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Aquaero & Aquasuite Software Setup Guide

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Aquaero & Aquasuite Software Setup Guide

The Aquaero fan controllers are in my opinion the very best at controlling and monitoring your fans, pumps, and other accessories related to water or even air cooled PCs. The accompanying Aquasuite software is truly incredible and very powerful software! However, it can be a little intimidating if you have never used it before, and there is definitely a learning curve involved.

The official documentation is not updated very often. Here’s a link to the most recent version from Aqua Compter, as of this writing it was last updated in November of 2016! https://aquacomputer.de/tl_files/aquacomputer/downloads/manuals/aquaero_5_6_en.pdf

I actually got started with my Aquaero by reading a guide written by Namron, a member here on OCN. He passed away several years ago, and all of the links to his guide are broken or missing. It was getting rather dated at this point, and was based on the Aquaero 5. I was originally making this guide for my build log The Big Red "Devastator", but I thought more people would be able to find it if I made a separate thread. So I'm posting it in it's own thread, and on my build log.

There is an OCN Aquaero Owners Club if you haven't already seen it. None of the links on the OP work anymore, and if I posted it there it would just get lost.

It is not always easy to visualize what to do by merely reading instructions. So my goal here is to use many screen shots, and walk you through how I set up my two Aquaeros and the Aquasuite software on this particular build.

The Aquasuite software can be used in a fairly simple setup, all the way to very complex builds. I’ve been using Aquasuite for over six years now, but I still do not use all the aspects of the software, so I will not be to covering those areas that I don’t use myself.

The beautiful thing about Aquasuite is that once you have it all setup, you can have it set to start with Windows, it runs in the background monitoring, and controlling everything you have it set up to do automatically.

Here is a look at the back just after installing these, the Aquaero XT is on the bottom, with the Aquaero LT slave unit on top. The only connections I use are the Power, USB 5 pin, I have four temp sensors plugged in, all four fan channels, the Aquabus high, and the RPM. The RPM header sends a fake RPM signal to the motherboard CPU fan header.



Aqua Computer has several new products that I will not be covering:

D5 Next Pump

Quadro Fan Controller

RGBpx Splitty4

Farbwerk 360


Here is a list of Aqua Computer components used in this Aquaero & Aquasuite setup:

Aquaero 6 XT

Aquaero 6 LT

Farbwerk USB - Bluetooth

Flow Sensor High Flow USB

2x Aquacomputer D5 Pump with Aquabus Interface (41093) discontinued

Aqualis XT 880 ml Reservoir with fill level sensor

6x Splitty9 fan splitters

Hubby7 internal USB hub

Due to the size of this guide, and because there are over 65 images I am using spoilers to put most of it in sections. This way you don’t have to scroll quite so much :thumb:

Installing Aquasuite - Flashing Firmware – Flashing Aquaero LT into Slave unit
The Aquasuite software will not install if it does not detect any Aquaero devices first. So at the very least on the Aquaero you will need the Molex power connected, and a five pin USB cable connected to the motherboard or USB splitter like a Hubby7. Be careful to connect the USB cable in the correct orientation, because it can be connected backwards! The pin #1 has an arrow on the connector body, and has a red wire to it. If you already have all of your fans, temperature sensors, and devices connected to the Aquaero that’s ok.

Once your Aquaero is hooked up, start the computer Windows 10 will recognize the Aquaero, and add it to the "input devices". A window pops open to show the new device. Next install the Aquasuite software. You can download the latest version here https://aquacomputer.de/software.html

The Aquasuite software has a column of tabs on the left side. A bar of little dots is shown to the left side of the tab you are currently on, it’s kind of hard to see and even harder to see on a screenshot. Most of the main tabs have sub-tabs under them once you click on them.

I’m going to have the name of the Current tab>Sub tab on the top of most screen shots, and I am also going to outline a red box around that particular tab to make it easier to follow along.
Once you start the Aquasuite program the Aquaero will show up, and a warning comes up that shows the firmware is out of date, and this device will not function with this version of Aquasuite.

To update the firmware, go to the Aquaero>System tab, click on "Firmware Update" then click on the "Update firmware now" button. I’ll cover the rest of this page later.



Flashing the D5 Pumps, Fill Level Sensor, & Flow Meter Firmware

Once the MPS devices and the Farbwerk are connected to the Hubby7 with five pin USB cables, the Aquasuite software automatically adds the devices. You have to go into the System Tab for each device, and click on the "Update Firmware Now" button to update the firmware.

All MPS devices by default install to Aquabus address 12, so for Pump #2 I changed the Aquabus address from 12 to 13. The Flow Meter I used Aquabus address 14, and for the Fill Level Sensor I changed the Aquabus address to 15.

Once the Firmware is updated you can remove the USB cables, and just use the Aquabus cables for control. It's absolutely fine to leave both Aquabus and the USB cables connected if you would like too, that’s what I do. It makes future firmware updates much easier.

Aquabus cables are just four pin fan cables with female connectors on each end. You can easily make your own if you have the tools, connectors, and terminals.
Setting up an Aquaero LT as a Slave Unit

If you are adding an Aquaero LT to have four more fan control channels, you will need to flash the Aquaero LT into a slave unit to work off of the main Aquaero XT. Nothing can be connected to the Aquaero LT unit except for the five pin USB cable.

Turn the computer off and turn the power supply off with the switch on the back of it, or unplug the power supply from the wall. This removes all power from the USB cables. Connect a USB cable to the motherboard or the Hubby7 if you are using one. Again be careful to connect the USB cable in the correct orientation.

