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Posts from the ‘Equipment’ Category

20
Oct

Wiring and Arduino Update

Wire Cabinet Finished

Wire Cabinet Finished

Well I have been very busy with course work. I though I would post a quick update.

I have finally finished reorganizing my wiring cabinet and I now have it jam-packed with all sort of equipment. As seen on the right.

I also stated the Arduino Power Meter Reader (APMR) project page which I will slowly add information to in the coming weeks. I will also be posting the source code on GitHub in the next couple of days. This will be released as an open source project.

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15
Sep

Proliphix IMT550w thermostat installed

Today I finally installed my Proliphix IMT550w Network Thermostat. As you may have read in my earlier post, it was hard to find the right thermostat for my American Standard HVAC system, and it took me over 2 week to do an exhaustive search to find the IMT550. To review, I have a dual fuel system with a 2-stage heat pump and a 2-stage, variable speed gas furnace.

I spent the last couple of weeks figuring out how my HVAC system is wired. This took some time because there where a different amount of terminals with different labels (e.g. my system labels W2 as X2, and not needed). The colouring of the wires was also different. I cautiously documented the current wiring scheme and the new wiring scheme with my new IMT550w installed. I then talked to Proliphix Support and they worked with me to come up with the right wiring scheme. Proliphix has one of the best support departments. Mark, from Proliphix Support, was knowledgeable and responded quickly to all my emails–what more could I ask for. For those of you who are interested in seeing the before and after diagram of my HVAC wiring take a look at my HVAC Wiring Scheme document.

What I like about the IMT550w is:

  1. I can read and change setting from my browser, making it easier to set up schedules;
  2. I can install additional indoor temperature sensors, providing more comfort and energy efficiency;
  3. the temperature sensors that go with the thermostat (need to order separately) are more accurate than the ACONT802;
  4. the thermostat firmware can be updated with new functionality.
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10
Sep

Security system working with mControl via NPort

So yesterday and today I spent time installing the NPort 5250A Serial to IP Server and hooking it up to my DSC security system. After the hardware was setup, I enabled the “DSC PS” driver in mControl Service Manager and configured it with the right IP address and port. Then I added a new device in mControl Editor. Once done, I was able to arm/disarm the security system without issue. What I like about mControl is that once the hard work of installing the hardware is done, there is no struggle on the automation software side; only add or change some settings/configurations  and it just works! Next task is to get the NPort to talk RS485 to my ION6200 power meters and write the corresponding mControl driver.

In the next couple of weeks I will be posting more information on:

  • how to create a meter enclosure for your smart/revenue meter;
  • how to start writing mControl drivers;
  • a project page on how to create you own Arduino power meter reader (the APMR project), that uses a real-time clock (RTC) and RS485/MODBUS.

One thing to note is that I am trying to get the “DSC PS” driver in mControl modified. My security system has 4 partitions and the driver, in its current form,  only support 2.

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8
Sep

Insteon phase coupler installed

So I installed the SignaLinc hardwired phase coupler  and the 10A FilterLinc today and it looks like all the communication issues I was having are gone. I am still getting hop counts of 3 on some devices, but I think that may go away once I install more Insteon hardware.

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6
Sep

Insteon communication issues

Looks like I have some issues with Insteon communication. The mControl log is recording error such as:

!!! PowerLinc possible data loss: 0x02 not found at beginning of data
!!! PowerLinc communication error - NAK received (B)
!!! PowerLinc possible data loss: 0x02 not found at beginning of data

And the device summary shows a lot of “reachable=false, hops=3″ which is not good. If I change where the Insteom PLM is plugged in then I get somewhat better results. Looks like I need to:

  1. couple the phases with a SignaLinc hardwired phase coupler;
  2. a filter out any noise from my computer UPS with a 10A FilterLinc.

Hopefully this will do the trick. I have ordered the equipment and will update you on how I resolve this issue…

3
Sep

Installing mControl v3

So the Dell Zino I ordered was delivered yesterday and finished installing all the Insteon devices. After much debate I decided to install Windows 7… Well I did not like how it turned out and today I installed Microsoft Windows Web Server 2008 R2 64-bit. Much better, because most of the time the Zino will be setting in a corner headless, and I will use Remote Desktop for configuration and installing updates.

