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

lancesmith1 · Dec 5, 2020

Hi can you set a delay for the skimmer restart after feed mode or better yet shut the skimmer down when the main return stops and then delay the restart? thanks

n2585722 · Dec 5, 2020

Yes you can. You can do it using the skimmer recipe. I used the generic since I wanted it to react to an alarm signal from my Archon also. Set the "Depends On" setting to you return pump and set "Dependency Mode" for off if off. Then set minimum off time for the amount of time you want it to wait after the return pump starts. Mine is set for 5 minutes. Mine will shut off with an alarm from my Archon anyway since an overfull sump will trip that alarm condition and shut down the skimmer.

lancesmith1 · Dec 5, 2020

cool thanks

Peace River · Dec 5, 2020

zach_discus said:
Dumb question but setting at work laying out my tank. How long is the power cord on the power strips?

Based on a quick measurement, from the wall to where the cord connects to the power strip I am measuring 56".

Jasper05 · Dec 5, 2020

This is really more of a wave engine question. It would be best practice to put pump and powerheads on different circuits. But with the wave engine, all would be on one circuit. Any work around?

The problem is compounded if you have the hydros control powering the wave engine.

n2585722 · Dec 5, 2020

I don't think you can power a wave engine with a control 4 or control 2 power supply.You can power control 4's and control 2's with the wave engine. You can always use two wave engines and control your pumps with one and the power heads with another. I am not sure about the other types but I believe the vortech pumps will continue to run without the wave engine communication. I have vortech's and a reeflink and they will continue to run if I power down the reeflink. I assume they would not follow the scheduling. I have not tested it to find out.

Jasper05 · Dec 5, 2020

n2585722 said:
I don't think you can power a wave engine with a control 4 or control 2 power supply.You can power control 4's and control 2's with the wave engine. You can always use two wave engines and control your pumps with one and the power heads with another. I am not sure about the other types but I believe the vortech pumps will continue to run without the wave engine communication. I have vortech's and a reeflink and they will continue to run if I power down the reeflink. I assume they would not follow the scheduling. I have not tested it to find out.

I misinterpreted your post #198. So the wave engine can power a control but not vice versa.
Interesting idea with multiple wave engines. And they connect via the command bus and can still have the same functionality as if the powerheads and pump were on a single WE? Not sure I'd be shelling out 600 for 2 wave engines tho. Not in my situation anyway.

n2585722 · Dec 5, 2020

Jasper05 said:
I misinterpreted your post #198. So the wave engine can power a control but not vice versa.
Interesting idea with multiple wave engines. And they connect via the command bus and can still have the same functionality as if the powerheads and pump were on a single WE? Not sure I'd be shelling out 600 for 2 wave engines tho. Not in my situation anyway.

I am not sure how far they have got with integrating the wave engine into the collective but that is the plan to be able to do that in the future. The wave engine power supply has a lot more current capability that the small power supply that comes with the control 4 and control 2 systems. Also the wave engine supplies can be used on the same collective and the control supplies can not be done that way. To use them on the same collective requires a power isolation buss cable between the supplies. I do believe they will eventually offer a similar type supply for the control 2 and control 4 where the supplies will work without the isolation cable.

If your pumps use a 0-10v control signal you may be able to use a control 4 0-10v output to control it using the lighting recipe. I don't think it would work for a wave pump but maybe a return pump. I have not tried it since I don't have any pumps that are DC except my two Vortech's.

Jasper05 · Dec 5, 2020

n2585722 said:
I am not sure how far they have got with integrating the wave engine into the collective but that is the plan to be able to do that in the future. The wave engine power supply has a lot more current capability that the small power supply that comes with the control 4 and control 2 systems. Also the wave engine supplies can be used on the same collective and the control supplies can not be done that way. To use them on the same collective requires a power isolation buss cable between the supplies. I do believe they will eventually offer a similar type supply for the control 2 and control 4 where the supplies will work without the isolation cable.

If your pumps use a 0-10v control signal you may be able to use a control 4 0-10v output to control it using the lighting recipe. I don't think it would work for a wave pump but maybe a return pump. I have not tried it since I don't have any pumps that are DC except my two Vortech's.

Thanks for the info! I have a varios 4. Was planning on getting the octo pulses

Jasper05 · Dec 5, 2020

So theres a chance thatbthe varios can work using the controller?

n2585722 · Dec 5, 2020

Jasper05 said:
So theres a chance thatbthe varios can work using the controller?