Turn the power supply back on, start the computer, and then start the Aquasuite software. Now there will be another Aquaero Tab on the left pane of Aquasuite, perform the firmware update in the System Tab.

Next on the same Aquaero>System Tab there is another section at the bottom called "Expansion Devices", this is where you reflash the Aquaero LT into a slave unit. Press the "Reprogram Device" button and in about a minute it is flashed into a slave unit.

Another warning states the slave unit will not be recognized by USB any longer and will only work over the Aquabus connected to the main Aquaero XT. Also keep in mind that the only outputs that will work on the slave unit are the four fan channels, the temp sensor inputs, and you can add a second flow meter to the Aquabus low port. All other outputs are now disabled.

Power everything down again; you can disconnect the USB cable as it is unusable. Connect the Aquabus high port to a Hubby7 or the Aquabus high port on the Aquaero XT. Then you can connect your wiring for the extra fan channels to the Aquaero LT. You can actually add a third Aquaero for up to 12 channels of control if you need more channels.

Now in the Aquasuite software, click on the second Aquaero Tab in the left column it is going to show a USB symbol with a red X through it. The right pane shows "The device has no USB connection or is not recognized by the system". You can go ahead and click on the button to "Remove device from Aquasuite" as there is no use for that tab anymore.



Click on the Aquaero>Aquabus tab on the left. This will show you all the connected aquabus devices. The slave unit will show up as "Aquaero expansion 1" if you click on that it shows all the available data sources below.



While the Aquabus Tab page shows what's available on the Aquabus circuit. You will have to add the four extra fan channels on the slave unit in the Aquaero>Controllers tab.

Setting up the Aquasuite Software, Farbwerk & MPS Devices

I’m going to show you each tab of the Aquasuite software. For the most part I’m going to work from the top of the list of tabs in the left column, and work down from there. First thing though is to make some basic settings in the Aquasuite Tab which is actually at the bottom, and I’ll cover the Overview pages at the end of this guide as it will make more sense then.

Click on the Aquasuite tab then click on Settings. This is where you can choose your desired Language, I chose Temperature in Celsius and Gallons per Minute. Under Application Startup I check all the boxes here, so that Aquasuite starts with Windows and then is minimized to the system tray. The Start Delay feature is a relatively new feature, I just left that in the default 15 second delay.

Aquasuite>Settings



You can see the Aquasuite Background Service is installed and running. The other check marked boxes are the default settings.

Aquasuite>Service



I’ve never used the Audio and Video tab so I’ll skip over that one. This is the License Manager page. One of my MPS devices has my Aquasuite license good through version 2019. I’m still running version 2017 on another rig with no problems. If you look at the top of this screen shot you can see I’m currently on version 2018-9.

As of this writing version 2018-12 has just released. All the updates since the 2018-9 version have been mostly to accommodate the new products that have been recently released. My version is running good, so I’m going to wait for the 2019 version to release whenever that is.

Aquasuite>License Manager



Now click on the Data Quick View tab, this is where you can see all the various temperature readings. I don’t really ever look at this, but here’s where you can see everything in one place by clicking the little arrows to open up whatever you want to look at.

Data Quick View



You can log just about any form of data from the Aquasuite software from here. I have never used this feature.

Data Log



Farbwerk Setup

The Farbwerk can be used as a stand-alone device, it has four temperature sensor inputs, and software sensor capability as well. I am not using any of these here as I run my temperature sensors, and software sensors through the Aquaero XT.

Farbwerk>Sensors



The controller tab is where you can change colors of the four RGB output channels. I am really just using the four RGB strips as case lighting, and most of the time I leave them all on white. The red looks ok too, but I’m not really into lots of flashing and changing lights of which there are many options for that if you like that kind of lighting.

Across the top you can turn all four outputs on or off all together or one at a time. Also notice on output 2 the box that says “Get Data From”, this allows you to copy from another output.
One thing that I’m really disappointed in is that these lighting settings are not saved when saving to any of the four saved Profiles. I wanted to save a profile that had the lighting all turned off. If there is a way to do that I’m missing it. I’ll cover more about Profiles later on.

Farbwerk>Controller



In this last sub-tab in the Farbwerk menu I typed “Case Lighting” in the Device Description which also appears under “Farbwerk” in that tab on the left column. You probably have already updated the firmware by now, if not go ahead and click on the “Update Firmware Now” button. I have the aquabus address set at 20. You can add a second Farbwerk if you need more outputs.

I have the Bluetooth version of the Farbwerk, but have not been able to get it to work with my phone. The app installs on my phone just fine, but I can't see the Farbwerk listed in the app to connect to, yet I can see the Farbwerk in my "Bluetooth" settings on the computer.

Farbwerk>System



MPS Devices – D5 Pumps with Aquabus interface, Flow Sensor USB, and Fill Level Sensor

The Aquaero can control up to four MPS devices. I am using two D5 Pumps with Aquabus interface, a Flow Sensor USB, and a Fill Level Sensor in one of the two reservoirs.
Clicking on the first MPS tab for Pump 1 in the left column shows the three sub tabs. I also have the Pump 2 tab open which also has the same three sub tabs.

I’m not sure how the Fill Level Sensor tab got between the two Pump tabs, I would much prefer to have the two Pump tabs next to each other. However, there is no way to change the order of the tabs in the left column, at least not that I’m aware of. It seems like that should be a fairly easy thing to incorporate into the Aquasuite software, like you should just be able to left click hold and drag, or something like that.

