ELK analog zone voltage change events

[AKAPADIA]

Hello,

 

I have some sunlight sensors that are wired to ELK analog voltage zones. They result in values between 0.9V - 3.8V for the range of night through direct sunlight. I want to read these values in a custom PC program to control Hunter Douglas blinds in my home. I have my ELK and ISY successfully connected.

 

One way to do this is to simply query the voltages every few minutes using a simple REST call and this works great.

 

Another way is to respond to event notifications from the ISY, which seems more elegant than polling. Since I am already subscribing to event notifications from the ISY for other purposes, and the ISY-ELK integration module claims that ZoneVoltageState change events are raised when zone voltages change, I thought I would use this method. However, even after monitoring the events raised for several hours, I do not see any ZoneVoltageState change events being 'seen' by my event processing loop. I do see other ZoneEvents being raised though.

 

Is there a reason why this doesn't work as expected?

Thanks!

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi arshishk,

 

Can you please:

1. Open the Event Viewer and change the level to 3

2. If at all possible cause the voltage to change

3. Make sure the value is correct under ELK configuration panel

4. If so, please save and send the contents of the Event Viewer to support@universal-devices.com

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[blueman2]

Old topic, I know, but I too am having issues seeing voltage changes in my ISY.  I have to do a "voltage query" before the correct voltage shows up.  I have a program that monitors an ELK analog input zone.  Normally it is 13.6V (open).  I want to run a program if it is below 12.0V.  I cannot figure any way to do this.  Running 5.0.2 on ISY.  Latest ELK firmware.  

 

All ELK zones correctly update in ISY when violated, but voltage even for those does not change in ISY unless I query.

 

Voltages DO update correctly in the ELK RP2 program under Status Panel.  So the ELK is getting the voltage, but not sending changes to the ISY.  I have the zone set as analog zone.    

[DennisC]

Elk doesnt send voltages to ISY unless a query is done. i had some issues in the past with some devices not showing up and found this out with the help of Michel and Elk Tech Support.

 

Dennis

[blueman2]

Ugh!  That hurts!  I was hoping by setting the Zone to Analog (one of the ELK zone types) it would report any zone change over the M1XEP to the ISY.  

 

So only option is to do regular query polling?  In my case, I wanted it for a sensor I will need to poll very often, like every 5-10 seconds.  That is a lot of unnecessary traffic on my network.   

[DennisC]

Would you be open to another way of doing this?

 

Since the voltage is updating on the Elk, set a phantom output to close when the voltage is less than 12 volts. You can then monitor the phantom output on the ISY.

 

Dennis

[blueman2]

Actually, I tried to see if I could set up a rule for voltage, but could not find that capability on the ELK.  If it can do rules based on voltage, then I am golden since I actually want to trigger an ELK relay anyway.  This would totally take the ISY out of the equation which would simplify things.  

 

But I see no voltage "IF" command.  

[DennisC]

I think this can be done.

 

Set up your zone, then create a new rule.

Set your monitoring duration with the "Whenever" trigger of the rule.

Next select "And" Input zone is.

Select your analog zone and you will be able to select the math function you want (=, <, >, ect.) and choose the voltage you want. For example, <12 volts.

Next trigger your relay output.

 

Dennis

[blueman2]

Dennis, that worked!!!!  I would have never found that voltage function.  I guess it needed a trigger for measuring, which the 'whenever' provides.  So I just did a 'whenever every 5 seconds' and it allowed me to then put in a <>= voltage.  This is great!!!!!

 

Now, to share how I am using this.  I want to turn off the water to my water heater and water softener in case of leaks.  I seem to have issues constantly with them, mostly the water softener overflowing during a regeneration cycle when the drain pipe has issues.  So I just connected a pair of wires to Zone 1, defined it as Analog, and wrote a program using the concept you just gave me.  Normally, the zone is 13.6V.  If you put the wires in any water, it drops to 11.5V or so, depending on the amount of water and how much minerals are in the water.  For my program, I said

 Whenever every 5 seconds

     And analog (Zn1) is less than analog value 12.9V

        Then turn relay 8 (out 9) on 

 

I also wrote a similar program (when voltage greater than 12.8V) to turn relay off again.  

 

I put the wire in a buck of water, and it turns the relay on.  Pull the wire out, it turns off.  My water heater and softener are in pans which drain into a bucket, so I can just put the wires in that bucket on the bottom.  If more than a bit of water gets in the bucket, the relay turns on.  

 

Next step is to install a 3-wire valve that will shut off the incoming water when the relay is triggered.  

 

I know I can just buy an Insteon Leak Detector (actually, I just bought one in case this did not work), but I prefer this to be run by the ELK in case of power loss and I find the ELK just much more reliable and solid.  

 

Thanks again, Dennis!!!

[DennisC]

Glad I was able to help.

 

I have the Elk Water Shut Valve installed at two different locations. I have been using them for a little over two years and they work well. The Elk panel also has the ability to read status from the valve so you can receive messages on its position or drive an indicator lamp.

 

For leak detection, I use a normally closed leak sensor wired to an Elk zone. I like using the normally closed version so it will alert me if there is a break. The sensor I use is GRI 2600.

 

I wire anything I consider critical to my Elk system.

 

Dennis