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

Been doing this for about 18 months now with a Pi 4 and it's been rock solid. Running VictronConnect data through a Venus OS image directly on the Pi — basically turns it into a GX device without needing to buy a Cerbo GX.

Pulls everything off my MPPT and MultiPlus over VE.Direct, then I've got InfluxDB + Grafana on top for the pretty dashboards. Genuinely useful for spotting patterns rather than just glancing at live figures.

Main reasons I went this route:

• Keeps all data local — no cloud dependency
• Historical logs survive even if VRM goes down
• Cost me about £60 total vs £150+ for a Cerbo

Only faff was getting the VE.Direct USB cables sorted — make sure you buy genuine ones, the cheap knockoffs caused me grief with dropped connections.

For my use case (emergency backup system rather than full-time off-grid) it's ideal because I can check months of data to verify the batteries are actually holding charge when not in use. Fogstar Drift cells, so I do like to keep an eye on drift between cells over time.

Anyone else running Venus OS on a Pi rather than dedicated hardware? Curious whether people have had stability issues long-term or if a Cerbo is actually worth the premium for reliability.

@LDVSolar yes, running almost the same setup on my motorhome. Pi 4 with Venus OS Large, gives you Node-RED and SignalK on top which is where it gets really interesting — I've got automated alerts firing to my phone if the battery drops below a set threshold overnight.

One thing worth mentioning for anyone just starting out: the MK3-USB interface between the Pi and your Victron kit is non-negotiable, don't try and bodge it. Learnt that the hard way before I bought the proper cable.

Also running InfluxDB + Grafana for historical logging — the graphs are genuinely useful for spotting trends across seasons. Noticed my Fogstar 200Ah cells weren't balancing properly last autumn purely from the data patterns.

Has anyone managed to get this working reliably over 4G rather than WiFi for remote access?

Been running Venus OS on a Pi 3B+ for about two years on my static. Works fine, don't bother with the Pi 4 unless you're doing something heavy — 3B+ handles Victron MPPT + MultiPlus data no bother.

One thing worth flagging: SD card reliability. Had one die on me after about 8 months. Moved to a proper industrial card (Samsung Endurance Pro) and haven't had issues since. Some people run from USB SSD instead which is probably smarter long term.

@SteveWhite70 Node-RED is decent but honestly half those flows people share online are massively overcomplicated for what they actually do.

Main annoyance with the whole setup — VRM still phones home even when you're logging locally. Can't fully ditch Victron's servers without some faff.

@ZFS_OffGrid fair point on the 3B+ but I went Pi 4 specifically because I'm also running Grafana and InfluxDB locally alongside Venus OS — the extra RAM earns its keep.

Been logging my MPPT and Multiplus data for about 8 months now. The dashboards are brilliant for spotting patterns, especially seeing how much the garden office is pulling vs. what's left for EV charging overnight.

One thing worth mentioning — mqtt2influxdb is your friend if you want to get Venus OS talking to InfluxDB cleanly. Took me an afternoon to get it singing properly but hasn't missed a data point since.

Only gripe is SD card wear. Moved the data directory to a USB SSD early on, would recommend doing that from the start rather than retrofitting it later.

@BatteryMark Grafana dashboards in a moving van hitting every pothole on the A82 — living dangerously mate.