Must-haves for EASY DIY controller?

Terhz I cant get my LEDs to dim on d11 I found the pin on the atmega chip and tested it at the chip and I still cant get it to dim for some reason do you have any ideas it has to be software or bad chip because I bent the pin out of its IC holder and tried using it that way so it cant be the board I am using I used your software and didnt change a thing on it
 
afgun said:
I particularly enjoy your explanation of how the Ph amplifier works!
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in knowing the real thinking behind the design. On my board, I'm going to be using the far simpler circuit shown here, and I can understand what's going on there - two stages, the first one that offsets the voltage so the -ve voltages all become positive, and the second stage that multiples so we can get sensible readings on the AVR.

Looking at the circuit for the hydra is just baffling though - especially since my analogue electronics is (ahem) well, "isn't" might be a better term :) Always willing to learn though, so anyone want to explain what U9, U8{a,b,c,d} actually do ? I'm interested in what the extra complexity in the circuit "buys you"... I was trying to match parts of the circuit to "well-known" op-amp configurations, but not getting very far...

[aside] I was hoping to scale everything down to 3.3v rather than 5v in the simple circuit I'm using, and I was basically going to do it by trial and error, but if I can get some insight into why you've done some of the things you've done, I may be able to adapt to my own needs :)[/aside]

Cheers :)

Simon
 
Last week I wired a DS18B20 temp sensor chip to a phone cord inside a ball point pen barrel encased in silicone. The phone cord wires (hairs) were so tiny that it was a total PITA. I got it working but I would get occasional/intermittent readings like -232 or such that I attributed to a short or loss of signal or something. I made another probe with another chip with bell wire from Lowe's and encased it in silicone in a piece of clear plastic tubing so that water can't get to it. It is rock solid right now but I wonder if the salt water will deteriorate the insulation on the wire. Does anyone have any concerns about putting insulated copper wire in the sump?
 
terahz how do you asign an address into the slave for temp sensors I managed to get mine retrieved also are you wiring in parisitic mode
 
I am not actually working on things speak still working on setting up the hydra I tried changing this line but I get a error compiling

// DTThermometer = { 0x28, 0x14, 0x0B, 0xB2, 0x02, 0x00, 0x00, 0x30 };
// RoomThermometer = { 0x28, 0xE9, 0xBC, 0xB1, 0x02, 0x00, 0x00, 0x9E };
// SumpThermometer = { 0x28, 0x69, 0xC4, 0xDF, 0x02, 0x00, 0x00, 0xA2 };
 
I'm using the DS18B20 in parasite mode use about 10 feet of bell wire from Home Depot. It is encased in a 4 inch piece of clear tubing that is filled with silicone. It seems to work fine until it will occasionally return a completely ridiculous number like -3250. It seems to get worse when the water gets warmer. I can take it out of the water and it will start to cool off and work correctly. I'm pretty sure that water is not getting to the chip because I can see it clearly through the tubing.

One funny thing is that sometimes I can move it around and it will work normally for a while. I wonder if some of the powerheads and pumps in the sump are interfering with it?

Would normal mode be any better than parasite?
 
The lines above are just comments. The code should discover your temp probes on startup so you don't have to specify the address for them.

As for the random values, It sounds like it is getting wet and shorting somewhere. If you think it is heat that is causing the problem, grab it with your arm and hold it for a while. It should heat up past 80F fairly quickly.

I'm not using parasite mode, so I can't comment on that. I just wired the probes properly. The cable shouldn't matter much because it is a digital signal and noise from powerheads will not cause a value change (unlike the LM34/35s).

I would recommend that you try in normal mode and triple check that you don't have water going in the probe. Mine are covered in hot glue, then adhesive heatshrink and last a layer of marine epoxy. I also use Canare L-4E5AT Star Quad microphone cable (http://www.markertek.com/Cables/Bul...rporation-Of-America/L-4E5AT.xhtml?L-4E5AT BK) that I have a bunch of left over from my audio days :)

So apart from the random temp reading, do you have the network working?
 
could be that I only have 1 temp probe wired currently I plan on having 3 inside the hood tank and inside hydra box have 2 more probes ordered maybe its wired wrong I did get my network going just barley modified a old wrt54g linksis router to but used as a wireless module so that I can actually use it on the network (Hydra hooks to wrt54g that sends data wireless to my wireless router that can send data to my laptop or internet)

heres a link to how I did it if anyone else needs to do it
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Bridged
 
yeah it is easier on d3 on the slave :).

