Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

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gyre
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2014 12:14 pm

Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by gyre »

My setup: EKM-Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4, EKM-PMG.75-gas-meter, EKM-iSerial-TCP-IP-to-Serial-Converter, EKM_Dash v. 1.2.0.0.

I installed this awesome system about a month ago, and it has performed flawlessly for me from day one. Thank you!

The EKM-Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4-Spec-Sheet indicates that "The Omnimeter Pulse v.4 comes with 2 controllable relay outputs."

I assumed that the relays would be controlled by Dash; perhaps based on the logic of the pulse counter inputs, but I have yet to discover how this is done.

Any suggestions that may help resolve this would be appreciated. Thanks.

gyre
Jameson
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Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by Jameson »

Hello Gyre,

Welcome to the forum.

We are very pleased to hear you like the system. Thanks for letting us know!

Yes, you can control the 2 relays via the EKM Dash. At this point you can control Output1 or Output2 (these provide 50mA of 12VDC each) ON, OFF, ON for 1 to 9999 seconds, or OFF for 1 to 9999 seconds.

To control relays via the EKM Dash, go to Edit Meter > Control Tab (see screenshot). The default password for your meter is "0" (I would not change the password unless you have a very compelling reason to do so). See this screenshot for Omnimeter Pulse v.4 #22
Screenshot 2014-02-15 12.23.26.png
Screenshot 2014-02-15 12.23.26.png (64.92 KiB) Viewed 33418 times
We would really like to add more functionality to Control in the future. We now have the "Triggers" functionality where the EKM Dash will email you if a metered value is out of your specified range. We would like to add control to this. So for example you could say "If my water meter pulses more than 50 times per hour shut off this valve" or "if my amps on line 1 is under 5 amps for 4 minutes turn on this relay"

Let us know if this functionality sounds useful, or what kinds of logic you would be interested in. Also if anyone reading this has used the "Triggers" email functionality please chime in and let us know if you have found it to be useful. We are trying to gather as much feedback as we can about our system, the Dash, the Push, and what features our customers would like to have integrated.

Here is more information about the EKM Dash (user manual): http://documents.ekmmetering.com/EKM-Da ... Manual.pdf
Here is more information about the Omnimeter Pulse v.4: http://documents.ekmmetering.com/EKM-Om ... -Sheet.pdf

Thanks,
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
dgh853
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by dgh853 »

Hi Jameson,

I'm very keen to be able use the Trigger feature to be able to turn on and off both relays separately on a v4.

In particular, I'd like to be able to have my v4 running as a net meter (currently it records consumption only) and when the solar power export gets above a certain level, turn on a relay that will charge an electric vehicle and/or heat pump thereby maximising self-consumption of solar during the day.

Is that feature something that you are still looking at?

I'm sure it's possible to use the developer API and check the Total Power and Current Direction and then pass and RS485 command through to the meter but that is a lot of extra steps and rules that need to be setup separately when you've already built in all the rules in Triggers.

Thanks,
David
Jameson
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Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by Jameson »

Hey David,

I honestly cant wait until we implement this myself ;)

I think it will be cool to be able to control valves and switches by monitoring metered data as well as other data types. I also would personally like this. And like you say to be able to control a switch based on the direction of current would be sweet as it would allow you to better utilize your solar production. For example we would have: turn this relay ON if the watts is reverse and over 1000 watts for more than 10 reads in a row.

Being able to consume renewable energy as it is produced in real time will be increasingly important to more consumers moving forward.

In our Dash development path, we keep getting sidetracked with bug fixes and UI improvements. But trigger based control is certainly on our roadmap so hang in there, it is a priority! Heads up that this will still only be through non-Push communication methods (as the Push does not support meter settings).

Hope this helps!
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
dgh853
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by dgh853 »

That's great news.

I look forward to that feature when it arrives. Self consumption of solar will be increasingly important especially in countries like Australia and Germany that are rolling off high feed in tariffs - often over 40c per kWh to just 0-6c per kWh. To do that an accurate net meter such as EKM and the ability to integrate to it will be very valuable to a large audience e.g. over 1 million solar rooftops in Australia alone.

To that end I have been using the EKM Dash Triggers feature to send emails to my Gmail account. I then use IFTTT to look for the name of the trigger in the Gmail text and then have it turn on/off a Belkin Wemo Switch which runs my EVSE and charges my Nissan Leaf! Unfortunately there's a couple of hops through the Internet and it takes 1-2 minutes to switch on and off. I've also tested with the IFTTT mail channel which uses hashtags in the email subject to perform different tasks. This turns the Wemo Switch on or off in just 10 seconds. If the Triggers feature would include the Alert Name in the subject title this would allow the EKM to trigger IFTTT events a lot faster. Maybe you could make this small change in the interim?

Love your product, keep up the good work.

David
Jameson
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Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by Jameson »

Hello David,

Keep an eye out for the next version of the EKM Dash. We should have triggers that can send an email with a # in the Subject Line of the email for IFTTT. Thanks for the suggestion! :D

Next will be to control relays directly from the trigger.
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
dgh853
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by dgh853 »

No problem re. suggestion for IFTTT integration. Having IFTTT integration would be another great feature for EKM meters.

Looking forward to the trigger control of relays.
Jameson
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Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by Jameson »

We have just released a new version of the EKM Dash (v2.0) that allows for trigger based relay control using a USB converter, or EKM iSerial, and the Omnimeter Pulse v.4.

This new feature offers some interesting new uses. You could choose to turn of a switch if your watts was over 4000 for 3 meter reads, or turn off a water valve when your measured gallons went above 10,000 gallons, or turn off a fan if the voltage was too low, or run your pool pump when you had solar electricity available, for example.

More info about the Trigger feature is available here:
https://help.ekmmetering.com/support/so ... -4-and-up-

If you haven’t yet downloaded v2.0 (it’s free for existing Dash users) you will be prompted to do so when you open your current Dash version. Let us know what you think!
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
dgh853
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by dgh853 »

Thanks Jameson. I'll try it out.
Carbazole
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Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 6:35 am

Re: Omnimeter-Pulse-v.4 Controllable Relay Outputs

Post by Carbazole »

Hi Jameson,

Great news, have been waiting for this feature for awhile. With that said, just upgraded to v2.0 and noticed that current on my first leg is now reading negative (I have a 3 wire 120/120 system and I've made no wiring changes). Consequently power is being displayed as a negative value as well and is being "subtracted" from total power. Is there a setting that may have changed in the upgrade that I need to adjust?

Thanks,
Steve
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