I Just thought that I could share my latest integration with Balbo hottuub. From the beginning I was using the original wifimodule and a python script for controlling my hot tubs. My wifi modules had really poor wifi performance and after reading some stuff on different communitys I found out that the wifi module only runs RS-485 via wifi. So i descided to buy two ethernet to rs485 converter and it all worked like a charm.
While living in Sweden we have the risk for tubs freezing and a combinatination with high energy prices last winter I had to rely on poor wifi performance for keeping my tubs safe for a reasonable cost.
Now this summer I also set a price for when my hottubs can heat for the momoment 0,001eur/kwh.
My choice of hardware landed on Waveshare RS485 to ETH (B) mainly because this device covered the necessary settings and had a wide voltage range for power supply and available model for PoE support.The cost for this device is approximatly 30Eur.
On the Home Assitant community you can also read about a MQTT bridge for balboa systems that could be used instead of pythons script, but for me the pythonscript are sufficent for all my needs.
Good input however using mqtt will also impact network performance I have had it up for 4 days and my ubiquti dream machine says that devices hasn’t used enough data to make statistics of.
I will post if I enqcounter LAN performance problems. I guess my solution and original wifi adapter will spam equally as much?
Yes, the original wifi adapter and your rs485 to Lan solution will produce the same load on the network, however, wifi being a shared medium, this hurts more.
Marcus, this is super cool! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Did you use the regular or POE version of the RS485 to Ethernet adapter? I noticed that the POE one has terminals for power in; do you know if the POE version need to be powered that way, or does it just get power from the Ethernet cable (assuming of course that I inject power on the other end of the cable)? I think I’d rather do that than have to pull power off the spa to power the adapter; I’d like to make as few connections to the spa as possible.
Thank you so much for your terrific post and for sharing your great work!
The network connection to the Balboa heater works fine. I have it integrated to home assistant using the bwalink and can control the device. With the pybalboa library i had some issues as that also tries to execute a command that is handled by the Balboa wifi module itself, not by the heater control box.
However, I am experiencing now issues with the tp500s top panel. If the waveshare module is connected from bootup, then the top module only prints the device info and then the screen becomes blank.
If i connect the waveshare after some minutes, then the display shows the temperature as expected, but now there are no responses to button presses.
Note that while the top module is not working as expected, the remote control works fine.
Anybody else that had such experiences? Any ideas how to resolve this (such that we can also use the top module if we want)?
I did use the regular and used power from pins in wifi module. Voltage was good for my waveshare eth to rs485 converters. Basicly one can connect power and data with molex connector reserved for wifi dongle.
Hello, would u navigate me what python scripts did you use for it? What I understand that you set the whaveshare as MQTT server? Thank you. pls contact me on kemenik@gmail.com
The link for python scripts is included in first post. The waveshare unit is an ethernet to rs485 converter so one set ip adrrss of waveshare device in the pyton script. If you can set static ip on waveshare device.
I am following this thread because I would like to integrate my hot tub uses a Balboa BP2001G controller to Home Assistant. I purchased a Waveshare RS485-to-Ethernet (B) device with PoE, and I have already installed MQTT and Mosquitto, as well as built a container for a local add-on called Balboa-RS485.
The add-on successfully connects to the Waveshare device, but there is no data communication on the RS485 side between the hot tub and the Waveshare since I am not entirely sure where to connect the RS485 A, RS485 B, and GND wires. My panel looks a bit different from the ones shown earlier, you can see it here:
Is there anybody who can help me a little bit to identify the connector and the pins I need to use? Thank you very much. Zsolt
As highlighted on the first picture, for wifi you need J34 or J35. So that would be at the bottom right of the second picture. One seems already in use, which is most likely the cable to the control panel.
I in the end used a multimeter to double check the wire identification, but the original documentation on the GitHub generally has it all, it is just a different connector on your board.
Thanks Pim. Yes, I assume it is the J35 but when I wanted to double check with measuring resistance and voltage I got confused since none of the pins looked to be on GND. Do you remember roughly what did you see on your multimeter?
I checked the original Github post and found the values, thanks. I will measure these pins. Thank you.
Do you think it is good if I can measure around 7,7V on pin #1, 0,7V on pin #2, 0,6V on pin #3 and 0V on pin #4. These are a bit different from the values mentioned in the original GitHub post. Do you think I can connect the Waveshare device without risking to damage anything?
