New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

SkiDoo55 wrote: »

That's not good. Hope it was close to the same cost as NAWS. Guess ComBox is about a week out? Did they have XW-controller on order. I don' remember seeing the out of stock on it until after your post. Guess that can lag behind actual inventory.

They said the MPPT60's are on back order right now and will be August 21 before they get another 60 controllers in stock. I found a retailer that had one on the shelf in Wyoming.
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Chris

SkiDoo55

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Must still be a very popular seller if they are ordering 60 at a time?

mike95490

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Dave Sparks wrote: »

If it works reliably, If it will allow control of the AUX, a Gen, duplicate the SCP on a large screen, and If it has nothing in common with the Gateway. Really all they needed to do was interface the Config tool out to the internet and allow control of parameters but this may be better. Hopeful.

Does it indeed allow control just like the SCP does, or only remote view of status ?

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

mike95490 wrote: »

Does it indeed allow control just like the SCP does, or only remote view of status ?

The ComBox allows complete control of your system. It has user level access that allows monitoring only, and it has administrator access that allows configuration of your system. It is not even remotely related to the old Gateway. The manual is available for download from Schneider Electric's website:
http://www.schneider-electric.com/products/ww/en/7000-solar-off-grid-and-back-up/7030-monitoring/62089-conext-combox-communication-device/

Read the sections on configuration and monitoring.
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Chris

SkiDoo55

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

From what it says you have remote access to connected devices, from web and android devices. It is web upgradeable and allows firware ugrades to attach devices. Appears very similar in function to the Gateway without a built in display, but you have web access and control. I haven't had any hands on with the SCP or Gateway going on published data. I am getting it mainly for the logging function on my 2 grid tied inverters. There new RS232 Conext View basically sucks if you want to fully monitor more than one inverter. Wish Solar Guppy was still working with this stuff!!

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

SkiDoo55 wrote: »

Must still be a very popular seller if they are ordering 60 at a time?

I would imagine they are quite popular. Schneider sells them all over the world.
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Chris

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

SkiDoo55 wrote: »

There new RS232 Conext View basically sucks if you want to fully monitor more than one inverter.

Pretty much anything that I have ever used that works over RS232 basically sucks.
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Chris

SkiDoo55

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Hsave been using Solar Guppys version SGT View for the last 3 years on my Zantrex GT3.8 and very littly problems and like the information that I got from it. It will not talk to the new Conext TX 3800. Conext View will talk to the Xantrex and will show system totals from the Zanbus. It has a few bugs in it, doesn't log the current AC output on the logging interval (I have 15 Sec) so you can't plot the graph of that, which SGT View did. Also, a bug it does not reset the Peak Wattage output for the day when the inverter restarts in the morning or goes offline at night. Only one instance of the program can run on a pc at one time. SGT View could run multiple instances as long as the settings and logging directories were different for each comm port(Device). There current programming people don't seem motivated in what they put in. Supposedly the bug reports were sent to them, but I don't really expect to see any updates from the 2011 release. Hopefully the ComBox will provide all of the information that I want for performance graphing of the system. Another nice aspect will be that I won't have to have a PC or notebook etc; running to have a full log, as it will log to an SD card on its own and pull files from it. Save about 45 watt notebook running 24/7. @32kWh per month.

mike95490

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

ChrisOlson wrote: »

The ComBox allows complete control of your system. It has user level access that allows monitoring only, and it has administrator access that allows configuration of your system. It is not even remotely related to the old Gateway. The manual is available for download from Schneider Electric's website:
http://www.schneider-electric.com/products/ww/en/7000-solar-off-grid-and-back-up/7030-monitoring/62089-conext-combox-communication-device/

Read the sections on configuration and monitoring.
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Chris

got it downloaded, reading tonight.

Is it backward compatible with the heritage XW, or only Conext line? And then if I hook it up to my router, I can see it anywhere on the property. (router not connected to internet)

My plan is to have a genset this side of the canyon that separates house from power system, and I can adjust charging parameters without having to walk 900' in mud & rain. Just pull a 10 ga romex over the creek on the bridge, and send it into AC1. Still manual starting stuff, but better than a muddy walk.

