JeffB418
HYDROS Expert
For those who want to do an auto water change before Coralvue releases their easy AWC profile, I figured out how to do it with what's available now, but its not super straight forward and very detailed oriented. The following is for advanced users, if you do try this make sure to proceed with caution and test it very well on your setup.
Overview:
Sensors: This AWC requires 2 sensors, a top water level sensor (typically your ATO sensor) and a lower sensor that you will drain to during a AWC.
Top Level Sensor - This is your standard ATO sensor which is at your typical water level in your sump.
Bottom Level Sensor - This is a sensor typically submerged unless you are doing an AWC. The tank will be drained to this level during AWC.
Outlets: 4 false or virtual outlets are used to run the AWC schedule and the toggle between drain and fill. 2 REAL outlets are required for a pump to drain from your system, and a pump to refill the system.
False Outlets:
AWC Schedule Outlet - This false outlet runs the schedule of when to do the AWC cycle. This can be once a day, or multiple times a day, but it must run at least once. This outlet must remain ON during a whole AWC cycle (drain and refill) and typically will be on slightly longer than what it takes to run an AWC cycle. For this example, I am using 15 mins.
AWC Latch Outlet - This outlet acts as a memory for this program to know if we already drained or not. This outlet will turn ON when the bottom sensor triggers dry and will be held for the remainder of the AWC cycle. For this example it will be held for 15 mins, same as the AWC schedule time.
AWC Drain AND Outlet - This outlet combines the AWC Schedule Outlet and the AWC Latch Outlet for when its acceptable to DRAIN. It will be ON when the AWC Schedule is ON but the AWC Latch is OFF.
AWC Fill AND Outlet - This outlet combines the AWC Schedule Outlet and the AWC Latch Outlet for when its acceptable to FILL. It will be ON when AWC Schedule is ON and when the AWC Latch is ON (meaning the drain cycle already occurred).
Drain Pump Outlet - This is the physical outlet connected to the pump in your sump to DRAIN the sump. This outlet is dependent on both the status of the bottom sensor and the AWC Drain AND Outlet. This outlet will ONLY run if we are in a AWC schedule period, if the bottom sensor is WET, and the REFILL cycle hasn't run yet.
Fill Pump Outlet - This is the physical outlet connected to the pump in your AWC pre-mix tank to refill your sump. This outlet is dependent on both the status of the top sensor and the AWC Fill AND Outlet. This outlet will ONLY run in we are in an AWC schedule period, if the top sensor is DRY, and the DRAIN cycle has run.
Here is the timing of the sensors and outlets for this program. Green means an outlet is ON, grey means its OFF.
First thing we need to configure is the AWC Latch false outlet:
This needs to be a generic output with 1 input, the input should be your BOTTOM sensor for where you want to drain to. Set this also to trigger when DRY.
Also enable advanced settings, keep everything at 0 EXCEPT for Minimum On Time. This MUST be set to the same length as your AWC schedule period/length, for this example this is 15 minutes. You do not want this latch to reset within an AWC cycle or you will start draining again after you refill.
Finally set Active In Modes to ONLY your normal mode. You do not want any AWC to occur during a feed mode or water change mode. Do this for ALL outlets generated for AWC.
UPDATE: I added a DEPENDS ON assignment to this recently to act as a latch CLEAR. I set Depends On to output AWC Schedule I created below. Then made the dependency Off if Off. This will allow you to make the Min On Time equal to the length of the Run Time of your AWC Schedule. Depends On conditionals RESET the timer, so when your AWC Schedule ends, it will automatically clear this latch for the next cycle.
The next false outlet you need to setup is the AWC Schedule. This outlet runs when you want an AWC cycle to occur. For this example only 1 cycle per day occurs.
This outlet is of type generic. Enable advanced settings and set a start time for your first AWC cycle, here its 12:30AM. Then set your RUN TIME to just slightly longer than it takes to drain and refill your tank during 1 AWC cycle. In this example I use 15 minutes. Run count is set to 1 since I am only doing this once a day, but you can change as needed.
Next we need to generate the 2 conditional combiner false outlets, one for drain and one for fill. Here is the first for fill.
This is type combiner since we need to make a logic decision based on multiple inputs. Input 1 is your latch you generated before. Select invert input 1. Then Input 2 is your AWC Schedule output. Select AND for the combiner. Therefore this outlet will be ON when AWC FILL LATCH hasnt been set yet and the AWC Schedule is running.
Next we make another combiner for filling.
Same as before use the combiner outlet, all the inputs and modes are the same as before but this time do not select invert input 1. This output will turn on when the latch has been tripped and AWC schedule is running.
