Setting up a collective for the first time here... few questions and doubts!!!

[Compy Ginorio]

I'm switching controllers over my WB180.5 from NA to Hydros.

I got the WE up and running for few day's now, and I got all the cables I think I needed to create a collective. My plan is to connect the WE as main power, to power the complete collective. The other two controllers are Control 4 and XS in that order from right to left.
I brought two Data/Power Cable to make the connection and a Terminator.


But my questions are for now... if...

1. This setting will work as I planned? WaveE 》Control 4 》XS and the WE as the power source.

2. Or... Did I need to power up the Control 4 as well... and need to buy a Data Only Cable and Isolate the Control 4 and XS to power up the C4, and just data from Control 4 to the WE?

This will mean few more day's on halt with the installation. The tank is running for years now, but I still need to hook up ATO, water sensors, Klir, Kalk Reactor, Dosing pumps and few gadget along the wifi power strips 3 in total.

I appreciate all the help,
Compy

 

[Danny]

You can power those from the WE. Is that a WEv2 or the original WE? If it is a WEv2 and you already have it setup. Go ahead and create a collective with it before connecting up the other controllers to make sure it's setting are retained by the collective. Once a collective is created the controller accessed while creating it is the only menber anyway. The others will have to be added. You can do that once you get them hooked up. Make sure and power down the WE before making the command bus connection to it. You do not want power on the bus when connecting or disconnecting anything to a bus port.

 

[Compy Ginorio]

I'm switching controllers over my WB180.5 from NA to Hydros.
View attachment 3415
I got the WE up and running for few day's now, and I got all the cables I think I needed to create a collective. My plan is to connect the WE as main power, to power the complete collective. The other two controllers are Control 4 and XS in that order from right to left.
I brought two Data/Power Cable to make the connection and a Terminator.
View attachment 3416

But my questions are for now... if...

1. This setting will work as I planned? WaveE 》Control 4 》XS and the WE as the power source.

2. Or... Did I need to power up the Control 4 as well... and need to buy a Data Only Cable and Isolate the Control 4 and XS to power up the C4, and just data from Control 4 to the WE?

This will mean few more day's on halt with the installation. The tank is running for years now, but I still need to hook up ATO, water sensors, Klir, Kalk Reactor, Dosing pumps and few gadget along the wifi power strips 3 in total.

I appreciate all the help,
Compy

You can power those from the WE. Is that a WEv2 or the original WE? If it is a WEv2 and you already have it setup. Go ahead and create a collective with it before connecting up the other controllers to make sure it's setting are retained by the collective. Once a collective is created the controller accessed while creating it is the only menber anyway. The others will have to be added. You can do that once you get them hooked up. Make sure and power down the WE before making the command bus connection to it. You do not want power on the bus when connecting or disconnecting anything to a bus port.

I really don't know if is the v1 or v2. How can I know which one it is? But I think it would be WEv1.
Another question
Should I connect the Terminator to the WE or to the XS at the end of the chain?

 

[Danny]

Here is a photo of my WEv2. It has the v2 to the right of the name at the top of the controller. It does not matter which place you put the terminator if you only have the one. Once you get two they will go on the two open ports.

 

[Compy Ginorio]

Thanks brother for the insight.
Definitely is V1, but I managed to configure and got a collective up and running. I order a second Terminator and few other things to make the transition from one system to the other, few DIY and some imagination, even I been thinking of having a hybrid control system with Hydros, Apex and GHL .

Now is the Brain Spaghetti into How I will configure dependencies and schedules within the Hydros up to what I need and what I'm looking for. Definitely it's going to be a lot of questions coming up since by no means I'm a programmer even it's straight forward programming.

 

[Danny]

Thanks brother for the insight.
Definitely is V1, but I managed to configure and got a collective up and running. I order a second Terminator and few other things to make the transition from one system to the other, few DIY and some imagination, even I been thinking of having a hybrid control system with Hydros, Apex and GHL .

Now is the Brain Spaghetti into How I will configure dependencies and schedules within the Hydros up to what I need and what I'm looking for. Definitely it's going to be a lot of questions coming up since by no means I'm a programmer even it's straight forward programming.

The only real difference is the original cannot be a wifi master or control wifi devices on it's own but if it is in a collective then the other controllers or controller can be a wifi master and control the wifi devices for the collective.

 

[Compy Ginorio]

Thanks @Danny for your help and support it work flawlessly. As I mentioned before I add a second Terminator to the other end of the collective and manage to setup everything. So far I have add everything I want and still few other things to be added, but that is few DIY and it will be ask in another post.

Here is a picture of the setup so far, and I think this will end my original question for this posting. Happy camper here...

 

[Compy Ginorio]

Here is the app screen shot, and my only question is that the WE have a negative BUS CURRENT. It's that something I have to address for some trouble shooting, or It's normal to show that  -71 mA since it's the main power source for the collective?

 

[Danny]

The power givers will alway have a negative buss current if they are giving out more than they consume. If you add up the current from the power takers and subtract the negative number from then you will get the current used by the power giver. If you have more than one power giver that will not work since there is more than one so it will give you the amount of power that the givers use combined if you subtract all the negative numbers.

 

[Compy Ginorio]

Perfect . Thanks again brother

 

[Compy Ginorio]

If I understood... Control 4 + XS -WE Bus Current numbers = WE current draw. In the picture below I made the mathematical exercise for a 41mA draw total by the WE.
Thanks again,
Compy

 

[Danny]

Looks like you got it. At my tank I have a XD, XP8 and a WEv2 that all provide power so I cannot calculate the value for each but can the value that the three draw together. Sometimes only one or two will be negative since it depends on the output voltage of each what happens at this time the XP8 is the only one that has a negative current.I have other controllers in the garage but they are connected with a data only cable so use other power sources on them.