MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
One more thing, you did confirm via the Windows Control Panel (or settings) that the USB to RS485 adapter was showing up on com3 right?
Century (Regal) VGreen motor automation
- Thread starter ccbill
- Start date
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
Your motor is responding, see the 4 funny characters down at the bottom of the screen that end with Pi. The terminal program is just trying to display the extended ascii characters of the hex values coming back from the motor. That’s why there’s gibberish there.
I think that checking the hex box in the receive window will allow you to see the hex replies from the motor.
edit: oops, that gibberish at the bottom is the ascii representation of what Macro 1 is sending to the motor. I still think the likely issue is that your Ascii box is checked in the receive window rather than the hex box.
I think that checking the hex box in the receive window will allow you to see the hex replies from the motor.
edit: oops, that gibberish at the bottom is the ascii representation of what Macro 1 is sending to the motor. I still think the likely issue is that your Ascii box is checked in the receive window rather than the hex box.
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Com 3 does show up in device manager for the USB hub. I'll give the tick mark a try tomorrow and give you back feedback
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
Here’s another thing to look for tomorrow when trying it.
Watch the lights on the RS-485 adapter, the PWR LED should be on solid, the TXD LED should flash when you click on M1, and then the RXD LED should flash when the motor responds back.
If you don’t see the RXD LED respond then the motor isn’t responding back. It’s probably responding and not displaying due to that hex tick box, but if that still doesn’t fix it make sure that both the TXD and RXD LEDs are flashing on the adapter.
Other things to check, make sure you have AC power turned on to the Vgreen165 motor. If nothing still works try again with dip switch position 5 set to off. Dip switch 5 should only control the protocol after you have changed the configuration variable, but it’s probably not a bad idea to keep switch 5 off until you have written the change to the configuration variable.
Also give each of the wires a gentle tug on both the RS-485 adapter and on the motor end. Sometimes those screw connectors don’t actually grab the wire and one of the wires might be loose and not connected.
Hopefully it’s just the tick box causing the problem.
Mark
Watch the lights on the RS-485 adapter, the PWR LED should be on solid, the TXD LED should flash when you click on M1, and then the RXD LED should flash when the motor responds back.
If you don’t see the RXD LED respond then the motor isn’t responding back. It’s probably responding and not displaying due to that hex tick box, but if that still doesn’t fix it make sure that both the TXD and RXD LEDs are flashing on the adapter.
Other things to check, make sure you have AC power turned on to the Vgreen165 motor. If nothing still works try again with dip switch position 5 set to off. Dip switch 5 should only control the protocol after you have changed the configuration variable, but it’s probably not a bad idea to keep switch 5 off until you have written the change to the configuration variable.
Also give each of the wires a gentle tug on both the RS-485 adapter and on the motor end. Sometimes those screw connectors don’t actually grab the wire and one of the wires might be loose and not connected.
Hopefully it’s just the tick box causing the problem.
Mark
Hi Mark,
So I tried your suggestions and still no luck
My Device manager screen shows COM port
Tried check box HEX and the characters stay the same in the TX window
When I plug in the adapter the light is solid on the adapter for power and when I press M1 is flashes momentarily. I never see the other light flash at all which I assume is the RX light.
I also tried the dip switch 5 in the off position and power is on.
.
I appreciate all the help, maybe mine is just a dud? I don't mind doing some more troubleshooting checks if you want but I don't want to waste more of your time.
So I tried your suggestions and still no luck
My Device manager screen shows COM port
Tried check box HEX and the characters stay the same in the TX window
When I plug in the adapter the light is solid on the adapter for power and when I press M1 is flashes momentarily. I never see the other light flash at all which I assume is the RX light.
I also tried the dip switch 5 in the off position and power is on.
.
I appreciate all the help, maybe mine is just a dud? I don't mind doing some more troubleshooting checks if you want but I don't want to waste more of your time.
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
Okay, I was just out messing with my motor, I reprogrammed it back to the original configuration and went through the process again to set it back to work with jandy.
Even with that tick box set to ascii you get still get responses in receive window, they are just garbled ascii characters.
Since the TXD LED is flashing it looks like you are talking to the RS-485 adapter and it’s sending okay. The com port seems to be fine, but there’s a double check that you can do.
Unplug the RS-485 adapter from the computer and then click on the ”coms” button in the terminal window, this button is right below where you select the com port. The terminal program will display the available com ports on the computer. You may or not see some ports with the adapter unplugged. Then plug the adapter back in, wait a few seconds, and then click the coms button again. The list of available com ports should have one more now, that new com port that shows up is the rs-485 adapter. On your machine that should be com3 I expect.
