Greetings:
TL/DR: How to fix comms failure between FlexBoss/Gridboss pair that are 270ft apart.
RS485 signal booster being considered - recommendations?
Details:
Our off-grid community recently (Oct) installed a FlexBoss/Gridboss combination that are separated by about 270ft (buried cable length).
The original installation was working but after replacing (under warrantee) a miss-behaving Flexboss we have a persistant "W030: Grid Boss CAN Loss" error.
Would something like a: RS485 Extender (can't seem to post a link) work to boost the signal?
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Misc:
Yes, I've used a circuit tracer to check the continuity of the cable. It's a high quality, certified for burial, cable.
Yes, I can/will re-do the connectors and try to shorten the cable (might get 3ft...), but a better, more reliable solution would be to strengthen the signal.
Yes, we could lay fibre (not clear that would work), but I don't want to dig up our road again if we can avoid that in any way.
Why this setup?
- The original manual specified a 300' limit and we knew we were within that. Later versions dropped it to 270' so we shortened the cable as much as we could to get it working the first time.
- The Gridboss sits in our generator/power shed where we want to use the Smartports to control our septic system pumps and run them off batteries rather than the generator. The Flexboss sits in a separate community building with 21kW of solar panels.
