Aqua Computer Aquaero Owners thread

@ballj (and anyone else who may be interested) a bunch of Aqua Computer kit arrived today so I've had a quick play to gain a better understanding of how the Aquaero 6 LT and the two Quadros that I bought interact with each other. This is a summary of my findings which I'll set out under the three four different configurations that I experimented with. I've also included a summary conclusion at the end of this note (so scroll down if you just want the TL/DR version).

Independent Devices (i.e. only one device connected to the PC at a time)
  • Single Aquaero: As was noted further up this page the Aquaero will only allow for a maximum of four curve controllers to be defined under the "Controllers" section which is available under your Aquaero device in the Aqua Suite.
  • Single Quadro: There is no "Controllers" section under your Quadro device in Aqua Suite so on first glance it doesn't look like you can set up curves *but* (unlike the Aquareo) it is possible to set curves under the "Fans" section and you can do that for each fan (and presumably if you had a PWM pump connected to one of the fan headers that would work too).
  • Conclusion: Both the Aquaero and the Quadro allows for four curves to be defined (I'd assume that the Octo would allow for eight, but I can't test that) when they are operated as independent devices.
Aquaero and ONE Quadro connected via the Aquabus
  • I had understood that the "flow 2" connector on the Aquaero could also function as an Aquabus connection, but with my limited testing it didn't appear to work like that for me - hence I was only able to test with one Quadro attached to the Aquaero in this way.
    • Update: It's possible to connect more than one device on the Aquabus by using a Splitty9 or an alternative PWM hub or splitter cable as long as all four lines are connected to all headers (which may require some modification).
  • As was noted further up this page when the Quadro is attached by Aquabus to an Aquaero it effectively becomes an extension of the Aquaero making its sensors and fan headers available to the Aquaero, i.e no separate Quadro appears in Aqua Suite.
  • The number of curve controllers that can be defined under the "Controllers" section remains at a maximum of four and there is no option to set curves in the "Fans" section as you can for the Quadro when it is operated by itself.
  • Conclusion 1: This configuration really doesn't buy you very much; all that it does is extend the number of sensor and PWM headers available to you - the max number of curve controls remains at four.
  • Update: Conclusion 2: Don't waste your money buying Aquabus Cable #53214 - they're not expensive c.f. the rest of the kit but they're largely redundant IMHO. (see update on USB + Aquabus connection)
Aquaero plus TWO Quadros connected via USB (using a Hubby7)
  • In this configuration all connected devices appear as discrete devices in Aqua Suite, meaning that:
    • The Aquaero doesn't have access to the Quadros' sensors or PWM headers (this is a limitation but one that is unlikely to be an issue for anyone IMHO).
    • You can still define up to four Curve Controllers for the Aquaero.
    • You can still define curves for each of the four PWM headers on each Quadro.
  • Conclusion: With this configuration you have the possibility to define up to 12 curves, four for each device. The "penalty" for that is that each device only has access to its own sensors and headers.
Update: Aquaero and Quadro connected via both USB and Aquabus
  • In this configuration you have the best of both worlds in that you have the benefit of the full set of curve controllers that are possible via USB; and you also make the sensors and PWM headers of the Quadro available to the Aquaero via the Aquabus.
  • Therefore in this particular configuration the Aquabus Cable #53214 does make sense.
Summary Conclusions
  1. Connecting multiple devices via USB allows each device to operate independently and as such gives you the maximum number of curve controllers possible.
  2. It's also necessary to have the USB connection for system updates to your device so for the convenience of this alone it's most probably worthwhile to make this connection when you install your devices anyway.
  3. If you also need access to sensors and headers then this can be achieved by also having an Aquabus connection at the same time as the USB coonection.
 
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Thanks JayGee. That's surprising and a little disappointing. Not sure why they'd have done it so differently tbh. As you say, it'll still do everything you need it to do, the only shortcoming would be that you couldn't have the Aquaero shut down the system based on sensor data from a Quadro. You could just make sure the relevant sensors are connected directly to the Aquaero but you'd only be able to get two flow sensors directly attached if one was a model with Aquabus. FWIW it's quite possible to connect multiple devices to an Aquabus header - either with a Splitty, a fan Y-cable (as long as it has all three or all four pins connected - which isn't suitable for actual fans) or wire your own using fan pin crimps. They can be done in a daisy-chain or a Y shape - as long as all the pins are connected, they don't seem fussy.
 
Cenedd said:
Thanks JayGee. That's surprising and a little disappointing. Not sure why they'd have done it so differently tbh. As you say, it'll still do everything you need it to do, the only shortcoming would be that you couldn't have the Aquaero shut down the system based on sensor data from a Quadro. You could just make sure the relevant sensors are connected directly to the Aquaero but you'd only be able to get two flow sensors directly attached if one was a model with Aquabus. FWIW it's quite possible to connect multiple devices to an Aquabus header - either with a Splitty, a fan Y-cable (as long as it has all three or all four pins connected - which isn't suitable for actual fans) or wire your own using fan pin crimps. They can be done in a daisy-chain or a Y shape - as long as all the pins are connected, they don't seem fussy.
Click to expand...
Actually, one config that I didn't try was to have the Quadro attached by both USB and Aquabus to the Aquaero - I'll give that a go later today and then add my findings for that config to the summary above, you never know it might give the best of both.
 
