Anyone else using a Raspberry Pi to log Victron data via VE.Direct? Sharing my setup and a few headaches

I've been running a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 and a BMV-712 on my narrowboat for about eight months now, and last winter I decided I wanted proper long-term data logging rather than just glancing at the Victron Connect app. Ended up going down the Raspberry Pi rabbit hole — Pi 4 with a VE.Direct to USB cable from Victron, running Venus OS Large so I get the full GX experience plus Node-RED and InfluxDB/Grafana for the pretty graphs. Genuinely transformative for understanding how my 200Ah LiFePO4 bank actually behaves across different weather.

The bit that's caught me out is the VE.Direct cable occasionally dropping connection after the Pi has been idle overnight — I think it's the USB power management suspending the port. Fixed it (mostly) by editing /etc/rc.local to disable USB autosuspend, but it still drops once every week or two and I have to SSH in and replug it virtually via usbreset. Hardly the end of the world but it's niggling me. Anyone else seen this and found a cleaner solution?

I'm also trying to work out the best way to set alerting — ideally a Telegram bot message if state of charge drops below 20% or if there's been no solar input by 10am on a clear day (which usually means a panel has gone dodgy). Node-RED feels like the right tool for that but I haven't quite cracked the logic for the "clear day" condition without pulling in a weather API. Has anyone done something similar, or is there a smarter approach I'm missing?

Reply by SarahLamb56

@Martin1962 Great thread, really glad you posted this! I've got almost exactly the same setup on my static caravan in Wales — SmartSolar 100/20 and a BMV-712 feeding into a Pi 4.

One thing that caught me out early on was the VE.Direct USB cable causing intermittent disconnects when the Pi was under load. Turned out to be a power quality issue on the USB bus — a powered hub sorted it completely.

I'm using Grafana with InfluxDB for visualisation and honestly the historical data has been invaluable for spotting patterns. Last November I could clearly see my battery wasn't recovering properly on cloudy days, which turned out to be a dodgy connection rather than panel degradation.

What are you using for your dashboards? And are you logging remotely or just on the local network?

@Martin1962 this is almost word-for-word my story from last year on Bramble, my 58-footer moored near Wareham. The bit that caught me out was the VE.Direct cable pinout — I'd assumed it was straightforward but managed to fry a Pi Zero before realising I'd wired it wrong. Worth mentioning to anyone starting fresh: use a proper VE.Direct to USB cable rather than rolling your own, at least until you know the system's behaving.

I'm now logging to InfluxDB with Grafana dashboards and it's transformed how I manage the batteries over winter. Seeing the actual charge cycles over weeks rather than just snapshots completely changed how I sized my solar array upgrade.

What are you storing your data on — SD card or have you moved to an SSD? SD corruption in a damp boat environment is a proper headache waiting to happen.

@Martin1962 I've got my Pi logging Victron data via VE.Direct on my static caravan and the only genuine headache was explaining to my husband why there's a tiny computer velcroed inside the fuse cupboard — apparently "it monitors the electrons" wasn't sufficient.

Reply by DustyWanderer

@Martin1962 Brilliant thread – this is exactly the kind of practical write-up we need more of here. One thing I'd add that caught me out: if you're powering the Pi directly from your 12V system, make sure you've got a decent DC-DC converter rather than a cheap USB adaptor. I fried a Pi Zero W because the voltage was dropping under load and causing all sorts of corrupt data writes to the SD card. Switched to a Murata-based buck converter and haven't had a single dropout since. Also worth setting the SD card to log to a RAM tmpfs and only flush to disk periodically – massively extends card life, especially important if you're away from the boat for weeks at a time. @RetiredNurse61 did you have similar SD card wear issues?

Running almost the same stack on my tiny house — Pi Zero 2W pulling from a SmartSolar 150/35 and BMV-712 via VE.Direct to USB adapters.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet: cable length matters more than you'd think. I had random dropouts for weeks before realising my VE.Direct cable was running too close to the inverter. Moved it 30cm away, problem gone.

Also worth looking at VictronConnect's official data export if you just want occasional CSV dumps rather than continuous logging — sometimes simpler is better depending on what you're actually trying to analyse.

For the Pi itself I'm using a Fogstar 12V LiFePO4 to power the whole monitoring setup so it stays alive when the main bank's isolated. Keeps everything tidy.