now have the GUI up and running and the touchscreen interface is very smooth. Tomorrow I will try connecting my devices and see how that goes, but by all accounts the USB connectivity is automatic.

I do have a few difficulties. First is my BMV is the older 700 model which requires a bluetooth dongle for app support. I think it only has one VE.Direct port, which means I would need to give up my phone connection. Not really ready for that yet, but I have a buddy with a motorhome with no monitor, so I am hoping to sell it to him and get the newer 712 with integrated Bluetooth. The other problem is this is definitely going to lead me to upgrade my Magnum to a Victron inverter lol. I have been kind of considering this anyway to get the hybrid features. I bought the Magnum used on Craigslist, so hopefully I can resell it and take away a little of the sting.

Let me know if anyone has any questions, it was a really interesting process. I tried to take a lot of pictures during the process:

Here are the parts!


Uboxing the Pi and Display:


Assembling the Pi onto the display:



Mounted, in the case, and ready for software:



Loaded up and running! (no sensors yet)

[ncitro]

Software loaded up and running! (no sensors connected yet)

[ncitro]

From what I understand this should give me a few benefits over the Color Control GX. First it should be cheaper albeit at a cost of convenience. My total parts for this was around $150 for Pi, touchscreen, power supply, case, and memory card. The Color Control runs around $500. Also the Victron Venus software connects back to the Victron servers. That means that with internet in my rig (I’ve got a permanent Verizon Mifi running in it), I should be able to monitor my battery and solar status from anywhere anytime. We have stored the rig in Florida the last couple winters so we could fly down and use it some over the winter. It would be really great to keep an eye on the battery situation if we wanted to leave food in the fridge. I run a temperature monitor too, but if the batteries die due to a long series of clouds, by the time the temperature starts climbing it’s probably too late to do anything but throw the food away. Watching the battery monitor should give me more warning.

[howson]

ncitro -- that is super cool! If I didn't have the CCGX already you know I'd be stealing (uh, I mean copying) this idea!

[ncitro]

ncitro -- that is super cool! If I didn't have the CCGX already you know I'd be stealing (uh, I mean copying) this idea!

lol understood. If I decide to move to the Victron Multuplus, I’ll have lots of questions for you.

[ncitro]

Working! Just plugged in the solar controller and the BMV and they started working.

[ncitro]

howson Question for you since you have an actual Color Control GX. From everything I have read from Victron, what I am running should behave identical to an actual Color Control GX, but since I have never used one I am unsure if a couple things I have are normal, or some kind of bug in my install. I am running a BMV and Smart Solar into it right now. In the mobile app I can adjust all of the settings on those devices, (charge profile, battery capacity etc). Can you change all of those settings on the CCGX? I would imagine so, but I do not see them anywhere. I tried searching and read the manual but it was inconclusive. I do not mind needing to manage those from the mobile app, but curious if it should be on the Pi.

[howson]

howson Question for you since you have an actual Color Control GX. From everything I have read from Victron, what I am running should behave identical to an actual Color Control GX, but since I have never used one I am unsure if a couple things I have are normal, or some kind of bug in my install. I am running a BMV and Smart Solar into it right now. In the mobile app I can adjust all of the settings on those devices, (charge profile, battery capacity etc). Can you change all of those settings on the CCGX? I would imagine so, but I do not see them anywhere. I tried searching and read the manual but it was inconclusive. I do not mind needing to manage those from the mobile app, but curious if it should be on the Pi.

The settings adjustable through the Victron Connect app are not available on the CCGX for the BMV-712.

[ncitro]

howson Okay that’s what I see too. So specifically if I get a Multiplus, you set the incoming current limit for power assist on your phone not at the CCGX?

[howson]

howson Okay that’s what I see too. So specifically if I get a Multiplus, you set the incoming current limit for power assist on your phone not at the CCGX?

No--there is a current limit under the Multiplus on the CCGX.

[howson]

ncitro

When I click on the Input current limit setting I get a "-" and "+" that allows me to change it as needed.

[ncitro]

ncitro

When I click on the Input current limit setting I get a "-" and "+" that allows me to change it as needed.

Great thank you!

[ncitro]

Well I bit the bullet today and ordered a Victron Multiplus. That will move my whole install over to Victron, which I think is going to be a better experience. I plan to sell my Magnum to recoup some of the cost at least. I wonder if I am the founding member of the two inverter club lol. Also looking forward to power assist as well. I was going to go with the AMSolar Smart Phase Selector, but they are backordered at least 2-3 weeks, and we have a trip next Wednesday, so I am going to configure it to feed half of my panel for now, and leave one AC, the fireplace, and water heater on the other phase for now. We will use it like that for a bit, and then decide if that is adequate or if we want the whole rig connected to the inverter. If we want the whole rig connected we will either go SPS, or maybe add a second Multiplus. Parts start arriving tomorrow, but the inverter does not come until Friday, and the 6/3 comes Monday.

[howson]

Well I bit the bullet today and ordered a Victron Multiplus. That will move my whole install over to Victron, which I think is going to be a better experience. I plan to sell my Magnum to recoup some of the cost at least. I wonder if I am the founding member of the two inverter club lol. Also looking forward to power assist as well. I was going to go with the AMSolar Smart Phase Selector, but they are backordered at least 2-3 weeks, and we have a trip next Wednesday, so I am going to configure it to feed half of my panel for now, and leave one AC, the fireplace, and water heater on the other phase for now. We will use it like that for a bit, and then decide if that is adequate or if we want the whole rig connected to the inverter. If we want the whole rig connected we will either go SPS, or maybe add a second Multiplus. Parts start arriving tomorrow, but the inverter does not come until Friday, and the 6/3 comes Monday.

I've actually considered removing the SPS from my rig!

If I do I'll swap the fireplace and washer circuits in the Power Distribution Panel to give me power in the bedroom when on inverter. The fireplace, dryer, water heater, and living room air conditioner will not be run with the inverter, so why do I have it available? The only "darn it" will be the loss of the TV outlet (and Winegard 360+ Router). I could fix that, though, by changing which circuit the outlet is on. We never use the outlet under the dresser (which is on the hot water heater circuit.)

[ncitro]

I've actually considered removing the SPS from my rig!

If I do I'll swap the fireplace and washer circuits in the Power Distribution Panel to give me power in the bedroom when on inverter. The fireplace, dryer, water heater, and living room air conditioner will not be run with the inverter, so why do I have it available? The only "darn it" will be the loss of the TV outlet (and Winegard 360+ Router). I could fix that, though, by changing which circuit the outlet is on. We never use the outlet under the dresser (which is on the hot water heater circuit.)

Thats kind of my thinking. I do not have the washer or dryer, so those breakers are not even in my panel. I have it pretty balanced right now between the phases. To do this I will probably load one phase a bit heavier than the other, but no where near the 50 amp max per phase to trip the breaker or risk danger to the neutral. The only downside I see is power assist would not be available to the other side. So in my case, one AC, the water heater and fireplace would not be available for power assist. Also those items would not be included in the calculation the inverter makes for power assist, so you could end up tripping the breaker outside the rig if you had any of those loads on. My main use for power assist would be friends driveways and generator use, and I would be running the water heater on gas, and I would not need the fireplace and AC at the same time, so should not be an issue there.

Why ditch your SPS if its bought, paid for, and installed? Eliminate a possible point of failure?