Cannot reconfigure my ECM 1240s (serial RX works, serial TX doesnt?)

[marcmerlin]

Howdy,

I have 2 ECM 1240s that are over 10 years old

I have an old windows 2k VM with your now ancient softwware on it (2.29) . I only ever used that VM to reconfigure the CT info.

Both ECMs share a ground wire but have their own send/receive wires and I get their data on 2 different serial ports on my linux computer, which then logs it and does the rest (ecmread.py)

I added solar panels, so I changed my CT config, but I cannot get the windows software to send anything to the ECMs.
- Open port works, I see packets received and real time data
- stop realtime doesn't work
- discover CMD byte returns 0 (although it should be FC since ECMs do
not share the same serial data line)
- read setup doesn't work since apparently no data is being sent

I tried to use a different PL2303 serial to usb adapter with just 3 wires (I use those for microcontrollers) and connected them directly to the ECM1240, and there too I can receive data, but not send.

Any idea what could be wrong? obviously this used to work many years back since I did use that windows VM to configure the ECMs.

Thanks,
Marc

[ben]

Howdy,

I have 2 ECM 1240s that are over 10 years old

I have an old windows 2k VM with your now ancient softwware on it (2.29) . I only ever used that VM to reconfigure the CT info.

Both ECMs share a ground wire but have their own send/receive wires and I get their data on 2 different serial ports on my linux computer, which then logs it and does the rest (ecmread.py)

I added solar panels, so I changed my CT config, but I cannot get the windows software to send anything to the ECMs.
- Open port works, I see packets received and real time data
- stop realtime doesn't work
- discover CMD byte returns 0 (although it should be FC since ECMs do
not share the same serial data line)
- read setup doesn't work since apparently no data is being sent

I tried to use a different PL2303 serial to usb adapter with just 3 wires (I use those for microcontrollers) and connected them directly to the ECM1240, and there too I can receive data, but not send.

Any idea what could be wrong? obviously this used to work many years back since I did use that windows VM to configure the ECMs.

Thanks,
Marc

Discover CMD Byte should only be for wireless units. The ECM-1240s should have their serial command bytes labelled at the back.

Can you check to see if it does?

[marcmerlin]

Hi @ben, it says FC which is the default, but I tried all 4 bytes, didn't seem like anything was going through.
Is there a way to check if the ECM is actually receiving data over serial, or does it look for the magic byte first and ignores everything until it sees said magic byte?

[ben]

Hi @ben, it says FC which is the default, but I tried all 4 bytes, didn't seem like anything was going through.
Is there a way to check if the ECM is actually receiving data over serial, or does it look for the magic byte first and ignores everything until it sees said magic byte?

The command bytes are used for addressing when multiple ECM-1240s are over the same serial line. It checks the byte first to direct traffic.

We've had issues with Prolific cables in the past scrambling incoming/outgoing bytes.

[marcmerlin]

The command bytes are used for addressing when multiple ECM-1240s are over the same serial line. It checks the byte first to direct traffic.
We've had issues with Prolific cables in the past scrambling incoming/outgoing bytes.

Yep, I know about the Fx commands used to direct to which device if multiple were sharing the same cable. I ran a cat-5 cable, so my 2 ECMs get their own wires, no issues there.

Looks like your guess was correct, the PL2303 may have been the issue. My w2k VM is so old that installing new USB serial drivers on it is "hard", but I was able to run a 100ft Cat-5E cable to the single windows computer left in the house (not a laptop) and when I plugged to the actual serial port on the MB, it still didn't work (not even receiving signal, maybe it was too faint), but when I used a usb keyspan adapter, I was able to send and receive data.

Ok, so two questions left:

1) my channel 2 has 2 small donut CTs connected to my new solar panels. I put them in parallel with some small resistor that was already there because I used to have another donut (single, not double) on that port before.
Currently CH2 says type 131, range 6.
I know the reading isn't quite correct, if I have the real amp reading from the inverter, which number do I adjust until the readings match?

2) I'd like to reset the channel2 counter only. Is there a way to reset it to 0 without touching the other counters?

[ben]

1) my channel 2 has 2 small donut CTs connected to my new solar panels. I put them in parallel with some small resistor that was already there because I used to have another donut (single, not double) on that port before.
Currently CH2 says type 131, range 6.

I know the reading isn't quite correct, if I have the real amp reading from the inverter, which number do I adjust until the readings match?

CH1 or CH2:

Requires a 4.99 ohm resistor connected to the COM and DUAL terminals
All CTs and resistor must be connected in parallel to the COM and DUAL terminals

SETTING: Type:169 Range: 4

All the settings are here for reference if you ever need them: https://brultech.com/software/files/dow ... ttings.pdf

2) I'd like to reset the channel2 counter only. Is there a way to reset it to 0 without touching the other counters?

There's only a global reset unfortunately.

If any settings are resetting on power cycle you may have to upgrade the F/W to 1.035, it's available at https://brultech.com/software/files/getsoft/1/2