Aqualink Z4

[zeropoint46]

I have a jandy z4 with iaqualink, is this setup supported at all? thanks.

[sfeakes]

Short answer, No.
I’ve never had a Z4 to play with, and no one (to my knoladge) has tried AqualinkD against a Z4. The Z4 looks like it’s a PDA panel with a nicer interface on the panel, ie very limited functionality. There is a chance that AqualinkD might be able to communicate with the Z4. But according to the Z4 manual it only supports one UI device, the iAqualink WiFi adapter. If that is the case, then you would need to disconnect the iAqualink device for AqualinkD to work.

[sfeakes]

The serial_logger included with AqualinkD will give you ALL the information you need, and there would be no need to disconnect the iAqualink wifi device to do that. So if you do get time / opportunity, wire up an RS485 device (with iAqualink device attached) and run serial_logger in debug mode. if you post the output, I'll be able to tell you right away how much / what we could do to get it to work.

[zeropoint46]

ohh thats fantastic, thanks. should I post here? or open a new discussion?

[sfeakes]

Post it here would be good, that way we have context.

[zeropoint46]

oh, is there any documentation for the serial logger? anything I should do once I start logging? should I issue commands on the control panel?

[zeropoint46]

found the docs

[zeropoint46]

got the output:

AqualinkD serial_logger V2.6
Notice:  RS Serial: Port /dev/ttyUSB1 low latency mode is NOT set, resetting to low latency!
Notice:  Serial Log:Logging serial information!
Please wait.|

Notice:  Serial Log:RS485 interface received 800 packets in 62 seconds ( 12.90 Msg/Sec)
Notice:  Serial Log:Jandy Control Panel Model   : 
Notice:  Serial Log:Jandy Control Panel Version : 
Notice:  Serial Log:Jandy ID's found
Notice:  Serial Log:ID 0x33 is in use    <-- Aqualink (iAqualink / Touch)
Notice:  Serial Log:ID 0xc8 is in use    <-- Unknown Device
Notice:  Serial Log:ID 0xa3 is in use    <-- iAqualink 2.0
Notice:  Serial Log:ID 0x68 is in use    <-- LXi / LRZ Heater
Notice:  Serial Log:ID 0x78 is in use    <-- Jandy VSP ePump
Notice:  Serial Log:ID 0x60 is not used  <-- can use for Aqualinkd (PDA mode only)
Notice:  Serial Log:

Notice:  Serial Log:Suggested aqualinkd.conf values
Notice:  Serial Log:-------------------------
Notice:  Serial Log:device_id = 0x60
Notice:  Serial Log:read_RS485_ePump = yes
Notice:  Serial Log:read_RS485_JXi = yes
Notice:  Serial Log:-------------------------

[zeropoint46]

Reading the wiki/docs more and better, I realize I made a few mistakes the first time. I have now run logger in debug mode and have extended the capture to 2000 packets instead. I have attached the log here.
jandy_debug.log

[sfeakes]

That output looks very promising, I think this might be a lot easier than I originally expected. The Z4 panel looks like they used the PDA Rev 6.0 chip as the base. So this should work if you put AqualinkD in PDA mode. PDA mode is a lot slower than RS mode, but should get the job done. If you edit aqualinkd.conf and use the setting suggested, (and modify the buttons per wiki) you should be good to go.
--EDIT--
You should NOT have to disconnect the wifi adapter. AqualinkD will communicate with the panel on id 0x60 and not interfere with anything else.

[zeropoint46]

Ohh and if I am able and do upgrade to an RS, I'm more than willing to donate my Z4 board to this project if it helps to get things working for other people. :)

[sfeakes]

The -nc = No Check. Basically tell AqualinkD not to do any startup checks and act on any messages it receives and understands. So this probably means the Z4 is using the PDA ID 0x60 differently to a PDA panel. If you put AqualinkD in serial debug mode and use the Panel UI and iq20 interfaces, then post the output, I should be able to decode what’s going on.
PDA with id 0x33 is still under dev, but most things work in the current build, so surprised that you didn’t get anything to work with the iq20 disconnected and current dev build of AqualinkD. Again, posting serial debug log using those settings will help understand what’s happening. I’d be surprised if we couldn’t get it working in this mode.

As for upgrading the Z4 to RS, I’m not sure exactly what’s needed and can be reused. Obviously the RS board is needed (the metal box if you want it to look neat), I would assume the relays are “standard” but not sure. JVA’s will be the same. Power supply is also not cheap for the RS box and not sure if Z4 is same.

EDIT. Thanks for the offer of the Z4, let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point. But if it does it would be good to use for decoding.

[sfeakes]

@zeropoint46 when / if you put AqualinkD in serial debug mode, and cycle through using panel UI etc. can you change the pump RPM from the phone app (not the web based AqualinkTouch), that will force a both protocols of the iq20 to be used.

[zeropoint46]

@sfeakes I'll give it a shot, however I can't really directly control my pump rpm from the app. I do have like an aux3 mode and cleaner mode that from what I can tell, adjust the VSP rpm, however I don't actually have direct control of the pump speed/rpm. Hopefully that makes sense. If you want to connect I would be willing to setup some kind of live remote session if you want to get in a debug anything.

[sfeakes]

@zeropoint46 Then don't worry about changing RPM. That's really odd that you can't change the RPM from the mobile App or web app. The iAqualink2/3 connected to an RS panel can. So probably more arbitory limitations they inflicted on the Z4 (like they did the old PDA panels)

[jswilson64]

I'm another Z4 owner who's interested in using AqualinkD. Our setup is a pool and spa, heater, a couple of auto-actuated valves to switch pool/spa modes. It also has an ancient iAqualink IQ900 which I've read only supports 802.11b ? We've never set it up (owned the house for about 6 months now).

Our Z4 interface is beginning to crap out. We had the main board replaced b/c our pool guy thought that was the problem. Chasing possible power issues (maybe the transformer).

Looking at AqualinkD as a possible way to get by if we can pull the Z4 interface and the IQ 900.

[zeropoint46]

Looks like I better get back to testing and provide more logs to @sfeakes. I'll see if I can find some time this week. Also, not sure if it helps at all, but I have hardwired my iq module to cat5 ethernet so it's not on wifi. Might be an option for you and might make it more stable in the mean time.