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I've also got a VRC430 controller, so interested in what you are doing.

How much is the ebus converter?

Stuart,

I got the converter about 3 years ago with the boiler and a windows programme on a CD but I don't think they are selling them anymore. However the Germans are pretty active and you can buy an adapter for €80 http://www.eservice-online.de/produkte/ebus/135/ebus-koppler-usb.

I know somebody over here who has just got one but is having difficulties getting it working. There are also circuit diagrams available if you want to build your own. 

I have basically enabled the controller to be programmed from a web page. I find it the most gruesome interface I have ever come across. The boiler returns a shedful of status information which I don't understand but may get into later.

The aim is to be able to set it while I am away and vary the switch on time according to the outside temperature.

Hi Roger,

I have the Vaillant VC430F (which has a blank plate in the boiler and a remote control panel). This is a very interesting thread and I'd love to hear what you are planning and how far you have got so far. I'm wondering if I could intercept the RF signal to the remote control.

Allen

Allen,

I am only guessing but if the remote controlled version is like the standard controller it will work in the same way.  The boiler, controller and any components in vaillant system use a bus called the ebus to communicate. You can buy an adapter which will convert the ebus signals to usb. There is a socket in the boiler to connect to. With that you can eavesdrop on the commands going backwards and forwards to the VC430. You can also inject commands into the bus and so set up the controller parameters, (on/off times, temperatures etc). The trouble is, all the commands are proprietary and not published. Vaillant used to sell an adapter with a windows programme which enable you to do this but I think they have stopped. Monitoring the windows programme with wireshark and using material from German groups who have done the same thing, I have worked out how to read and write data to the VC430 controller. It would be madness to try and control the boiler directly and not necessary because the VC430 controls the boiler.

I have written a small programme which runs on a raspberry pi which enables the controller to be programmed via a webpage. The aim is to expand this to make the controller smart, ie. so that it would get the house warm at a particular time, knowing the outside temperature, perhaps weather forecast and learning the house characteristics.

There is also a lot of boiler status information which could be used for email alerts and perhaps measuring gas consumption.

There is also a remarkable project going on, opentrv.org.uk which is a group aiming to produce a low cost programmable TRV valve and I would like to incorporate their valves to be able to zone the house.

Roger,

Just joined because I saw this and wanted to find out more. I know this is almost a year old now but are you still around and working on this?

I've had timing control of my boiler for some time now but want to create a smart thermostat. I already have the usb interface and the Vaillant software.

Chris

Chris,

It has actually been running without stopping since May last year so I am quite pleased about that. After finishing "stage one" I noticed that I work from home and so does my wife so we dont really need the smart features of "stage two". In fact the one and only time when I should have switched on the heating whilst on the M25, I forgot to do it and so the house was cold when we got home.You may have a different life style which would make it much more useful to you.

I would be happy to let you have what I have so far. I wanted to put the project up this site but thought I would wait and see what interest there was and also that there weren't any serious problems. Now is probably the time.  I'll have to work out how to do it.

Roger

"I'll have to work out how to do it."

Probably the best is to post in this thread, then if there's interest or useful additional contributions, those can be edited in and a permanent place for it (where it won't get buried) will be found. If that happens, it's probably going to end up a bit like the two 'diverter' articles.

Roger,

Many thanks for responding and for offering to share the fruits of your labour.

Allow me to explain why I'm interested.  I have a setup where a computer runs various functions in my house 24/7. On the heating side, I have zone valves controlling individual rooms and temperature sensors in each zone.  There is insulation between the ground and first floor.  My software allows me to have three heating periods per zone per day and to set the temperature for each zone.  I've set my boiler times via the VC430 so that the boiler thinks it should be on almost all day.  However, I've also made use of the link on the boiler panel where one is supposed to connect a conventional thermostat.  Instead I have a mains switching relay controlling power to that connection.  The computer controls that relay.

Consequently, although the controller thinks the boiler should be on all day, the boiler only switches on when the computer allows power to it via the relay.  This means that all I have to do is tell the computer that I am working from home tomorrow, or am on holiday or whatever and it sorts the heat times and settings out.

The only thing I can't do is have the computer adjust the temperature setting of the thermostat.  For that, I thought the best thing might be to have a Pi or Arduino connected to the USB port and then have a link from that processor back to my main house PC. Main PC would talk to Pi/Arduino which then alter the setting of the VC430. 