You can adjust the pump speed here, but I use the Aquaero>Pumps tab for that which I’ll show when I get to that section.

MPS Pump 1>Configuration



Moving to the next sub tab this is where you can set up Alarms. I have no alarms set here.

MPS Pump 1>Alarm Configuration



Under the System sub tab I simply named the device Pump 1 which shows on the main MPS tab. The Aquabus address 12 gets filled in automatically, and in the drop down box I selected Aqua Computer D5 41093 as the Device Type.

The last box is where you would update the firmware when, and if necessary.

MPS Pump 1>System



For the second pump I named it Pump 2, and changed the Aquabus address to 13, otherwise the rest is the same as the first pump.

MPS> Pump 2>System.



The Fill Level Sensor is at the bottom of one of the two reservoirs. This build has one loop and two reservoirs, the reservoirs are connected together, and maintain almost identical fill levels especially when full or nearly full.

I calibrated this originally when the reservoirs were about ¾ full, and I was surprised how accurate it was as I played around with this during a drain and fill session. I put masking tape on the reservoirs and put a mark where half full is, and adjusted the level to the exact half full level. You can see it shows 51% full.

MPS Fill Level Sensor>Configuration



I re-did the calibration here. Simply measure the water level, and then input the “Maximum fill level in mm” and “Current fill level in mm” boxes, then just click the Calibrate button. This re-calibration changed it from 51% to 49%.

MPS Fill Level Sensor>Configuration



Here is the Alarm page, again no alarms set. I’ve never really used any Alarms in Aquasuite, something I’ll probably play around with later.

MPS Fill Level Sensor>Alarm Configuration



In the System tab here I simply named it Fill Level Sensor which again shows on the main MPS tab in the left column. I set the Aquabus address to 15, and selected the proper device in the drop down menu.

MPS Fill Level Sensor>System



The fourth and final MPS device is the Flow Meter. The first tab here just shows the actual flow rate, as there is nothing to configure.

MPS Flow Meter>Configuration



MPS Flow Meter>Alarm Configuration



In the Device Description I entered Flow Meter which now shows on the main tab. I set the Aquabus address to 14, and selected High Flow USB 53129 as the device type. Also here is where you can flash the firmware if necessary.

MPS Flow Meter>System



Now that all of these MPS devices are set up, it’s unlikely you will ever go into any of these tabs again, unless you wanted to set or adjust an alarm.

Sensor Inputs - Fan Settings & How to make Curve Controllers
Now that the Aquasuite software is installed, all the firmware is updated, and all the MPS devices are set up, it’s time to setup the temperature sensors, fans, and make some Curve Controllers which all happens in the Aquaero tab.

Each Aquaero has the ability to handle up to eight temperature sensors. Clicking on Temperature Sensors in the right pane opens it up. By default each sensor is labeled Sensor 1, Sensor 2, and so on.

In the right red box you can see I added Ambient Top to the end of the label for the ambient sensor located on the top of one of the top radiators. Also there is a second ambient sensor located in front of the left front radiator.

There are two water temperature sensors one in a front radiator and one in a top radiator. It looks like the last two letters got erased on sensor 3 in this screen shot. The rest of the sensors you see there are default sensors. The fan amplifiers can get warm when using voltage controlled fans under heavy load.

Now you can see the four temperature sensors I added.

Aquaero>Sensors



Next click on Virtual Temperature Sensors to expand the box. Virtual sensors are awesome! In the first red box I named it Ambient Ave Temp, I could have spelled it out, but this is also going to show on the Information Pages on the Aquaero display which you will see a little later on.

In the Mode drop down box I selected Average Temperature. In the Data Sources box below that I dragged both of my ambient temperature sensors over to the right. Now this virtual sensor is taking the average of both ambient temperature sensors. You can use up to three sensors here.

Aquaero>Sensors



Now I do the same setup with the two water temperature sensors, by averaging the two and making a virtual water temperature sensor I named Water Ave Temp. Some people set their water temperature sensors to measure inlet, and outlet temperatures which is necessary if you want to use the Power Measurements feature of Aquasuite.

The water temperature really does not vary much throughout the loop, especially in a larger loop like this one. I don’t use the Power Measurements section at all any way; the main use of this virtual water temperature sensor is to use this with a Curve Controller which you will see shortly.



Now I’m going to make a third virtual sensor I’ll label Water – Air Delta. This time under the Mode drop down box I select Temperature Difference, and I’m going to use my Ambient Ave Temp virtual temperature along with the Water Ave Temp virtual temperature sensor. This sensor will be used as the Data Source of my main Curve Controller.



I closed the Temperature Sensors and Virtual Temperature Sensors sections so we can take a look at the reset of the Sensors pane. The next section is Software Temperature Sensors; here you can use either Aida 64 or HWiNFO monitoring programs to read any of the various sensors contained in those programs. I have both programs, but prefer HWiNFO for monitoring so that’s what I’m using.

The first one I use is CPU Package Temp which is basically reading the max CPU core temperature. The second one I labeled Dimm Temp, this reads the hottest of my four RAM sticks. The reason I’m using this is for the Data Source of a Curve Controller.

Next are both GPU temperatures which I want to have on one of my Information Pages for the Aquaero display. The fifth software sensor is measuring the SSD temperature, which is also going to be used as a Data Source for a Curve Controller. I still have room for three more software sensors.

I put a red box around the Fallback Temperature box to point out this default reading will be displayed if either software program you are using Aida 64 or HWiNFO is not running, then this will be displayed in Aquasuite or the Aquaero display.

