pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL

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I noticed it to.

http://www.domoticz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=841&start=480

I noticed that the VALVE temperature has to be more than 2 degrees higher than its setpoint for the valve to be fully closed (0% open).

In my case I ADD 0.5 degrees to the valve setpoint when it is warming, because that is what my wife will see...

@incmve said in pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL:

…because that is what my wife will see…

female-offset for saving huge amount of energy… hahaha

@leader21 said in pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL:

if you do that, there is no way back there is no cube software to reflash

Very useful article, one note:
Browsing the Max! installation package for windows software, version 1.4.6, you can find a file called firmware.enc of about 338 KB … Could it be useful?

Ehm, addendum, can’t find 121b77.zip

Hi, I have just started using pimatic, and found it to be very good (and prefer its user interface to FHEM), I am coming form a FHEM background, where I had managed to pair my EQ3 thermostats, via a nanocul, where i am struggling in pitmatic is to achieve the same, I can get the cul plugin working and pair a thermostat, but I am struggling to get a GUI front end with buttons for boost , increase temp, decrease temp, or any graphs etc… does anyone have any ideas or help on that front please?

In your plugin you can enable "debug"
after that go to messages and in the pulldown menu enable “debug” there to.
Change the temperature on your thermostat and you should see data coming in, look for the deviceID.
Something like this:

debug [pimatic-maxcul]: no packet to handle in send queue
19:49:13debug [pimatic-maxcul]: got OK-ACK Packet from 1a2075
19:49:13debug [pimatic-maxcul]: RSSI for Message : -62
19:49:13debug [pimatic-maxcul]: decoding Message Z0E0102021A20751234560001194C2718
19:49:13debug [pimatic-maxcul]: incoming raw data from CUL: Z0E0102021A20751234560001194C2718
19:49:12debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
19:49:12debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b0100401234561a20750067, awaiting drain event
19:49:12debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Set desired temperature 19.5 for deviceId 1a2075

Now create a new device (MaxculHeatingThermostat) with the deviceID from the debug.

@leader21 Now i want to create my cul arduino, but the sourcecode isn’t availble anymore. Do you have an update for that?

edit: found it: https://sourceforge.net/code-snapshots/svn/c/cu/culfw/code/culfw-code-566-trunk.zip

Hello,

I’m sorry, i am new to pimatic but i love the things that can be done. I tried to install pimatic on my Raspberry Pi and i am able to communicate with COCO (klik aan klik uit) models so the start is done.

Now i want to be able to set and receive temperatures from EQ-3/ELV MAX! 99017 devices. I don’t have them yet but i want to order them.

I have a few questions.

1. Do i still need to buy a Max! Cube when i build a Cul myself?
2. If i buy an arduino nano and a CC1101 module, do i flash it via the Raspberry Pi? I solder everything, connect to the raspberry pi and follow all the above steps?
3. Do i need anything else for it to work? Or just the Cul and EQ-3/ELV MAX! 99017? Or also the Cube or even more?
4. How is the range from this DIY Cul? Is it possible to upgrade it to a better antenne or is this already enough?

Thanks for your help!

@buster said in pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL:

EQ-3/ELV MAX! 99017

1 : If you create a so called ‘max cul stick’ you don’t need a cube
2 : Most of the guides and compiling scripts are projected for linux, So best way is indeed flashing from the pi
3 : Only a arduino with the max cul firmware and 1 or more sensors/actuators. No extra hardware needed.
4 : Range is not that good IMO. Most of the thermostatknobs are in (far) corners of a room. My max cul is connected to my NAS in a room and one of my thermostat knobs is in the living room. The room with the NAS is connected to a other room, from the other room you enter the hallway and from the hallway you enter the living room. When both (wooden) doors between NAS and hallway are closed it gives me reception issues with the thermostat in the living room (but not with the one in the bathroom upstairs). Leaving just one of the 2 doors open solves the problem

http://zooi.oostindie.com/images/333maxcul_reception.jpg

The blue dot on the left is where my max cul sits.
The little red bar is where my thermostatknob is
The blue bars are the 2 doors

If you look close on the plan, you see a toiletroom. Right above the toilet, on the floor above is the bathroom with another eq3 thermostat knob, that one has no issues with reception.

Thanks for your reply. I have bought the arduino and 868mhz tranceiver so i can try when i have them delivered.

Is the firmware mentioned above (which seems temporarily offline) the max-cul firmware?

Thanks for your explanation!

I have build my CUL as described in the guide and it works for a year now. In the meantime I found another guide which has some more components to stabilize the voltage for the CC1101 and for shifting the levels of the datelines to 3,3V.

http://tips-und-mehr.de/cul-selbstbau-spannungstechnisch-auf-der-sicheren-seite/

It should give you a longer lifetime of the CC1101. I will build it in a few days.

culfw comes in different distributions/forks:
https://github.com/heliflieger/a-culfw which is a clone of the original
https://github.com/mattwire/culfw a modified version if you have probs with the 1% rule

All versions work with a Arduino nano.