These seem like revision 2 or 3 of the various instructions and manuals that I have used before to set the Wakespeed stuff up.
You can use a USB cable to the port inside the unit and a terminal program (putty on Windows, iTerm/terminal on Mac) to configure things using the command line, a 3rd party piece of software sold by Off Grid Solutions (or something like that) which does most of it, or the Android app to generate a configuration file.
The USB cable approach requires you understand the complicated syntax and build out your configuration either by hand, or based on a template. Itās very time consuming and prone to error.
The software option is probably the one I used the most, but itās not always in sync with firmware changes and syntax issues. Iāve ended up with mangled configurations a lot of times. Itās also a very basic piece of software with difficult UX. On top of that, you have to pay for it and itās not offered nor supported by Wakespeed.
The Android app asks a bunch of questions and spits out a configuration you can then download to the device using a messy USB cable option, or generate a file and push it to the device using Windows and a bunch of batch files and a USB cable. The iOS version when I tested it did only about 50% of the Android one.
The user guide and card is also confusing. You have to set the dip switches for the size of your bank, type of batteries, and other things, but you also really, really should upload a specific configuration based on your battery charge details if youāre using LiFePO4. They used to keep examples of various battery manufacturer profiles on their website - I donāt know if those are around anymore, but I probably have some old copies. You use the Windows batch files and USB cable to upload these.
Any way you slice it, itās difficult to configure with poor documentation and confusing syntax and approach.
The trick for me was removing the USB device that windows automatically installed and manually putting in drivers that wakespeed provided. Now I can update the firmware again (including through the offgrid software).
Great hardware that fills a void. But hampered by its difficultly to set up custom configs. Custom configs is why I bought the WS500. And the documentationā¦ well, I second everything said above. If Dragonfly would hire an experienced tech writer that would be a start.
And yes, I also learned the hard way that you need to use the Windows drivers that are compatible with the WS500.
I just got my boat back in the water and Iām planning on implementing the WS500 to Cerbo GX comm link this spring. So at last, Iām hoping that I can have some visibility into what the WS500 is doing.
Ah good note on fixing those drivers. Iāve not had this happen, which is surprising since Iāve worked on my own many, many times, and others as well. Must be super lucky!
I tried the beta version of this and had bad results, but I am looking forward to trying the WS500 again here in a month with that link for the same reason.
I actually have an update planned in the next few weeks on how the system is doing. So far, so good - very happy with it - more details in the article!
Update - I did implement the WS500 to Cerbo GX (CAN Bus) comm link and have been using it this summer. The short version is that this feature has added a much needed level of visibility into the status of the WS500, including English error messages. Highly recommended.
I also have my Cerbo GX connected to my Raymarine Axiom Pro MFD via Ethernet (RayNet) which allows the Victron app on the MFD to replicate display & control of the Cerbo GX on the MFD at the helm. So the WS500 device data is visible at the helm. Nice!
I also have my Cerbo GX connected to the NMEA2000 bus. So the Cerbo GX broadcasts data from the SmartShunt onto the NMEA2000 bus where it can be displayed by the MFD and other instruments on the bus.
One of the very surprising benefits of having the WS500 connected to the Cerbo GX, to the NMEA2000 bus has to do with the engine RPM. I have the typical Yanmar/VDO tachometer at the helm but itās old and āstickyā and not very accurate. I was poking around in various displays on my MFD and discovered that the screen that displays engine data is now showing very accurate engine RPM (based on my programming pulley ratios in the WS500). Knock me over. I didnāt have to do anything. Unfortunately, all the data that the WS500 outputs on the CAN Bus is not well documented (I wouldnāt consider Config Guide-Appendix C sufficient). So some experimenting is on the list of things to do to see what other useful WS500 data can be displayed by NMEA2000 connected instruments.
Regarding the custom CAN Bus cable needed for connecting the WS500 to the Cerbo GX: You can purchase a pre-made cable or make you own using the wiring diagram in the WS500/Cerbo documentation. I chose the latter because I donāt like loops of cable stuffed into wiring runs. As for cable length and using extenders, the CAN Bus spec says that maximum cable lengths must be between 500 meters(125 kbps) and 40 meters(1 Mbps). 40 meters probably covers most of our boats.
This is a nice feature and Iāve used it before myself and for clients. Did you know you can also see this on a phone or a web browser on a computer by going to your Cerbo IP address and adding /app/ at the end? Youāll get the version that shows up on a chart plotter instead of the usual one!
Ah yes I recommend this with any install.
Nice side benefit!
Yup I did this on Rendezvous which allowed for some limited data at the time. Theyāve increased that as well.
Glad you have more visibility and info with your system!
