Trigger an action with a virtual button

[dhoch]

I can’t for the life of me figure this out and I feel it should be simple. (But it may be that I need a hardwired external device which would be really disappointing).

Ok here is the setup. I don’t have separate RO/DI / Saltwater stations….just a single 44 gallon brute….Currently (Apex) I trigger an on state for a solenoid fills with water until a Liquid Level sensor is covered which then turns it off (I then can turn of the switch which started the process at my leisure and add salt).

Can this simple setup be handled by Hydros? (I can’t figure out if it can)

 

[Danny]

You can use a push button in a button box if you have a unused 0-10v input. You may be able to start it with a mode also. You would have to create the mode then trigger the output on using the mode. You might have to create a couple of virtual outputs to do it. I used something similar to start the RODI refill and once started keep in on until the full float switch went wet. The trigger was a float switch but a output triggered on by a mode might work instead, I have the info on how I did mine in my build thread on Reef Central. The info you would need is on page 5 starting at post 99. Here is a link Hex Tank Build . I used this method before the RODI output was added as a feature. I use a latch to hold the output on until the full sensor goes wet once the output is triggered on.

 

[dhoch]

You can use a push button in a button box if you have an unused 0-10v input. You may be able to start it with a mode also. You would have to create the mode then trigger the output on using the mode. You might have to create a couple of virtual outputs to do it. I used something similar to start the RODI refill and once started keep in on until the full float switch went wet. The trigger was a float switch but an output triggered on by a mode might work instead, I have the info on how I did mine in my build thread on Reef Central. The info you would need is on page 5 starting at post 99. Here is a link Hex Tank Build . I used this method before the RODI output was added as a feature. I use a latch to hold the output on until the full sensor goes wet once the output is triggered on.

I’m doing it with the override button (basically turning on my RODI fill with that (and it’ll auto turn off with the Liquid detection at the top of the reivoir)…Not how I envisioned it but it works.

 

[mhreefer]

I can’t for the life of me figure this out and I feel it should be simple. (But it may be that I need a hardwired external device which would be really disappointing).

Ok here is the setup. I don’t have separate RO/DI / Saltwater stations….just a single 44 gallon brute….Currently (Apex) I trigger an on state for a solenoid fills with water until a Liquid Level sensor is covered which then turns it off (I then can turn of the switch which started the process at my leisure and add salt).

Can this simple setup be handled by Hydros? (I can’t figure out if it can)

Are you using a different device for brute? or is on the same device that is controlling items on your aquarium?

 

[dhoch]

Are you using a different device for brute? or is on the same device that is controlling items on your aquarium?

Same device (well it’s lots of devices, but all together in one collective…I get where you are going…have that one not in the collective…I’ll have to consider that.

I did get it another way (I manually set to off, and when I want to fill I put on auto…top sensor turns it off)….the only problem is some times during reboot/etc (not sure exactly what triggers it) the manual off goes back to auto.

 

[mhreefer]

Same device (well it’s lots of devices, but all together in one collective…I get where you are going…have that one not in the collective…I’ll have to consider that.

I did get it another way (I manually set to off, and when I want to fill I put on auto…top sensor turns it off)….the only problem is some times during reboot/etc (not sure exactly what triggers it) the manual off goes back to auto.

Yeah, I was gonna say separate a device for the sensor so you can have it stand alone and use a sensor to turn it off.

 

[Danny]

I used to use a few outputs to do my DI refill before CoralVue added the RODI output. I discus it on my build thread on Reef Central. Since the two inputs for low and high level were input to output and those outputs were then used as inputs in other outputs. The post has a lot of info. You might be able to change one of the outputs instead of using inputs to go active and turn on when you enter a mode you create. Set that mode to last just a few seconds. you would have to set that output to inactive in all the other modes. You would have to do that to the output that had the low level sensor as an input on mine. Here is a link to the page which is page # 5 Hex Tank Build . The DI control starts in post # 99. The comparator output type used for some of the outputs is used like gates. A couple of them for a latch so that when the low level input triggered dry the latch would keep the refill output on until the full sensor went full then it would stop and reset the latch. There is also a logic diagram for what the outputs do. Hope that helps.