But since the TXD LED is flashing I expect the adapter com port is fine. I just looked back at the terminal program screen that you posted earlier and all the baud rate settings are at 9600,n,8,1 the default so that’s fine.
So lets assume that the adapter is transmitting correctly but the motor just isn’t responding. That leaves the wiring and the motor.
I would try replacing the wires that you are using, double checking that they are stripped back enough so that they make contact with the screw terminal connectors, and then if that still doesn’t work I would swap the A, B terminal connections around.
The terminal program looks to be configured properly, you’re sending at the right baud rate, you‘re sending the right message M1, and you can see it getting out to the RS-485 interface via the TXD LED blinking.
So maybe it’s a Broken wire, or the A/B terminals being swapped.
Mark
Even with that tick box set to ascii you get still get responses in receive window, they are just garbled ascii characters.
Since the TXD LED is flashing it looks like you are talking to the RS-485 adapter and it’s sending okay. The com port seems to be fine, but there’s a double check that you can do.
Unplug the RS-485 adapter from the computer and then click on the ”coms” button in the terminal window, this button is right below where you select the com port. The terminal program will display the available com ports on the computer. You may or not see some ports with the adapter unplugged. Then plug the adapter back in, wait a few seconds, and then click the coms button again. The list of available com ports should have one more now, that new com port that shows up is the rs-485 adapter. On your machine that should be com3 I expect.
But since the TXD LED is flashing I expect the adapter com port is fine. I just looked back at the terminal program screen that you posted earlier and all the baud rate settings are at 9600,n,8,1 the default so that’s fine.
So lets assume that the adapter is transmitting correctly but the motor just isn’t responding. That leaves the wiring and the motor.
I would try replacing the wires that you are using, double checking that they are stripped back enough so that they make contact with the screw terminal connectors, and then if that still doesn’t work I would swap the A, B terminal connections around.
The terminal program looks to be configured properly, you’re sending at the right baud rate, you‘re sending the right message M1, and you can see it getting out to the RS-485 interface via the TXD LED blinking.
So maybe it’s a Broken wire, or the A/B terminals being swapped.
Mark
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
I also noticed that you are using a newer version of that terminal program than the one I have loaded on my machine. I just downloaded the latest version that you are using and verified that it also works just fine when talking to the motor.
This version also has an enhanced “coms” button as it will actually show the type of USB serial adapter in addition to the com port. That makes it simple to identify the right com port to use.
I swapped the A and B wires around to see what happens and I still get the TXD LED blinking, but no RXD LED or any response from the motor. I would try swapping the A, B wires on your setup just to eliminate that as a possibility.
And lastly while it shouldn’t make a difference you might try hooking up a wire between the ground terminal on the RS-485 adapter to the ground (pin 4) of the RS-485 connector on the motor. You shouldn’t need it, but who knows, something isn’t right with the RS-485 adapter to motor connector interface.
This version also has an enhanced “coms” button as it will actually show the type of USB serial adapter in addition to the com port. That makes it simple to identify the right com port to use.
I swapped the A and B wires around to see what happens and I still get the TXD LED blinking, but no RXD LED or any response from the motor. I would try swapping the A, B wires on your setup just to eliminate that as a possibility.
And lastly while it shouldn’t make a difference you might try hooking up a wire between the ground terminal on the RS-485 adapter to the ground (pin 4) of the RS-485 connector on the motor. You shouldn’t need it, but who knows, something isn’t right with the RS-485 adapter to motor connector interface.
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Awesome, thanks. I'll give it a go tomorrow and report back. Didn't get a chance today to try again.
- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,222
- Pool Size
- 25000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
This is fantastic. More and more alternatives for traditional automation! I'm bookmarking this one and following. Thanks for this thread!
Your patience is great. So this is what I tried
-changed to a different set of wires
-swapped the a and b wires after it didn't work
-disconnected the usb adapter and tried connecting
-added a com wire incase that works
nothing helped. I believe maybe my adapter is funky or I don't actually have it working?
the only weird thing is the usb com procedure of disconnecting. It never really changes the status and always shows this when I press the com button
-changed to a different set of wires
-swapped the a and b wires after it didn't work
-disconnected the usb adapter and tried connecting
-added a com wire incase that works
nothing helped. I believe maybe my adapter is funky or I don't actually have it working?
the only weird thing is the usb com procedure of disconnecting. It never really changes the status and always shows this when I press the com button
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
Hmmm, It looks like the computer isn’t seeing the RS-485 adapter, or maybe that it doesn’t have a driver installed.