Why do I want to do this?  Because I don't like the shape of the standard heat curves supplied by Vaillant.  In my house, if the outside temperature is between about 4 and 9, the system maintains the temperature very close to the desired setting.  Above about 9, the flow temperature is a bit too low, below about 4 it is a bit too high.  To compensate I manually adjust the setting of the thermostat about half a degree either way temporarily. If I had the setting of the thermostat under processor control as well, my system would be complete and would require no manual adjustments at all.

Hope that make sense.

Chris

I have the VRC430F which is the weather controller, versus the VC430F which is the plain version. When I installed the EmonPi and TC nearby I had to resync the radios and have always wondered if we can see the ebus stuff via the 433MHz radios

Chris,

Good news and bad news. I think the control you need is what Vailliant call Veto temperature which is the temperature displayed when you turn the knob and it appears to override the programmed temperature. That would be the most useful but unfortunately I couldn't,t find the command to write that. Veto would be useful because the Veto Temperature seems to revert to the programmed temperature at the end of the period so you dont have to keep track. However the good news is that you can write the programmed temperature at any time so with a bit of care you should be able to achieve the same thing if you keep track of the changes.

My programme (in C) monitors the ebus continuously reading status and when necessary adds a command but it looks like you will only need to read and write a few commands occasionally.

How can I get the code to you (if you want it). ?

Regards

Roger

Roger,

I've sent you a message.

Chris

Dear Roger,

First of all . Thank you so much for sharing all this experience with this level of details. It is overly pleasant to find a thorough answer to whatI have been searching for days here and there in bits and pieces.

I had the impression that controlling the Vaillant boiler right away would be a simple on/off command. You mention that it is madness, I would be interested to understand the risk in this case.

I am strongly interested in using your solution with raspberry PI !

Thank you

Hakem,

I dont think I said it would be madness to have a simple on/off but it can be much more effective to control the whole boiler via its native ebus. The components within the boiler seem to send messages to each other via the ebus. The VCR430 controller connects to the bus and sends and receives messages to and from the boiler.

Vailliant used to sell a USB to ebus connector and a windows programme so that you could programme the VC430F from a laptop and access a load of internal parameters. I have found a lot of info on German websites and by sniffing the packets from the windows programme have managed to work out how to read and write messages and control the VC430 with a programme running on the Raspberry Pi. The idea was to continue and make it a lot smarter so that it would start later on warm mornings and get the house warm for when we came in.

The programme is written in C and has a PHP web interface which allows me to change parameters. I have promised to write a bit more information about compiling and running it but am very busy at the moment. You are welcome to the source and a list of commands and responses.

Although Vaillant dont sell the usb adapter anymore, a German company make one but there could be differences.

Roger 

Hi,

I am very interested in this post. I have a Vaillant boiler and VRC430F controller. I am interested in trying to control the boiler by other means - have been looking at the Vaillant vSmart and the Tado controllers.

I do wonder if there is another way to make some home brew solution. I bought a Vaillant VRDialog interface and software several years ago and it remained in the cupboard until I recently dusted it off. I cant get the software to work on my Windows 10 computer. I have several Linux CentOS servers and I can see the Vaillant eBUS interface when I plug the unit in. That's as far as I got with it, getting stuck and being short of time.

Can anyone help point me in the right direction to get this working and use it to control the boiler?

Much appreciated.

Nev

Edit - duplicate post deleted - Moderator, BT

Nev,

I have used it with Windows 7 but not for some time..  As I recall it's just a matter of using a menu option to scan the eBus and then another menu option to connect to the controller once it's been found.

Can you be more specific about what's not working please?

Chris

Hi,

I came across this post as I was looking to control the Vaillant boiler. Thanks for sharing the precious info really appreciate it.

I already have a smart Heating Control system from Heatmiser which enables me to do the basics i.e. Temperature Control, Turn On/Off individual Zones etc. What I really struggle with is that there aren't any systems out there that connect to eBus and provide detailed Logs and alerts if the boiler stops working or displays Fault Codes. My Vaillant Boiler shows error codes every now and then typically F.20 and there is no way of knowing if the Boiler is showing Fault unless you physically go to the boiler and see the LCD Display. 

Many times over night during cold days the boiler has stopped, typically I would check the Heatmiser system and check if the Temperature is correct and that the boiler is On. The issue is the Heatmiser system assumes the Boiler is working correctly because the system has no way of directly communicating with the Boiler's eBus.

I would like to be able to proactively poll everything the boiler does and log it externally on a RaspberryPi, and based on the logs i.e if there is a fault code, manually send a reset command to reset the fault code so that the boiler can start again, otherwise if there are other issues, take appropriate action to resolve

Does anyone know if its possible to rest the fault code remotely using eBus?

Many Thanks

Punit