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

[shred5]

Shred5,
So currently it would be a correct statement that I cannot trigger a feed mode on the Control 4 and have the WaveEngine enter a feed mode?

Thanks,

Not yet, I am hoping soon... I know they are working on it. That would be convenient, I have two Controls hooked p to Waveengins.
They do have allot on their plate with the launch but it seems pretty smooth. I have not seen allot of questions here or the support forums.

 

[thewire]

Wow been out of the hobby and Aquacontroller went out of business and Neptune raised their price by 3 time!

 

[MGarrison]

Got my Control4 yesterday and set it all up... Having one issue, per the graph attached the Temp probe (Temp_Sump) in the sump is not reading correctly. It is a slim probe, I have it on a sense port extension cable because the sump is in the basement. The other temp probe is the magnetic one and it is in the overflow of the tank and is working well.

From my experience results like this are either interference or a bad prob. I am getting stable reading from the ph probe in the sump and generally ph is more prone to interference than temp.

I am going to try to swap the probes and see how that works out.

 

[n2585722]

Got my Control4 yesterday and set it all up... Having one issue, per the graph attached the Temp probe (Temp_Sump) in the sump is not reading correctly. It is a slim probe, I have it on a sense port extension cable because the sump is in the basement. The other temp probe is the magnetic one and it is in the overflow of the tank and is working well.

From my experience results like this are either interference or a bad prob. I am getting stable reading from the ph probe in the sump and generally ph is more prone to interference than temp.

I am going to try to swap the probes and see how that works out.

You can always swap them at the ports on the controller to see if the issue switches ports or not.

 

[shred5]

Got my Control4 yesterday and set it all up... Having one issue, per the graph attached the Temp probe (Temp_Sump) in the sump is not reading correctly. It is a slim probe, I have it on a sense port extension cable because the sump is in the basement. The other temp probe is the magnetic one and it is in the overflow of the tank and is working well.

From my experience results like this are either interference or a bad prob. I am getting stable reading from the ph probe in the sump and generally ph is more prone to interference than temp.

I am going to try to swap the probes and see how that works out.

Yea I would switch and see. Someone else had a interference problem with something in the sump.

 

[zach_discus]

Hello several questions
1. Will the Wavengine control the Maxspect jump pumps with either the 0-10 port of Pump Outputs? I’m hoping to run two Jump pumps and two Ice Cap 4ks with the Engine

2. On the Control 4, will I need two of them to run 2 Ph probes and a Orp probe? I need the extra Ph for my Calcium reactor and the Orp for my Ozone reactor (Avast Marine units)

3. I’m running a 36” DX-18 fixture with 2 A360x Kessils. Can I control these 3 fixtures with a Controller 4?

Thanks
Zach

 

[shred5]

Hello several questions
1. Will the Wavengine control the Maxspect jump pumps with either the 0-10 port of Pump Outputs? I’m hoping to run two Jump pumps and two Ice Cap 4ks with the Engine

2. On the Control 4, will I need two of them to run 2 Ph probes and a Orp probe? I need the extra Ph for my Calcium reactor and the Orp for my Ozone reactor (Avast Marine units)

3. I’m running a 36” DX-18 fixture with 2 A360x Kessils. Can I control these 3 fixtures with a Controller 4?

Thanks
Zach

1. Not right now. I know it has been requested by allot of people and they have a close relationship with Maxspect so I would bet they will be.. Nothing formally announced yet though. I would like it myself.

2. Yes it accepts two probes so three would require another controller or drop the ORP probe. ORP is really not too important to monitor.

3. Does the Kessil have 0-10v? if so yes but there is no cable yet. You could use a break out box or make your own cable.

Lighting is going to be one of those things that unless they have 0-10v controllers wont be able to control them other than on or off. 0-10v is slowly going away too. More fixtures are going some sort of WiFi so we will see how that ends up being handled by the controller companies.

There is allot more to come yet.

 

[MGarrison]

Yea I would switch and see. Someone else had a interference problem with something in the sump.

1) Switched ports - Same issue
2) Switched Probes - Same issue
3) Rerouted the cable to other side of sump - Has gone 2 hours without losing connection

Not sure what was causing the interference. I think I may check my pH probe to make sure I am getting accurate reads from it.