Finally we setup our outputs for our pumps, this is where it can get alittle tricky:
Use generic type for this
Use the following settings for your drain pump:
Type: Generic
Input Count: 1
Input 1: Set this to your bottom sensor
Active When input 1: Set to WET, you want to drain until this sensor is dry
Output Device: Set this to your outlet where your drain pump is
Depends on: Set this to your DRAIN AND false output made above, this is important since it only lets this drain function run when the AWC schedule is enabled.
Dependency Mode: OFF IF OFF, again this is important. This will disable the drain pump if we arent in the AWC schedule period.
Max Time On: Set this to slightly longer than it should take to DRAIN your sump to the bottom sensor. This will give you an alarm if your pump runs too long and something is wrong. For this example I assume it takes 15 mins to do an AWC cycle, so I set this to 7 mins or half the period.
Use the following settings for your drain pump:
Type: Generic
Input Count: 1
Input 1: Set this to your TOP level sensor (ATO sensor)
Active When input 1: Set to DRY, you want to refill until the sensor is WET
Output Device: Set this to your outlet where your refill pump is
Depends on: Set this to your FILL AND false output made above, this is important since it only lets this refill function run when the AWC schedule is enabled.
Dependency Mode: OFF IF OFF, again this is important. This will disable the refill pump if we aren't in the AWC schedule period.
Max Time On: Set this to slightly longer than it should take to REFILL your sump to the TOP sensor. This will give you an alarm if your pump runs too long and something is wrong. For this example I assume it takes 15 mins to do an AWC cycle, so I set this to 7 mins or half the period.
Min Off Time: Set this to something low like 10 seconds. Gives the outlet time to register the transition from draining to refilling.
That is the basic setup for AWC using whats currently available. One other thing to note is that you will want to DISABLE your ATO outlet/pump from running when you are doing an AWC cycle. That way you arent refilling with RODI at the same time your draining/refilling. To do this, under your ATO outlet set the Depends On function to reference your AWC Schedule outlet and force it to turn off the ATO when the AWC Schedule is on.
Based on how much you take out of your sump, you may need to do the same function to your skimmer output to make sure it doesnt run dry during this period. As for your return pump, the above programming assumes the return pump is running the entire time. If you turn it off during AWC, you wouldnt be able to use the normal ATO sensor position. You could get around this by adding an additional sensor ABOVE the ATO sensor. Here you would set it to the normal level of the sump when your return pump is OFF, then force your return pump off during an AWC cycle using the depends on conditional above, then in the outlets above use the new top sensor and not the ATO sensor in your logic.
So best of luck to those who try this! Let me know if you have questions, or improvements on this method. Soon enough these functions will be built into Hydros making is easy for everyone!
Overview:
Sensors: This AWC requires 2 sensors, a top water level sensor (typically your ATO sensor) and a lower sensor that you will drain to during a AWC.
Top Level Sensor - This is your standard ATO sensor which is at your typical water level in your sump.
Bottom Level Sensor - This is a sensor typically submerged unless you are doing an AWC. The tank will be drained to this level during AWC.
Outlets: 4 false or virtual outlets are used to run the AWC schedule and the toggle between drain and fill. 2 REAL outlets are required for a pump to drain from your system, and a pump to refill the system.
False Outlets:
AWC Schedule Outlet - This false outlet runs the schedule of when to do the AWC cycle. This can be once a day, or multiple times a day, but it must run at least once. This outlet must remain ON during a whole AWC cycle (drain and refill) and typically will be on slightly longer than what it takes to run an AWC cycle. For this example, I am using 15 mins.
AWC Latch Outlet - This outlet acts as a memory for this program to know if we already drained or not. This outlet will turn ON when the bottom sensor triggers dry and will be held for the remainder of the AWC cycle. For this example it will be held for 15 mins, same as the AWC schedule time.
AWC Drain AND Outlet - This outlet combines the AWC Schedule Outlet and the AWC Latch Outlet for when its acceptable to DRAIN. It will be ON when the AWC Schedule is ON but the AWC Latch is OFF.
AWC Fill AND Outlet - This outlet combines the AWC Schedule Outlet and the AWC Latch Outlet for when its acceptable to FILL. It will be ON when AWC Schedule is ON and when the AWC Latch is ON (meaning the drain cycle already occurred).
Drain Pump Outlet - This is the physical outlet connected to the pump in your sump to DRAIN the sump. This outlet is dependent on both the status of the bottom sensor and the AWC Drain AND Outlet. This outlet will ONLY run if we are in a AWC schedule period, if the bottom sensor is WET, and the REFILL cycle hasn't run yet.
Fill Pump Outlet - This is the physical outlet connected to the pump in your AWC pre-mix tank to refill your sump. This outlet is dependent on both the status of the top sensor and the AWC Fill AND Outlet. This outlet will ONLY run in we are in an AWC schedule period, if the top sensor is DRY, and the DRAIN cycle has run.
