Anyone got a Vaillant eBUS timer/controller I could borrow

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  • Jackthom
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Dec 2017
    • 18

    #31
    I was thinking of building an interface but decided to try and save some time and bought this one



    which took almost a week to arrive and is working fine with no problems.

    My cylinder thermostat already uses low voltage to a relay which then provides DHW/ON/OFF mains voltage signals to the 3 port valve etc.
    I should easily be able to use that low voltage to signal the hot water state to the raspberry pi and have it issue the required ebus commands at intervals.
    Changing FlowsetHcMax to the required temp looks like the most likely solution at the moment.

    Getting ebusd running on the pi and learning how to use it is an ongoing learning experience.
    Last edited by Jackthom; 27 January 2018, 03:01 PM.

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    • bruce_miranda
      Automated Home Legend
      • Jul 2014
      • 2307

      #32
      You are likely missing the Definition for the SetMode message. When I get home I will dig it out.

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      • Jackthom
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Dec 2017
        • 18

        #33
        find result includes bai SetMode and when the V65 is also in operation on the bus it can be read,

        read SetMode
        auto;10.0;-;-;1;0;1;0;0;0

        find -w doesn't show SetMode in the list as writeable so I'm guessing there must be some other way of changing it.

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        • bruce_miranda
          Automated Home Legend
          • Jul 2014
          • 2307

          #34
          Ok so you are close. What you need to do is turn debug on and grab the actual hex message string and the write the command as a hex string.

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          • bruce_miranda
            Automated Home Legend
            • Jul 2014
            • 2307

            #35
            Are you sure the HW knob on your boiler is turned up to the max i.e. the LCD will read 60C when you turn it up. The reason I ask is that you don't appear to have the HW max temperature set in the 3rd field in your SetMode command.
            Your command looks a lot like when the VR33 has no demand. What I have noticed is that some vaillant controllers set the CH flow to 0.0 for off but others (including the VR33) set it to 10.0. The VR33 never sets that 3rd field which is the most important field to set to get the boiler to start heating HW.

            See the all important commands in different scenarios.

            With HW Off CH Off
            ----------------------
            update MS cmd: 1008b5100900000078ffff45ff00 / 0101
            or update MS cmd: 1008b5100900000078ffff05ff00 / 0101

            translates to
            update bai SetMode QQ=10: auto;0.0;60.0;-;1;0;1;0;0;0


            HW On CH Off
            ----------------
            update MS cmd: 1008b5100900000078ffff01ff00 / 0101

            translates to
            update bai SetMode QQ=10: auto;0.0;60.0;-;1;0;0;0;0;0

            HW On CH On
            ---------------
            update MS cmd: 1008b5100900006478ffff40ff00 / 0101

            translates to
            update bai SetMode QQ=10: auto;50.0;60.0;-;0;0;0;0;0;0

            The 2nd field is the dynamic flow temperature set by the controller depending on various factors like room temperature, external temperature etc.

            Now using the above information you can trigger the boiler into HW mode but only until some other device doesn't come in and give the boiler another SetMode command, which happens with the VR33. The VR33 issues a SetMode every 5 seconds or so. So I've been able to confirm that my messages are read and understood by the boiler but the boiler never has time to act on my commands because the VR33 sends a new one.

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            • Jackthom
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Dec 2017
              • 18

              #36
              Thanks Bruce that's very much appreciated, those hex values are working perfectly as supplied.
              Although I generally like finding out stuff like this for myself I was getting close to tearing out some hair.

              Similar to the VR33, the Vaillant controller was sending out a Setmode every 10 sec or so but from now it's staying OFF.
              Its interesting that while the hex is definitely switching the boiler I now can't read SetMode

              localhost: read SetMode
              ERR: no data stored

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              • bruce_miranda
                Automated Home Legend
                • Jul 2014
                • 2307

                #37
                Any message you write to the bus is not read and stored in memory. It's a limitation of ebusd and John, the author, knows about that.

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                • Jackthom
                  Automated Home Jr Member
                  • Dec 2017
                  • 18

                  #38
                  Now that I know which messages to look for I'll take another look this evening to find the hex values being sent by my controller so the ones I send can be tailored to the flow temperatures I'd prefer.
                  TBH at first glance I'm not seeing exactly how the hex values relate to the individual fields.

                  Comment

                  • bruce_miranda
                    Automated Home Legend
                    • Jul 2014
                    • 2307

                    #39
                    Study the way the message definitions and the various data types are put together and it suddenly starts making sense. That SetMode message started with my contribution a while ago and has grown since. But there are still a few bits and bytes that aren't translated and ignored.

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                    • Jackthom
                      Automated Home Jr Member
                      • Dec 2017
                      • 18

                      #40
                      What’s puzzling me now is I can’t see how or even where SetMode is defined in the csv files loaded on automatic configuration.
                      Clearly there must be a definition that describes the conversion from hex bytes to decoded message, so far I haven’t found it.

                      I suppose that if the decode is incomplete it might be difficult to reverse the process and construct a viable hex message from a given set of parameters.
                      Last edited by Jackthom; 27 January 2018, 11:00 PM.

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                      • bruce_miranda
                        Automated Home Legend
                        • Jul 2014
                        • 2307

                        #41
                        hcmode.inc which gets loaded at the end of the bai file

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                        • Jackthom
                          Automated Home Jr Member
                          • Dec 2017
                          • 18

                          #42
                          It's very slowly starting to make sense. I see where the two temperatures (hex byte to decimal * 0.5 ) come from now, at last.

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