CAPTAIN 10 (AV10PS) Dairy & Livestock Ventilation Controller – Setup & User Guide

System overview

Thank you for purchasing the CAPTAIN System. It is designed for easy installation and operation. The system is designed to control curtains, heaters, and fans.

The CAPTAIN System is designed for the unique challenges of dairy and animal facilities. It connects to curtains, fans, heaters, soakers, and weather sensors, then uses temperature, humidity, and time-of-day rules to keep the barn comfortable for the herd.

Main features

• Temperature sensor
• Wind speed sensor option
• Humidity option
• Battery-backed clock
• 10 relay outputs
• Adjustable temperature settings
• Touch screen display
• Manual overrides

Installing the CAPTAIN

Consider the following before installing the Captain:

• Protect the enclosure from moisture – mount it in a secure and dry place.
• Important: only drill holes in the bottom of the enclosures.

Wiring the temperature sensor

Place the temperature sensor in the middle of the building or in a location that represents the building’s average temperature. It is important not to allow sensors to come into contact with direct sunlight.

Connect the temperature sensor to the Sensor #1 terminals. Polarity is not important.

Extending the temperature sensor

1. Run 18–22 AWG wire (twisted or shielded wire if possible) from the sensor to the Captain. Keep the sensor wire away from high-voltage wire by at least 1 foot. Specifically, keep it away from the VFD output wires.
2. Solder or use gel-filled crimps to connect your wires to the temperature sensor.

Connecting the wind meter

The windmeter is used to close curtains or shut off fans in high wind conditions. Use 18–24 AWG wire.

Captain series controls don’t sense wind direction, so they respond no matter which direction the wind comes from. Non-directional wind sensing is more useful for greenhouses than livestock.

Connecting a rain sensor

You can connect a rain sensor to the system. The rain sensor closes select vent motors when it’s raining. The system supports up to 3 rain sensors.

If you connected a rain sensor, the controller needs to know it. Setup parameters P41 thru P45 assign the sensor to the curtain motors.

Installing the rain sensor

When you are installing the wires, keep the rain sensor cord 6 inches away from high-voltage wires. The vent motor’s close signal is activated when the sensor is wetted. The position of the sensor versus the sky dictates the response.

Adding a 2nd and 3rd rain sensor

The wire colors are marked on the board and match the sensor’s cord.

Rain sensor DIP switches

The sensor has 4 sensitivity settings. Dip switches 1 & 2 set the rain detect threshold.

Sensitivity settings (switches 1 & 2)

15-minute delay after it stopped raining: normally the vent needs to reopen after it stopped raining. If you want it to stay closed for a while after the rain, set DIP switch 3 on. Normally we want #3 off, so vents re-open sooner.

Connecting a humidity sensor

The humidity sensor allows you to monitor and control the humidity. If humidity is too high a vent can open or a fan can start. If you connect a humidity sensor, it needs to be activated. Activate it by selecting humidity for setup parameter P10.

Location of the humidity sensor

Mount in a central location. Keep the sensor away from heaters or you will get a low reading when the heater is running.

Installing the humidity sensor

Route humidity sensor wires 6 inches away from high-voltage wires.

Powering the CAPTAIN

Requires 120V or 240v. Load is 5 amps for 120v and 2.5 for 240v.

Connecting to ventilation equipment

The relay board has 3 rows of terminals where you connect ventilation equipment. The bottom row is numbered for the corresponding relay number.

• The upper row is Normally open.
• The middle row is Normally closed.
• The bottom row is Common.

24v motor connector bus bars

The bus bars are aluminum strips that are intended to make it easy for low-voltage vent motors. They can be shortened or removed to allow fans, heaters, or lights to be connected instead of vent motors. To shorten them, remove the connector completely and use pliers to bend it repeatedly to break it apart.

Connecting DC motors

The CAPTAIN10 PS includes a 20-amp 24v motor supply. It is prewired to run several DC curtain motors. Each has a circuit breaker to protect the motors. Connect motors directly to the board as shown (connector bars installed).

Curtain motor circuit breakers

There are several curtain motor breakers. Each of them protects a motor. If a motor’s amps go too high, the center tab trips out. Press the tab in to reset.

There can be 5, 7.5 & 10 amp breaker sizes shipped with the controller for 24v motors. For best fabric protection use the smallest amp that doesn’t nuisance trip.

Relay assignments for this diagram: Relay #1 = Curtain 1 close signal, Relay #2 = Curtain 1 open signal; Relay #3 = Curtain 2 close, Relay #4 = Curtain 2 open; Relay #5 = Curtain 3 close, Relay #6 = Curtain 3 open; Relay #7 = Curtain 4 close, Relay #8 = Curtain 4 open.