Here is the timing of the sensors and outlets for this program. Green means an outlet is ON, grey means its OFF.
First thing we need to configure is the AWC Latch false outlet:
This needs to be a generic output with 1 input, the input should be your BOTTOM sensor for where you want to drain to. Set this also to trigger when DRY.
Also enable advanced settings, keep everything at 0 EXCEPT for Minimum On Time. This MUST be set to the same length as your AWC schedule period/length, for this example this is 15 minutes. You do not want this latch to reset within an AWC cycle or you will start draining again after you refill.
Finally set Active In Modes to ONLY your normal mode. You do not want any AWC to occur during a feed mode or water change mode. Do this for ALL outlets generated for AWC.
UPDATE: I added a DEPENDS ON assignment to this recently to act as a latch CLEAR. I set Depends On to output AWC Schedule I created below. Then made the dependency Off if Off. This will allow you to make the Min On Time equal to the length of the Run Time of your AWC Schedule. Depends On conditionals RESET the timer, so when your AWC Schedule ends, it will automatically clear this latch for the next cycle.
The next false outlet you need to setup is the AWC Schedule. This outlet runs when you want an AWC cycle to occur. For this example only 1 cycle per day occurs.
This outlet is of type generic. Enable advanced settings and set a start time for your first AWC cycle, here its 12:30AM. Then set your RUN TIME to just slightly longer than it takes to drain and refill your tank during 1 AWC cycle. In this example I use 15 minutes. Run count is set to 1 since I am only doing this once a day, but you can change as needed.
Next we need to generate the 2 conditional combiner false outlets, one for drain and one for fill. Here is the first for fill.
This is type combiner since we need to make a logic decision based on multiple inputs. Input 1 is your latch you generated before. Select invert input 1. Then Input 2 is your AWC Schedule output. Select AND for the combiner. Therefore this outlet will be ON when AWC FILL LATCH hasnt been set yet and the AWC Schedule is running.
Next we make another combiner for filling.
Same as before use the combiner outlet, all the inputs and modes are the same as before but this time do not select invert input 1. This output will turn on when the latch has been tripped and AWC schedule is running.
Finally we setup our outputs for our pumps, this is where it can get alittle tricky:
Use generic type for this
Use the following settings for your drain pump:
Type: Generic
Input Count: 1
Input 1: Set this to your bottom sensor
Active When input 1: Set to WET, you want to drain until this sensor is dry
Output Device: Set this to your outlet where your drain pump is
Depends on: Set this to your DRAIN AND false output made above, this is important since it only lets this drain function run when the AWC schedule is enabled.
Dependency Mode: OFF IF OFF, again this is important. This will disable the drain pump if we arent in the AWC schedule period.
Max Time On: Set this to slightly longer than it should take to DRAIN your sump to the bottom sensor. This will give you an alarm if your pump runs too long and something is wrong. For this example I assume it takes 15 mins to do an AWC cycle, so I set this to 7 mins or half the period.
Use the following settings for your drain pump:
Type: Generic
Input Count: 1
Input 1: Set this to your TOP level sensor (ATO sensor)
Active When input 1: Set to DRY, you want to refill until the sensor is WET
Output Device: Set this to your outlet where your refill pump is
Depends on: Set this to your FILL AND false output made above, this is important since it only lets this refill function run when the AWC schedule is enabled.
Dependency Mode: OFF IF OFF, again this is important. This will disable the refill pump if we aren't in the AWC schedule period.
Max Time On: Set this to slightly longer than it should take to REFILL your sump to the TOP sensor. This will give you an alarm if your pump runs too long and something is wrong. For this example I assume it takes 15 mins to do an AWC cycle, so I set this to 7 mins or half the period.
Min Off Time: Set this to something low like 10 seconds. Gives the outlet time to register the transition from draining to refilling.
That is the basic setup for AWC using whats currently available. One other thing to note is that you will want to DISABLE your ATO outlet/pump from running when you are doing an AWC cycle. That way you arent refilling with RODI at the same time your draining/refilling. To do this, under your ATO outlet set the Depends On function to reference your AWC Schedule outlet and force it to turn off the ATO when the AWC Schedule is on.
Based on how much you take out of your sump, you may need to do the same function to your skimmer output to make sure it doesnt run dry during this period. As for your return pump, the above programming assumes the return pump is running the entire time. If you turn it off during AWC, you wouldnt be able to use the normal ATO sensor position. You could get around this by adding an additional sensor ABOVE the ATO sensor. Here you would set it to the normal level of the sump when your return pump is OFF, then force your return pump off during an AWC cycle using the depends on conditional above, then in the outlets above use the new top sensor and not the ATO sensor in your logic.
So best of luck to those who try this! Let me know if you have questions, or improvements on this method. Soon enough these functions will be built into Hydros making is easy for everyone!
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