Autogrow IntelliClimate Installation And User Manual

IntelliClimate

Installation and User Guide

• USB connection to PC or Mac

• Advanced cloud connectivity enabled as standard (using gateway software)

• Integrated control of all grow room parameters

- 2 banks of lights

- cooling fan

- second cooling fan or AC

- heater

- dehumidifier

- humidifier (or fogger)

- CO2 injection

• Measurement of all relevant grow room parameters

- Air temperature

- Relative Humidity

- Light level

- Second sensor set optional

- CO2 level (0.5000ppm) optional

- Outside temperature (optional)

- Intruder detect

- Lamp over-temperature detect (optional)

• Extensive fail-safe features

• Settings can be scheduled to automatically change to match plant growth

stage

• Autolearn – self learning automatically adjust CO2 cycle times to minimise wastage

IntelliClimate Manual

Compliance Declaration - International regulations and codes

This equipment is designed for commercial use and complies with the following regulatory codes:-

USA

Compliance with FCC Part 15 Class A

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense. The end user of this product should be aware that any changes or modifications made to this equipment without the approval of Autogrow Systems Ltd could result in the product not meeting the Class A limits, in which case the FCC could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.

Europe

This product has been tested and found to comply with EC requirements for commercial equipment and carries the CE mark

Radiated Emissions

EN55022 Class A

Conducted Emissions

EN55022 Class A

ESD

EN61000-4-2 (IEC 801-2)

Radiated Immunity

EN61000-4-3 ENV50204 (IEC 801-3) EN55024

Australasia

This product has been tested and found to comply with C-tick requirements for commercial equipment EN55022 (CISPR 22) Class A

RoHS

This product is free from lead and other heavy metals

Although this product is exempt from the RoHS regulations as it is classified as Category 9 Monitoring and control Instrument it is nevertheless made with RoHS compliant components and assembled using lead free solder. Even so, it should be recycled at the end of its life and it may be returned to the distributors in your region for recycling or safe disposal.

IntelliClimate Manual

Contents

Quick-start page with helpful hints Section A Introduction (all users should read this first)

Section B Software overview Section C Installation Section D Software installation Section E Maintenance Section F Fault finding Section G Warranty

Disclaimer:

Suggested settings are made in good faith and with care and consideration. However, Autogrow can accept no responsibility for the accuracy or appropriateness of suggestions or the outcome resulting from their use.

IntelliClimate Manual

Quick-start

This is not a substitute for reading the relevant sections of the manual but is

included to emphasise some important and useful points. If the grow room is to be operated at high humidity for long periods (e.g. during

cutting/rooting stage) it is preferable to mount the controller outside the grow room. This is easily done as the grow room sensors are supplied with a long 5m (15ft) cable and if necessary this can be replaced with a longer cable. If this is done then data cable such as CAT5 computer network cable should be used. This should be stranded cable (rather than solid core) to avoid breakages.

Note that one sensor unit (to measure temperature, RH and light) is supplied as standard and a second optional sensor unit may be attached. This is useful in larger grow rooms or where increased security is required. Control will normally be based on the average readings from the two sensors but should one sensor fail, control will automatically revert to the working sensor. The optional outside temperature sensor is useful in very cold and very warm climates.

If you intend injecting CO2 then air-cooled lights are strongly recommended and if you are in a warm climate then an air conditioner and humidifier should also be considered. Together, these will allow longer periods of CO2 injection to occur without the need to vent the room and this will lead to significant improvement in growth rates with lower use of expensive CO2. SAFETY NOTE: If you do inject CO2 into the grow room always do the following before entering.

1) Disable CO2

IntelliClimate

1 or 2 environment sensors

connecting to IntelliClimate. Each measures temperature, RH

and light level

Outside

temp sensor

Air inlet CO

Intruder

sensor

USB cable

Typical grow room layout

Ballas

Relay box

Dehumidifi

Heater

Fan2 or aircon

Fan1

IntelliClimate Manual

2) Force on fans

3) Leave door open whilst inside

Section A - Introduction to the IntelliClimateTM grow room controller

The IntelliClimate is, without doubt, the most advanced and user-friendly grow room environment controller on the market. It has a wide range of possible applications which we will discuss briefly in this section. To keep the user interface as simple as possible, only the readings and settings relevant to the selected features are

displayed on the controller’s LCD and on the computer. To add extra features, you

have to select them by going into the configure menus on either the controller or the computer.