If you see all your software sensors reading 50° you will know the program is not running. I have Aquasuite and HWiNFO set to start with Windows.

Under the Flow Sensor section this is how it ended up after setting up my Flow Sensor, not sure why it ended up in the last box, doesn’t really matter. The same for the Fill Level Sensor box, nothing to do here, and you can see it picked up the name I gave it previously.



Fan Settings

I am going to skip over the Controller tab here to start with because you have to set up all the fans properly before we can set up any Controllers.

The Aquaeros all come with four channels of fan control. Since I have two Aquaeros I have a total of eight fan channels. I have six radiators in total, 4 x 560, and 2 x 280 with a total of 30 140mm fans. I also have one 120mm fan in the HDD cage, and one 120mm fan in the rear of the case for exhaust.

There are also two small 40mm fans in the SSD hot swap bay unit on one fan channel, and I’m using the last fan channel to power the LEDs in the reservoirs, the CPU and HDD waterblocks as well as the acrylic pump top. Here’s is how the eight channels are set up in my system:

Fan Channel 1 – 8 push fans on both lower radiators
Fan Channel 2 – 8 fans on both front radiators
Fan Channel 3 – 6 pull fans on both top radiators
Fan Channel 4 – 8 push fans on both top radiators
Fan Channel 5 – rear case fan
Fan Channel 6 – 2 fans in SSD hot swap bay
Fan Channel 7 – HDD cage fan
Fan Channel 8 – LED power

Just so you know the EK Vardar fans I use draw too much amperage during startup, and trip the over current protection feature which shuts the channel off. So for the first four fan channels I have the fans all connected to Splittly9 fan splitters.

I have power and ground wired from the power supply to the Splitty9 to power the fans, and then ran the PWM and RPM wires to the appropriate Aquaero Fan Channel for control. In this first screen shot you can see all eight fan channels along the top of the right pane. There will only be four of these with a single Aquaero. If you do end up adding another Aquaero or two as a slave unit you will have to add the addition channels in the Controllers tab.

I’ve clicked on Fan Channel 1 and you can see that the Aquasuite makes the blue outline around the currently selected channel. The red box I put around the Name box in the Settings section shows where I left the default “Fan 1” and added the “Bottom 8” to the end of the name.

In this same Settings section I clicked on the Hold Minimum Power box and set the minimum power to 30%, you can either click the little arrows in the boxes or grab the slider.

In the Advanced Settings box I clicked on the PWM button since these are PWM fans. The minimum fan speed I set to 350 RPMs and maximum to 2,000 RPMs which is more than these fans will actually do.

I also use the Start Boost feature, this just turns the fans on max speed for the time specified which is set for 5 seconds here, before they drop down to the controlled speed.

Aquaero>Fan Settings



I did the same set up for Fan Channels 2, 3 and 4.







For Fan Channel 5 this is the single 120mm rear case fan. Set up similarly to the first four just slightly different settings.



Fan Channel 6 is the two 40mm fans in the SSD hot swap bays; these are standard three wire fans, so I set this channel to “Power Controlled”.




Here’s a shot of the fans I modded for the SSD hot swap bay, with the Aquaeros above. If you want to see the details of how I did this you can check it out here.



Fan Channel 7 is another 120mm fan mounted in the HDD cage. This is set up as PWM controlled similarly to how Fan Channel 5 is set up.



See how Fan Channel 8 is greyed out, and there is a warning here “Attention: There is no controller set to this output” with a warning that this channel will run at 100%. This is fine for my use since this channel controls all of my LEDs which I want to run at full brightness anyways. There is just power and ground running from the Aquaero to the Splitty9 all the LEDs are connected to.



How to make Curve Controllers

Now that all the Sensor Inputs and Fan Settings are set up how you want them, you can make Curve Controllers to controller your fans. This is where the magic happens!

To get started press the “ADD +” button in the upper right corner. There are five options to choose from in the pop out box Curve Controller, Set Point Controller, Two Point Controller, Preset Value, and LED Controller.



Set Point controllers can adjust power to keep the temperature of the assigned data source constantly equal to the target value if possible. Two point controllers can switch assigned outputs on and off when the temperature reading of the data source rises above or falls below predefined values.

Preset values are fixed output values and do not have a data source and the RGB LED controllers can be used to change colors according to temperatures. For example green for normal temps, turning yellow with higher temps, and red for temps too high. This is to control the RGB LED output header on the back of the Aquaero.

I’ve really only ever used the Curve Controllers so that’s the only one I’ll be showing here. I have seen the other controllers used when for example if you want your fans to completely shut off under light load, or have your fans ramp up and down to keep your coolant between certain temperatures.

Here’s the Controller page with two Curve Controllers already set up. I named this first Curve Controller “Fan Curve Radiators”, as this will control all 30 fans I have on the six radiators.

In the Data Source box I selected the Water – Air Delta Virtual Temperature Sensor that was set up previously. In the Outputs box outlined in red on the right side I added all four fan channels that control the radiator fans as well as the one fan in the HDD cage on channel 7. I might move that channel 7 onto its own controller later, but for now this will work fine.

Next click on Automatic Setup then the box expands to show where you can adjust the Minimum and Maximum Temperatures, as well as the Minimum and Maximum Power %. For my setup, the Water – Air Delta rarely gets more than 4° even under max load.

I set my temperature range from .4° to 6°, and the power range from 13% to 100% Spend some time adjusting all of these numbers with your system at idle and under max load like RealBench until you get the fan speeds where you want them at both ends of the spectrum. My fans will never get down to 13%, but that got the rest of the curve where I wanted it. The curve starts out flat, but you can drag the slider to change how the curve ramps up and down.