SkiDoo55

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Hoping it will work with any XanBus device. I have a Xantrex GT inverter I want it to work with. I will know in 1-2 weeks when it gets here.

mike95490

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

SkiDoo55 wrote: »

Hoping it will work with any XanBus device. I have a Xantrex GT inverter I want it to work with. I will know in 1-2 weeks when it gets here.

Waiting to learn the results before I order one.

SkiDoo55

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Will definitly post results about comptability with Zantrx Invverter. Someone else will need to chime in on use with older controllers, inverter's. When I mentioned it to Schneider Tech support they said that it would solve my issue with logging from both? May even to see other mfg devices over it RS485 connection, I am sure that will get reported on also!

Joe_B

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

mike95490 wrote: »

My plan is to have a genset this side of the canyon that separates house from power system, and I can adjust charging parameters without having to walk 900' in mud & rain. Just pull a 10 ga romex over the creek on the bridge, and send it into AC1. Still manual starting stuff, but better than a muddy walk.

Be careful, The Xanbus is only good for something like 150 feet, you will have to make the 900 foot run with the ethernet side of it.

mike95490

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Joe_B wrote: »

Be careful, The Xanbus is only good for something like 150 feet, you will have to make the 900 foot run with the ethernet side of it.

The bridge is only 80'.

And then if I hook it up to my router

then distance does not matter when I have the +20db antenna on the computer.
Argh, it's not self powered from the Xanbus - need a 6 way outlet expander for another wall wart. No "keep alive" function.

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

mike95490 wrote: »

Argh, it's not self powered from the Xanbus - need a 6 way outlet expander for another wall wart. No "keep alive" function.

ComBox is powered from either Xanbus or wall wart or Modbus port. It says in the manual that its normal power consumption is ~2 watts and maximum is 10 watts. I would imagine maximum power consumption is achieved when it is performing duties like emailing or logging, etc., which I would assume takes more CPU clock cycles.
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Chris

mike95490

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

ChrisOlson wrote: »

ComBox is powered from either Xanbus or wall wart or Modbus port. It says in the manual that its normal power consumption is ~2 watts and maximum is 10 watts. I would imagine maximum power consumption is achieved when it is performing duties like emailing or logging, etc., which I would assume takes more CPU clock cycles.
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Chris

Certified / Listed / CE, using a 6.5 mm power plug, 9 - 24 Vdc (universal multi-pin AC adapter included)
Ah, so you can use any one of the power sources, and not just the AC adapter. Looks like I'm still interested, if
it really works with the heritage XW.

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

mike95490 wrote: »

Certified / Listed / CE, using a 6.5 mm power plug, 9 - 24 Vdc (universal multi-pin AC adapter included)
Ah, so you can use any one of the power sources, and not just the AC adapter. Looks like I'm still interested, if
it really works with the heritage XW.

With the XW it will, but not with MPPT's, AGS, or SCP. Only the XW puts out power on Xanbus.
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Chris

NorthGuy

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

ChrisOlson wrote: »

With the XW it will, but not with MPPT's, AGS, or SCP. Only the XW puts out power on Xanbus.

Although it requires some re-wiring, you can power Xanbus from AUX connector on SCC. I've even seen Xantrex paper on how to do that. You can do the same from wall wart.

Chances are that if you power ComBox with wall wart, it'll pass the power to Xanbus.

Dave Angelini

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

NorthGuy wrote: »

Although it requires some re-wiring, you can power Xanbus from AUX connector on SCC. I've even seen Xantrex paper on how to do that. You can do the same from wall wart.

Chances are that if you power ComBox with wall wart, it'll pass the power to Xanbus.

Definitely true! The low and high voltage charge controllers will power xanbus devices from their aux output. There is a limit but easily will power a scp, ags, or the new combox

SkiDoo55

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Received ComBox tonight. The ZanBus on GT/TX inverters does provide enough power to operate the ComBox.

