PZEM-016 single phase modbus energy meter

Hi Chaveiro, I will try to help a bit. I have a topic which I am going to post a few instructions on as I also want help similar to you and in return I hope someone can help me. :slight_smile: Here is the link: Modbus RTU (RS485) Instructions

Hereā€™s a couple of closeups of the component side and one of the back side of the PCB:

Bill you received it today? It was fast!

From what iā€™m seeing on the pcb, it does have galvanic isolation to the rs484 part.

Hi Nuno,

Surprised me too. I wasnā€™t expecting it for several more days.

It looks like it does have galvanic isolation.

Iā€™ve got it working with a small python script. Wasnā€™t difficult, but then Iā€™ve already got three other Modbus instruments, so it was just a matter of making some changes and she worked like a champ.

Hereā€™s the script:

pzem-016.py.txt (859 Bytes)
APScheduler-2.1.2.tar.gz (40.8 KB)
minimalmodbus.zip (116.3 KB)

Itā€™s very basic. Doesnā€™t do anything but read the registers and print their contents.
As written, it needs minimalmodbus and Advanced Python Scheduler v2.12
You dont have to use APS. I use it to read my other meters every 5 seconds, so I left it in the script.
Any loop construct will work.

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Iā€™m still waiting for my orderā€¦
Sure, please post your script or a link to github.

So I guess it must be U2 that does all the maths. Can you tell what it is?

I set my camera to 12 MP in the hopes of being able to enlarge the picture to read the characters on the chip, but no joy. The markings are very faint. I had it in full sunlight, but still no help. Bummer.

Ah well, I guess at $12 per unit, thereā€™s not a lot of incentive to reverse engineer it ;-).

PB and I thought the same thing, i.e even if itā€™s junk, at that price itā€™s a throw-away item.
So far, it seems to be fairly accurate. I have a 40 W incandescent lamp as a load with 10 turns wrapped
through the CT window and itā€™s reading 429.1 W, 3.57 A, 120.2 V.

But hey, whatta ya want fer 12 bucks, right? :wink:

So internally consistent at least. Do you have a trusted meter you can compare those numbers with?

I guess I could buy one and stick it on the calibrator to give it a good run for its money, but I doubt my calibratorā€™s V output would have enough ousht to drive its power supply. I needed a separate V input on my monitor for that reason. One V input to power the unit, and 3V inputs to measure. Once installed, you can daisy chain the first off any of the other three but when calibrating, just having the power supply attached to the calibratorā€™s V output distorts the signal (as do many 9VAC wall-warts).

The Fluke 27 DMM I have (calibration unknown) consistently reads 0.4 to 0.5 V higher than the
Modbus meter.

Butā€¦ I do have access to TMDE that gets calibrated anually.
Iā€™ll take it to work with me tonight and check it against a a Fluke 289 true RMS DMM.

Whatever it is, it looks like you flash it via JTAG, note the TDI TMS TCK pins in the bottom left corner. And youā€™d need an isolated programmer since all that sits on the scarey side of the barrier.

I noticed they used an STM32 with an ST-LINK header in one of their products:
https://www.webx.dk/oz2cpu/energy-meter/energy-meter.htm

That too would need an isolated STLINK programmer. Actually, that entire hack project is very dangerous (they do mention it in the fine print). Theyā€™re wiring up external hardware to the live side of the barrier so all of the display hardware is live.

Now, speaking of STM32sā€¦ whatā€™s been happening out there in OEM / STM32 land?

Got one of those too.

Version 13 of your script is the newest thing Iā€™ve seenā€¦

Looks like my 27 isnā€™t too far off. (canā€™t complan too much, it was a freebie)
Compared to a calibrated Fluke 289, the unit reads a consistent 0.3 Volts low.

Mine arrived yesterday,

Itā€™s a ā€œVangoā€ V9881D (link to datasheet http://www.vangotech.com/tw/uploadpic/152783461494.pdf)

the rs485 transceiver is a Maxim MAX485 (link to datasheet https://datasheets.maximintegrated.com/en/ds/MAX1487-MAX491.pdf). The spec of a MAX485 is a ā€œwhole unitā€ so there would only be a maximum of 31 of these (plus a master) in a single rs485 chain (without repeaters).

the isolation is done by a pair of CT Micro CT817Cā€™s (link to datasheet ā”‚CT Micro International Corporationā”‚)

there is also a ā€œS9111 ADAC2ā€ that I didnā€™t find any info on, but itā€™s position and tracks lead me to suspect it might have something do with creating the 5v DC supply.

I havenā€™t hooked up to a load yet, but I did try communicating with just the rs485 and 240v connected and it seems to communicate fine with the ā€œone to oneā€ windows utility in the zip posted earlier in this thread.

