Victron Ekrano GX vs Cerbo GX (which is best for vans & RV's?)

[@johnvandoren5110]

Excellent video and description. My Cerbo is in the Inverter cabinet, with very short cables from the devices, per the product descriptions. However, my Touch 50 is 20’ away, mounted on my EMS panel. The HDMI extension works very well, but extending power from the Cerbo was problematic. So I found a good 12VDC source 6’ from the Touch 50, and used a 12VDC-to-5VDC step-down transformer with USB port to provide power to the Touch 50 with zero power or signal loss.

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for tuning in and sharing your experience! Great to hear how you solved the power problem with the screen 20 feet away. Sounds like a great solution!

[@daninbenson]

Excellent, very informative video. Thanks! It great to get info from someone who demonstrates true knowledge of the products. You are a true professional!

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for tuning in, I try, it's a work in progress...

[@sigen7053]

I have my off-grid system in a shed 20m away from my cabin. My cerbo is online at all times, and is connected to the mesh network covering the property. instead of the Victron screen, I use a Pi and a 10" touch screen, connected to the cerbo local via IP adress. Works like a charm. No distance issues, no power issues and no missing functionality. And it was way cheaper than te victron screen.

[@Rorolap]

do you have link where buy the pi model and 10" screen ?

[@edwardbroomfield2291]

The Ekrano is good if it's positioned near your equipment. But, on my Class A motorhome, it was a 30' run from the equipment to the screen. It made more sense to just run two cables to the screen instead of all the cables.

[@rosslukeman]

That's fair, thanks for sharing your take on this!

[@dune_tech]

straight to the point and easy to follow. thank you

[@rosslukeman]

Thank you!

[@maphutisethosa4016]

GREAT VIDEO ROSS. My question is where is there communcation cable connected on the EKRANO for battery monitoring

[@jimduke5545]

Many of us are hoping for for the Ekrano quad core processor in the cerbo configuration using our touch 70 or 50. Even better would be the ability to network 2 Venus OS devices-1 for the electrical closet (boat) and another for the chart table. That way, the cabling from various peripherals (tanks, ve.direct, CANbus, VE.bus) can connect to the network nearer the sources. Am REALLY wanting BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) from all of my Victron “Smart” devices into the VenusOS device like the Ruuvi. (We can see smart devices locally with VictronConnect) but not remotely with VictronConnect and/or VRM) Again, a nice video

[@Remcoei]

For extension use a separate usb power supply close to the display. So only extended the HDMI. It also free up a usb at the serbo for other uses.

[@rvingonthego]

According victron to you, don't have to plug the usb for the touch in to the cerbo gx you can wire a usb PowerPoint near the touch screen and plug into there.

[@hedge8888]

Was going to make the same point.

[@rosslukeman]

Cool, thanks for sharing your insights on this!

[@kevinhoober1863]

I assumed the touch interface was also on the USB--is that not the case?

[@rvingonthego]

@kevinhoober1863 no the usb is only for power. Everything else is on the hdmi port

[@deltabravo1257]

Thanks for the info about the Cerbo GX not needing the Touch 50 or 70, and the ability to use a tablet or smart phone. I had NO IDEA the Cerbo GX could operate like that. This ability (tablet or Smartphone) would be very useful in my truck camper because I have no place to run the wires from the Cerbo GX to the Touch screen, unless they are surface mounted on a wall, which is very un-elegant. I have a CCGX which works fine, but it's mounted low and in a hard to view area, maybe I will replace it with a Cerbo and use an existing tablet I already have.

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for tuning in, great to hear that gave you some insights! Yes at this point, the Cerbo would be a great leap forward compared to the Color Control GX. It has the same ports, but also a lot of new ports/capabilities as well. Good luck with it!

[@KenWBrown-v5o]

Thanks for doing this comparrison. Well done.

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks Ken! Glad you enjoyed the comparison. Thanks for stopping by again.

[@Marcusinthemix]

Another great video; thank you! Can you tell me what options I have to get the data from the Cerbo to my existing NMEA2000 system? Do I need a specific NMEA converter cable, or can I pick up the data from the LAN, Bluetooth, or any other way?