Features

A full specification is attached as appendix 1. Here we will review the main features available to you. Remember, to enable any feature mentioned you will need to go into the configuration menus on either the controller or computer to select them. When the controller is supplied it is normally pre-set as a simple fan cooled environment controller with CO2 injection disabled.

The controller can operate in a number of modes ranging from a simple cycle timed mode to a sophisticated system that makes optimal use of a range of attached equipment. After installing the unit, you need to enter the configuration section and select (check) all the equipment that you have connected. Once the controller knows what you have attached to it, it will automatically select the most appropriate mode of operation.

Lighting The controller can switch two light banks. It is always a good idea to split your lights

into two groups. Firstly, when using both banks together, it allows the controller to stagger the switch on times so that the power surge from the first bank has subsided by the time the second bank comes on. Secondly, during the vegetative phase of growth, the lights are on for longer periods (18hours) but a lower intensity may be used. The controller has the ability to switch on one bank and alternate the banks each day. This ensures that the plants receive light from both sides. If, when one bank is turned on, the light sensor detects a low light level the controller assumes that that bank is out of action (bulb blown) and automatically switches on the other bank. If alarms are enabled, then it will alert you to the fact that a light has failed. Similarly, if a power failure occurs, the controller has a settable detent before bringing the lights back on in stages. This is extremely useful when you have more than one grow room as all the lights can be sequenced to come on one by one to avoid a huge power surge. In addition, the controller automatically checks the duration of the power outage and ensures that minimum cool down periods are complied with. This has a significant impact on lamp life.

IntelliClimate Manual

For those using air cooled lights, it is possible to fit small over-temperature cut-offs to avoid them overheating if the cooling fans should ever fail.

Hint: fit the cooling fan to blow air through the light fittings rather than suck out the hot air. This way the fans run cooler and last a lot longer.

Fans

The fans may be used for cooling, humidity reduction, air changes and to bring in ambient CO2 (if CO2 injection is not used at that time). During the day when CO2 is being injected, other means to control temperature or humidity will be used in preference to the fans which will only be used to force an occasional air change and provide a fail-safe if the aircon or dehumidifier fails. For simple systems that have CO2 injection but do not have aircon or dehumidification, the controller will operate as a cycle timer system with three timed phases 1) fans on, 2) fans off, inject CO2 and 3) stop injecting CO2 and wait while plants absorb CO2 then repeat cycle. In this mode, the controller will self-adjust the timings if it finds that CO2 is being wasted due to the fans being forced on by heat or humidity build up before the plants have time to use the CO2. If this situation is too bad it will stop injecting CO2 and will revert to maximum venting (within temperature limits) to bring in as much ambient CO2 as possible.

Humidifier or fogger

This output can drive either a standard fan based fogger or ultrasonic humidifier or alternatively, a nozzle type fogger. When humidifier is selected the function is very simple with the humidifier coming on when the humidity is too low and going off when it is satisfactory. In the case of the fogger selection, the operation is similar except when it is calling for humidification the output is pulsed on and off producing small puffs of fog and allowing time for each puff to dissipate before the next.

Heater, Dehumidifier, and CO2

The purpose and function of these devices is self-explanatory and they will all work to keep the temperature, humidity and CO2 close to the settings. In the advanced settings, you will also find switching offsets settings for each device that allow you to set the offset from the main setting at which it will turn on and another offset at which it will turn off. Although these come preset to typical values that will avoid excessive overshoot or rapid cycling in most grow rooms it is possible for the user to customise then to achieve optimal performance.

Software

Please head to our online Help, found here: help.autogrow.com/intelligrow.