The terminal blocks are a tad el cheapo (as expected) but aside from that it seems ā€œokā€ build wise. However IMO the connection map on the underside can be a bit misleading as it is correct whilst looking at the underside, but it needs inverting when looking at the module from the top which is where the terminal screws are (despite the map possibly suggesting otherwise), thatā€™s not an issue when the unit is loose in your hand, but if mounted and youā€™re using an online map or looking at another unit, you could get it wrong.

I am going to try writing a python script a little later (if I donā€™t get otherwise engrossed with something else), Iā€™ll post here what I learn.

Hi Paul,

Good pics. Your camera is better than mine. thumbsup

Looks like itā€™s got the goods. I notice they too calibrate phase error at a 60Ā° phase shift, so you may not want to put it into calibration mode unless youā€™ve got some equipment that can do that.

Itā€™s just a regular 12mp camera on a Galaxy S7, but I use a magnifier app for such occasions (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softdx.quickmagnifier). The hardest part to using it is keeping your hand steady, itā€™s like Iā€™ve got a serious case of ā€œthe morning after the night beforeā€ shakes.

Luckily it isnā€™t so easy to do (without the supplied utility) once they are in service, if there are more than one of them connected you cannot put it in calibration mode as it uses a generic slave address (regardless of the one programmed) that all of the devices will try to respond to. It can only be calibrated in a ā€œone on oneā€ connection.

Whilst looking at some other devices such as this one

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-45-A-45A-MAX-220V-50HZ-60HZ-voltage-current-energy-meter-RS485-MODBUS-RUT-/222562056284?clk_rvr_id=1598746816103&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=twenga&utm_campaign=twenga&utm_param=eyJlcyI6MCwicyI6OTcyMDIzNywiY2kiOiIwM2U2ZDA5YTEzZjVlNGMzY2FhMDg2ODBhZDMxZTNkMyIsImkiOiI2Njg1ODk5NTg5MzcxMjIwODgyIiwidHMiOjE1MzE2NTA4NDEsInYiOjMsInNvIjoxNTAwLCJjIjo2Njk5MX0%3D&rmvSB=true

I noticed that some have separate import and export energy totals which makes perfect sense and would be essential for some applications eg PV inverter and grid connections. From what Iā€™ve read all the values from the pzemā€™s are unsigned so both import and export will ramp up the energy total and there is no easy way to tell the direction of travel of the power value to calculate it outside the device.

The example device I linked above should work work really well for users with a excess PV diverter as ā€œtrueā€ export and import values will be of much greater value than the ā€œnet per 10sā€ weā€™re used to which looses all the data for energy in the ā€œsweet spotā€ oscillating. Iā€™m thinking of trying one of those too as the din rail mount and separate import/export totals might be worth the price difference (< x2).

Although that one will do up to 45A without a CT (which is a plus IMO), something like the one below with a 100A CT might be more appropriate for a main grid connection although this one is unfortunately considerably dearer (~ x4).

[edit - hope nobody minds, Iā€™m going to add some links here to refer back to as it seems that last device goes under a couple of names and there is conflicting info about whether it is 60A or 100A]

EM115-MOD (60A CT)

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

http://a2.leadongcdn.com/attachment/7ripKBloSRjlmnkoRiwS77gwbf3znq/EM115-Mod-.pdf

EM115-MOD (100A CT)

EM115-Mod single phase~100A~MID~Modbus - Buy energy meter, MID Certified meters, MID Approved meters Product on Shanghai Fangqiu Electric Co., Ltd.

https://meters.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/EM115-MOD-.pdf

OB115-MOD (100A CT)

OB115-MOD Single Phase MID CT Meter

OB115-MOD (45A Direct)

https://owen-brothers.com/media/wysiwyg/OB115_User_Manual_2016_v1.2.pdf

DDS238-1 ZN (45A Direct)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-45-A-45A-MAX-220V-50HZ-60HZ-voltage-current-energy-meter-RS485-MODBUS-RUT-/222562056284

DDS238-1 ZN (32A Direct)

Modbus - KWh meter - DDS238-1 ZN

single phase static watt hour meter | Electricity Meter

China Circuit Breaker Manufacturer, AC Contactor, Thermal Relay Supplier - XIAN GOODNESS IMP. AND EXP. CO., LTD. ($1.90~$2.40 volume pricing!!!)

DRS-205C (32/45A Direct)

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

http://q.zvk9.com/1200/2017/12/12/2.0%20DRS-205C%20MBus%20Protocol%20V1.1.pdf

http://q.zvk9.com/1200/2017/12/12/DRS-205C%20MODBUS%20user%20manual.pdf

DRS-2DM(60/80/100 Direct 2 tariff)

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

HTB1ZGClHpXXXXamXVXX.PRXFXXXv.pdf (257.4 KB)

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