Automation of Vanee/venmar HRV 60H air exchange

mps

New Member
Hello all,

I am trying to automate the air exchanger in my house so it can be controlled wirelessly along with the thermostat. I am planning to use a Raspberry Pi.

My question is regarding the Controller of the air exchanger. It is currently hooked up to Bronze controller with a humidity control knob and a min/max/off switch. There are two wires going out of it: G and B.

How do I interface these two wires with the Pi. What circuit will be required. I cannot find any details on the input that the air exchanger requries.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you
 
Here are some details about my air exchanger:
 
Vanee HRV 60H Bronze Product # 41600 (side ports)
Bronze Wall Controller Product # 40250
 
In the bronze controller, there are only two wires coming out, G and B. Does anyone know what is the input going in to these wires so they can be controlled with the Raspberry Pi?
 
See http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/28397-control-of-broan-venmar-hrv-or-erv-info/ and http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/28398-carrierbryant-nim-ventilator-control-info/
 
Your resistance values are likely different. Many ventilator products are rebranded Venmar and it seems that they, possibly intentionally, vary the interface slightly so that they won't interoperate easily. For example, they make Carrier branded ventilators and they look essentially the same except the resistance values are different!
 
jeditekunum said:
See http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/28397-control-of-broan-venmar-hrv-or-erv-info/ and http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/28398-carrierbryant-nim-ventilator-control-info/
 
Your resistance values are likely different. Many ventilator products are rebranded Venmar and it seems that they, possibly intentionally, vary the interface slightly so that they won't interoperate easily. For example, they make Carrier branded ventilators and they look essentially the same except the resistance values are different!
Thank you for your reply. This has given me a direction.
 
As mentioned in your posts, you see four wires B, Y, G, R from your controller. I only see two: B and G.
 
Is it because my controller is a basic one without any LED, LCD etc with no use of power? I have attached a picture here of my controller for reference. http://imgur.com/BwQuJZq
 
mps said:
Thank you for your reply. This has given me a direction.
 
As mentioned in your posts, you see four wires B, Y, G, R from your controller. I only see two: B and G.
 
Is it because my controller is a basic one without any LED, LCD etc with no use of power? I have attached a picture here of my controller for reference. http://imgur.com/BwQuJZq
 
According to the manual for your model (http://www.vanee.ca/DATA/DOCUMENT/17_en~v~installation-manuel-60h-series.pdf), it looks just like many Venmar-manufactured units. At the bottom right side of page 11 you will see wiring for the bronze control - just two wires.
 
In http://vanee.edenenergy.com/vanEE_controls.php it says the following for the Bronze control:
 
The Bronze main control adjusts the air supply speed using the sliding button: OFF, MIN (low speed air exchange) and MAX (high speed air exchange). Also, the maximum indoor humidity level for your house is selected by the knob.
 
My guess would be that the MIN vs MAX selects which resistance to apply and since this is humidity triggered its probably just a mechanical control. That is, based on humidity level and setting it puts one of 3 resistances across the two terminals.
 
I'd disconnect the control and put an ohm meter across its B & G terminals and play with the controls to see what you get. Should give you the resistances that are needed to operate the ventilator.
 
Thank you for doing the research and giving a detailed answer to my question.

I will try to find the resistance values and post back here.
 
Found the following resistance values to work for VanEE HRV 60H.

Resistance between G and B:
46.6K Ohms for Min speed
Short or 0 Ohms for Max speed
Break or > 90K Ohms for Off

Thanks for the help again.
 
I have an VanEE 1001 HRV and was thinking about doing the same thing (automating using a Raspberry Pi).  Would the resistance levels be the same for this unit as well?  I wasn't sure how to go about determining the resistance values on my control unit.  It has all 4 wires.  Also, how does one signal defrost mode?
 
Thanks
 
mmo said:
I have an VanEE 1001 HRV and was thinking about doing the same thing (automating using a Raspberry Pi).  Would the resistance levels be the same for this unit as well?  I wasn't sure how to go about determining the resistance values on my control unit.  It has all 4 wires.  Also, how does one signal defrost mode?
 
Thanks
 
Your resistance values could be different. Since you have four wires, I suggest take a look at jeditekunum's posts above (check the 2 links he gave me).
 
My Bronze wall control is on the HRV unit itself and I was able to find the values by measuring resistance between the two wires on different events. jeditekunum used a digital potentiometer and got the values. See if this info helps
 
What type of control mechanism do you have currently installed?
 
I believe it uses the ELECTRO main control (see here http://vanee.edenenergy.com/literature/controls/vanEE%20Wall%20Controls.pdf) part # 40220.  Do you know if the resistance values are held only for a short duration or continuous?   I tried connecting my ammeter to the circuit on the B wire to measure the current but I only see a pulse then it goes back to 0. It's probably the meter that I'm using (or the tool using it). Would it damage the unit if I used a potentiometer and varied the resistance up and down as suggested above?
 
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