Selection of units

You may select either degrees C or degrees F for temperature. CO2 concentration is measured in ppm and for the more advanced user VPD is measured in kPa/m2. The date format is selectable between mm/dd/yy and dd/mm/yy formats

IntelliClimate Manual

Fail safe operation

This controller has many fail safe functions built in and we have already mentioned some above. There are fail safes that will force on the fans if the air con or dehumidifier fail, others that will stop the CO2 if the door is opened (if intruder alarm fitted) and others that will switch over lights if a bulb fails or switch off lighting if the air-cooled shades overheat. If CO2 should run out or stop working, the controller will detect this and revert to maximising the intake of ambient CO2. These are in addition to the power-fail light-on sequencing

Advanced settings and rules

These settings and rules are pre-set to typical values that will suit the majority of grow rooms, however, expert users may wish to alter them to achieve optimal performance. Note that the advanced settings are only accessible via IntelliGrow and are not available from the controller LCD menu system. If these are ever changed and the operation of the controller becomes incorrect, there is a button at the bottom of the screen which can be used to return the advanced settings to the factory default state.

Please head to our online Help, found here: help.autogrow.com/intelligrow.

Alarms

The alarms can be enabled to operate on the controller buzzer, the computer via it's sound card or to text you when using IntelliGrow. Each of these can be silenced or enabled. Any enabled alarm will sound when a relevant reading deviates outside user set limits. For humour, we have a selection of alarm sounds including regular, fun and adult. These can be selected on IntelliGrow under setup.

Please head to our online Help, found here: help.autogrow.com/intelligrow.

Outputs

The outputs voltages are all dependent on the power supply adapter used. A 24V DC power is normally provided with the unit in which case all outputs will be 24V DC.

Power supply

The controller requires a power supply between 12V and 24V either AC or DC. Whatever power is applied will appear at the outputs (when they are ON). The default power adapter included with this controller is 24V DC which is compatible with the relay boxes and power relays that we have available. This power supply has a universal input voltage from 100V to 240V 50/60Hz. Note that the controller outputs of are limited to a current of 1.2A (inductive) and 3A (resistive) load. The power supply should be sized according to the maximum load that can be applied at any one time. The maximum total draw at any one time should not exceed 4A. Normally we supply a universal input (any voltage and frequency within wide limits), 24V DC output power supply but this could be changed in the future or by request.

IntelliClimate Manual

How to use this manual

The IntelliClimate has a number of advanced modes of operation and so we have divided this manual into sections, each of which represents a particular feature. For installation advice, go to the installation section at the back of this manual and then start by reading sections B and C.

Getting Started

Follow the installation instructions in the installation section and when everything is installed and connected do the following.

Switch on the power. Check that the power light on the front panel is on and that the LCD display has some information on it.

From here, you need to create your IntelliGrow account. Please head to our online Help, found here: help.autogrow.com/intelligrow

Once you have your Intelligrow account setup, you can install the IntelliGrow

Installer. You’ll need to select either Windows or Mac setup, depending on what

computer/operating system you are using. Please head to our online Help, found here: help.autogrow.com/intelligrow. If you have more than one new controller, connect their USB cables one-at-a-time

and when the software asks, provide the requested information. For new or replacement controllers, you'll be asked which grow room it's located in and then to give the controller a name.

Use a short meaningful name like Doser1, Climate2 etc so that understanding which device is located in which area is simple to understand as you add more devices.

IntelliGrow will automatically detect any connected controllers and will communicate immediately. You will also see information from the controller(s) on your computer screen.

IntelliClimate Manual

Section B – Software overview

Configuration

Under 'General' you can change the units to measure temperature, your date format, set the number of Grow Room's you have and name your devices. You can also import/export settings and save your current settings locally.

Under 'Functions', you need to check each devices' checkbox that you've installed. Some devices share one output so you can only select one device or the other. The

software enforces this and when one is selected the other is automatically “greyed

out”. If you want to select the greyed device, you must de-select the other one first.

After changing any settings, click the 'Save' button at the bottom-right of IntelliGrow. Once you've selected all the installed and working devices, you can select whether

you want to use Autoset (scheduling), Autoset (growth stage) or manual settings. Please head to our online Help, found here: help.autogrow.com/intelligrow

+ 19 hidden pages

Autogrow IntelliClimate Installation And User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual