Valve Logic

[notmydayjob]

I have a waterfall in my pool. It is plumbed separately for the main body plumbing. The rest of my pool is being run by the Nixie controller in njs-PC running on an RPi however, the waterfall is not currently integrated in njs-PC.

The main pool system is a shared body (pool/spa) using an intelliflo VSF controlled via serial and with valves controlled by REM. The waterfall is powered by an intelliflo VS pump that I currently control via the onboard control panel. The water leaving the pump flows through a 3-way valve that lets me direct the water to either the waterfall feature or a pool return located below the waterline.

Currently when I shut off the waterfall pump I turn the 3-way valve to the pool return before shutting off the pump this keeps the pipes full of water preventing priming problems the next time it starts. If I leave it directed to the waterfall, it sucks air and the system has to reprime. Conversely, when I start the pump I wait a moment before directing the water to the waterfall.

I would like to add a a servo to the valve and integrate the waterfall into njs-PC. I can add the pump and create a waterfall feature, however I am stuck at building the logic that, upon turning off the feature would activate the valve and wait 60 seconds (or so) before shutting down the pump. On startup the pump should start and then after a pause the valve should activate to switch to the waterfall.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[tagyoureit]

Here's one possible solution that uses a custom rule processor. You can read about custom bindings in the wiki.

Directions

Here's the set up:

1. Create a circuit or feature for the VSF pump. You won't directly control or use this circuit.
   a) Assign the circuit in 1 above to whatever speed you want on the waterfall. With this solution you'll have one waterfall speed. More logic will need to be added if you want additional speeds.
2. Create a feature that will turn on the waterfall and will control the valve.
   a) Create a valve and assign it to the circuit in step 2.
3. Create a feature that will turn off the waterfall.
4. Retrieve the values of the three circuits that you created. If you can SSH to the server, they will be in the data/poolConfig.json. You can also use the following urls in the browser: http://localhost:4200/config/features and http://localhost:4200/config/circuits
5. In the code below, replace the id for wtrFallPumpCircuit with the circuit you created in step 1 for the VSF pump.
6. Update the wtrFallOnCircuit id with the feature you created in step 2.
   a) in the line that reads "filter": "@bind=data.id; === 129 && @bind=data.isOn;===true;" replace the value 129 with thewtrFallOnCircuit id
7. Update the wtrFallOffCircuit id with the feature you created in step 3.
   a) in the line that reads "filter": "@bind=data.id; === 130 && @bind=data.isOn;===false;" replace the value 130 with the wtrFallOffCircuit id
8. Copy the modified code below into a file on your local machine
   a) in Settings->Controller->Interfaces click the add New Interface button
   b) Click the Upload Bindings button and select the file with the code
   c) Give it a relevant name and select Rule as the type.
   d) Select the newly uploaded binding in the binding dropdown
   e) Click add interface
   f) Find the interface you just added in the Interfaces list, select it, check Enabled, and Save Interface.

Here's how the front end works, and then at the bottom I'll explain the code.

1. When you want to turn on the Waterfall, only use the feature you created in step 2. It will wait 6s and turn on the circuit (step 1) and the waterfall off feature (step 3). The valve will divert because the wtrFallOnCircuit is turned on.
2. When you want to turn off the Waterfall, only use the feature you created in step 3. It will turn off wtrFallOnCircuit (and thus return the valve to the non-diverted position), wait 60s, and then turn off the pump and both features.

Code to modify

{
  "context": {
    "name": "customValveRule",
    "options": {},
    "vars": {}
  },
  "events": [
    {
      "name": "feature",
      "description": "Wait 6s and turn on the waterfall pump",
      "processor": [
        "try {",
        "let wtrFallPumpCircuit = 10;  // waterfall pump circuit",
        "let wtrFallOffCircuit = 130;",
        "let delay = 6;",
        "let scirc = state.circuits.getInterfaceById(wtrFallPumpCircuit);",
        "if (scirc.isOn) return;",
        "await setTimeout(() => {sys.board.circuits.setCircuitStateAsync(wtrFallPumpCircuit, true); // waterfall start/valve diverted",
        "sys.board.circuits.setCircuitStateAsync(wtrFallOffCircuit, true);", 
        "logger.info(`Waited ${delay}s and turned off feature/valve.`)}, delay*1000);",
        "} catch(err) { logger.error(`Error triggering circuit ${err.message}`); }"
      ],
      "filter": "@bind=data.id; === 129 && @bind=data.isOn;===true;"
    },
    {
      "name": "feature",
      "description": "Wait 60s and turn off the waterfall pump",
      "processor": [
        "try {",
        "let wtrFallPumpCircuit = 10;",
        "let wtrFallOnCircuit = 129;",
        "let delay = 60;",
        "let scirc = state.circuits.getInterfaceById(wtrFallPumpCircuit);",
        "if (!scirc.isOn) return;",
        "logger.info('Overriding circuit (turned back on).  Turning off pump, waiting ${delay}s and turning off feature.');",
        "sys.board.circuits.setCircuitStateAsync(wtrFallPumpCircuit, false);",
        "await setTimeout(() => {logger.info(`Waited ${delay}s and turning off feature/valve.`);",
        "sys.board.circuits.setCircuitStateAsync(wtrFallOnCircuit, false);",
        "}, delay*1000);",
        "",
        "} catch(err) { logger.error(`Error triggering circuit ${err.message}`); }"
      ],
      "enabled": true,
      "filter": "@bind=data.id; === 130 && @bind=data.isOn;===false;"
    }
  ]
}

