Insulation Machine Remote Control Volumatic III

This is a DIY remote control for a Volumatic III insulation blowing machine.

The remote system from RFhero is over $1000 and replacement remotes are upwards of $400. It’s a good product but the remotes only last a year or two and the last 3 remotes I sent in for repair they charged me for diagnostic and told me I still had to buy a new remote.

This hack uses an inexpensive 4 channel 433mhz transmitter and receiver, has several hundred yard range and the overall cost is around $30-50 depending what you have on hand, if you print your own enclosures & can scrounge bits of wire and screws.

Disclaimer: This is experimental. Follow or Duplicate at your own risk!! While it has been tested and working good for us, results may vary for any number of reasons. To go any further into this instructable is at-your-own-risk and you are agreeing to hold me harmless!!

You will need a receiver/remote/antenna, some magnets for securing the receiver mount, 1-2 feet of 12-3 electrical cord, (1) 3 Wire 15A 125V Grounding Locking Plug NEMA L5-15 Part # WBL515P and (1) IN4007 Diode, (4) M2 X 15mm stainless self-tapping screws. and (1) terminal for the ground wire, A 9v (rechargeable is best), And a printed enclosure.

For the tester you will also need the L5-15R female flanged socket and (2) light bulbs…I just used a couple of bulbs and the wiring from a scrapped string of Christmas lights.

You can probably scrounge the screws, diode and a few inches of small 20 gauge jumper wire that will get soldered between the relays and power in terminal on the relay board from an older appliance like a copier, etc.

Here is some of my affiliate links on my Amazon if you feel like giving me a little kick-back.

https://amzn.to/4lfE7d1

https://amzn.to/4neen2m

https://amzn.to/4eeDOwV

https://amzn.to/3ZYjfil

Here also is a link for the remote relay/receiver on Aliexpress-

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806029244797.html?pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000036318085752%22%7D&sourceType=1&spm=a2g0o.wish-manage-home.0.0&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt.

NOTE: The remote from Amazon and Aliexpress appear identical, there is a chance the relays could be in a different order on the AliExpress ones which makes it a little harder to copy my wiring. Also the AliExpress ones so far have not had the Sleep-mode.

Download the STL file from my Tinkercad link if you want/need to modify it for any reason-

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/d6zcw2C9jFh-blow-remote-receiver-case/edit?returnTo=%2Fdashboard%2Fdesigns%2F3d&sharecode=A_KMF6Zcd8w498Izhy6IOn87VzJltVRdolrRb5Zn94E.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7072545

It has a lot of overhang.. I have a 45 degree belt printer so it’s not an issue but you may need to re-orient it or generate support for your print.

And here’s a link to have it printed. I’m ordering some in 9600 SLA resin that they say is good for electrical enclosures and very inexpensive-

https://jlc3dp.com/

Insert you DC power source into the power input terminals. You can use any 12-36v source. I'm using two 9v batteries in parallel.

If your relay board light doesn’t flash upon being energized, you have the polarity reversed, switch the wires .

First thing is to take the remote out of energy saving “ sleep mode” (some models do not have it).

Do this by holding “A” & “C” buttons simultaneously for 6 seconds. This will need to be done every time the remote is in disuse for 10 minutes.

Next we need to erase the programming.

Hold the learn button for 6 seconds, the receiver light will flash 3X.

Now we need to program all the remote buttons to “latch mode”,

press the learn button 3X. Again the receiver will flash 3X.

Next we Pair the remote by pressing any key on the remote. The receiver will flash 1x when you press any button on the remote.

Press a different button and now the remote light will flash and the receiver relay will click.

When you press a button in “latch mode” the relay will click once … if you press the same again you will hear nothing but if you press any another button, you will hear a disengaging click.

This is how you know it is programmed correctly.

If it was not successful start over by erasing The memory.

NOTE: If you ever need to replace the Remote, start the procedure from the top, Erase the programming, Re-program the board in “Latch-Mode”, and Pair the new remote. This makes sure you do not have two remotes paired at the same time.

