The Neptune NPTQ270 pump motor claims to work "with a variety of external controllers" over RS485/modbus. Does anyone have success controlling them with Aqualink? I have the relay input controls (for manual override) working to select 4 different speeds, but I'd really like Aqualink to control the pump as well.
Neptune NPTQ270 controlled via Jandy Aqualink RS485/modbus
- Thread starter mattorola7
- Start date
- Jun 7, 2017
- 9,090
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Jandy Aquapure 1400
Plug it in and find out. There are only 3 different pumps you can select. Only 1 if it mimics Jandy.
@PoolGate I did just try to connect it and it doesn't seem to matter whether I configure it as "ePump" or "Intelliflo" with Aqualink - it doesn't respond yet. I just tried setting the NodeID to 96 (0x60 in Hex format) which is exactly the same as what I believe Jandy pumps are by default. No dice. I also reached out to Neptune support and am quite disappointed thus far with their knowledge of their own products. They sent me the attached instructions which basically don't reveal much more than the installation manual did. If they market this pump as "compatible with external systems", that certainly doesn't seem to be the case yet. I'm pushing back on the sales engineer to see if he will send me the AT command reference for commands over modbus. Btw, I have had success in another post with mating a Century EVQ225 to Aqualink (configuring it as ePump in Aqualink). I'm kind of running a comparison since my pool requires a total of 3 pumps. Initially, Neptune's ECM motor appeared to be stout and certainly looked good on paper, so I had high hopes for them over Century's slightly more economical looking AC induction motor. But it may be Century for the win based on documentation and overall ease of implementation. The Century motor also seems far quieter than the Neptune pump motor. I'm not impressed with the Neptune pumps yet, even though I had high hopes for them.
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
Modbus is a specific protocol and this is also used as the native command protocol on the Century Vgreen motors. While Modbus is the protocol there are certain commands such as "set demand (speed)" "go", "stop",etc. that pass information from the control system to the motor. That document you attached doesn't define what those commands are.
In any case the Aqualink system uses a Jandy proprietary protocol with their own set of commands that correspond to the same "set demand", "go" and "stop" commands and those commands are NOT compatible with Modbus protocol.
I found out about this when messing with my Vgreen165 motor as it also doesn't work with the Aqualink system. On that particular motor it is possible to execute some Modbus commands to change the motor's configuration so that it will also support the Jandy protocol and commands.
But RS485 native Modbus control will not work with the Jandy Aqualink system.
In any case the Aqualink system uses a Jandy proprietary protocol with their own set of commands that correspond to the same "set demand", "go" and "stop" commands and those commands are NOT compatible with Modbus protocol.
I found out about this when messing with my Vgreen165 motor as it also doesn't work with the Aqualink system. On that particular motor it is possible to execute some Modbus commands to change the motor's configuration so that it will also support the Jandy protocol and commands.
But RS485 native Modbus control will not work with the Jandy Aqualink system.
@MSchutzer I did finally get the support engineer to send a Modbus command register reference document. I've attached it. I am not as schooled as you on modbus but your assessment sounds accurate in that there is no way this motor will be controlled by Aqualink. I've been in the sofware business for 25 years, and it is such a shame that the pool industry has yet to be disrupted yet. It is definitely ripe, especially with the IOT revolution well underway. I'm a big fan of open source software, and the pool industry is still very proprietary. If only there was a dongle with middleware that could bridge communications between all of these devices and allow more interoperability.
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
Interestingly enough the latest Century EVO motors have firmware that is equipped with what they are marketing as "Century Connect", the ability to automatically talk to Hayward, Pentair, and Jandy automation systems via the RS485 link. I don't know about the Hayward, or Pentair systems, but in a post a couple of weeks ago the poster was able to get the EVO to work with an Aqualink system. The poster stated the motor showed up as a Jandy Epump and worked out of the box when he select the Epump choice in the Aqualink configuration setup.
So it sounds like Century is trying to address the automation market with their replacement motors now. But I should point out that for the first two or three years of marketing the Vgreen and EVO motors they didn't officially support anything but their native Modbus protocol which only worked with their own proprietary Vlink controller.
So it sounds like Century is trying to address the automation market with their replacement motors now. But I should point out that for the first two or three years of marketing the Vgreen and EVO motors they didn't officially support anything but their native Modbus protocol which only worked with their own proprietary Vlink controller.
@MSchutzer that was my post actually that you are referring to. I've been running both brands of motors head to head in a trial. I also think I will likely abandon Aqualink in the near future and roll the NodeJS-PoolController project from Github. I can envision an open source/open hardware solution for pool control in the near future, one that will actually integrate with all the popular home automation software. Maybe it doesn't go beyond the DIY community for a while, or maybe it does. I know the pool service industry sticks with the big brands now, but a disruption is on the horizon.