Technical Explanation

This solution uses two separate features because the rules are evaluated just after the feature is toggled. Hence, there is a need for a separate on and off feature such that we can control the delay.

{
  "context": {
    "name": "customValveRule",  // Name of the rule
    "options": {},
    "vars": {}
  },
  "events": [
    {
      "name": "feature",  // the event type that this rule will listen for.  
      "description": "Wait 6s and turn on the waterfall pump",  // plain text
      "processor": [  // the below is a function that will be executed when the event occurs and the filter evaluates to true 
        "try {",
        "let wtrFallPumpCircuit = 10;  // waterfall pump circuit",  // this turns the pump on/off and when associated with the VSF pump sets the speed
        "let wtrFallOffCircuit = 130;",  // replace the 130 here with the id of the feature created in step 3
        "let delay = 6;",  // delay in seconds.  Adjust as needed.
        "let scirc = state.circuits.getInterfaceById(wtrFallPumpCircuit);",  // this gets the values of the waterfall pump circuit so...
        "if (scirc.isOn) return;",  // we check to make sure the pump is off.  If it's on, we abort this code.
   // the next await function will wait the delay (6) seconds and then execute the code to turn on the waterfall circuit and the waterfall off feature
        "await setTimeout(() => {sys.board.circuits.setCircuitStateAsync(wtrFallPumpCircuit, true); // waterfall start/valve diverted",
        "sys.board.circuits.setCircuitStateAsync(wtrFallOffCircuit, true);", 
        "logger.info(`Waited ${delay}s and turned off feature/valve.`)}, delay*1000);",
        "} catch(err) { logger.error(`Error triggering circuit ${err.message}`); }"  // end of try block to catch errors so we don't crash the app
      ],
      "filter": "@bind=data.id; === 129 && @bind=data.isOn;===true;"  // this processor will only be run when the feature event is broadcast, the circuit that is triggered is 129 (replace with the waterfall on feature), and the circuit is now on. 
    },

// below is very similar logic but in reverse.
    {
      "name": "feature",
      "description": "Wait 60s and turn off the waterfall pump",
      "processor": [
        "try {",
        "let wtrFallPumpCircuit = 10;",
        "let wtrFallOnCircuit = 129;",
        "let delay = 60;",
        "let scirc = state.circuits.getInterfaceById(wtrFallPumpCircuit);",
        "if (!scirc.isOn) return;",
// below we turn off the waterfall pump and the wtrFallOffCircuit, and then after 60s turn off the wtrFallOnCircuit (change the valve).
        "logger.info('Overriding circuit (turned back on).  Turning off pump, waiting ${delay}s and turning off feature.');",
        "sys.board.circuits.setCircuitStateAsync(wtrFallPumpCircuit, false);",
        "await setTimeout(() => {logger.info(`Waited ${delay}s and turning off feature/valve.`);",
        "sys.board.circuits.setCircuitStateAsync(wtrFallOnCircuit, false);",
        "}, delay*1000);",
        "",
        "} catch(err) { logger.error(`Error triggering circuit ${err.message}`); }"
      ],
      "enabled": true,
      "filter": "@bind=data.id; === 130 && @bind=data.isOn;===false;"
    }
  ]
}

[notmydayjob]

Thank you for the detailed response. I'm in the process of having The pool refurbished, as part of that, I'm planning to rebuild my controller with some new hardware, It may be a little while before I can get this fully implemented and tested.

Thanks again!