 

[Rutrag]

I’m sorry if this sounds really basic, but I have read through all the posts, and I don’t feel like I understand. What exactly can you plug into the 0-10V output, and then what can you do with it? I think I will grasp the concept better if the answer(s) is/are pretty specific. TIA

 

[TheHarold]

I’m sorry if this sounds really basic, but I have read through all the posts, and I don’t feel like I understand. What exactly can you plug into the 0-10V output, and then what can you do with it? I think I will grasp the concept better if the answer(s) is/are pretty specific. TIA

With a 0-10v *output*, you can control devices that have a 0-10v *input*. This includes several different return pumps (see Reef Octopus Varios), power heads (see Icecap gyre 2k/4K with wifi controller) , and even light fixtures (see kessil, reef brutes, etc)!

Very useful feature to have. For example, reduce your return pump to 5% during feed mode to both minimize the amount of food that goes into the sump, while also avoiding backflow filling up the sump and messing up the water level (effecting the skimmer).

 

[zach_discus]

I wonder if a person could drive a couple 12v computer fans using a drive port? That would be a really nice option!

 

[jrill]

I wonder if a person could drive a couple 12v computer fans using a drive port? That would be a really nice option!

I'm pretty sure you can.

 

[Rutrag]

With a 0-10v *output*, you can control devices that have a 0-10v *input*. This includes several different return pumps (see Reef Octopus Varios), power heads (see Icecap gyre) , and even light fixtures (see kessil, reef brutes, etc)!

Very useful feature to have. For example, reduce your return pump to 5% during feed mode to both minimize the amount of food that goes into the sump, while also avoiding backflow filling up the sump and messing up the water level (effecting the skimmer).

So, I have an Ice Cap 3K gyre I should be able to run off the Hydros 4? Any cabling required?

 

[TheHarold]

So, I have an Ice Cap 3K gyre I should be able to run off the Hydros 4? Any cabling required?

Not sure if that model has a 0-10v input- I was thinking of my newer icecap 2k/4K. but yeah a cable would always be needed.

 

[jrill]

So, I have an Ice Cap 3K gyre I should be able to run off the Hydros 4? Any cabling required?

On the hydra web site the have an faq that shows all the pumps it will control and how to do it

 

[Rutrag]

On the hydra web site the have an faq that shows all the pumps it will control and how to do it

All that I’ve found points to the Wave Engine as a pump controller as opposed to the Control 4. Playing around in the app, there doesn’t seem to be a profile that fits a gyre/ wave pump.

 

[n2585722]

I wonder if a person could drive a couple 12v computer fans using a drive port? That would be a really nice option!

I use the drive ports to power my Intllab dosing pumps. The pump draws 120ma from the port So I can run more that one off of one port. If I remember correctly the port can control up to 1 amp or 1.5 amps for both ports. I would not think the fans would draw that much more than a dosing pump. Check the specs on the fans you want to use and see what the operating current is for them.

 

[shrive81]

hello, so my local shop sold me on the whole control 4 setup and said I would be able to run my two reef octopus octo pulse 2 wave pumps, they sold me the direct drive pump adapter to plug it in but it is a 3 pin plug and the drive ports on the control 4 are two pins. Is there a different cable or can the control 4 even control a ocoto pulse 2 pump? Or do I hjave to buy a wave engine as well to run the octo pulse pumps

thanks in advance

 

[TheHarold]

hello, so my local shop sold me on the whole control 4 setup and said I would be able to run my two reef octopus octo pulse 2 wave pumps, they sold me the direct drive pump adapter to plug it in but it is a 3 pin plug and the drive ports on the control 4 are two pins. Is there a different cable or can the control 4 even control a ocoto pulse 2 pump? Or do I hjave to buy a wave engine as well to run the octo pulse pumps

thanks in advance

The Control2/4 are aquarium controllers. They have 0-10v output to provide limited control to specific pumps that have 0-10v inputs, but do NOT have that 3-prong pump power/control port.

I think they were mixing up the Control with the WaveEngine, which is the pump controller.

The two items use the same app, and can be connected.

 

[shrive81]

The Control2/4 are aquarium controllers. They have 0-10v output to provide limited control to specific pumps that have 0-10v inputs, but do NOT have that 3-prong pump power/control port.

I think they were mixing up the Control with the WaveEngine, which is the pump controller.

The two items use the same app, and can be connected.

Ya that's what I was afraid of. They sold me on this whole thing cause I would save money on not having to buy the controllers for the octo pulse pumps, but no I either have to but a wave engine or the controllers for the pumps, If i get the wave engine can it be put on a collective or use a can bus cable to have them all work together or will i just have to runt he wave engine seperatly?