Hydros Control 2 , Control 4 and accessories question and answer thread.

[shred5]

The 2 month wait to set the tank up is going to kill me.

That is allot of stuff. Congrats you will love it.

 

[n2585722]

Wow that's great. Im interested to see. By the way, the icon next to the return looks like an angry kool-aid man face

Ok here is a graph of the input setup to track the output. I did change the ramp to 8 hours so it ramps up for 8 hours then stays at max setting for 8 hours then ramp down for 8 hours. At that point it starts the ramp back up for the next day. At first I had a bad connection with the clip lead I was using to connect the output to the input. It has been stable since I changed out the clip lead. Hopefully they can come up with a recipe that does not turn off the output at the end of the ramp and instead holds the minimum till the next ramp up. That would work for more than just pumps. Also I set the multiplier to 10. The graphing rounds to nearest whole number and at 0-10v there was not much of a graph. To get the voltage divide by 10.

 

[zach_discus]

Could a person set up a daily water change using two of the little Hydros DC pumps. One in the sump and another in a container with saltwater. Have return and skimmer turn off for a set time. Use two level sensonrs. One controls a pump to pump out till sensor is dry that turn on 2 pump in saltwater vat until second sensor is wet? Have a third level sensor in the saltwater cat set to if dry override water change?

 

[ReefBeta]

Could a person set up a daily water change using two of the little Hydros DC pumps. One in the sump and another in a container with saltwater. Have return and skimmer turn off for a set time. Use two level sensonrs. One controls a pump to pump out till sensor is dry that turn on 2 pump in saltwater vat until second sensor is wet? Have a third level sensor in the saltwater cat set to if dry override water change?

It's technically correct. But it's hard to be accurate. When your return and skimmer stopped, the second sensor should just got wet, but not over. The third sensor need to be very close to the second, and make sure it's dry. But in a 40 gallon sump, couple mm difference can be like a gallon difference.

Maybe it would be easier to use two high flow peristaltic pump. So you just need to run them for the same length of time, and use level sensor as backup detection.

 

[ReefBeta]

They function the same the difference is where the cord is.
Skimmer sensor the cord is outside so you can close the lid on the skimmer.

Do you know if the skimmer sensor require the container be transparent?

 

[n2585722]

I use two of these I calibrate them to pump at the same flow rate. They are 12v DC pumps and can be driven with the same port as the Hydros ATO if you make your own cable. Both pumps are in my garage and the tank is 35ft away. The tubing is run up through the attic to the room with the tank and down the wall to a wall plate. The drain pump has to pump back up through the attic and down the wall to the drain under the kitchen sink. The fill pump adds water to the return section of the sump. The drain pump pulls water from a section of the sump before the return pump section. To calibrate I calibrate the fill pump to flow at the rate I want. I then place the tubing from both into a small container and start the fill pump. Once the water is at a certain level then start the drain pump. I adjust the flow rate of the drain pump till it maintains the same level in the container. I have been using these for several months now. They were controlled by my Archon. I run both pumps at the same time without turning off the return pump or skimmer. I do have a overfull float switch and a under full float switch that will stop both pumps if tripped and send a alert. At this point those sensors are still on my Archon but a signal is sent to the control 4 to stop the auto water change if these switches are tripped.

 

[n2585722]

Do you know if the skimmer sensor require the container be transparent?

If the wire is outside the container I would think it would have to be transparent to work.

 

[n2585722]

Thanks for the info.

I have run into an issue with timers. It may just be the way I am trying to use it but if I setup like it is in the screen shot below it will work for a one time on during 24 hours.

If I set it up like below it comes on and stays on. I doesn’t follow the schedule. Am I setting it up wrong.

I think I found a way to do what I want until the update to fix this issue is out. I created three outputs for each time I want the original output on. I did not assign it to an actual output. I also added in the Archon alarm input to shut off these three outputs if the alarm is active. The one shown below is set to turn on at 7:00am and run till 7:15am. The second one was set to come on at 1:00pm and run till 1:15pm. The third was set to come on at 7:00pm and run till 7:15pm.

I also created a combiner output to combine the first two outputs. This also has no physical output assigned. I set the combine mode to or so if either of the inputs are active the output will be active.

I changed the original output to the combiner recipe and use the combiner output just created for one input and the third timer output for the second. This output has the actual output assigned to it. The combine mode is or here also.

It is working so far. It turned on at 7:00am and turned off at 7:15am this morning. I guess you can call outputs that have no physical output assigned as virtual outputs. This will work as long as there are not a lot of times during the day you want the output on. I came up with this when I was trying to figure out how to turn on a RODI solenoid with a timer along with any time either the DI fill or mix fill solenoid are on. I use the RO out on my RODI for the ice maker on the fridge. Having it run for 10 minutes every hour seems to keep the bladder tank topped off.

 

[n2585722]

Looks like it is going to work. Below is a graph from my Archon monitoring the AWC output on the Control 4. It came on all three times for the correct amount of time.

 

[ArmyReefer]

Okay so sorry if this already answered.... But I read somewhere that you can purchase additional hydos power strips and have them say in the garage. Through the controller Will I still be able to monitor and control the outlets?

 

[shred5]

Okay so sorry if this already answered.... But I read somewhere that you can purchase additional hydos power strips and have them say in the garage. Through the controller Will I still be able to monitor and control the outlets?

Yes as long as there is a solid WiFi connection you can place them anywhere.

 

[ArmyReefer]

Last question, on the hydros 2, it comes with a temp probe. Will that use one of the 2 ports available?

 

[shred5]

Last question, on the hydros 2, it comes with a temp probe. Will that use one of the 2 ports available?

Yes it uses a sense port.

 

[thewire]

Yes as long as there is a solid WiFi connection you can place them anywhere.

What happened if you wifi goes out? Will they work on the last state?

 

[Luisreefmexico]

I will be posting more but I am at work and a little busy today.

I will say this it is the easiest controller I have used and you do not loose any power..

Here is my Control 4 unit and I also am running a Control 2 and (2) WaveEngines:
Left is my Control 4 and right is my WE. This is a old picture. My Control 4 now get power from my WE and my Control 2 is powered from my second Wave Engine which are not shown in this picture.

Do you need buy special connectors to connect two gyre Xf250?

 

[jrill]

What happened if you wifi goes out? Will they work on the last state?

Yes, and they don't need the internet to work. As long as your router is still working there still controlled

 

[thewire]

Yes, and they don't need the internet to work. As long as your router is still working there still controlled

Thanks. What I meant what happened if my wifi access point went kaput? Is each outlets will remain the same state as of last or revert to off?

 

[jrill]

Yes, Stay in same state.

 

[zach_discus]

I think this has been answered but I can’t find it. The USB out puts on the power strips are a constant on, correct?
I was thinking about using several Reef Octopus usb powered fans in the canopy and cabinets to help control temps and humidity.

 

[jnvd3b]

I think this has been answered but I can’t find it. The USB out puts on the power strips are a constant on, correct?
I was thinking about using several Reef Octopus usb powered fans in the canopy and cabinets to help control temps and humidity.

You can turn them on and off just like the other 4 outlets. But not individually, all usb or none.