It works with the older Zantrex GT Inverter. Will see how the logging function works.

Pretty simple plug in and follow a few steps to get the web browser up and play with the settings. Will enable the reporting etc as I go along.. My system is pretty straight forward, 2 GT inverters.

qaggaz

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Does the combox support a gateway function between third-party modbus/RTU devices hanging off of the RS485 bus and the modbus/TCP provided on the Ethernet port?

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

SkiDoo55 wrote: »

Received ComBox tonight. The ZanBus on GT/TX inverters does provide enough power to operate the ComBox.
Pretty simple plug in and follow a few steps to get the web browser up and play with the settings. Will enable the reporting etc as I go along.. My system is pretty straight forward, 2 GT inverters.

ComBox on a off-grid XW Power System. This little Samsung Galaxy 5 x 7" screen tablet computer running Android operating system sets on a stand on top of our microwave. It has completely replaced the SCP for our daily interaction with our power system. It is touch screen and when I come in for lunch, with just a couple flicks of my finger on the screen I can instantly see what our power consumption is for the day, the week, the month and the year. I can see when our highest and lowest loads occurred. I can compare today's data with yesterdays by placing them on the same graph, or even compare today's data with the same day last year, if I want. Or compare month by month. Or compare loads vs PV harvest, loads vs generator output, etc..

This is our new touchscreen SCP:



This screen tells me at a glance that we burned off 20 kWh today and 74.9 of 'em this week:



Kristin decided to do "power laundry" where she uses both the clothesline and the clothes dryer at the same time to keep the washing machine going at full load. So this screen tells me that the genset produced 8 kWh and ran 3 hours, 45 minutes and 22 seconds, and that we've used 14.7 kWh from the genset this week and 25.8 kWh this month:



System control? I can go to Canada and as long as I have an internet connection with either a PC and a web browser, or a mobile Android device with the ComBox App in it, I can log in on our system with VPN back in Wisconsin and start or stop the generator from Ontario, Canada. Could do it from Australia too. But I don't think the fishing is as good in Australia so I have no reason to go there.

Oh yeah, it emails you daily System Yield Reports that include energy that went to loads, energy from PV harvest, energy into and out of the battery, and all the grid energy stuff (if you have grid). It also has Custom Logging features and can upload your Custom Logs to your website with FTP. If something goes wrong with the system it drops you an email to let you know about it, including a description of what the problem is.

People wondering about the firmware? You can update the firmware in any of your Xanbus devices with it right from your PC, without even getting out of your Easy Chair - the old "dongle" Firmware Implanter is now obsolete.

The ComBox also makes my several years worth of spreadsheet power logs pretty much obsolete, does it automatically without having to have a PC running, and way, way more complete information than I could keep with spreadsheet logs.

It probably does stuff I haven't even figured out how to use yet. It works. And it's really nice. I mean REALLY nice. There ain't anybody else that's even got anything close to it.
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Chris

Joe_B

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Yup, Chris is right. I have one running on my system and all the computers in my house can simultaneously monitor and control every aspect of the system. I still have my SCP but it has become redundant. I will keep it on the network but it really is not needed for control. The combox also has a SIM card slot as well as a USB port that supports a thumb drive. It is good to see that Schneider has taken this to the next level.

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Joe_B wrote: »

The combox also has a SIM card slot as well as a USB port that supports a thumb drive.

What's the SIM slot? You mean the little microSD card? I put a 2GB card in mine and it appears the ComBox stores your Custom Logs on it. You can download the Custom Logs with your web browser (they are CSV). I haven't tried pulling the card out and see what it looks like on a PC. But my ComBox says I have over 10 years of data logging capacity. LOL!

Attachment not found.

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Chris

Joe_B

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Yes, micro SD. I have not installed the card yet so I am looking forward to seeing how flexible the system can get by customizing logs. If the card is not installed, you cannot access that part of the software. So I am off to the store to get a 2GB card. Chris, you are way ahead of me!