This Curve Controller right here alone makes the investment into the Aquaero very much worth it! What makes this type of set up so awesome is that the fans will only slowly ramp up and down with your coolant temperature.

If you use something like CPU temps that vary drastically and quickly the fans are constantly ramping up and down quickly which is quite annoying. Also this automatically adjusts to your seasons, whether it’s cold in the winter, or hot in the summer the ambient temperatures do not affect how your fans operate since you are using the Water – Air delta as the Data Source.

For the second Curve Controller I’m using my Software Sensor of the SSD temperature as the Data Source, notice how in this screen shot it shows 50°? That shows that my HWiNFO program was off when I took that screen shot. I named it SSD Fan Curve, and the Output is for Fan Channel 6 which only controls the 40mm fans in the SSD hot swap bay.

Aquaero>Controllers



This is the same page after I scrolled down you can see I have a third Curve Controller for Fan Channel 5 which controls the rear case fan. I found that when I was overclocking, and testing the system that the memory would get a little on the hot side when under heavy load. Because even under heavy load the fans are still not spinning anywhere near max speeds and there is not a lot of air flow across the memory sticks.

So I want this rear case fan to spin up to max speeds as the RAM gets hotter to pull more air across the RAM. This is where I’m going to use the software sensor that I labeled Dimm Temp, remember this is the hottest stick of RAM with the temperature reading coming from HWiNFO.

With this Curve Controller once the RAM hits 40° the fan will run at max speeds.

Outputs – Pumps – User Interface – Information Pages
On the Outputs tab you can set up the RGB LED output on the back of the Aquaero and the Relay output. I never use anything here, but here’s what the page looks like.

Aquaero>Outputs



Pumps

Moving down to the Pump tab next I have the Maximum Power checked. This is where I am keeping the pumps set for now.

Aquaero>Pumps



If you click the Manual Preset button the menu opens up to allow you to adjust a Preset Value, along with minimum and maximum powers which you can adjust with the arrows or the slider. Also there is a Hold Minimum Power box that I’d recommend checking if you use this mode.

I actually played around with different pump speeds, all it really does is lower the flow rate, and had virtually no impact on water temperatures. The pumps are slightly noisy at 70%, and definitely have a humming at 50%; otherwise I can’t really hear any difference in noise on any setting above 70%, so I’ll most likely just run them at 100% all the time.
The third button Set by Controller is for if you want to set up a curve controller to control the pumps.




User Interface

Onto the next tab which is the User Interface. This is where you adjust how the display on the front of the Aquaero looks. Under General Settings I have it set for English, and you can invert the display if you have an upside down mounting of the Aquaero for some reason.

Pick your desired temperature unit, and flow unit measurements. Below that is the setting for how long the page is displayed for. I have is set to 60 seconds here.

Display backlight and contract is set in the next box. My display is set to 100% brightness with 10% in stand-by mode. There is also idle time out in seconds. For the contrast settings just move the slider around until it looks best to you.

Under the Key Setting box I have the Volume set to Quiet, you can turn the volume off here too if you’d like to, and more brightness settings. Once everything is set here the way you want it, you most likely won’t be coming back to this page again.

Aquaero>User Interface



Information Pages

Information Pages is where you select which of the available pages you want to show up on the Aquaero display. The top box here allows you to grab a screen shot of the current displayed page.

In the next box you can upload your own Special Page by dragging it into the boxes and pressing the Upload button. I used Microsoft Paint to make this “Devastator” logo that you see in the Screenshot box. It needs to be 256 x 64 pixels monochrome in a png file format.

Aquaero>Information Pages



In the Information Pages box the drop down box is open here, and you have Temperature Sensors, Fans, Charts, Flow Sensors, and Miscellaneous to choose from.
You just drag from the left column to the right column Displayed Screens. It only shows an image of what each screen looks like, not what the actual screen is displaying at the moment.



Here the left column is showing the various Charts to choose from. I like to keep the number of screens low so I don’t have to scroll through a bunch of screens that I’m not interested in. I have five selected here.



Let’s take a look at my five display screens here as pictures of the actual Aquaero display panel. Here’s my custom Special Page I made. By default the display will rotate through all the different display screens.

I have this set up so that this “Devastator” logo is dimmed to 10% when the computer is off, and turns on to full brightness once started. I also have it set so that this screen stays on full time, and if I want to see the other screens I press the lower or upper red buttons on right side of the display to scroll through the rest of the screens.



The next screen shows the first four fan channels which is all of my radiator fans. With this one screen I can quickly see where all of my radiator fans RPMs are at. They are all around 400 RPMs here.



The third screen is all of my Virtual Temperature Sensors. You can now see why I abbreviated the word “Average” and “Temperature”, so it would fit better on this screen when displayed. Here I can see my ambient temperature, water temperature, and my water – air delta on this one screen. I don’t have a fourth Virtual sensor set up which is why it’s blank.



On the fourth screen this is displaying four Software Temperature sensors. On just one screen I can see my CPU, RAM and both GPUs temperatures. This picture was taken right after the computer was started :D



The last screen just shows my flow rate.



The top and bottom red buttons on the right side of the display allow scrolling, with the center one acting as the enter button. With one push of the middle button it brings up this display. The top row of icons is for access to the Menu, Data Log, Curve Controllers, and an Exit button.

