FCSP RS485 port access Success!

[cjueden]

!!!DISCLAIMER!!!
I don't know what I'm doing and just winging it and I do mean it in ever since of the phrase so be careful if you decide to do something like this. I don't know what will happen if you send the wrong command and EVERYTHING on the board is live including the very close by 240v lines and I have zero guidance on what any of the connections do. That being said.

I recently installed my FCSP and was looking into local connections that may be available., to integrate into Home Assistant. I started with sniffing the network connection and you can see the progress in the thread HERE .

I wanted to start another thread for the possibility of using modbus RTU via the G4 RS485 connector.
I tried unsuccessfully a few different attempts using a usb-rs485 converter and modpoll, always getting a timeout error.
Once I added a jumper to the "RS485 SEL" header ( see attached photo below circled in red ) and the FCSP lights flashed as if a reboot I set the baud rates to 38400, parity even, 1 stop bit and the slave ID of 2 I started to get a " No such register" error. Leading me to believe the device is talking to the usb-rs485 converter. i tried jumping around to find a register that may have something and was using THIS VersiCharge document to help with the guessing. But I'm unsuccessful so far.

Has anyone tried this before or have any info on any 485 progress that has been made with the FCSP?

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[Runaway Tractor]

There are several of us whom are very eager for someone smarter than me to figure this out. We want to enable use of the 400vdc to pipe it into a conventional solar inverter that takes a 400vdc input. Basically, a way to make v2h actually work since Ford's implementation is trash. Using it with Home Assistant would be perfect.

My Home Assistant already knows when power is out from my UPS in the office (APCUPSD). I'd have to implement that onto a circuit not backed up by the inverter obviously. HA could then wait one minute so it doesn't bounce with the auto-recloser. Then tell the FCSP to tell the truck to close in the HVDC contacts on the truck.

 

[Heliian]

I would wager that siemens has some proprietary protocol they use the port for that needs special software.
Fun project though! Load sharing would be a great hack if you had 2 of them.
Best of luck!

 

[Runaway Tractor]

I would wager that siemens has some proprietary protocol they use the port for that needs special software.
Fun project though! Load sharing would be a great hack if you had 2 of them.
Best of luck!

That is the port that the Sunrun inverter uses to communicate with the FCSP. So it's not a proprietary service port. If someone had the full piece of junk Home Integration System, and was nerd enough, they could probably solve this quickly by sniffing the comms.

 

[cjueden]

I think the Sunrun port used for the HIS is the "A8 rs485" labeled connector.
I'm using the one just under that one.

 

[cjueden]

Huge update.
I was able to get this data back from the rs485 connection "G4 RS485" on holding addresses 40001 - 40011.
Shown below in screenshots with short hand 1-11.

Here's what I think I've been able to figure out so far
40001

• 0 = not charging
• 1 = charging
• 2 = charging with leds at derated rate color code all though as I increased the rate it stayed on two the entire time but the leds turned to solid blue at an unknown point

40003

• total kWH history for FCSP?

40005

• no clue random numbers ( I thought at first it was a running charge time )

40006

• more random numbers

40007

• charging current ( into battery only? seems to be slightly lower then what I measure but matches FordPass App)

40008

• max charge rate? ( not sure now, was matching the max amp I had set on the charger but didn't change on power cycle and/or with max amp change )

Not charging

start charging with max set to 10Amps. Fordpass shows 1.9kw

Change charging to 20 amps. FordPass shows 4.1kw

Change charging to 30 amps. Fordpass shows 6.2kw

Stop charging

re-starting at 30amp. Fordpass shows 6.2kw

Charging stopped again

went and unplugged truck

Will try more addresses later. going to sit and reflect on the new findings.

 

[chl]

I would wager that siemens has some proprietary protocol they use the port for that needs special software.
Fun project though! Load sharing would be a great hack if you had 2 of them.
Best of luck!

Yes there is a Ford App required at a cost of $500 if you have an SR battery I read.

Have you read the installer docs from SunRun? Pages 16 on of the attached doc talk about pairing for HIS. Not sure it will help but who knows.

 

[chl]

Also this diagram shows the wiring for the HIS to the FCSP

 

[Aminorjourney]

Nicely done!

I think the Sunrun port used for the HIS is the "A8 rs485" labeled connector.
I'm using the one just under that one.

I don't have an adapter, but I did preemptively run an Ethernet point out to my HIS. If I can find a converter that is compatible... between the HIS and the Ethernet network...

 

[chl]

It would be great to be able to use this native Lightning/FCSP communication path to access the Lightning battery DC output for V2H via any suitable DC-AC inverter.

 

[cjueden]

It would be great to be able to use this native Lightning/FCSP communication path to access the Lightning battery DC output for V2H via any suitable DC-AC inverter.

Agreed I did a scan of that port (A8 rs485) but found nothing. If it's using modbus it may need to be enabled via software.
There is an interesting connector that references the HIS connector used, labeled as "Debug UART". I haven't attempted anything with it yet. I wanna finish the other rs485 connector first.

Nicely done!



I don't have an adapter, but I did preemptively run an Ethernet point out to my HIS. If I can find a converter that is compatible... between the HIS and the Ethernet network...

One of these rs485 to ethernet converters may work for your situation all though a little pricey.

My hope is I was able to get this data into Home Assistant using esphome with a esp32 which is not only a native solution for HA but alot cheaper.


Below are the current results from a scan I did last night.
I found a program that is a bit more user friendly and allows me to make Alias for each address. I was unsuccessful in writing to the Power % address, I didn't try any others. But can confirm that the FordPass App lies when it says it's updated the charge rate. IDK if it is just server side that is responding as "changed" but then can't access the FCSP or if the server/FCSP rate limits the updates sent. But it would often say it updated and reflect it as my desired current in FordPass App. But the rs485 output would not change and the CT monitor I have on it with HA doesn't change either.
The "Illegal data address" below values are some type of config issue. I've confirmed the address is accurate with a different application. It maybe be an issue of the data spanning over a couple addresses or something.

I was successful getting some of the data into HA and will work on deciphering.

I don't currently have a plan on what todo with the data but would like to be able to disable the charger even if it's just turning the rate to 0 or use HA to do dynamic load charging with my excess solar.


looking at the VersiCharge Blue 80 Manual HERE These charger looks really similar to the FCSP specifically the connectors up the right side of the pcb. This charge has the same charge specs and bi-directional functionality that the FCSP has minus the extra wires needed for the CCS1 connection.

It also has an ethernet option via adapter that can connect to the usb spot right where the FCSP usb connector is.

If anyone is has any ideas/suggests/requests I would love to hear them!

 

[chl]

Interesting that there is a USB port on the FCSP which is not apparently mentioned in any documentation that I have seen yet from Ford or SunRun.

I did not find any mention of the P3 debug connection pins either. They do say TX RX and COM on the circuit board so clearly for simple serial 2-way communications for debugging something, probably used by techs for testing and/or repair situations. Does not seem to be involved in normal operation communications with the HIS or the Truck.

I Googled the usb port on the Ford Charge Station Pro and while others have asked about it, nothing pops up about how it could be used, to update software/firmware for example.

Yes the Blue 80 is very similar right down to the rotary micro-switch for setting the max current, it is likely that the FCSP is a modification of that design or visa versa.

May need to snoop out the communications in a working HIS from someone who has one?

To unlock the bidirectionality.

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