smartevse v 3 and sensorbox plus ?

[jaroslawp]

Just purchased 2 smartevse's v 3 - wonderful product !

However I seem to have a slight issue with sensorbox plus connected to these: while it blinks orange (quick) which would mean it measures the current being draw from the grid .. nothing seems to be reported to smartevse: shows 0A (all three values, I am on single phase). (well .. dont know if it is really measuring anything since if I disconnect CT from it ... it still blinks same way...)

Data cable is connected A-A-A / B-B-B / GND-GND-GND (sensorbox - evse 1 - evse 2) and 12V-12V (sensorbox - evse 1) as described in manual .

Any idea what can be wrong and how to debug this issue further ?

Thanks!

[jaroslawp]

Upon closer examination it seems (any way to confirm ?) that the modbus communication between 2 smartevse's (1 master , 1 slave) does not work: car charging starts OK on master but on slave it is always in state 'Request State B' .. "forever" - swapping master/slave roles - same, both work OK when master/slave mode is disabled.

[jaroslawp]

... and after some more examination: apparently connecting a button to slave smartevse and setting it to be used as solar/smart switch (and pressing it couple of times ..) .. is not a good idea: once I set the button on slave to be disabled and after power-cycling both master and slave both units communicate OK, smart/solar charging works as expected and the communication with sensorbox seems to work too (if I disconnect the bus on it I see comm. errors as expected). However it still does not read any current - 0 A .. perhaps the CT I received is faulty...

I think it would be useful to include in the manual the information that no button shall be connected to slave unit(s) ? or perhaps this menu option can be deactivated for slave(s) as other options are ?

[jaroslawp]

One more observation after experimenting further: I somehow managed to break master-slave communication while changing options / testing things: had to reflash the firmware to get it back - maybe a 'reset to factory defaults' option on the config menu could be an useful addition ?

[mstegen]

Hi, let's start with the CT measurements.

Did you clamp the CT around the Phase wire only, or both the phase and neutral? The CT should be clamped on only the phase wire. And should be connected to the wire coming out of your electricity meter. (it should be able to measure everything the house consumes)

You can test the functionality of the CT clamp by then switching on a large load (like a water heater) The measured total current should now be visible on the SmartEVSE display.

Ref the button, yes it should be used on the master only for now. This will change in the next software update however. Then a Node can also switch all controllers between Solar and Smart Mode.

[jaroslawp]

Hello, Yes the CT is on phase wire only close to elec. meter (I have two other CT clamps on same wire connected to different systems , both work).

[jaroslawp]

.. so most of the issues were related to defunct CT clamp: after installing new one (thanks for fast delivery!) that is solved now!