Setting up your RS485 to Wifi Adaptor v1.5


How to get started with your RS485 to Wifi adaptor

First off thank you for your purchase! the latest version is an evolution of the previous adaptor with a different take with regards to the connectivity and posting data to logging platforms.

Flashing

Before flashing ensure the device is unplugged from the charge controller.

If you have purchased the RS485-WiFi adaptor with a wemos D1 mini it shall be pre-flashed, if however you are using your own Wemos D1 mini or wish to upgrade to the latest version you shell need to download the latest firmware and flashing tool.

The latest firmware is available here

The flashing tool is available here

The flashing tool is provided by ESP-home team and is a great utility for flashing binary files to Wemos devices. Select the version which is appropriate for your Operating System.

The software does not need to be installed and you just need to launch the program.

Once launched select the serial port which was created when the Wemos was plugged into your computer and then browse to the update file which you have downloaded. Once the software is configured select “Flash ESP” which shall upload the code to the wemos and output a successful message to the Console window.

Connecting

You shall need to use a standard RJ45 network cable, make sure it’s not a crossover.

Once it’s connected you shall need to connect and configure your WiFi so the adaptor can connect to your network.  I am using my phone and on searching for networks you shall see a new network called RS485-Wifi : –

On connecting the next step shall depend on the phone/laptop OS your using to connect. On an android phone it should prompt that the connection needs to be configured and will take you straight to the wifi configuration page. If this does not happen you can go to the confiugration page by opening a browser and manually enter the ip address http:/192.168.4.1 note on most devices you won’t need to enter the http://

Once connected you shall see the connection screen which details the Wifi configuration manager page. You can select “Configure WiFi” to enter your credentials details.

Here you shall be presented with a list of networks it has found

To configure your network you shall need to select your network and then input your WiFi password. The device then shall try connecting to the WiFi network you selected, if it is unable to do so it shall once again go back to the default configuration and you can re-enter your password if you made a tying mistake. Once it is successfully connected you shall need to find the IP address it has selected (this can be found on your home router)

You can then browse to the ip address and shall be presented with the following page showing the current live statistics of the charge controller

If you wish to have the device post the data to either an MQTT server or influxDB server you can do this via the settings tab.

Here you can enter the details and enable the relevant service. The device will post the change controller statistics every 60 seconds.

From here you can also control the load on the device .

18 thoughts on “Setting up your RS485 to Wifi Adaptor v1.5”

  1. Odysseas Sourailidis

    Hi Colin
    Well done for the great work. I recently ordered from you the latest (Epever RS485 to wifi adaptor v1.5) And have two questions
    1) is it gonna work on the latest Epever Upower Inverter?
    2) if you are about to post any manual for how to set it up on mobile device or on a laptop.
    Thank you

    1. Hi, I have only used the adaptor on the charge controllers and its made specifically for the data they generate. I could possibly modify the code to make it work providing the hardware interface is the same but sadly i do not have an EPEver inverter.

      I shall be providing a manual which shows the setup procedure for the board which should be out in the next day or two.

      Kind Regards
      Colin

  2. Hi Colin
    Wery nice job done on both HW and SW!
    mqtt works fine, I am looking forward to getting communication to influxDB to work as well.
    two small issues:
    – The Battery SOC (Status Of Charge) is shown on the web page as fx. 64.00v, (I think it is constant). I belive the value is given from the solarcontroller in %.
    – would it be possble to have volt and ampere marked on the webpage as capital letter, in V and A? (just for making it complient to the SI system πŸ™‚ )

    by the way, I have an Epever MPPT Tracer1210, please let me know if I can help in testing software…
    Best Regards
    Niels

    1. Thankyou for the kind words and i’ll look at the SOC issue and can make the changes you’ve mentioned. I’ll get a video out this week showing the mqtt/influxdb usage and will also be popping things onto github soon also.

  3. Niels Lindbo Larsen

    that sound great! πŸ™‚
    update about SOC, the number is now correct, not constant as i wrote before. I have restartet the device some times.
    I have notised that it is much easier to uptain a ip address, with 5V on the wemos (connection to a pc), after the connection is established, I can disconnect the pc, and live on the RS485 supply.

    1. Great the SOC is now appearing, i have also modified the v and a to be capital now.

      Re the programming, thanks for the heads up as that may help others. With the two charge controllers i have here it works no problem programming it while powered from the charge controller but will make a note.

  4. Niels Lindbo Larsen

    Will the new version of the wemos software be available via the link on this site?

    1. Hi Niels, the link which is in the instructions for flashing always point to the latest version. I made the changes regarding V and A.

      1. Niels Lindbo Larsen

        Hi Colin
        I can see the corrections, thanks. but still Battery SOC is i V, it should be in %. and “Load Amps” is in “a” and Wattage on Live Dataa is still in lower case “w”.
        Every thing else is absolutly perfect πŸ™‚

  5. Hi Colin!
    I was really impressed by this unit when i saw Adam Welch presentation of it on You Tube. What i understand it also going to work with Home Assistant? If this is correct, this unit is what i have been searching for a long time.

    The only problem for me is that i use the latest Epever XTRA 3210AN charger controller with the common negative. What i understand this unit doesn’t work with the common negative charge controllers?

    Do you have any plans to make it work with charge controllers with common negative?

  6. What a nice device and software! Thank you so much for making this. I followed the instructions above, and voila, there it is, the controller information!

  7. Hi Colin
    Purchased the RS485-WiFi adaptor with a wemos D1 mini be pre-flashed.
    Connected to my EPEVER 3210AN, configured WiFi etc and all working great.
    Fast forward a few weeks and the stats will no longer load. Unplugged etc. but still no joy.
    Initially started to return HTTP 204 status code (no content) but now returning HTTP 500 status code (internal server error).
    Adaptor has static IP address and exposes port 80 but doesn’t want to serve any stats.
    Is there any trouble shooting I can try to resolve?

    1. Hi Nigel, My apologies for the delay in responding. As a first step i would try reflashing the device to start a fresh and rule out software issues. I am currently updating all my instructions and the latest versions can be found at https://docs.eplop.co.uk/ The webflash is the easiest to try first but if it does not work there are instructions on how to perform it manually with an application.

      Kind Regards
      Colin

  8. Hey great pce of kit
    I have connected it to the WiFi, but ca t find it as a device in router , what is it saved under
    And can you access it away from home via a mobile phone
    Lee

    1. Hi Lee yes the device web page can be viewed from your phone. Regarding how to access it if after going through the configuration successfully, you will need to check on your router to see what IP address it has been assigned. This process is different per router so i can’t give exact instructions unfortunately. If the device has not been able to connect to your wifi succesfully it should fall back into AP mode and advertise itself as a WiFi access point, if this is the case then run through the configuration again and double the check the credentials.
      Colin

      1. OK great I’ll look again later it was late last night when I was trying to sort , by the way thanks for the great service and prompt arrival
        Lee

        1. Hi
          I think I might know what the problem is, do you know what the range of the WiFi is , as my router is the opposite side of the house and may be out of range
          Lee

Comments are closed.

Select your currency