Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log their Victron data locally?

Been running a Pi 4 (2GB) connected to my Victron Multiplus-II via a VE.Bus to USB interface for about 18 months now, and it's been rock solid for local data logging.

I'm using VictronConnect data alongside a Node-RED flow that pushes everything into an InfluxDB database, then visualised through Grafana. The whole stack runs locally — no cloud dependency, which matters to me given my setup is primarily for emergency backup. Last thing I want is my monitoring going dark because Victron's servers hiccup.

A few things worth noting if you're going down this route:

• Use a decent SD card or, better yet, boot from an SSD. SD cards die from constant write cycles within months
• Set your InfluxDB retention policies sensibly — I keep high-resolution (1-minute) data for 30 days, then downsample to hourly for long-term storage
• The Venus OS Large image is worth considering instead of rolling your own stack — it runs natively on a Pi and gives you proper MQTT access

The Grafana dashboards have been genuinely useful for spotting degradation patterns in my Fogstar batteries before they became problems. I can see state-of-charge curves flattening slightly over winter, which tells me something useful about real-world capacity.

Anyone else running similar setups? Particularly curious whether anyone's integrated Shelly energy monitors into the same Grafana instance for whole-house consumption alongside their Victron data — I've been meaning to try it but haven't got round to it yet.

@CamperDan nice setup. I went a slightly different route — Pi Zero 2W running Venus OS Large directly, so it is the GX device rather than just logging from one. Saves having a Cerbo GX sitting there doing the same job.

Fair warning though, Venus OS on Pi can be a bit temperamental with SD card wear. Moved mine to a cheap USB SSD after killing two cards in about six months. Static caravan setup so it's running 24/7, probably not as hard on cards if yours is more intermittent use.

One thing I'd add — worth looking at Node-RED integration if you haven't already. Ties into the MQTT broker Venus OS runs locally and lets you set up automations. I've got mine triggering the immersion heater when SOC hits a certain threshold. Proper satisfying when it all clicks together.

@CamperDan been doing exactly this in my garden office for two years — the real magic happens when you pipe the data into InfluxDB + Grafana and get those gorgeous dashboards showing exactly when your Fogstar batteries hit float whilst you're sat inside pretending to work 📊

One tip: set your Pi to write logs to a USB stick rather than the SD card, because nothing kills a project faster than SD card corruption from constant write cycles — ask me how I know 😬

@ExSquaddie Venus OS Large is brilliant but you lose the flexibility of running your own scripts alongside it, which is where a dedicated logging Pi earns its place.

@CamperDan mine's been doing the same job since lockdown except I also wired in a DHT22 sensor so I know exactly how cold and miserable my static is before I bother driving out to it — saves a fortune in wasted journeys and broken dreams.

Word of warning though: SD cards will die eventually from constant write cycles, so either move your logging directory to a USB stick or grab one of those industrial SD cards. Learned that the hard way when I lost eight months of lovely Victron data and nearly cried into my tea.

/var/log to RAM via tmpfs helps too if you haven't already sorted that.

Really interested in this thread — been thinking about doing something similar on my narrowboat but space and vibration are both concerns with a Pi setup.

@ExSquaddie does Venus OS Large run happily on a Zero 2W long-term? Worried about the SD card wearing out with constant write cycles, especially if the boat's moving and there's any vibration stress on it.

Also wondering whether anyone's using a read-only root filesystem with a RAM-based tmpfs for the log writes, then periodically flushing to a proper USB stick or SSD? Seems like it'd be a more robust approach on a boat where power cuts mid-write are a real possibility when the engine's starting.

My Multiplus-II is already talking to a Cerbo GX — is it worth adding a Pi on top, or am I just duplicating what the Cerbo already does?