How to Tell if RS485 is working from the pump - nodejs-Poolcontroller

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whitehaireddude

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Mar 20, 2023
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Orlando, FL
OK I have a 10 year old Sta-Rite Intelliflo (rebadged Pentair variable speed pool pump) that I would like to connect to a nodejs-Poolcontroller. Since I can't get hold of a reasonably priced RPi, I am using a similar device Le Potato. The software installed no problem, I connected an Industrial USB to RS485 connector to the wires that came with the pool that have been stored for a decade. When I run the
od -x < /dev/ttyUSB0
I get nothing...nada.

Is there a way to clean the connector on the pump, or is there some common way that the connection fails? I will check for continuity of the cable next, but wondered if there were other tricks or ways to measure? I have been trying to search for how to check RS485 with a multimeter and that doesn't quite give me usable information.

Any advice appreciated.
 
Welcome to TFP.

Maybe @rstrouse will have ideas when he passes by.

You can't check RS-485 using a multimeter. I think you would need a meter with an oscilloscope function to see the waveforms.
 
I tested and got continuity with the wires.

Then just to make sure I didn't do something wrong in the setup since I had used Ubuntu instead of Raspian the first go around, I restarted all over with Installing Raspian. After I start nodejs-PoolController I see a number of these logged to the screen:
[3/31/2023, 6:17:18 PM] info: Serial port: /dev/ttyUSB0 request to open successful 9600b 8-none-1
[3/31/2023, 6:17:28 PM] warn: Inactivity timeout for 0 serial port /dev/ttyUSB0 after 10 seconds
[3/31/2023, 6:17:28 PM] info: Serial Port 0 - /dev/ttyUSB0 has been closed.
[3/31/2023, 6:17:28 PM] info: Successfully closed portId 0 for serial port /dev/ttyUSB0

Do I need to buy another RS485 controller to test the first one? (though I it could still be the pool pump side of the wire)
Any other hints?
 
You just need to add the pump in the configuration section of dashPanel. Nixie has no idea that a pump even exists and the pump will remain silent until something starts communicating with it. The watchdog for the serial port is simply making sure that there is no connectivity problems so it closes the port if if there is no communication then re-opens it just to be sure there isn't something eating up the buffer.
 
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Both on the same device. I got the same result when I started them manually with npm start& as I did when using pm2.

However I have now pulled my Raspberry Pi 3 B+ from its other duties, started with a new microSD card and have installed from scratch on it and things look much more promising. I was able to get to the config for the Dashpanel and it discovered the Controller. I defined a pump and the physical pump display changed to not active so that means it is getting something. Now I'll continue to look around and see what I can figure out before coming back with more questions. Next is to see if I can get the pump to start pumping.

Thanks so much rstrouse.
 
This wiki may be of assistance for setting up your circuits and features. The one thing that isn't in there are assigning these to a pump but the bottom line is you assign your circuits and features to the pump and set the speed it should run at when said circuit or feature is on and the system will take care of the rest.

github.com

Nixie Controller Setup

An application to control pool equipment from various manufacturers. - tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController
github.com github.com
 
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