Waveshare RS485 to ETH (B)
NOTE: This page is linked to from the setup wizard. Do not remove or rename!
The Waveshare RS485 TO ETH (B) is a cheap but powerful industrial RS485 to ModbusTCP converter, which connects over Ethernet. It has no known limitations, however, you will need to source your own power supply (9V-24V). An easy option is to use a DC-DC Ultra slim Industrial DIN rail converter like the Mean Well DDR-15L-24. There's also a version which supports power-over-ethernet: Waveshare RS485 TO POE ETH (B).
Here you can find the User Manual.
Connect the device to your inverter, see this guide.
You can check if the device has successfully connected to your network by visiting http://192.168.1.200/ (or http://192.168.1.201/) and, if none of these work, please use VirCom (see below) to search for the device first to get the corresponding IP.
The pinout of the device is clearly printed in the front label, you can't mess this up.
You can set-up your device from the web interface (by simply browsing to the IP_ADDRESS of the device) or use the dedicated tool (recommended).
I'll explain how to set it up using the tool. To do so, download the file VirCom_en.rar from here (make sure that the device is hooked up to you home network first), extract it and run the executable.
Windows Defender may ask you to allow VirCom on your network, click Allow access (you'll need to be Admin for this).
You'll be then presented with this interface -> Click on the "Device" tab.
A new window will appear, you'll see your new device listed - Double click on this line.
And finally you are presented with the "Device Settings" window.
OPTIONAL: Right out of the bat, you can consider upgrading the firmware to the latest available at the moment (V1.486 - April 2023). If you so desire, check the appendix at end of this guide (search for the "Firmware Upgrade" appendix).
Now, copy the following settings:
Of course, ignore the IP_ADDRESS I used, you'll have your own. Then click on "More Advanced Settings..." and enable the "Enable RS485 bus conflict detection, set 20ms (or something you're comfortable with).
OPTIONAL: You can also enable the Multi-Host setting, not required for a simple single-inverter installation.
Hit the "OK" button (the Advanced Setting window will now close), and click on the "Modify Settings" button on the "Device Settings" window. Then click on "Restart Dev" and wait for it to restart and become available again, connect to it and verify that all settings have been accepted.
OPTIONAL: Click the "Save As Default" button to make these settings the default ones, this should help you to reconfigure the device in case it will lose its settings (by clicking "Load Default").
[NOTE: It's unclear to me where this settings are stored, so more test is needed to understand this feature completely.]
From the "Device Settings" window, click on the Firmware/Config button (at the bottom). NOTE: You will find these same instructions on page 48-52 of the user manual you can find online (or here)
You will first need to upgrade the "Code file" (aka bin file). Select the "Code file download mode" radio button, this will enable the related subsection, select the bin file using the "..." button on the right (you can download it from here) and press Download button at the bottom.
Then wait about 30 seconds for the device to finish the flashing (LED stops blinking). Now select "Webpage directly download mode" radio button and select the folder containing the files (make sure you actually select the folder containing the files)
Hit Download again. Wait 30 seconds. Restart. Done. (you can verify the new FW has been flashed by going to the "Device Settings" window and check under the "Device Info" section that the "Firmware version" matches the one you just flashed).
This is useful in case you want to protect your settings from being changed by someone else accessing the device on your network.
From the main page. click on the "Modify Key" button, insert old key ("123456") and insert the new one (twice), now hit OK.
Now click on the "More Advanced Settings..." button and select the chechbox for "Modify settings will need key" option, under the "Fuction Selection" section.
Hit OK again, and now press the "Modify Settings" button on the main page to save and exit, you'll be now prompted to insert the new "Key" (aka passkey). From now on you'll need to insert the "Key" whenever you make changes to your settings.
NOTE: The Key is also the password for the web interface login.
Method 1 - After power on, short the NC pin for 5 seconds:
Method 2 - Get the default parameters and modify the settings:
- Clear up confusion on Save/Load Default setting
Guide created by Pietro Pasquero. Thanks to Gianfranco Falco who helped me with this.