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raymiller avatar image
raymiller asked

Venus GX Feature request - Tank settings and sensor

RE Tank setup: My domestic freshwater tanks are 42000 litres which required the setup + button to be depressed for some 10 minutes to increment to 42000. It would be helpful to make large reading easier/quicker to input.

My tank sensor is a pressure sensor 4-20ma, which is common for a range of sensors. Could you give consideration to interfacing 4-20ma sensors to the Venus GX?

With the use of 4-20ma sensors would also require the calibration of the upper and lower settings in the digital set up within the Venus OS. Currently, I need to design an additional circuit to interface with the 0-180 ohm settings for the 4-20ma sensor I have. Has anyone such a circuit?

Keep up the good work on your products.

Venus OSVenus GX - VGXtank monitor
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2 Answers
mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image
mvader (Victron Energy) answered ·

Hi Ray, we wont be making a 4-20 mA input soon. I remember looking into that a long tine ago, but I think the conclusion back then was that it needs galvanic isolation, and thus adds considerable costs (while only used by a low percentage of the user base).

Your best option would be to either add some external small electrical circuit, or buy a 4-20mA USB interface such as these:

https://www.lucid-control.com/product/lucidcontrol-ai4-4-channel-analog-input-usb-module/ (I’ve emailed them to learn costs of isolation)

Or this one:

http://www.yoctopuce.com/EN/products/usb-electrical-sensors/yocto-4-20ma-rx (extremely well documented, and looks to be isolated, but has a weak usb connector: needs real well done wiring).

And there will be more. All this requires a software effort though. At the moment you’re the first to ask in a long time :-), so wont be on the top of our list anytime soon. However, you can do it yourself.

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mvader (Victron Energy) answered ·
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