We will be making the "B" button relay to cut power to the "air and Air/material function so we need to determine which relay the "B" button controls.

You could use any button cut the power, but to make the button guard I designed useable, the buttons need to be in the same order, and to follow my wiring instructions and make things as simple as possible we will go with the "B" button/relay.

Put your multimeter leads the "NC" normally closed and "Com" terminals of any relay. With the meter on continuity, press each button until the alarm sounds. Mark the relay with the letter of the corresponding button.

”D” Is Not Used and We Will Be Disabling It Inside the Remote in the Last Step After Testing.

I noticed that if "D" is pressed without anything hooked to it ,it will chatter and not turn off without pushing another button. This is not an issue with the switch guard because "D" will not be accessible.

But, if you are not using the switch guard, follow the step at the end of the instructable to permanently disable, but not until we are done testing.

OR...you could use "D" to energize an add-on like a flashlight, which would come in handy when blowing insulation in a dark attic...Hmmmm I see an add-on coming..

First we will be adding the Ground lead with a terminal that will screw to the frame of the Volumatic III.

Tin and Solder a piece of 12 ga.wire to the backside of the board on the negative lead of the Power input. This makes it fit best in the case.

Tin the and solder the the opposite end of the wire and crimp your eye terminal on. Solder it also.

Tin a short piece of 20 ga. wire to the underside of the board on the positive lead. This will go to "com" lead on your Relay "B" . This will energize the board for operations and provide a shut-off for the "Air" and "Material" clutches.

Follow the schematic for the rest of the jumpers and the diode. you can solder them directly to the board or use the screw terminals/ or do a combination of both.

Note: You don't have to solder jumpers to the backside of the board, you could just use the screws terminals. If you Tin the copper with solder it will make a stronger connection in the terminals. I found soldering directly to the board fit in the enclosure better.

Next we will attach the Plug (NEMA L5-15 ) to the 12-3 cable as shown in the first picture of the Plug.. .

The green wire will go in the Green screw terminal . While looking at the Green terminal, The White wire will go to the left and the Black to the Right.

Note: While this is a 220v connector, it is used with the Volumatic only for 12VDC. The Green terminal on the Plug will provide 12VDC power from the Insulation blowing machine to power the relay board, and the black and white wires will transfer this 12VDC for the Material and Air clutches as determined by the remote control wiring. I don't like it...But this is the connector Certainteed chose.

In the previous step the White wire was attached to the "N.O." (normally open) screw terminal on the "A" relay .

The Black wire was attached to the "N.O." screw terminal on the "C" relay.

The Green wire was attached toe the "N.C." screw ternminal of the "B" relay.

Mix up the 2 part epoxy and glue the magnets into the base.

I recommend doing this before final assembly assembly in case your 3d printed part is porous. This way you dont permanently glue your circuit board inside...which at the price you will be making these assemblies it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Also glue a magnet to the base of the antennae as the factory ones is pretty weak-sauce

In Progress

I built a remote tester. It is powered by a 9v rechargeable and has Christmas lights that indicate the remote performance of the “Air”, “Air/Material” and “Off” modes.

Included is the latest STL file… as you can see I’ve been tweaking it trying to use the least amount of filament and print time.

http://www.tinkercad.com/things/j2UWxq4QnRz

I don't know why, but when Relay "D" is activated without a load on the relay, it oscillates or chatters as if it in an "on/off" state. Since this project doesn't use 4 relays, we are going to disable it by disassembling the back covers and "snipping" the carbon pile switch as shown. It's a bit redundant because the switch guard covers it.

I found these rechargeable 9v batteries that work well. You have to remove the battery cover and the rear screw. Cut a chunk out of the remote case and some notches by worrying the plastic with a pair of pliers as shown.

This batch or rechargeables came with a double adapter to charge the battery in the remote and an extra battery simultaneously.