Using Century VGreen 165 w/ Hayward OmniPL Controller

[Lee Pruitt]

Alright, I am a novice on TFP, but have owned a pool for 10+ years now, so dealt with my fair share of equipment issues (fairly handy, knowledgeable on electrical, so I handle this stuff myself). My old Hayward AquaLogic board died and I replaced it with an OmniPL retrofit kit over the summer. I had a Century VGreen 165 pump attached to the old system which I just kept on all the time via the controller and let the pump handle the schedule, worked great. Now that I hooked it up to the new controller, it does not power back on (setup as a single speed pump) after a power flicker. I usually notice its not running when the pool starts turning green (I have 4 little ones at home so don't visit the pool every day). To solve this, I have attempted to wire to the RS485 controller port to the omni and let it control the pump directly since it has a WiFi connected clock that can resume the schedule after a power flicker. Problem I have run into is that Hayward, in an apparent effort to force you to use their VS pumps which are roughly 3x the price and don't last any longer, flips the configuration from selecting a relay, to looking for a HUA (Hayward Unique Address) to select instead in order to power on the relay. Obviously the Century does not have that, so it won't power it on. To get around that, I tried hardwiring the pump to get around the relay activation, but it appears the RS485 BUS is disabled as well when no HUA is selected. So my question is, without getting into software commands, is there a way around, or has anyone figured out how to, make this pump work with the Hayward controller actually controlling the speed and schedule?

Thanks in advance!

Lee

 

[ajw22]

I don't think the Hayward OmniPL can control the VGreen 165 using RS-485.

Let's see if @1poolman1 knows something different.

 

[1poolman1]

I don't think the Hayward OmniPL can control the VGreen 165 using RS-485.

Let's see if @1poolman1 knows something different.

Have never seen one that could be. Hayward has its own VSP protocol, although I understand the newer software might be able to control Pentair pumps. Haven't tried that.

Easiest way is to use a relay to power the pump and then use the internal programming in the motor. If set right, it can even be used with a spa if the correct starting speed and time is programmed.

There are some good Century YouTube videos on using that motor with a regular time clock. The same procedure works with relay control. Done it several times and after a small learning curve everyone was happy.

 

[MSchutzer]

The easy way to replicate what you had before is to run the Vgreen165 in what I call "Intermatic timer" mode.

The Vgreen 165 motor works off of its internal 24 hour timer. You program your Step1, Step2, and Step3 speeds and durations and then you press the Start button. The motor then runs for the programmed speeds and times and when done it turns off and then repeats the cycle 24 hours later. Unfortunately the Vgreen 165 doesn't have a real time clock in it so the schedule gets messed up if the power goes out.

You can make use of one of the quirks of the Vgreen 165 motor; if the AC power is interrupted while the Vgreen 165 is in the middle of running 24 hour schedule it will start the schedule over at Step1 when the AC power is restored. I call this Intermatic timer mode as it works perfect when using an Intermatic on/off timer to control the motor.

Here's an example of this. Lets say you want to start your pump at 10am everyday and you want it to run step 1 for 2 hours and step 2 for 6 hours. To set this up you set your Step 1 speed for whatever you want and then set the duration to 2 hours, and then set Step 2 for it's speed and 6 hour duration. Then you would wire the AC line voltage for the motor through your Intermatic timer and set the timer to turn on at 10 am and have it turn off some time after the run time is done, but no more than 23 hours after it turned on. When you intentionally turn the AC power off to the Vgreen 165 before its 24 hour cycle completes, the Vgreen 165 will restart the schedule at Step 1 when the AC power is restored.

This lets you use the Intermatic timer as a real time clock to start the daily run schedule, bypassing the Vgreen's internal sense of time.

In your case you would use the pump relay on your Hayward automation system to switch the AC voltage to the motor just as if the motor was a single speed motor. As long as you set the pump on time (on the Hayward system) to less then 24 hours, then the Vgreen 165 will restart it's schedule running from step 1 when the Hayward system turns the power on to the motor.

I know this goes against the common advice that the AC line voltage should always be on to a variable speed pump, but since the Vgreen 165 doesn't have a real time clock switching the line voltage can be used as a work around.

I ran my Vgreen 165 this way for several months when I had a Intermatic timer controlling the pump start time. I eventually installed a Jandy automation system and got rid of the intermatic timer.