You can set up almost anything you can in Aquasuite from the display here, although it is clumsy, and complicated compared with using the Aquasuite software.

The bottom row of folders is for quick access to your four saved profiles if you have saved any profiles. With three button pushes, center, top, and center again I can quickly turn on my saved Profile 4. I used this often during overclocking, and benchmarking sessions.

Alarms – Timer – Data Log – System Profiles – Aquasuite Web
Here’s a look at the Alarm Actions tab. Again I have no alarms set at this time.



This is the Alarm Configuration tab. I may do a supplement to this guide at a later time that covers Alarms.



The Timer tab here is another section of the Aquasuite software that I have never used. I am sure some interesting things could be set up here.



The Data Log can be used to log or export data, and also can be used for making Charts to use on the Overview Pages. Again this is another area of the Aquasuite that I have not used personally.



System Profiles
The System tab is a very important page where you can save all of your hard work setting up the Aquaero and Aquasuite by saving different profiles. At the top I renamed the Device Description to “Aquaero 6 XT” which shows on the main Aquaero tab in the left column.

I actually save frequently to both Profile 1 and Profile 2. Profile 1 is my main everyday profile, I keep Profile 2 the same in case I want to try something a little different than what is on Profile 1, and I can do that without messing up Profile 1.

If I could get the Farbwerk settings to save, I would use Porfile 2 with all the same settings as the first profile except with the lighting off. Profile 3 is the same as Profile 1 except I shortened the Radiator Fan Curve to 3° max instead of 6° which just makes the fans ramp up faster.


For Profile 4 I have all the fans set at max speed. I call this my benchmark Profile; this quickly gives me maximum cooling power. The great thing here too is that these profiles are easily accessible from the touch screen display as I showed earlier.

On my other rig with an Aquaero, I have not used the touch screen much at all. However, I found during my testing, overclocking, and benchmarking of this new build that the touch screen, and information pages are very handy to have available.

For example while running the RealBench stress test if you open Aquasuite, and try to adjust something, it is very slow to react since the RealBench program is such a load on the system. But with the touch screen it’s a snap to change Profiles, and scroll through the Information Pages to see all the critical temperature readings.

It’s also a good idea to use the Create Backup feature to save your settings. You can also export to another drive if you would like to.



Aquasuite Web

With the Aquasuite Web tab you can use this to export any of your Aquaero Data to the web, view it on another computer, or on your phone. Here is how the page looks before adding any sensors. Click the “ADD” button in the upper right corner to add sensors.

Aquasuite Web>Data Export



Here I’ve added all of my Virtual Temperature Sensors, the Software Sensors, Flow Meter, and Fan Channels 1-4. This is basically all the info I have set up as Information Pages to show on the front display of the Aquaero XT.

Aquasuite Web>Data Export



On the Data Access page you have lots of options to access this data; you can even set up a banner. I just used the web page address I have outlined with the red box and pasted it into a browser.

Aquasutie Web>Data Access



This is what the web page looks like. I’ve actually never used this until I started playing around with it while working on the guide. It’s a pretty neat feature if you want to be able to see what your system is doing remotely. I’ve found myself sitting on the couch watching TV, and pulling my phone out “just to have a look” :p

Aquasuite Web Page

Overview Pages
The Overview pages are pretty cool, but honestly I seldom look at these pages. If you have a second monitor it’s nice to have up on display. This first Overview Page is the default one that comes with the Aquasuite. I have not touched this page; all you see was automatically populated by what I’ve already done with the temperature sensors, and fans.



To make your own custom Overview page, it’s best to copy the default one and then modify it in case you need to go back or start over. There is no “undo” feature here, which would be really nice to have. I have messed up parts of this page numerous times, and it’s not always easy to fix it. Some of these individual charts have six or seven layers on each one.

Here’s a look at my custom “Devastator Overview Page”. Along the top row I changed the default temperature sensors to my three Virtual Temperature Sensors. The far right block on the top row shows all temperature sensors.

I wanted to put my virtual sensors in that block, but it would not work. You can see that I was able to put the Water – Delta in one row but it doesn’t display the actual temperature reading. I was able to insert Alarms which I assume will show how many alarm settings went off. Also I put the Current Profile in there which is somewhat helpful.

The second row is the four default fan channels. Here I removed the voltage readings at the bottom of each one. They are PWM fans so that is always going to show 12v. The third row is the four fan channels that I added for the Aquaero LT slave unit.



Scrolling down on that page shows the last row with the Pump Power, Speed Signal, and Flow Meters which I made and resized. I do not really like the bottom row, and will probably change this around.

I do like the little Flow Rate and Fill Level meters on the far right side of the bottom row. I think I’ll move that up and replace the temperature block on the right side of the top row, and then just delete the bottom row of meters. As you can see there are endless possibilities here with custom Overview Pages.



This Overview page is after I finished running some video card benchmarks, and I switched from my Profile 3 to Profile 1. I waited until the big drop in the fan RPMs in the charts had scrolled half way across he chart before taking this screen shot.



This one was after changing to Profile 1 after running on max fans with Profile 4.

Well that’s all folks! This ended up being way more work than I set out to do. Hopefully this will help some people out with their Aquaero and Aquasuite setups.

If you have anything to add to this feel free to post it below. I might add to this guide at a later time. An “Alarm Addendum” could be in order :thinking:

Barefooter


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C

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#4 ·
Okay but how do you actually manipulate the Overview page? Selecting groups of objects or removing them all seems really buggy and random and everybtime I try copy an object it copies the whole page!

Why are Germans so bad at software?
 
