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

[shred5]

I am starting this thread to discuss the New Hydros Control 2 and Control 4. It is for people to tell their experiences, ask for help from the community etc. I am going to try and tag some of the Beta testers to help once this launches.

As for now Beta testers can not discuss everything since there are things we are still working on and probably still be in the future. The beta testers are still under partial NDA. There are still things we do not know about either.

 

[shred5]

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.

 

[shred5]

By the way there was a lot of new information released yesterday in the Live Stream

 

[MGarrison]

Hello shred5,
During the live stream Carlos had a device setup as Sense4. Do you know if that was just another Control4 he had setup with that name or are they going to release a lower cost option to expand the sense ports.
Thanks,

 

[shred5]

Hello shred5,
During the live stream Carlos had a device setup as Sense4. Do you know if that was just another Control4 he had setup with that name or are they going to release a lower cost option to expand the sense ports.
Thanks,

Yea I saw that too and not sure what it was. You can name Controls anything you want so who knows. There are things in the works we know nothing about yet.

 

[shred5]

I have been in the reef hobby 30+ years and saltwater even longer. I have used several controller and currently also own a Apex.

I was excited to test these out for Coralvue because I loved my WaveEngine and it really helped me eliminate cords on my 7 tank system and allowed my pumps to work together. I now own two WE.



I will say the thing I liked most about the Control unit was how easy it was to set up.

Everything they sent me originally to test would take the average person less than a hour to set up: , Control 4, ATO, Leak detector, skimmer overflow sensor, temperature sensor, ph probe, orp probe, 2 WiFI strips and a single Wifi outlet. No coding, non of that.

I am also using the Hydros to power my Klir's. It works really good and gives me a little more control.

Right now I am working on it controlling my RO/DI system for freshwater.


Seriously it is so easy to set up it is all menu driven. You do not loose any power either and with most outputs their is a advanced button that allows you even more advance control.


Also nice to see how affordable a unit can be especially the Control 2. Since the demise of the ReefKeeper lite there really has not been a affordable unit out there especially for those who do not need allot, those with smaller tanks or just want something affordable. Some have multiple systems and do not want one controller to handle them all in case of failure you can loose all your systems.


Another thing I like is the way the App can combine the two controllers, it is seamless. You do not have to log into each device separate they are all brought together into one app.

 

[shred5]

Just tagging a few people.

@120reefkeeper
@Jeff@CoralVue

 

[MGarrison]

I am jealous, that you got to try it out early and that I still have 4 more weeks till I can get my hands on one! I have my new build setup with my APEX Classic just to run the basics right now.

What has been your experience with the limited number of sense ports? It looks like with " ATO, Leak detector, skimmer overflow sensor, temperature sensor " you are already maxed out on your Control 4.

 

[shred5]

I am jealous, that you got to try it out early and that I still have 4 more weeks till I can get my hands on one! I have my new build setup with my APEX Classic just to run the basics right now.

What has been your experience with the limited number of sense ports? It looks like with " ATO, Leak detector, skimmer overflow sensor, temperature sensor " you are already maxed out on your Control 4.

I am not maxed out yet. I will be once I get the RO/DI system on it. I can always remove my leak detector because it is not a huge deal with my system in the basement. The PH and ORP use their own ports. Right now I have my ATO, leak Detector, and Klir's on sense ports.


I have not heard anything yet but I would tend to believe there will be ways to add sense ports later. That is pure speculation too..

Edit: I guess Jeff just answered you question in the other thread.

 

[n2585722]

I watched the live stream and it appeas to be function based similar the the DA equipment. I was impressed by the ATO function that Carlos was describing. I am also interested in controlling my storage tanks with one. I use my Archon to control them at the moment. I use their float switch function with alarms to control the filling of my DI tank and my fresh saltwater tank. I also have a mixing tank that is controlled by the Archon. Once the mix is ready to use it will transfer it to the fresh salt water tank when it becomes empty. Once it has transfered it will refill the mixing tank with DI water. All I have to do is add the salt mix and press a button when I have completed that task to let the controller know it is good to use. One full tank last about a month at my current water change rate.

 

[shred5]

I watched the live stream and it appeas to be function based similar the the DA equipment. I was impressed by the ATO function that Carlos was describing. I am also interested in controlling my storage tanks with one. I use my Archon to control them at the moment. I use their float switch function with alarms to control the filling of my DI tank and my fresh saltwater tank. I also have a mixing tank that is controlled by the Archon. Once the mix is ready to use it will transfer it to the fresh salt water tank when it becomes empty. Once it has transfered it will refill the mixing tank with DI water. All I have to do is add the salt mix and press a button when I have completed that task to let the controller know it is good to use. One full tank last about a month at my current water change rate.

Yea it is similar to the DA OS and how it works. I always liked my DA equipment.

