Reset masterbus? All devices showing offline (but working)

[shimari]

We came back to the boat today after being away less than 24 hrs to find the AC circuits dead.
-all breakers were good and were not tripped
-MassCombi Ultra had blinking light for mains
-powered off combi and restarted after a minute or so.

The AC circuits were live, but Easyview and Masteradjust show devices off line. I can't get any information from masterbus.

I believe the masterbus bit the dust, but I have no idea how to diagnose. There isn't much info on Mastervolt available.

I took the batteries and shore power offline, and let things sit for 5min. I then brought the batteries, masscombi, and shore back online. Still no joy.

I'm wondering if it is even wise to have the masscombi on at this point? I don't want to fry the batteries.

TIA

[smac999]

The masterbus data buss itself is powered. By one or more devices. The shunt 500 Powers it. The combi might too. I would unplug all the Ethernet cables so the data bus itself resets. (If you knew which was powering you’d only have to do one)

The shunt 500 is always powered so turning off switches is not going to reset it or the masterbus power

You could reset power to the easy veiw as well but I doubt that will do anything.

I think the usb interface powers the masterbus as well. So you should be able to plug into 1 device at a time abd see if it comes up in master adjust with the others disconnected. One peice or cable may be crashing the whole network.

[shimari]

Smac thanks!

No shunt as the batteries are lithium.

I think masterbus needs to be terminated right? I do I can’t just directly connect the usb interface to the combi? I have make a small network?

[smac999]

The usb and combi would each have a termanator. And then a cable between them. Each have 2 ports. It would Likly work with only 1 termanator and one empty port.

The batteries are probably powering the bus. So you could unplug the cable from them. The combi may also be powering it to though.

[shimari]

Originally Posted by smac999

The usb and combi would each have a termanator. And then a cable between them. Each have 2 ports. It would Likly work with only 1 termanator and one empty port.

The batteries are probably powering the bus. So you could unplug the cable from them. The combi may also be powering it to though.

Time to read the various mastervolt manuals....many thanks for the ideas!

I have to say I don't like the failure mode. The only visibility I have on the battery state now is the voltage monitor on the Vesper Cortex.

I took mains offline and shutdown the combi. No sense risking over charging the batteries until I can determine what the failure is.

[shimari]

Just some info in case someone else runs into masterbus issues:
-Masscombi Ultra can power the bus (configurable)
-MLI Ultra batteries can power the bus (configurable)
-USB interface can power the bus, but only when a PC is connected and powered
-I've found no indication that any device can provide termination yet.
-The masterbus cables are RJ45 straight through. You can use a standard CAT5/6 cable tester. You can also create your own cables pretty easily.

[AKA-None]

Mine had the same symptoms and I found an issue with one of the cables

[shimari]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Mine had the same symptoms and I found an issue with one of the cables

Thanks - tracing the cables and putting a tester on them today hopefully. I've ten cables. What's the over and under that the problem cable is the hardest to get to and most difficult to replace?

As an aside, I tried to order terminators online so I could setup a small temporary network. I could find them at only one place that I've never heard of previously. I'm hoping the local dealer (J Gordon) has one or two that I can pickup tomorrow.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by shimari

Thanks - tracing the cables and putting a tester on them today hopefully. I've ten cables. What's the over and under that the problem cable is the hardest to get to and most difficult to replace?



As an aside, I tried to order terminators online so I could setup a small temporary network. I could find them at only one place that I've never heard of previously. I'm hoping the local dealer (J Gordon) has one or two that I can pickup tomorrow.

Every piece of kit came with a terminator, sure you don’t have spares knocking around somewhere?

I tested my cables with a simple tool for testing Ethernet cables

And yes in my case it happened to be the one that was hardest to get to and reroute. Sigh

I did notice that the cables mastervolt sends have a soft cover that is easily damaged . Again sigh

[shimari]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Every piece of kit came with a terminator, sure you don’t have spares knocking around somewhere?

I tested my cables with a simple tool for testing Ethernet cables

And yes in my case it happened to be the one that was hardest to get to and reroute. Sigh

I did notice that the cables mastervolt sends have a soft cover that is easily damaged . Again sigh

I've a couple of extra cables from the PO, but no terminators unfortunately.

I tested all but three cables today without finding a bad one. I need to be a contortionist or remove the mass combi to get access to those connectors. The same goes for the alpha pro. I can't get back to the boat until Wed or Thurs (work always gets in the way).

I suspect the alpha pro as I wasn't seeing the full 100amps from it while motoring, but we'll see.

My plan is to just build a simple network using the USB connector to the combi using my spare cables. That will test the cables and the combi at the same time.

[shimari]

Here's the update after three days testing cables and devices. I was able to locate the two problems (yup two).

First, here's the layout of my masterbus network before any problems.


I checked all of the cables except to the alpha pro due to access issues. Interestingly, I was never able to see the alpha pro with masteradjust (even prior to these problems). I presumed that was because it wasn't powered. However, now multiple devices timeout when the alpha pro is connected to the network. Disconnecting the alpha pro and placing a terminator on the aft serial connector fixes the timeout issue. That's the first problem. I suspect it's either the cable or the device. I'll tackle that next week.

The second problem is the EasyView itself. Master adjust is perfectly happy with the network- yet after an hour EasyView is still showing no devices and devices not found. The EasyView itself doesn't show up in masteradjust. Earlier this week during testing it would appear briefly and then disappear. Now, it doesn't appear at all. Nor can it seeing any devices on the network.

So that's it - possibly one bad cable (probably the hardest to replace) and/or the alpha pro as the first problem. The second problem being a bad Easyview 5.

I'm not sure if the alpha pro was going bad and when it went the easyview went too, or what. But, I'm not a fan of Mastervolt kit currently. One of the MLI batteries died shortly after we bought the boat while she was being refitted in the UK. Now, the Easyview and possibly alpha pro. Not a good track record for 3.5 year old gear.

Just an FYI to anyone that ends up diagnosing a Masterbus network. You some times need to wait 5-15min for the bus to settle down after making a change. I don't know if that's a feature of the canbus or the masteradjust software. But, some of the devices need to reload and may timeout. Just refresh them and be patient. If there are still timeouts/errors after 20min, then you didn't solve the issue.

[smac999]

The alpha will only show up when the ign line is powered. (Key on or oil pressure. Depending how it’s wired)

[shimari]

Originally Posted by smac999

The alpha will only show up when the ign line is powered. (Key on or oil pressure. Depending how it’s wired)

Thanks! I'm hoping to figure out the issue with the alpha pro this week or next.

[shimari]

So, I'm probably going to need to have Mastervolt remote into the network via dealer.

My new EasyView5 arrived and I installed it and I'm getting the same behavior as with the old unit.

If I bypass the Easyview with a RJ45 straight through (female to female) connector, everything is fine.


If I terminate after the new Easyview, all is well except the Easyview doesn't appear in the device list.


If I have the Easyview on the full network, things are wonky with the Masscombi and batteries.

The EasyView will not give a listing of the devices on the network either.

To review, all cables have tested good with a Fluke tester. I'm at a loss as to what could be the issue. Any help is appreciated.

TIA

[AKA-None]

By any chance do you have power directly to the easyview or is it only powered by master bus?

Try providing power directly to the easyview via its 12v power connector