OSPi v1.3 Master Zone

[psummerville]

Hi,

I’m using the OSPi v1.3 for my setup. I have 7 sprinker zones, and the 8th I’m intending on using to switch on power to my water pump. This then saves me having to go outside and switch on and off the power each time I need to use it. Since this is a pump on a bore it has a pressure switch, over time it cuts in and out to build the pressure back up (even if a zone isn’t open, while power is on). It is quite annoying having the pump kicking in and out all day for no reason to build up pressure when it is not even operating (waste of electricity). So the end goal here is to turn on the pump power by configuring it to be a master zone. Then it turns the power on at the same time as a normal zone, when not in use the pump will have no power and will not cut in and out all day and I don’t have to remember to flick the power switch at the end of the day.

The problem I’m facing is the following: When I setup my zone to be a master zone (using Samers android App), I have components in place to turn on the pump circuit based on a specific voltage. What is the output voltage of a master zone suppose to be from OSPi? I’ve assumed that this would be exactly the same as a normal zone, AC25V. This doesn’t appear to be the case though, it looks like AC1.5V is supplied to a master zone.

So my question is, is this as per design? is it supposed to be outputting AC1.5V to a master zone? Secondary question – since the voltage that is being output to a master zone is dynamic, the hardware must be able to handle this, which means the software is driving it. It seems logical that I should be able to modify the software to include additional advanced settings for a master zone. Like the voltage that it should output in order to trigger the components I have in place to turn on my pump. I’m a programmer and would love to have a crack at it if this all seems possible – which is does to me.

Just in case anyone is interested. Zone 1 is my master zone, this is connected to a AC/DC Converter to convert what I thought would be AC25V to DC12V which is the input for the next component in the sequence a solid state relay (SSR) which is connected to switch the pump power. What I’m seeing is that the pump will only turn on when the zone is NOT a master zone. If it is a master zone.. the voltage is AC1.5V and much less than what I expected.

So i guess I can either swap out my components based on the AC1.5V master output.. or tweak the software to be configurable. Was it documented anywhere what the Master Zone output would be?

In hindsight I should have tested this first before buying the SSR and AC/DC Converter.

Thoughts / comments?

Thanks in advance.

Phil

[Dan in CA]

Hi Phil,

The master zone should output 24v like all the rest of the zones. If you are getting 1.5V there may be a problem with the board or somewhere in the circuit.

The software can switch things on and off but is not able to control the output voltage. That would require additional hardware support.

There is a plugin system for adding software features. You can look at the files in the OSPi/plugins directory to see how they work.

Dan

[psummerville]

Hey Dan,

I don’t think its the circuits (i.e. the zones). I’ve tried changing the master to be any other zone as well.. none of them output the required voltage when set to master in order open the valve.

I’m thinking it must be something to do with the board.. I haven’t modified anything and it works fine in manual / program modes. Just master zones not working correctly. It doesn’t make any sense..

I’m going to try and reload the software, new version is out than what I have on the SD card of the Pi.

Have ideas of other things I could try..? i.e. to test if it is the board.

Phil

[Dan in CA]

The only thing unique abut the master is that when the system is in sequential mode (the default) it is allowed to run at the same time as another zone. You might try setting the system to concurrent mode:

Options page > Station Handling, uncheck Sequential and save changes.

Then go to manual mode, turn on two zones at the same time and check the voltage on both. That may give a clue about what’s going on.

FYI
I am planning to release a major software upgrade later today.

Dan

[Ray]

@Phil: are you sure you are measuring AC voltage? If you are using a multimeter, make sure you are using the AC level, and not DC, otherwise your measurement will come close to 0 as you observed.

Dan is right that the master zone is electrically the same as any other zone: it outputs 24V AC (or whatever voltage your transformer outputs) when it’s turned on. Normally if you want to use it to turn on a pump you can get a pump start relay, which takes 24V AC as input, and can switch a pump at powerline voltage.

You mentioned ‘AC/DC Converter to convert what I thought would be AC25V to DC12V which is the input for the next component in the sequence a solid state relay’. Could it be that the AC/DC converter is doing something strange that makes the voltage show up as only 1.5V?

[psummerville]

I’m def sure I was using AC on the multimeter. It could be something to do with the AC/DV converter… I’ll debug it some more when I’m functional again.

I wasn’t even aware that a pump start relay existed. I’m in Australia and apparently industry standard for SSR’s in Aus only start at AC86V. Thanks for the info.

Dan, awesome. I thought I would ref flash my SD for the Pi with the latest version of everything. So i’ll hang out until you release this latest version. How do I go about obtaining the new version you are releasing?

Phil

[psummerville]

@Dan – All good re how to update. I see your post on the how-to’s.

@Ray – Thanks for the lead on Pump Start Relays.

I’ll give an update once I’ve fixed / found the problem.

P

[psummerville]

Hey Guys,

So I downloaded the ospi2 preconfigured Pi image from Ray’s and re flashed my SD. I updated OSPi as per the instructions in Dan’s post on the wiki, all went OK.

Using Samers android app I was able to connect. I noticed there is now a button in the station options page which allows you to select to “Use Master” for a particular station. Either this wasn’t visible for me before, or I just plum didn’t see it. Once I flagged the station to use the master.. it actually outputs the required voltage. Then toggling that station turns on the master as well.. double checked the voltage and it looks right.

Now that I’ve reflashed though, the software from the image comes with manual mode enabled. Samers android app isn’t allowing me to disable this. I hit the toggle to switch it off and it just goes straight back to ON. I’m def connected to the site with the default password “opendoor” and this hasn’t been changed.

[Dan in CA]

Making progress.

Regrading the problem with manual mode; I believe the latest version of Samer’s app as well as Ray’s micro-controller based OpenSprinkler have eliminated manual mode as an option.

Can you use the ospi program’s native UI to turn off manual mode?

Dan

[Samer]

The manual mode still exists in my app for users of prior firmware and OSPi.

The issue is an “internal server error” returned by OSPi which is the bug you just fixed, I believe.

[Dan in CA]

Thanks for the clarification Samer.

@Phil,
See this post:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=945#p6237

for info about the bug fix.

Dan

[Dan in CA]

That link should be:
here

[Author]

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