I think what you are trying to do is similar to what I am eventually trying to do.
Sounds like it could be pretty much done with the level Sensor, Hydros DC solenoid for the RO/DI and some pumps.

Eventually I would like to have the Control unit fill up my freshwater reservoir. I will manually open a valve to fill my Saltwater Vat..
I want to eventually tie my fresh water right to my sumps for ATO. I also want to set up auto water changes from my saltwater vat. I may actually just buy a Control 2 just to handle this stuff. The Control 2 is so cheap it may not be much more than buying additional sense and drive ports or WIFI strip.

 

[shred5]

The picture I posted above is actually old. Right now I have two WaveEngines, Control 2 and a Control 4.

I have a Command bus cable linking one WE to the Control 4 so so my Control 4 runs off my WE and eliminates a power supply and cord. I also have the same thing with my other WE and Control 2 so one more less power supply and cord. I also run a command bus cable between my Control 4 and Control 2 allowing all to function as one in the app.

My set up is unique. You can actually power the Control 2 and Control 4 with one Wave Engine. It is dependent on distance though.


What I think is amazing is that peg board in my picture is Empty and a waste of space.. I was expecting all these power supplies to be zip tied to it and only needed one power supply. One power supply powers the WaveEngine, Control 4, (2) gyres and a Varios main pump.

 

[MGarrison]

The picture I posted above is actually old. Right now I have 2 WaveEngines, Control 2 and a Control 4.

I have a Command bus cable linking one WE to the Control 4 so so my Control 4 runs off my WE and eliminates a power supply and cord. I also have the same thing with my other WE and Control 2 so one more less power supply and cord. I also run a command bus cable between my Control 4 and Control 2 allowing all to function as one in the app.

My set up is unique. You can actually power the Control 2 and Control 4 with one Wave Engine. It is dependent on distance though.


What I think is amazing is that peg board in my picture is Empty and a waste of space.. I was expecting all these power supplies to be zip tied to it and only needed one power supply. One power supply powers the WaveEngine, Control 4, (2) gyres and a Varios main pump.

Question... Does the Control 4 and Control 2 need to be connected via Command Bus to function as one? I thought it would be able to do this wirelessly.

 

[shred5]

Question... Does the Control 4 and Control 2 need to be connected via Command Bus to function as one? I thought it would be able to do this wirelessly.

Yes must be through command bus.

 

[n2585722]

How long of a buss cable can you have. It is a long way from my tank and the garage. I do have a buss cable run for the DA system. So they won't talk to each other via wifi?

 

[TheHarold]

Question... Does the Control 4 and Control 2 need to be connected via Command Bus to function as one? I thought it would be able to do this wirelessly.

It depends. If you want to control and program them independent from eachother, you can have them as separate devices. All are accesible from the app.

However if you want to share inputs and outputs across devices in a collective, such as have Control2 input turn on a Control4 drive port, or view all inputs on one page, they need to connect via command bus.

(Thats my understanding at the moment)

 

[shred5]

It depends. If you want to control and program them independent from eachother, you can have them as separate devices. All are accesible from the app.

However if you want to share inputs and outputs across devices in a collective, such as have Control2 input turn on a Control4 drive port, or view all inputs on one page, they need to connect via command bus.

(Thats my understanding at the moment)

How long of a buss cable can you have. It is a long way from my tank and the garage. I do have a buss cable run for the DA system. So they won't talk to each other via wifi?

15' for power and data. For data I am not sure someone from CV would have to answer that. My data cable is 35'.

You can always do what Harold says and not make it part of the collective.

I know for me my main display upstairs wont be part of the collective. I want it completely separate.

 

[n2585722]

It is not over 50' I am guessing around 30' outlet box to outlet box. Then a few feet on each side it should be good. The Archon buss has no issue with the distance. Carlos also said something about a limit of 8 wifi power bars if I heard him right. I already have 7 of the 4 outlet power bars in use on the Archon and I still have another tank I want to setup eventually. I am guessing if I control each of the three areas seperatly that will get me around that limit. Do you have any info on a limit on the wifi bars?

 

[Viva'sReef]

Patiently waiting for it's release. I was leaning towards the Apex....then I stumbled upon the WaveEngine which has been a dream so far (only 2 days in lol) and then caught wind of the Control4. So far, I'm sold just on the concept and from the experience of setting up the WaveEngine. So easy to use. Now just hoping they have something in the works like the Apex DOS system.

 

[MGarrison]

It is not over 50' I am guessing around 30' outlet box to outlet box. Then a few feet on each side it should be good. The Archon buss has no issue with the distance. Carlos also said something about a limit of 8 wifi power bars if I heard him right. I already have 7 of the 4 outlet power bars in use on the Archon and I still have another tank I want to setup eventually. I am guessing if I control each of the three areas seperatly that will get me around that limit. Do you have any info on a limit on the wifi bars?

According to this video you can have 32 combined strips.