When you plug in the RS-485 adapter you should definitely see a new COM port number show up when you click the coms button. On mine I see the com port number show up as Com8, and under the USB>COM adapters: line, I see the adapters chip makers name FTDI and it’s description or something like that. See below, on my machine it’s showing up as COM8.
Since you are not seeing that, or an available com port I don’t think your USB to RS-485 adapter is working right.
Are you using the same adapter type that I used, or do you have a different one? When you go into the control panel and highlight that USB serial device on com3, take a look at the driver and see if it says it’s installed correctly? Also does that USB serial port go away in the control panel when you unplug the adapter? , it should go away when the adapter is disconnected.
You might also try plugging the adapter into a different USB port on the computer and let it go through the process of finding the driver on Windows update, this may talk 5 to 10 minutes or so and you will need connectivity to the outside world on your computer.
You may have to go into the control panel and select that uSB serial port and tell it to find another driver. It may or may not try and find a driver if you plug into a different USB port. That FTDI chip used in the RS-485 adapter does have its drivers in Windows update so you shouldn’t have to do anything special to get it to work.
Since the USB serial port adapter and com port number for the RS-485 adapter isn’t showing up when you click the coms button the RS-485 adapter isn’t being seen by the terminal port program. I now think that’s the root of the problem, if the terminal program doesn’t properly see the com port or adapter, then it’s not going to work.
Maybe your RS-485 adapter is bad, or maybe the driver is missing (or wrong), but something’s not right there.
Mark
When you plug in the RS-485 adapter you should definitely see a new COM port number show up when you click the coms button. On mine I see the com port number show up as Com8, and under the USB>COM adapters: line, I see the adapters chip makers name FTDI and it’s description or something like that. See below, on my machine it’s showing up as COM8.
Since you are not seeing that, or an available com port I don’t think your USB to RS-485 adapter is working right.
Are you using the same adapter type that I used, or do you have a different one? When you go into the control panel and highlight that USB serial device on com3, take a look at the driver and see if it says it’s installed correctly? Also does that USB serial port go away in the control panel when you unplug the adapter? , it should go away when the adapter is disconnected.
You might also try plugging the adapter into a different USB port on the computer and let it go through the process of finding the driver on Windows update, this may talk 5 to 10 minutes or so and you will need connectivity to the outside world on your computer.
You may have to go into the control panel and select that uSB serial port and tell it to find another driver. It may or may not try and find a driver if you plug into a different USB port. That FTDI chip used in the RS-485 adapter does have its drivers in Windows update so you shouldn’t have to do anything special to get it to work.
Since the USB serial port adapter and com port number for the RS-485 adapter isn’t showing up when you click the coms button the RS-485 adapter isn’t being seen by the terminal port program. I now think that’s the root of the problem, if the terminal program doesn’t properly see the com port or adapter, then it’s not going to work.
Maybe your RS-485 adapter is bad, or maybe the driver is missing (or wrong), but something’s not right there.
Mark
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Not having the driver was my issue, Macintosh side. Once I figured that out, rest was easy sailing.
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
@jester4 ,
If you are using the same USB to RS-485 adapter that I called out in my earlier post then it’s USB to serial port function is done using a chip made by FTDI.
Here is a link to the Windows driver installer for their chips:
If you can’t get it to find the right driver automatically from Windows then you might try and run the driver install program in the link to that ZIP program. I think you want the VCP (virtual com port) version of the driver.
Try installing the driver and then plug in RS-485 adapter and then see if it shows up as it should in the terminal program.
If you are using the same USB to RS-485 adapter that I called out in my earlier post then it’s USB to serial port function is done using a chip made by FTDI.
Here is a link to the Windows driver installer for their chips:
If you can’t get it to find the right driver automatically from Windows then you might try and run the driver install program in the link to that ZIP program. I think you want the VCP (virtual com port) version of the driver.
Try installing the driver and then plug in RS-485 adapter and then see if it shows up as it should in the terminal program.
Thanks, so I think my adapter might be bad. I ordered the same adapter as you had posted
Tried installing your drivers and it says mine are already the same or newer. Tried uninstalling the drivers (went to the FTDI website to make sure I was removing all the drivers installed, btw you have to remove 2 different drivers), and reinstalled everything and all is still the same. Talk about banging your head against the wall. You guys have been great, I am grateful for the help.