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

I stuck one in mine before I even started it up. The options for the Custom Logs are pretty extensive. I log once a minute and seems to be plenty of resolution for data analysis or graphing in Excel, etc.

Near as I have figured out, the ComBox seems to collect data for one hour, then at the end of the hour it averages or tallies the data, depending on what graph or screen it's displayed on. So hourly logging in your Custom Logs would be redundant IMHO because I haven't found anything the ComBox really misses as far as its built-in logging.

So I set my Custom Logs to log once a minute for now to see how it works. After I get more used to the ComBox and figure out what I would like to Custom Log, and how I would like the data collected, then I'll make a more permanent settings to the Custom Logs.

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Chris

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

Joe_B wrote: »

Yup, Chris is right. I have one running on my system and all the computers in my house can simultaneously monitor and control every aspect of the system. I still have my SCP but it has become redundant

I wondered about that. It really looks to me like if you put in a new XW/SW system that you don't need the SCP. Just get a ComBox instead. The ComBox does everything the SCP does, with way more information available in an easier to use format. It might be nice to have a SCP in your power or utility room for things. But I think on a day to day basis the web interface in your PC or an Android tablet will be all most people would use thru the ComBox.

The ComBox also has Network Time in it. It contacts a time server on the internet and it sets and syncs the system clocks in all your Xanbus devices. There's a warning in the manual about not hooking it to Xanbus until you properly set the time in the ComBox. Because once you hook it up, if the time is off, it will reset all the clocks in your Xanbus stuff to the incorrect time, and it could cause the generator to start, or on grid-power, draw grid power when it's not supposed to, etc..

On Android, the App automatically detects and figures out what IP address the ComBox has and connects to it. On the PC you have to run the Discovery Tool so your web browser can find it. I set my ComBox to static IP on our home network, so I never used the Discovery Tool. For people who use DHCP you would have to use the Discovery Tool to find it on a PC.

We do not have wired ethernet in our home network - only wireless. But we have a network switch in the utility room that our Classics were hooked to that is in turned plugged into our wireless router with a 100 foot Cat5. I plugged the ComBox into a port in the switch that the Classics are plugged into, and it "just worked".
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Chris

NorthGuy

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

ChrisOlson wrote: »

I wondered about that. It really looks to me like if you put in a new XW/SW system that you don't need the SCP. Just get a ComBox instead. The ComBox does everything the SCP does, with way more information available in an easier to use format.

And it costs less ...

ChrisOlson

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

NorthGuy wrote: »

And it costs less ...

Yeah. I don't know how they can sell it for only $211. It's more comprehensive, as far as logging, than my APRS system that keeps CSV's on a SD card. I never added all the bells and whistles to the APRS (just using it for wind logging) because you can spend in the thousands on APRS stuff and still not have what the ComBox does. But ComBox does require a Conext/Xantrex system for it to work. APRS will work with other systems.

The ComBox has Modbus port on it. I don't know anything about Modbus really. I skimmed over that part in the manual and it said something about Modbus master/slave and whatnot. Since I don't know about it, and don't need it, I plugged the Modbus plug that comes with it into the Modbus port and just not using it. It also has a 4 amp, 24V dry contact relay port in it with C, NO and NC terminals. Haven't figure out what to use that for yet either. So I stuck the plug that comes with it into the dry contact relay port with no wires hooked up until I figure out what to use it for.
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Chris

mike95490

Re: New SW and XW communication "Conext ComBox

I ordered mine Tuesday this week, and wind-sun called me back and said it's going to be a week before they get any more in.

Anyone know how it handles Daylight Savings Time? Does it auto switch, or manual ? I don't have internet, just an Android phone with a hot spot, I guess I can connect it to that, with it's powersupply hooked up, and then connect the Xanbus after it gets the time. The SCP or something, seems to have a battery backed up clock, for total shutdowns, ComBox have anything like that ? If it did "broadcast the wrong time to the net, will it update with the right time at some point, or is it a done-once thing ?