The one thing you can't do over Aquabus is configure devices - and that includes updating firmware....which is annoying. So it may well let you use the onboard controllers via USB.
 
Okay, so the Aquabus plus USB config does offer the best of both - it allows you to have the extra controllers that the USB config offers and it makes sensors on the Quadro available to the Aquaero. I've updated my summary findings post to record that so all the info is in one place.
 
One further update/finding...

I tried using a PWM splitter as a way to connect two Quadros to the Aquaero via the Aquabus - in this configuration neither Quadro was detected on the Aquabus by the Aquaero.
I then got hold of a Splitty9 and found that on that device there is a jumper which selects whether the Splitty9 acts as a PWM splitter or as an Aquabus hub. In the hub mode both Quadros were detected on the bus by the Aquaero; in PWM splitter mode they weren't detected on the "standard" headers but either Quadro connected to the RPM header was detected.

Using a meter to check continuity between headers on the Splitty the difference between these two modes of operations seems as simple as:
  • In PWM splitter mode the Tacho line on the input is only connected to the RPM header (which makes sense because you only want one PWM device reporting back RPM).
  • In Aquabus hub mode all headers have all four lines connected to all headers.
Therefore, if you do want to use a none Aqua Computer PWM splitter (board or cable) as an alternative to the Splitty9 you will need to ensure that all lines are connected to all headers.
 
A lot of the cheap Y-splitters do have all lines connected. That means you get a weird speed reading until you cut one of the tacho wires. For Aquabus though, it's actually helpful. There are two types of Aquabus cable BTW: 3-pin and 4-pin. The 3-pin are like voltage-controlled fans and the 4-pin like PWM fans. The only difference is that the 4th wire carries power. The quadros won't need that as they have their own power supply but things like the High Flow USB can take the power over the Aquabus and save you a cable if you're trying to keep cabling to a minimum.
 
@JayGee thanks for the write-up - quite in-depth and very helpful

Couple of questions though regarding USB+Aquabus mode:
1 - Do the 3 devices appear as separate tabs in Aqua Suite?
2 - If you disable aquasuite/run a different OS without it installed (ie linux), does the Aquaero have still have access to the sensors of the Quadro
3 - Does the Aquaero only have access to the sensors or actually control the fans once the software is not running

#2 maybe hard to test - possibly using sensor on one to control fans on the other.
Im thinking that the only way the Aquaero has access is via the Aqua Suite software - so if there is an issue on the OS/software level the emergency power off switch/fan control may not work as expected.
 
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@ballj I can tell you what ought to happen based on devices other than the Quadro. All devices that have been plugged in via USB will appear on the sidebar. You can see on mine there is the Aquaero itself, a flow sensor that isn't connected by USB (has been for updates, which is why it knows about it), ditto for the Farbwerk and a reservoir. The res I keep connected by USB as it seems to need calibrating for fill-level periodically and its location makes it really hard to get a cable in there.

(click for larger view)


The Aquaero should be able to read the sensor data over the aquabus cable and control fans or shut down based on that data. This should be entirely independent of Aquasuite (once programmed) and of the OS. This is really the reason for connecting Aquabus in the first place - I just wish you could run firmware updates and configure the devices across it.

If you want to test, the easiest way to do it would be to configure an alarm based on a sensor (eg a fan speed) on the Quadro. Unplug the fan and it ought to sound the alarm. Obviously make sure the Alarm Actions are set to sound the buzzer.
 
@Cenedd
Based on what your saying - you should able to configure the Quadro/Octos fan curves via USB (to get access to the extra 8 curves) - but share the PWM/sensor signals with the main Aquaero via Aquabus for alarms? (and they work with Aqua Suite disabled)
 
If it works the same as their other kit, yes. I've not got either a Quadro or Octo so I cannot test this but the previous stuff works that way. The Aquabus for inter-device comms and the USB for device to PC comms. You can set software sensors and virtual sensors which can blur those lines but that's the general idea.
 
ballj said:
@JayGee thanks for the write-up - quite in-depth and very helpful

Couple of questions though regarding USB+Aquabus mode:
1 - Do the 3 devices appear as separate tabs in Aqua Suite?
2 - If you disable aquasuite/run a different OS without it installed (ie linux), does the Aquaero have still have access to the sensors of the Quadro
3 - Does the Aquaero only have access to the sensors or actually control the fans once the software is not running

#2 maybe hard to test - possibly using sensor on one to control fans on the other.
Im thinking that the only way the Aquaero has access is via the Aqua Suite software - so if there is an issue on the OS/software level the emergency power off switch/fan control may not work as expected.
Click to expand...

I wanted to acknowledge that I've seen your questions but I'll defer to @Cenedd for the answers as I know he has a lot more experience of this stuff than I do. All that I would say is that what I've seen fits perfectly with what he's saying.
 
I can only suggest asking Aqua Computers' support. It might be they're aware and can sort it with another firmware update but if it's genuinely bricked (and still under warranty) my experience is they'll just post you a replacement.
 
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