Now it is time to set up mControl. Setup is quite easy, but here are the steps I took for you review:

  1. install Windows Web Server 2008 R2;
  2. install Dell device drivers;
  3. apply all patches and updates (there were lots and this took a LONG time with multiple reboots!);
  4. download and install FireFox;
  5. download and extract Insteon Modem Driver, install via Device Manager;
  6. enable remote desktop login;
  7. download and install .Net Framework 4.0;
  8. add the IIS 7 role to your server;
  9. add .Net Framework 3.5.1 Features feature;
  10. run from command-line “%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis.exe -i”;
  11. shake your head that you still have to run aspnet_regiis.exe after all these years (and that you still forget!);
  12. install mControl;
  13. run mControl Service Manager and make sure that the Insteon setting are “SERIAL” and the COM Port is right (mine was COM3);
  14. run mControl Editor and add each device to mControl;
  15. if the Editor displays the error “Could Not Load Type ‘System.ServiceModel.Activation.HttpModule’” then run from command-line “%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis.exe -iru”;
  16. install the iPad app (another very easy thing to do) and play.

I am still waiting for my Serial to IP Converter and Thermostat to come in. For the serial server I have decided to go with a NPort 5250A which will have 1 port for RS232 and 1 port for RS485. The RS232 port will be connected to my DSC security system. The RS485 port will be connected to my ION6200 power meters.

For the thermostat, I have decided to purchase the Proliphix IMT550w Network Thermostat. mControl does not currently support this thermostat (but they will soon). It was very hard finding the right thermostat for my American Standard HVAC system, because it is a dual fuel system with a 2-stage heat pump and a 2-stage, variable speed gas furnace. I did an exhaustive search for about 2 weeks!

Now it is time to enjoy the long weekend, stay tuned…

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29
Aug

Rewiring, Phase 1

I spend a good part of the day reorganizing my wiring cabinet (phase 1 of 2). Looks much better now… For the last couple of months it was looking like an apocalyptic mess after I pulled all the wire out; loose wires hung everywhere! Here is the after picture.

26
Aug

Insteon equipment is here

Well, I just received my shipment of Insteon devices. Now I have to plan out where to install them. I only ordered a small sample to  install around the house, these include on/off switches, dimmer switches, iMeters, and modem. Next week I plan to set up mControl as my home automation system to communicate/control the Insteon devices. I am still waiting for my Dell Zino to be delivered. Version 3 of mControl will be out soon, but in the mean time I will be using the Beta 2 version. I will have a post on how the mControl install when, so stay tuned…

25
Aug

Installing electricity, water and gas meters

So here is a summary of the meters I have installed at my house.

Around the middle of 2009 I had 2 electrical meters installed at my home. Both where PowerLogic ION6200 meters. These meters are class 0.5 revenue meters so that means they are not cheap. One meter measures consumption of the main buswork coming into the house at 200A. The second meter measured consumption from the heat pump (40A). These meters communicate using the MODBUS protocol using a RS485 serial connection.

At the beginning of this year I installed 2 water meters and 2 natural gas meters. The meter installed on the water main coming into the house is a DLJ Contact Head meter from watermeters.com. I installed a second meter to measure hot water consumption, an Elster S130. One thing to note, both meters measure in US gallons consumed. This is too large of a measurement for my house (~2400 sq ft). I should have bought meters that measure in letres (1 US gallon = 3.785 litres).

For natural gas I have one meter measuring the main gas line coming into the house (Elster AC-250, measured in cubic-decimeters). I have the other meter measuring gas consumed by the forced air furnace (Elster BK-G4, measured in cubic-feet). Having these 2 meters measure in different units presents QA (quality assurance) challenge. I have to convert the units of measure from one of the meters so that both meters have the same units and the conversion function has to be correct, too.

The water and natural gas meters are pulse meters, meaning that an electronic pulse is send down a wire for every gallon that is consumed. This meant that I need to buy a data logger that can count and measure consumption rates. After much searching I decided to go with the Obvius AcquiLite to do this. I also use the AcquiLite to convert the units of measure from imperial to metric. Stay tuned, I will post more details (and pictures) on how I am collecting data from these meters…

I have created page that graphs out this consumption data on my research website called My Smart Home: Consumption Report. Check it out.

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