[@robtheplod]

The Cerbo GX wins hands down for a few reasons.... having the Cerbo as a separate box that goes in the wiring cabinet/engine bay leading to a neater display install - the Ekrano you have to have all the cables to the back of it so you are limited where it goes. Dont bother getting a display for the Cerbo as its best to use on your phone/tablet as if you buy a display they often go out of date....

[@tommyc1028]

Thanks Ross great and informative...I think I'm buying an Ekrano now lol

[@rosslukeman]

Good choice, thanks for tuning in, great to hear you got some insights from this comparison!

[@Marcusinthemix]

HI Ross, thank you for all the great videos. I wonder if I could use a signal splitter (HDMI) and use two GX Touch 70 Displays at the same time?

[@rosslukeman]

Hi Marcus, unfortunately I cannot confirm that the splitter would work (don't have two Touch 70's) but I don't see why not, so long as the USB power was sufficiently provided to both screens, perhaps from an additional USB power source. Hope that helps, good luck with it, thanks-

[@ianham]

Thanks Ross. This is great.

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for tuning in Ian, glad you got something out of it!

[@Dan_H_MT]

Thanks for another very informative video.

[@rosslukeman]

I appreciate that, thanks for stopping by again!

[@stefangranath3841]

What if the Multiplus is a GX version. Will it cause problems with external GX units as you then have two of them?

[@rosslukeman]

Ve Bus is a serial protocol of communication so cannot be shared/split. If you want to interconnect two GX devices you can use the CAN port, But this will share only the CAN data from a system. So best thing to do is to disconnect the internal GX device and connect all to the CerboGX/Touch. Then all works as expected - Johannes Boonstra (Victron)

[@skater506]

can this system be used to do things like lights control, slide control, electric blind control?

[@rosslukeman]

It’s got 2 relays, so yes, kind of. You could use those relays to control things, probably by controlling a high-current relay that controls something. Maybe look at the Simarine VIA as well. It has a bunch of controls/relays for things like that. They can also engrave custom buttons for you.

[@silvanocometta9760]

Thanks Ross. Grat video. You mention that you can visualize the cerbo screen on the phone with the Victron Connect app. Is that by using VRM or how else? Best regards, Silvano

[@rosslukeman]

Hi Silvano, this is a great question. Using the VictronConnect app, that would be over Bluetooth, within a few meters of the Cerbo or Ekrano. You bring up a good point though, in that you can also pull up this screen in the VRM portal with the feature called "Remote Console." That will pull up the Cerbo/Ekrano's screen from the other side of the world, as long as the Cerbo/Ekrano has an internet connection. Great question, thanks for tuning in again!

[@Mexmex1975]

Can you connect these to Growatt inverters?

[@paulkroeker8038]

Great vid Ross, Thanks!

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for tuning in Paul, glad you enjoyed the video!

[@brianchetelat6601]

Thank you Ross

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for tuning in again Brian!

[@marcotrotamundos]

I prefer to extend 1 hdmi+1 usb with Cerbo than extending 3 ve.direct wires + 2 ve.direct to usb+3 ethernet:bms, inverter and wired network+tank resistive sensors+power. We never had any problem with 5 meters hdmi and usb extenders. Ekrano is faster and better if you are planning to use node.red but in a van, motorhome environment, probably Cerbo+gx touch will be the first choice ¿Looking forward for a cerbo processor update from victron?

[@rosslukeman]

Awesome, thanks for sharing your take on this! Regarding the Cerbo processor, I am not aware on that.

[@SayWhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat]

FUNNY THAT EKRANO GX NAME IS FROM LITHUANIAN WORD EKRANAS - MEANS DISPLAY.

[@TinyOff-GridHouseResearchLLC]

Yeah, I'm # 200 👍

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for the like and for tuning in!

[@karumbedesarrollosustentable]

Great ! Thanks for Share!

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for tuning in, glad you liked the video!

[@-PORK-CHOP-]

The cerbo is better being separate, just a pity the graphics on either unit looks like it comes from windows 3.1, Victron really need to upgrade the look of the screen

[@globaldemise]

Man this seems like a bad idea. Seems like very few ppl would want to have to pull all those wires back to the monitor panel

[@rosslukeman]

I think people are going for a certain end result, lots of wires must be run, regardless of which monitor is used.