If you have the controller you can program an output like you are controlling the pump. Then keep an eye on that output over time and see if it is reacting like you want it to.

jnvd3b · Dec 5, 2020

Jasper05 said:
So theres a chance thatbthe varios can work using the controller?

i was hoping that the control 4’s 0-10v outputs could be a replacement for the wave engine. In theory it can if you have something like a varios2 that already has a controller and accepts a 0-10v signal. However it will be much more limited than the waveengine from a programming perspective. You would basically set it as a variable light (that is the only output I see that can even vary the signal) and then you can set a ‘curve’ so to speak where the controller will ramp up/down. And you can also set it to repeat so you could do multiple ramp ups/down a day.

But you wont get any of the features of the waveengine like wave modes and having pumps grouped to act in sync/anti sync etc.

Just as an FYI

Jasper05 · Dec 5, 2020

jnvd3b said:
i was hoping that the control 4’s 0-10v outputs could be a replacement for the wave engine. In theory it can if you have something like a varios2 that already has a controller and accepts a 0-10v signal. However it will be much more limited than the waveengine from a programming perspective. You would basically set it as a variable light (that is the only output I see that can even vary the signal) and then you can set a ‘curve’ so to speak where the controller will ramp up/down. And you can also set it to repeat so you could do multiple ramp ups/down a day.

But you wont get any of the features of the waveengine like wave modes and having pumps grouped to act in sync/anti sync etc.

Just as an FYI

I'm still planning on getting the wave engine for the wave pumps. I guess the question is, if I want a failsafe does it really make a difference between putting the varios 4 in the 0-10 output or just putting it on a Wi-Fi strip? You can incorporate feed modes, etc into either, but I guess on the Wi-Fi strip you are limited to on/off and have to adjust the flow via physical controller. I suppose thats not the end of the world?

jnvd3b · Dec 5, 2020

Jasper05 said:
I'm still planning on getting the wave engine for the wave pumps. I guess the question is, if I want a failsafe does it really make a difference between putting the varios 4 in the 0-10 output or just putting it on a Wi-Fi strip? You can incorporate feed modes, etc into either, but I guess on the Wi-Fi strip you are limited to on/off and have to adjust the flow via physical controller. I suppose thats not the end of the world?

yes that would be the difference. On/off vs being able to control via the app/remotely.
In the end it is a $11 cable vs using up a plug on the 4 port strip or one of the single plugs (single plug may be useful in the future for return pumps as it has power monitoring and could alert you if the power goes out of range, to alert you of a potential issue....

n2585722 · Dec 5, 2020

Jasper05 said:
So theres a chance thatbthe varios can work using the controller?

Ok I setup one of the 0-10v outputs to see what will happen. I also wired it up to a 0-10v input and setup that input as analog so I can get a graph of what happens to the output. The programming is in the screenshot below. I will give it a couple of days to see what happens.

The graph has just started so it doesn't look like much yet.

jnvd3b · Dec 5, 2020

n2585722 said:
Ok I setup one of the 0-10v outputs to see what will happen. I also wired it up to a 0-10v input and setup that input as analog so I can get a graph of what happens to the output. The programming is in the screenshot below. I will give it a couple of days to see what happens.

The graph has just started so it doesn't look like much yet.

How do you graph an output? I can only find a way to graph inputs.

n2585722 · Dec 5, 2020

jnvd3b said:
How do you graph an output? I can only find a way to graph inputs.

You cannot graph an output at this time. I hooked the 0-10v output to one of the 0-10v inputs and set it up as an analog input. The graph is of the input. I used the same name for both.

jnvd3b · Dec 5, 2020

n2585722 said:
You cannot graph an output at this time. I hooked the 0-10v output to one of the 0-10v inputs and set it up as an analog input. The graph is of the input.I used the same name for both.

Oh i missed that sorry didnt realize you physically hooked it up to read the output that’s clever.

Jasper05 · Dec 5, 2020

n2585722 said:
Ok I setup one of the 0-10v outputs to see what will happen. I also wired it up to a 0-10v input and setup that input as analog so I can get a graph of what happens to the output. The programming is in the screenshot below. I will give it a couple of days to see what happens.

The graph has just started so it doesn't look like much yet.

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