F = C x 9/5 + 32.

There is a function you can use though:
DallasTemperature::toFahrenheit(temp_in_c);

Or if you want only F just change sensors.getTempC to sensors.getTempF where you see it in the slave code.
 
terahz said:
So apart from the random temp reading, do you have the network working?
Click to expand...

The only thing I have working now is monitoring temp and turning fans and lights off and on at various temps. That's working fine with the Chauvet Relay strip.

The random temp readings are bugging me. I had to put code in the sketch to only respond to temps is the narrow range that I expect. Without that the relay strip might just start "rattling" as it tried to turn things off and on. It doesn't do it constantly and seems to be worse when it gets warmer.

I used a 4.7K pull-up resistor based on what I found in an Arduino post. Today I looked in the data sheet and it called for a 10K. I thought "ah-ha"! Changed it and it didn't make a bit of difference.

It seems to work pretty well out in the open air and holding it in my hand to warm it. The common denominator seems to be when it is in the water. I don't have a ground probe and I even wondered if some stray voltage might be upsetting it. I looked at it carefully through the clear tubing and silicone and it seems to be perfectly potted at the chip and solder joints and about 2 inches of wire. I'm wondering now if the cheap bell wire I'm using might have tiny cracks in the insulation. I've got the wire hanging up now after I gave the last 4 or 5 feet a good wipe down with more silicone. We'll see in the morning if that makes a difference.

Seems like nobody else has this problem. What kind of wire is everybody else using? If this doesn't work I'm going to get a piece of CAT-5 and make another probe.
 
sanddune600,
Glad to hear everything is working so far.


shirley386,
It certainly sounds like your insulation is not right. Just fixt that and you should be good to go. I wouldn't leave it in the water as it is, because it could be causing shorts and overloading the hydra regulator or some other IC.

Can you post a high-res macro photo?

As for the wire, I posted earlier that I use Canare L-4E5AT Star Quad microphone cable (http://www.markertek.com/Cables/Bul...rporation-Of-America/L-4E5AT.xhtml?L-4E5AT BK)
 
Question - Think about this

Question - Think about this

Why does the temp chip have to be in the water in the first place? Think about this. If you get a small piece of Styrofoam and carve a small cavity just large enough for the chip to seat in, and carve a small groove for the wire, and then tape the whole thing to the outside of the back glass, how would that work? Wouldn't the glass be the same temp as the water?
 
NO!!! You have a lot of other influences for the temperature. The further removed from what your trying to measure the worse. Also the lag would be terrible...you'd essentially never see what the actual water temp was.
 
Hi,

I have spoken with local Chauvet distributor in Slovakia and he told me that even there is a 230V version of SR-8 Relay Pack with 8x IEC sockets this version is most probaly not ROHS certified therefore not sold in Europe at all. He did not find it in Europe ordering manager in UK European HQ. I called also to Chauvet sales support in US and they confirmed this and told that they sell 230V in Asia. Maybe that told me this only to get rid of me, because I cannot find any SR-8 in Asia :)

Do you know if there is any solution for switched sockets avalaible in Europe? Or should I rather get US version of SR-8 and use Nema 5-15 sockets even they are not allowed for 230V?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Aquarium Temperature Control: How I Hacked My Air Conditioner to control my tanks temperatures
Replies
6
Views
332
Naso180
N
R
DIY AI-coded ESP32 based aquarium controller
Replies
0
Views
681
ronnyking
R
E
Neptune DDR diy question for AWC
Replies
3
Views
360
Reefing102
Reefing102
J
Heater controller
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
Dustin07
D
B
Question on Mean Well 3-1 dimming
Replies
15
Views
574
bmichaelb
B
Back
Top