MASTERBUS
EN / WHISPER 3.5 / October 2009 / Copyright © 2009 Mastervolt 29
4 MASTERBUS
4.1 WHAT IS MASTERBUS?
All devices that are suitable for MasterBus are
marked by the MasterBus symbol.
MasterBus is a fully decentralized data network for
communication between the different Mastervolt system
devices. It is a CAN-bus based communication network
which has proven itself as a reliable bus-system in
automotive applications. MasterBus is used as power
management system for all connected devices, such as
the inverter, battery charger, generator and many more.
This gives the possibility for communication between the
connected devices, for instance to start the generator
when the batteries are low.
MasterBus reduces complexity of electrical systems by
using UTP patch cables. All system components are
simply chained together. Therefore each device is
equipped with two MasterBus data ports. When two or
more devices are connected to each other through these
data ports, they form a local data network, called the
MasterBus. The results are a reduction of material costs
as only a few electrical cables are needed and less
installation time.
For central monitoring and control of the connected
devices Mastervolt offers a wide range of panels which
show full status information of your electrical system at a
glance and a push of a button. Four different panels are
available, from the small Mastervision compatible 120 x
65mm LCD screen up to the full colour MasterView
System panel. All monitoring panels can be used for
monitoring, control and configuration of all connected
MasterBus equipment.
New devices can be added to the existing network in a
very easy way by just extending the network. This gives
the MasterBus network a high degree of flexibility for
extended system configuration, not only today, but in the
future as well!
Mastervolt also offers several interfaces, making even
non-MasterBus devices suitable to operate in the
MasterBus network
4.2 EVENT-BASED COMMANDS
With MasterBus each device can be programmed to
initiate an action at an other connected device. This is
done by means of event based commands.
Example: if the state of charge of the service batteries is at
40%, the generator must be started.
In this example, the MasterBus network should at least
exist of the following devices: a MasterView Easy panel for
programming of event based commands, a MasterShunt
to measure the state of charge of the service batteries and
a Whisper generator set as power supply for the battery
charger
As the state of charge of the service batteries is measured
by the MasterShunt, this device is considered as the Event
source. The Whisper generator set is the device that
should initiate an action (starting the generator to charge
the service batteries), and is therefore considered to be
the target. This means that you should use the
MasterView Easy panel to program the MasterShunt as
follows:
Event source: Battery pre low Select from list of events sources
(see manual of the MasterShunt)
Event target: GEN Whisper 3.5 Select from the device list (devices connected to the MasterBus)
Event command: Auto start Select event command from the list of event commands of the target
(see manual of the of the Generator)
Event data: Copy Select event action from the list of event commands of the target
(see manual of the of the Generator)