Barefooter

· WaterCooler & Overclocker
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Discussion Starter · #7 ·
GAN77 said:
Many thanks for the guide!
Click to expand...
Master Chicken said:
I read this in the other thread and I appreciate you moving it into it's own thread. This was really good info for me, an AQ6 user.
Click to expand...
rolandos582 said:
Like i said in ur other thread, very good job and easy to follow with all the pictures.

Helped me alot, thanks again!!
Click to expand...
Awesome! Glad you guys found it useful :thumb:



Cinderblocks said:
Okay but how do you actually manipulate the Overview page? Selecting groups of objects or removing them all seems really buggy and random and every time I try copy an object it copies the whole page!

Why are Germans so bad at software?
Click to expand...
Since there is no "undo" the best thing to do is to copy the default page and then play around with it until you figure it out. You can select items inside the page to resize or move them, although it's easy to mess it up completely.

I've found sometimes it's just easier to copy the default page again, and start over rather than to try fix something that isn't how you want it. The good news is that once you have it the way you want it, there is really no need to change anything again.

.
 
B

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#8 ·
Question: what does the "Minimum Power" Setting do, particularly when its fan channel is set to PWM control? It seems to be changing the voltage and current applied to the fan, which seems odd for a PWM controlled channel.
 
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#9 ·
BleedOutCold said:
Question: what does the "Minimum Power" Setting do, particularly when its fan channel is set to PWM control? It seems to be changing the voltage and current applied to the fan, which seems odd for a PWM controlled channel.
Click to expand...
If it changes the voltage, then the fan isn't set as PWM. Minimum power sets a minimum PWM signal for the fan to run on. If you uncheck it, the fans shut down completely when it's not needed to have them running.
 
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#10 ·
broodro0ster said:
If it changes the voltage, then the fan isn't set as PWM. Minimum power sets a minimum PWM signal for the fan to run on. If you uncheck it, the fans shut down completely when it's not needed to have them running.
Click to expand...
I can only tell you what I see in the Aquaero/Fans/Selected Channel/Settings & Advanced Settings pages, but it's not what you're describing. With PWM controlled checked, definitely not power or speed controlled, moving the Minimum power slider will alter the fan speed. Meanwhile, the Fan data page above Settings shows changes in rotation speed, voltage, power, and current. Aquasuite 2018-4 and ML120s and ML140s.
 
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#11 ·
BleedOutCold said:
I can only tell you what I see in the Aquaero/Fans/Selected Channel/Settings & Advanced Settings pages, but it's not what you're describing. With PWM controlled checked, definitely not power or speed controlled, moving the Minimum power slider will alter the fan speed. Meanwhile, the Fan data page above Settings shows changes in rotation speed, voltage, power, and current. Aquasuite 2018-4 and ML120s and ML140s.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's shows a value in % for PWM and a value in volts for voltage controlled fans. But at the top, your fan should be running at 12V.
And if you move the minimum RPM it's normal that the fan speed changes. If the controllers sends out a 50% signal and the minimum rpm is 0, then the fan is spinning at 50%. But if minimum power is set for 50% and the controller is set to 50%, then your fan will spin at 75%. Because the operating is now 50-100%. And 50% of that range is 75%.
 
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Shawnb99

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#13 ·
Anoxy said:
I'm getting this error when I try to install the Aquasuite software. Anyone know why?

EDIT: For anyone googling who might be having the same issue as I did, aquasuite does not work on Windows 10. You need to run the set up using Windows 8 compatibility mode.
Click to expand...
It works fine on Windows 10. It seems the licensing site is down, I can't register my new Quadro either. One it's back up you shouldn't get that error.

Or it was, appears to be working now
 
war4peace

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#14 ·
Anoxy said:
EDIT: For anyone googling who might be having the same issue as I did, aquasuite does not work on Windows 10.
Click to expand...
No idea where you heard that, but it's false. Fake news, perhaps? :)
 
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chas1723

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#15 ·
I am currently getting the same error.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
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#16 ·
amazing thread.

great stuff barefoot. thank you!

Does anyone know how to get an aquaero set up with usb using a laptop [I am thinking along the lines of USB header to Hubby to USB Female cable that goes from usb header to usb female ?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...IxKGjjbnS5gIVGYiGCh1lmQqDEAQYBSABEgIwS_D_BwEI'

just tried it with Apple Boot Camp booting into windows and it doesn't recognize my new Aquaero at all via USB.
Using Windows 10 Pro N on my Macbook 2018 15 inch
Have Aquaero 6 XT hooked up to the Hubby [tried without as well] and then this cable [see link] taking the internal header to external female USB. From Female USB I have USB-A male to USB-C Male cable connected directly into laptop.

Updated all my drivers for both windows and boot camp
Everything else USB is recognized no problem

Anybody else use a laptop to set up their Aquaero? Is it Boot camp?
 
Barefooter

· WaterCooler & Overclocker
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Discussion Starter · #17 ·
Benjamin Hecht said:
great stuff barefoot. thank you!

Does anyone know how to get an aquaero set up with usb using a laptop [I am thinking along the lines of USB header to Hubby to USB Female cable that goes from usb header to usb female ?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...IxKGjjbnS5gIVGYiGCh1lmQqDEAQYBSABEgIwS_D_BwEI'

just tried it with Apple Boot Camp booting into windows and it doesn't recognize my new Aquaero at all via USB.
Using Windows 10 Pro N on my Macbook 2018 15 inch
Have Aquaero 6 XT hooked up to the Hubby [tried without as well] and then this cable [see link] taking the internal header to external female USB. From Female USB I have USB-A male to USB-C Male cable connected directly into laptop.