 

[mhreefer]

I used to use a few outputs to do my DI refill before CoralVue added the RODI output. I discus it on my build thread on Reef Central. Since the two inputs for low and high level were input to output and those outputs were then used as inputs in other outputs. The post has a lot of info. You might be able to change one of the outputs instead of using inputs to go active and turn on when you enter a mode you create. Set that mode to last just a few seconds. you would have to set that output to inactive in all the other modes. You would have to do that to the output that had the low level sensor as an input on mine. Here is a link to the page which is page # 5 Hex Tank Build . The DI control starts in post # 99. The comparator output type used for some of the outputs is used like gates. A couple of them for a latch so that when the low level input triggered dry the latch would keep the refill output on until the full sensor went full then it would stop and reset the latch. There is also a logic diagram for what the outputs do. Hope that helps.

While I can appreciate everything you outlined in that thread, it goes WAY over pretty much everyone's head as to what sensors control which output, and how it all ties together.

The OP in this thread just wants to turn on his RODI, and have it turn off when the single sensor is wet. I think he might be able to accomplish this by using a single wifi outlet and have the sensor turn the outlet off. But I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure the if he overrides the outlet on it will keep filling no matter what the sensor says, or it will keep clicking on/off. Or if he has a 0-10v he could get a button box, and push button to activate a rodi mode where it turns the rodi on, and the sensor shuts it off.

I will say, since OP and myself both come from the apex system, there is a STEEP learning curve with how everything gets setup in hydros. I know what I want it to do, but the words hydros uses are different so it's hard to search the manuals online to find what I need. The one glaring thing I miss from apex is the ability to control one output with multiple other outputs. Like in apex my skimmer depends on the ruturn pump, the ato, the sump level sensor, and the virtual outlets. I would like to add as many "depends on" options as I want to each output, not just a single one. I'm sure there are ways to do this in hydros, I just havent found them yet.

 

[Danny]

While I can appreciate everything you outlined in that thread, it goes WAY over pretty much everyone's head as to what sensors control which output, and how it all ties together.

The OP in this thread just wants to turn on his RODI, and have it turn off when the single sensor is wet. I think he might be able to accomplish this by using a single wifi outlet and have the sensor turn the outlet off. But I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure the if he overrides the outlet on it will keep filling no matter what the sensor says, or it will keep clicking on/off. Or if he has a 0-10v he could get a button box, and push button to activate a rodi mode where it turns the rodi on, and the sensor shuts it off.

I will say, since OP and myself both come from the apex system, there is a STEEP learning curve with how everything gets setup in hydros. I know what I want it to do, but the words hydros uses are different so it's hard to search the manuals online to find what I need. The one glaring thing I miss from apex is the ability to control one output with multiple other outputs. Like in apex my skimmer depends on the ruturn pump, the ato, the sump level sensor, and the virtual outlets. I would like to add as many "depends on" options as I want to each output, not just a single one. I'm sure there are ways to do this in hydros, I just havent found them yet.

There s a learning curve to any of the controllers. It is easier for someone that has not had a controller than someone that has quit a bit of experience with another controller since things are done differently in the different controllers. You can use a combiner output type setup with multiple inputs from other outputs and then use that output in the depends on for something you want to use multiple outputs to control. The combiner output type takes other outputs as inputs and you can either use the OR or AND combiner type. You can also invert the input if needed. Attached is the input settings of one of my combiners that will come on if any of the alert outputs are on. It uses the OR combiner mode since I want it to come on if any one of those alert outputs are on. You can setup and output for each of the three alerts. I use them and combiner outputs to turn on different lights in the living room when there is an alert. The issue was that they were my wife's ornaments that I was using a Hydros wifi strip to turn them on or off. This way they are serving a dual purpose. If they are all on or all off there is not alert active. If only one or more sections do not turn on when the others are on then it will signify which alert type it is and that there is an alert. The output below is used in other outputs to either turn them on or off.