Assembly help


 

Shane Toner

New member
Heatermeter just arrived (soldered) and I still need help! No idea how to connect the raspberry pi zero w to the unit. Also need to know what wires to punch down and where on the cat5 jack from the fan and servo. Thanks to anyone that can help!
 
If you have a Zero, then you need to solder a header to it. If you un-sure about doing that then maybe you instead get a rpi3, in which case you may need a new case of it was for the Zero.

Did you buy this premade unit from someone via the forums? If so, then they should have already had it pre wired. I don't send any heatermeter to anybody without first knowing there ability or I make sure it's ready for them to use.

As for the cat5 cable, I'm currently at work and unable to give you the correct wires, also note depending on your cat5 cable you have the wire colors may be different also, so you need away to verify the connections too.

I'm sure someone will chime in and give a hand on wiring it up though.
 
Thanks John, I'll have to get a header and solder it I guess. I'll go to microcenter tomorrow and see what they have. I bought the premade unit and case and power supply, fan and micro sd card off the heatermeter website. Getting the rotodamper from Ralph. Picked up the servo and thermocouple and probes on Amazon and got the rpi at microcenter for $5.
 
Got the header pins and soldered them successfully! Now cant find the device. Heatermeter shows up on my phone when searching for wifi but cant find device through the site
 
Sounds like it's still in AP mode. Go here, choose Raspi Zero option, fill in your wifi name and password and re-flash the SD card with the downloaded image.
 
Thanks Steve, I didn't download the image as I was having trouble with it. I opened up the config file and followed the instructions as best I could. Changed the ssid and the password. Not sure what to try next
 
I would go to http://heatermeter.com/dl/ and select "latest development snapshot", then select your rPi version. Select Client Mode below and enter your SSID and password and download that image (I would add "WIFI" or something to the name so you know it is your pre-configured WIFI build). Flash that image to your SD card and boot from it, watch your HM LCD and hope a IP appears in the same block as your wifi within a minute or so, connect to that IP with a browser (from device on your wifi network). You can go to http://heatermeter.com/devices/ (from a device connected to your wifi) and see if your HM and it's IP address are listed there.

IF that doesn't connect then go back to the dl page and grap the "Access Point" build and flash that to the SD and boot. This time the HM should show up when you scan on your phone for wifi networks, connect to HEATERMETER hotspot then browse to the IP shown on HM LCD during boot (192.168.201.1). From there load Config/Network/WiFi and SCAN for wireless networks, select yours and connect. Watch for new IP on LCD when you reboot the HM or go to the HM devices page to see it.
 
Thanks Steve, I didn't download the image as I was having trouble with it. I opened up the config file and followed the instructions as best I could. Changed the ssid and the password. Not sure what to try next

Does your wifi name have any non A-Z 0-9 characters in it?
 
Also make sure you remove the # at the beginning of those two lines to activate them.

Deleted the # and working!! Thank you so much for all the help Bryan and everyone else. What a great product! I am now looking forward to mastering the program! I will test it out on a 12 pound brisket overnight tonight!! Should have the rotodamper for next weekend so will have a busy August!! Thanks so much guys.
 
Great! Glad you're up and running.

Note that you need to select which type of probes you're using in the webui for them to work properly or show up. By default they are configured for the Thermoworks Pro-Series probes. I'd be extremely dubious of your TP-20 probes just so happening to be made from exact same part inside as the thermoworks probes, even if they read close at room temperature. 25C/77F is the convergence point for thermistors of the same resistance so it seems like they work, but they'll most likely have different curves so if you put them in a cup of boiling water, HeaterMeter might read 300F or 100F. Do not use the probe "Offset" option to try to adjust a probe to match a different type of probe-- that will make one point match up, but it shifts ALL points so they will now be off at every other temperature.
 
Ok it seems as if the TP-20 probes work perfectly! Just put the thermocouple and my two probes and one maverick replacement that I bought in some water at a rolling boil. The thermocouple read about 212 the whole time and my two were at 210 and 209 and the Maverick replacement was at 205. (Its the one where the stem is long and you have to pull it back a little to get it to register ET-732) Right now at room temp they read 0-85 1-83 2-82 3-78
 
Is there a way to connect to the HM and monitor the cook from a smartphone without being on the same wifi network as the HM? I cannot connect from regular service but if I join the wifi then I can locate the HM.
 
Is there a way to connect to the HM and monitor the cook from a smartphone without being on the same wifi network as the HM? I cannot connect from regular service but if I join the wifi then I can locate the HM.

If you want to control the heatermeter from your phone off network, I use a free service called NoIp.com. you set up the service and then you set your routers forwarding service to point to the Ip of the heatermeter and port 80.

Mine is
http://gravityfeed.ddns.net

Its currently offline though
 
Ok thanks John, I'll try that. Not sure why it cant be accessed through the web somehow if its connected to wifi but that's why computers aren't my thing. My rotodamper arrived today! I have it all hooked up and the fan is working but cant tell if the servo is working or not. Is there a way to test it? Does it move every time the fan adjusts?
 
Shane, your house router/gateway has a security feature called Network Address Translation, aka NAT. Without getting into all of the details, it's what allows connections outbound from your house network, but is fairly effective at preventing inbound connection attempts. This is what John is referring to when he says "set your routers forwarding service to point to the Ip of the heatermeter...." That effectively bypasses or shortcuts the NAT functionality and burrows through your gateway.

Set your HM to run in manual mode, and run it from 0% up to 100% and back down. You'll see it run the fan & damper assembly from 0 RPMs and fully closed to wide open and fully open. This is also how you should be setting the servo parameters so that the damper is fully closed and open.
 
Thank you JKalchik. Don't know how to put it in manual mode but I have been changing the pit temp from 225 to 0 on the config page. The servo will move if its helped but otherwise just sits there, hums and gets real hot. Bad servo? Could it be wired wrong? I double checked everything.
 
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What do you have set for the Servo Pulse Duration settings in the HM Config? Try using 700-2000 and see if the servo moves properly.
To check wiring you can (unplug the power from the HM and...) use a multimeter to check continuity from the servo connections to the CAT5 jack on the HM board. Brown servo wire should go to the pin marked GND, Red wire should go to pin marked +5V, Orange wire should go to pin marked SERVO.
 
Thanks Ralph. Changed the settings to pulse and 700-2000 and nothing changed. It is turning after a few taps but not fully or even much at all
 

 

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