Updated all my drivers for both windows and boot camp
Everything else USB is recognized no problem

Anybody else use a laptop to set up their Aquaero? Is it Boot camp?
Click to expand...
I am not familiar with "Boot camp" but there is a post in my build log that could possibly help you.
How to Update the Aquaero Firmware and Flash an Aquaero LT into a Slave unit using another computer

.
 
skupples

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#18 ·
bootcamp is apple lingo for "i'm running windoes via vm in mac os"
 
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ruffhi

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#19 ·
Firstly - thanks for writing this guide. Excellent work and very detailed (but see below).

Barefooter said:
Aquaero & Aquasuite Software Setup Guide
Now click on the Data Quick View tab, this is where you can see all the various temperature readings. I don’t really ever look at this, but here’s where you can see everything in one place by clicking the little arrows to open up whatever you want to look at.
Click to expand...
The other aspect that I really like with this is the search option - click into the search bar and type FAN and you get all of your fan values shown.


Barefooter said:
Aquaero & Aquasuite Software Setup Guide
The fourth and final MPS device is the Flow Meter. The first tab here just shows the actual flow rate, as there is nothing to configure.
Click to expand...
Here is my gripe. I specifically came to this guide to read about the various calibration options with the Flow sensor (high flow USB G1/4) as I have the same unit. And then you go and say "nothing to configure". Bah!!!

This post (https://www.overclock.net/forum/61-...ter-usb-aquaero-5-xt-please.html#post20179960) does show some calibration options for the flow meter. I wasn't seeing that page until I connected my flow meeting using the USB and the 4-pin flow connection.

I have tried changing the 169 (the drop down shows various flow meter options with pre-defined calibration numbers but there is also a 'user defined' option that lets you put in any old number.

Everything thing I do has no impact on the reported flow reading. Is there some magic sause about how to change the calibration number that I am missing?
 
Barefooter

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Discussion Starter · #20 ·
ruffhi said:
Firstly - thanks for writing this guide. Excellent work and very detailed (but see below).

Here is my gripe. I specifically came to this guide to read about the various calibration options with the Flow sensor (high flow USB G1/4) as I have the same unit. And then you go and say "nothing to configure". Bah!!!

This post (https://www.overclock.net/forum/61-...ter-usb-aquaero-5-xt-please.html#post20179960) does show some calibration options for the flow meter. I wasn't seeing that page until I connected my flow meeting using the USB and the 4-pin flow connection.

I have tried changing the 169 (the drop down shows various flow meter options with pre-defined calibration numbers but there is also a 'user defined' option that lets you put in any old number.

Everything thing I do has no impact on the reported flow reading. Is there some magic sause about how to change the calibration number that I am missing?
Click to expand...

Happy New Year ruffhi! This post that you linked is from June of 2013, and I do remember seeing a page like this in an older version of the Aquasuite software.


If I remember correctly several years back I think it was @fast_fate on this thread Water Cooling Test Thread had different numbers that you could put in for various diameters of tubing to get the calibration closer.

I did just find this post https://www.overclock.net/forum/25898261-post636.html

Quoting it for you here and notice this is Aquasuite 2016.
NeeqOne said:
This is the message I got from Sven
Quote: make sure that you have configured the sensor the right way as seen here:


Especially the calibration curve must be the same. If it looks different you are working with the wrong settings.

If the reading still looks weird you can try this: go to the tab configuration and untick the automatic zero flow calibration. Remove power from the pumps while the system is running (no problem as long as there is no load), wait a short moment to make sure that the water does not move anymore, click the button "set current flow as zero" and wait till the process is finished. Afterwards power the pump again.

Your tubing size seems quite large and the default configuration might not work. In this case you would have to do your own calibration.

To calibrate the sensor manually have a look at the following screenshot.



1.) Clear all data points.

2.) Start to set your loop to a lower flow rate. Click on the plus icon to take unscaled value from the sensor. This value describes the pressure value that the sensor sees.

3.) Check the flow rate from another reference flow sensor or check it manually with a bucket and stopwatch and enter its flow rate value here. Click on the add button to add a new calibration point to the curve. You have to repeat step 2 + 3 for at least three times to be able to let the aquasuite calculate a calibration curve. You can add up to 16 points but that should not be necessary. I recommend to do five or six point. The first at your lower flow rate and the last at your maximum. The other points should stay within the typical range that you want to use so that this range will be accurate.

4.) When you have add enough calibration points let the aquasuite calculate a curve by pressing this button.

5.) Each of your own calibration points will be indicated with a green dot. Make sure that they follow a rising curve. If for example on point in the middle is lower than the other points you have done something wrong: a typo in the number field for example. It is normal that the newly calibrated curve will not be completely in line with all you calibration points. If there is a specific range that you want to fix manually you can click on the red point and edit its values a bit lower in the text field.

When everything is done and working you should export your calibration settings and save them somewhere where you will find them again if necessary.

kind regards
Sven

I hope it helps.
Click to expand...


I keep both the USB and the aquabus cable connected to all of my MPS devices including the Flow Meter all the time. Here is what my Flow Sensors Tab looks like as of today. You can see I renamed the flow meter.


I am still running Aquasuite version 2018-9, but I think I remember reading that somewhere along the line the ability to calibrate the flow meters was removed from the Aqauasuite software but I am not sure.

With all the trouble you have had I am just guessing that your flow meter is bad.

.
 

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