I think my neighbor mentioned he has an adapter like the one I ordered. I will reach out to him and see if he will let me borrow it and see what the results are. I have not given up yet!
If my issues are becoming a clutter on this awesome post, I will be more than happy to take to PM. I figured it might also help someone else in my position.
Tried installing your drivers and it says mine are already the same or newer. Tried uninstalling the drivers (went to the FTDI website to make sure I was removing all the drivers installed, btw you have to remove 2 different drivers), and reinstalled everything and all is still the same. Talk about banging your head against the wall. You guys have been great, I am grateful for the help.
I think my neighbor mentioned he has an adapter like the one I ordered. I will reach out to him and see if he will let me borrow it and see what the results are. I have not given up yet!
If my issues are becoming a clutter on this awesome post, I will be more than happy to take to PM. I figured it might also help someone else in my position.
MSchutzer
Silver Supporter
Okay, So the missing ports when you hit the coms button is a red herring. My laptop that I was using is running Windows 7; I just connected the USB to RS-485 to my desktop Win 10 machine and guess what, when I press the coms button I don't see any com ports either, and I don't see the FTDI device under the USB>COM adapter line. So there's something funky with that coms button and Win 10.
I did hook the adapter back up to the motor and I'm able to communicate (and get motor replies) when using the Win 10 machine talking to the USB to RS-485 adapter so that part still works fine.
I also downloaded an alternate terminal program called CoolTerm and tried that, it worked also. If you want to try that just search for CoolTerm and you will find it. When using that click on the Connection menu item, choose your com port (3 in your case), and then click the "send string" menu item that's also in the Connection menu choices. Click on hex mode and just type in the hex values that are listed in the Terminal macros, the $ characters are not needed.
But I'm not too hopeful that will change anything. Terminal.exe works fine under Win 10 other than that coms button wierdness, so now I'm wondering if it's a USB to RS-485 adapter issue or a motor issue. If your neighbor has one that you can try that would be good thing to do.
I did hook the adapter back up to the motor and I'm able to communicate (and get motor replies) when using the Win 10 machine talking to the USB to RS-485 adapter so that part still works fine.
I also downloaded an alternate terminal program called CoolTerm and tried that, it worked also. If you want to try that just search for CoolTerm and you will find it. When using that click on the Connection menu item, choose your com port (3 in your case), and then click the "send string" menu item that's also in the Connection menu choices. Click on hex mode and just type in the hex values that are listed in the Terminal macros, the $ characters are not needed.
But I'm not too hopeful that will change anything. Terminal.exe works fine under Win 10 other than that coms button wierdness, so now I'm wondering if it's a USB to RS-485 adapter issue or a motor issue. If your neighbor has one that you can try that would be good thing to do.
Happy to report back that the v-Green pump has integrated perfectly with my Jandy automation as an ePump - been functioning without a single issue for about three months. Set up on Macintosh laptop just once and everything since done through Jandy automation (touch panels, iAqualink interface etc).
Thanks For all the info. This saved me recently since my Aqualink got struck by lightning. I was able to get node-red running the main pump by just sending the hex commands on a schedule to keep the pool circulating. I am struggling figuring out how to do this with std modbus commands read/write registers if possible. With the cost of a new aqualink I could make a much better functioning node-red setup and not need aqualink for web access. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again for figuring this out.
I actually just got my NodeRED setup working with a new Century VGreen Evo (the newer, dumber version). I don't think the pump functions with the standard MODBUS read/write registers and protocols since everything uses custom functions, but I was able to use this post and some additional info from here: GitHub - gazoodle/CenturyVSPump: ESPHome custom component to drive Century (and other) variable speed pump motors to get my setup working better and feeding info to Home Assistant via MQTT. It reads the current, speed, and demand values every 30s and publishes to MQTT and also listens for a commanded speed on MQTT. I have some extra logic in there to make sure the power is on before sending commands (my Aqualink RS is connected to MQTT via AqualinkD running on a separate USB RS485 dongle.
Century VS VGreen EVO Node-RED RS485 Control
Century VS VGreen EVO Node-RED RS485 Control. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
gist.github.com
Anyways, thanks @ccbill for the original work. Hope this helps someone else! As for @maxhits - sorry to hear about your panel biting the dust.
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@pgershon, I'm on a mac too. How did you send the hex byes in coolterm? I'm just starting out . . .
EDIT: I figured it out . . .I literally just pasted in the hex codes and it worked! Thanks everyone! This is going to be great.
EDIT: I figured it out . . .I literally just pasted in the hex codes and it worked! Thanks everyone! This is going to be great.
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