Connecting AC vent motors

Small 120v AC vent motors can be run directly from the board as long as they are 1/4 hp or less.

Disconnect the DC motor power supply by insulating the Blue and Purple wires feeding the circuit board.

Connecting AC fans

Always use contactors to run fans. The controller will switch fan contactors on and off. In most installations, many fan contactors can be connected to a single relay.

Connecting variable speed fans

0-10v VFDs can be connected and their speed controlled automatically by temperature. VFDs use 2 signals, a speed signal and a start signal. Wiring consists of both these signals which always takes at least 4 conductors.

The speed signal is dc voltage which varies between 0-10v volts. 10v is 100% speed, 0 = stopped (but still energized). The start signal is a Normally Open switch to tell the VFD when to energize the motor.

Multiple VFDs can be connected in series. The maximum varies by brand. The limit varies between 5 and 50 VFDs. AutoVent brand VFDs have a max of 50.

Reconfigurable outputs

Fans, heaters, lights, and curtain motors can be mapped to any relay. The only limitation is that multiples of an equipment type use consecutive relays.

Example: if there are 4 fans (as per parameter P2) and the fan’s start relay is 1 (parameter P3), relays 1 thru 4 will be the fan circuits.

Screen overview & overrides

The screen shows you what is happening. You can see the temperature and the status of the relays. Press on the temperature to go to your settings. Press the bottom row of buttons to manually override.

Parameter reference

There are parameters that you can change. The parameters are labeled P1, P2… These parameters are the temperature setpoints and values you can adjust. From the parameter screen you can scroll to other parameters and edit each parameter ID.

Curtain parameters

Fan temperature parameters

The temperature parameters control the starting temperature. The fans are used for cooling. They will turn on above the temperature setpoint. If humidity is connected, fan #1 can be set to clear out the high humidity.

THI index

The THI index uses the average temperature and the humidity to turn the fans on sooner. This allows the controller to think more like a cow. You can adjust how much humidity and high temperatures affect the index.

Variable fan parameters

Controlling the speed signal: the variable speed output is a 0-10v signal. This means the controller outputs 10v to indicate 100% speed to a VFD, 0v to indicate no speed. The VFD will run at the minimum speed when the temperature reaches the “start temperature.” As the temperature continues to rise the VFD will run faster until it reaches 100% speed. The VFD is at 100% speed when the temperature reaches “Max speed.”

You can add 2 additional 0-10v zones with a KVT-EX02 expansion module. P17 sets the number of zones you wish to use.

Milking time

If you want the fans and soakers to only be on certain times of the day, the milking schedule is for you. Enable P40 and then fans and soakers will only run if it’s during a milking time.

P40 must be enabled for milking times to be enabled on the unit.

Light timer

The lights are a simple time clock that goes on and off based on the time you enter. It is based on 24hr time in 6-minute intervals.

Heater parameters

The parameters control the starting temperature.

Evaporative cooling

The evaporative cooling app is for running high pressure misting or cool cells. It has 1 or 2 stages. High pressure misting with a pump and lots of nozzles potentially would use both stages.

As it gets more humid, the evaporative cooling can automatically turn off to keep the barn from becoming saturated. If the system cycles too quickly, increase the hysteresis and time delay between stages.

Duty cycle fan

The duty cycle fan was intended to control a fan to provide a variable amount of air by stopping and starting it. You can set how long the cycle is to keep it from cycling too often. Cycling too often will prematurely wear the contacts and your motors.

Soakers

The soakers function by turning a valve on and off. The spray and dry-off times ramp between setpoints to give you an infinitely adjusted water output. For reduced water demand, each zone takes turns spraying. It controls up to 6 individual soakers. The amount of water used and how often it sprays is controlled by the temperature or temperature index.

Sprinkler temperature settings

The spray time ramps between low and high spray seconds with the barn temperature. The first zone has its own spray seconds. The remaining zones share spray settings.

The dry-off / interval time ramps between low and high dry-off minutes with the barn temperature. All zones share the dry-off minutes. The interval time is the amount of time each zone waits between sprinkles.

In the eastern USA, it’s typical to spray for about 30–60 seconds. This varies with the spray tip size. The goal is to get the cow wet but not running onto her udder. When the side of the leg is wet, it’s time to stop. The dry-off time usually is 15 minutes at 70° and 5 minutes at 90°.

Setup configurations

Specifications

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