Is using the inverter's LAN port an option in the future?

[andrewmooreio]

Hi @nathanmarlor.

I currently have Energy Management setup using the FoxESS Cloud integration, however it's proven to be fairly unreliable. For example, my battery didn't charge last night because the FoxESS API was unavailable, meaning I'm running off the grid this morning until the sun comes up. I also use Chris' FoxESS Modbus integration via direct LAN into the inverter, and it's far more reliable.

• I see you recently added Modbus support to EM, but the readme mentions the direct LAN isn't supported. Is this something that will be possible in the future? If not, I'll plan to install a W610.
• Slight tangent, but I see you have also written your own FoxESS Modbus integration recently, how does this compare to the one linked above?

Many thanks in advance.

[nathanmarlor]

Hi @andrewmooreio

Interesting that it didn't charge - I recently inverted the logic so that the charge periods are set on permanently, and turned off if not required at the start of the off-peak. This was done to 'fail safe' and ensure a full charge upon failure of the Fox cloud. Happy to take a look at last night's logs if you have them available (settings -> system -> logs). Can you also include a screenshot of the devices overview page showing average load etc.

In terms of modbus integration vs. the original it was written to improve performance and upgrades. The original integration reads ~40 registers sequentially in a ~5 second poll which eventually overloads HA and causes some nasty hangs on startup/shutdown. The new integration reads 8 registers at a time (that's all the inverter will allow), which significantly improves things. Upgrades are now controlled through HACS semi-automatically which means new registers, improved logic etc are delivered without needing to wrangle yaml etc.

Hope this helps!

[Captain0Kangaroo]

Sorry to jump in here but I'm currently using the original modbus version and would like to give yours a go and see how it works out.

2 questions:

Is it ok to run them side by side to test it out?

And if I make the switch is it possible to retain all my data by using the same sensors etc? I really don't want to loose my energy data.

[nathanmarlor]

@Captain0Kangaroo I wouldn't advise running them side by side as you'll be overloading the W610 even further. The easiest migration route is to comment out the modbus configuration entries, reboot HA, confirm your sensors show as below (the native modbus integration has released the sensor - expect a different name) then follow the standard HACS install. The sensors are named identically so once the new integration fires up all of your history etc. will be retained.

[andrewmooreio]

Thanks a lot @nathanmarlor. I may have been too quick to blame FoxESS for the failure last night, as the API error might not quite line up with the charging window (00:30-04:30). Looking at the calendar, it shows 0 kWh scheduled for charging last night. So it looks like the prediction was off instead of a failure to charge. I'm on 1.6.3, yet to update to 1.7.0.

[nathanmarlor]

Ah, I think I know what's going on here. You're not on the latest inverter version? It fails to set the charge current through the cloud so then fails to set min SoC etc subsequently. I fixed this in v1.7.0 :)

[andrewmooreio]

My inverter firmware versions are as follows:

• Master : 1.54
• Slave : 1.02
• Manager : 1.57

Not sure what the latest is, but it was updated not that long ago. I'll make sure to upgrade EM to v1.7.0.

[nathanmarlor]

Wrt LAN registers - it's unlikely these will be discovered any time soon so I'd advise going down the 485 route. Interestingly the performance of the W610 has been proven to be a little sketchy of late, others have had some great success with the Waveshare devices -> https://thepihut.com/products/industrial-serial-server-rs485-to-rj45-ethernet

I've just ordered the PoE version from their site and am awaiting delivery. @FozzieUK knows more :)

[Captain0Kangaroo]

I'm guessing my only option is to stay as I am or rip out the old one and start again loosing my data?

[nathanmarlor]

@Captain0Kangaroo you could try setting the 'friendly name' to 'fox_modbus', this will prefix all sensors with that.

[nathanmarlor]

@FozzieUK

Just tried what you suggested (comment out the old include modbuslan.yaml) and then installed via HACS but non of my data worked:

Any ideas?

Just looked closer at this - the sensors aren't prefixed with fox_modbus?

[Captain0Kangaroo]

@FozzieUK

Just tried what you suggested (comment out the old include modbuslan.yaml) and then installed via HACS but non of my data worked:

Any ideas?

Just looked closer at this - the sensors aren't prefixed with fox_modbus?

No... this was a beta version that I installed back in May before it was launched so sensors are named differently.

I'm a bit stuck 🙈

[andrewmooreio]

Hi @FozzieUK. Would you mind sharing your Waveshare RS485 > RJ45 settings please? Mine has arrived and I can't get it to work.

Testing with modpoll I get a timeout:

./modpoll -m tcp -p 4196 -a 247 -t 3 -0 -1 -c 16 -r 11000 172.16.1.36
modpoll 3.10 - FieldTalk(tm) Modbus(R) Master Simulator
Copyright (c) 2002-2021 proconX Pty Ltd
Visit https://www.modbusdriver.com for Modbus libraries and tools.

Protocol configuration: MODBUS/TCP, FC4
Slave configuration...: address = 247, start reference = 11000 (PDU), count = 16
Communication.........: 172.16.1.36, port 4196, t/o 1.00 s, poll rate 1000 ms
Data type.............: 16-bit register, input register table

-- Polling slave...
Reply time-out!

The Waveshare is running firmware v1.452. I've upped the instruction timeout to 5 seconds, hoping that would help, but it didn't.

Thanks in advance.

[FozzieUK]

@andrewmooreio sure, here you go - I use default modbus port of 502

[FozzieUK]

I also used the Vir Com application which also lets you get to the advanced settings (although I think the webpage might default these)

[andrewmooreio]

Thanks! Did you change anything in the advanced settings via Vircom? I've matched your settings exactly through the web interface, and I'm still getting a timeout.

Perhaps it is dodgy RS485 wiring, I'll check and report back.

[FozzieUK]

@andrewmooreio - the Inverter has to be connected via RS485 or it will reply timeout - is this the first time you've connected your inverter by RS485? - if so you must make sure the RS485A goes to RS485A and 485B to 485B, a common mistake is to wire it to the wrong pins should be pins 3 & 4 (not 1 & 2)

[andrewmooreio]

'Twas my dodgy wiring, thanks for the suggestion. Everything was in the right pins, just not seated properly.