Solar Assistant

[rs50pilot]

I'm glad someone's works. I can't get mine to read rosie. Working on it with SA.

I have been working with SA on this issue and doing a lot of testing. I am thinking of a couple possibilities here

1- You used the included USB to serial cable not the special USB to CAN? SA includes a cable that looks very similar to the USB to CAN with the device but itis USB to serial
2- The termination is not correct in some way either the pinout or maybe a strand of wire got across the pin 4 and 5?

If you are confident on both fronts here is what I would do:
1- With SA cable unplugged from CANBUS and SA box go to USER--> MNGP2--> CANBUS STATISTICS
2- While watching the failed packet counter at the bottom plug in JUST the CANBUS end of the cable. Does the Failed packet count start going up quickly?

If so I suspect either a bad cable or something in the crimp. It is entirely possible the cable could be bad in the can transceiver area for sure but this would rule a few things out

I did purchase the cable from SA.
I initially wired it as shown.  As soon as I plugged it into the MNPG2 I get thousands of errors.

I reversed CAN hi and low, plugged it in, NO errors and it didn't work. TX RX issue I suppose, but wanted to try incase I was looking at the picture wrong. 

I just went and unplugged the blue terminator and got no errors?  I that supposed to be right? Since the CAN bus is open, shouldn't it throw an error?

Next I crimped another end on with the wires as they are supposed to be,  plugged into the MNPG2 only and no errors, once I plug into the PI, instant errors again.

I have been running my SA site for 3 years now, so it is not new.  I can see my batteries just fine, however Rosie NO LIKEY it . 

I have contacted SA and they don't have an answer yet.  My Rosie has been acting strange and shutting herself off for no good reason. After the latest update, she has been fine for now, so not sure if there is something in her that doesn't want to be monitored

Just a note, the RJ45 terminals they send with the cable are a pain.  Very hard to see where the wires go.  Would be nice for older eyes if they sent it the pass through style or just a plain flat stacked end.  That is beside the point. 

Hopefully someone can figure this out.  I see it does work,  maybe it's because I live in CA..  pretty bad when your inverter doesn't even want to live in this State.  I will be gone soon, thank God.

Based on what FNG posted, have you tried unplugging all other SA monitored hardware & just have Rosie plugged in?  I'm sure you know, but be sure you have SA in BETA mode for software download.  The Rosie data is not in the stable release yet, so you must REQUEST the BETA software option and download/install it once SA makes it available to you.

Dave

I've only installed the beta software that I can get from SA and for Rosie that are posted.  I did not get any "special" software.

[aaapilot]

Hey rs50pilot, I didn't say 'special' software, I said Beta.  SA gives you a choice of running either their latest Stable software or the current Beta software.  The Beta version contains the updated code for the Rosie, so if you are running the Beta, check that the date of the Beta matches their current release, then you are good to go from the SA side.  As for Midnite Firmware, I'm not running ANY Beta version.  I run the latest Production firmware for the MNGP2, Rosie, and HB.  This combination works for me and I'm able to see Rosie data on my SA site.  As I was setting up my system, I also got some bad data.  I re-downloaded the latest SA Beta software and made sure I cycled the power.  Once I did that, everything worked as stated.  Hope you can work out the bugs

Dave

[rs50pilot]

Right on AAApilot. I've had SA for the last 4 or 5 years. I was just making sure I didn't miss anything.  I have all the tools, it just doesn't work for me for some reason.  Story of my life.

[FNG]

Hey rs50pilot, I didn't say 'special' software, I said Beta.  SA gives you a choice of running either their latest Stable software or the current Beta software.  The Beta version contains the updated code for the Rosie, so if you are running the Beta, check that the date of the Beta matches their current release, then you are good to go from the SA side.  As for Midnite Firmware, I'm not running ANY Beta version.  I run the latest Production firmware for the MNGP2, Rosie, and HB.  This combination works for me and I'm able to see Rosie data on my SA site.  As I was setting up my system, I also got some bad data.  I re-downloaded the latest SA Beta software and made sure I cycled the power.  Once I did that, everything worked as stated.  Hope you can work out the bugs

Dave

I think to add to this, there are two steps:
1- Accept the beta program on the SA
2- Download the software and update the device

I think its important to note that just accepting the beta program does not automatically install the firmware.

[Brucey]

When I updated to the SA beta in December the inverter dropdown showed Midnite Rosie.

With the latest January update it now shows as Midnight Solar, maybe to cover the 12k aio?

I wish they would sell a preterminated and tested usb to canbus cable still struggling to get a good crimp on the diy they sell.

[FNG]

When I updated to the SA beta in December the inverter dropdown showed Midnite Rosie.

With the latest January update it now shows as Midnight Solar, maybe to cover the 12k aio?

I wish they would sell a preterminated and tested usb to canbus cable still struggling to get a good crimp on the diy they sell.

They did tell me they would offer the pre crimped cable. If they dont offer it soon we may offer it ourselves as I believe most of the difficulty will be in the termination

[rs50pilot]

$40 for a cable I have to have a tool to terminate is pricey, but I bought it.

Buy some pass through rj45 ends. You will know that you have the in the proper spot.

I've tried everything that I can. Still doesn't work.

Hopefully my Rosie will learn to play nice.

[sjanzou]

$40 for a cable I have to have a tool to terminate is pricey, but I bought it.

Buy some pass through rj45 ends. You will know that you have the in the proper spot.

I've tried everything that I can. Still doesn't work.

Hopefully my Rosie will learn to play nice.

rs50 pilot - same issue here! I have tested the SA CAN bus cable for stray strands as Ryan suggested - none. Plug cable in and no CAN bus errors. Plug into SA and thousands of errors. I tried various ports in the CAN bus chain with no success.

I have contacted SA and waiting for reply.

For reference, two stacked Rosies, two HB 120s and three PF16s.

Hopefully, there will be another SA beta update or some Rosie firmware update to address some of the CAN bus issues.

Good luck!

[FNG]

If you are having issues with this please email me a couple items: an image of the configuration page showing the bottom section (I dont need your site info) and your location geographically. Please email me fresh even if we are already corresponding

What I am contemplating at this time is ordering several cables and crimping them and testing here. Than doing a RMA and swapping cables with you to prove out the cable. This most certainly points to cabling issues as I dont know how firmware would work for most but not for some. To me it smells like bad cables either in the crimp area or physically defective in the can processor area

Ryan@midnitesolar.com

[sjanzou]

So, solar assistant tech support told me:

"We would appreciate if you can test powering the Orange Pi 3 LTS using any android charger that is 5v and 3A with a USB type C connection instead of using the DC power supply that came with it. We are at a stage of trying to test what might be causing this unexpected can bus error messages when the cable is connected to the Pi."

I tested with the android charger and got the same results
- no errors when only the SA can bus cable plugged in
- about 10 errors a second when the USB end of the SA cable plugged into any USB port on the Orange Pi.

[Brucey]

So, solar assistant tech support told me:

"We would appreciate if you can test powering the Orange Pi 3 LTS using any android charger that is 5v and 3A with a USB type C connection instead of using the DC power supply that came with it. We are at a stage of trying to test what might be causing this unexpected can bus error messages when the cable is connected to the Pi."

I tested with the android charger and got the same results
- no errors when only the SA can bus cable plugged in
- about 10 errors a second when the USB end of the SA cable plugged into any USB port on the Orange Pi.

I'm using the SA pi 5 and their ac to dc adaptor and same problem. Haven't engaged support yet though. Running latest beta firmware on mngp2, Rosie and hawkes bay.

[FNG]

I ordered a pile of the Solar Assistant cables to start crimping them and testing them to ship out. EVERY one of them did the same thing you are all seeing. I shared my findings with SA last night and we are all in agreement they have a mix of good and bad CAN cables.

I have a variety of easy to get USB to CAN adapters coming over the weekend and as soon as I can prove out one of these I will post a link to the one I verified and a wiring diagram.

Sorry for the hassle on this one

[Brucey]

I ordered a pile of the Solar Assistant cables to start crimping them and testing them to ship out. EVERY one of them did the same thing you are all seeing. I shared my findings with SA last night and we are all in agreement they have a mix of good and bad CAN cables.

I have a variety of easy to get USB to CAN adapters coming over the weekend and as soon as I can prove out one of these I will post a link to the one I verified and a wiring diagram.

Sorry for the hassle on this one

Thanks for getting to the bottom of it, ideally just an adaptor/cable that's already terminated.

[butterflyvalley]

I'm having the same issue with SA.
A response yesterday from the SA team:

"this is actually something we are aware of and are working with the Midnite team to address it. It looks like this is an issue with the inverter recognizing and remembering the cable, it is not a hardware issue but rather it is an issue with their software. Some users have reported the issues going away after leaving the cable plugged into the inverter for a while without clicking connect, then when they click connect after leaving it for a weekend it suddenly starts working. Others have reported that a specific series of steps forced the inverter out of the error, but we have not found a reliable way to replicate these steps. Please feel free to contact the Midnite Solar support team directly regarding this, since they are taking charge in the matter. Otherwise, we hope they will have a patch released for the inverters that will address the issue soon."

[FNG]

It turns out after a LOT of investigating the actual USB to CAN cable Solar Assistant sells is the issue. I went through methodical testing here and proved the issue. The Cable needs to learn it is OK to work (I know this is not the engineering definition but)

I made a dozen cables work here and have successfully sent some out to users that then could just plug them in. I also received a new PI and tested that it works. We also tested on a virgin Midnite system and it worked so my conclusion is this:

The Original SA USB to CAN cables have some bug that causes them to crash the canbus until they are taught once what to do. I can not explain why just that this is what I found.

I also successfully tested two new cables with good success, the one from Amazon worked flawlessly and I will do a paper on it soon. If you are currently experiencing this issue I am happy to swap cables with you and get you online email me ryan@midnitesolar.com