HeaterMeter 4.3 build, everything working but fan

[Brian.Park.SoCal]

Hey, HeaterMeter community! First let me say, what an amazing device. It was my first soldering experience and while I messed up more than once (including soldering the LCD upside down...) most of the device seems to be working great. I am running a WSM22 and I am able to get a solid 12+ hours at 225 +/- 7 leaving the top vent open and using the MicroDamper servo from SteveCK. After trying to run the manually the first few times I smoked, the HM is a godsend and I am awed by the people who made it happen!

When I first wired the MicroDamper, the fan seemed to work but the servo didn't. After I figured out that I neglected to connect the servo ground, the servo works great but the fan hasn't worked since. Now, being new to electronics and soldering, I haven't the slightest clue on what/where/how to check the HM to determine why the fan isn't spinning. I bought a multimeter but don't know where to begin. [embarrassed laugh] Someone I asked locally told me to test just the fan with a 9v battery, but I didn't want to try that if there was a possibility I could fry the fan by doing so. Any tips (you might have to dumb it down and be very specific)?

Thank you in advance!
Brian

 

[Darren L]

Have you tried disconnecting the servo ground to see if the fan starts to work again? I applaud you for getting this far on your first soldering job. Was your 12+ hour cook with the fan or the servo working? Just trying to make sure I have a clearer picture of the timeline.

 

[Bryan Mayland]

You definitely can power the fan with a 9V battery to see if it works, although if it is wired up you might have a hard time doing so.

Some basic troubleshooting: Set your blower to "Pulse" mode in the webui (instead of Voltage). Then set the setpoint to 100%. Now with the multimeter, measure the voltage between the BLOW and GND pins on the HeaterMeter output jack (the RJ45). Should be 12V. Blower still doesn't work? You've got a problem in your wiring going to the fan. Don't have 12V? PCB soldering problem. This is all with the HeaterMeter powered on 12V power obviously.

 

[Brian.Park.SoCal]

I apologize for the long delay in responding to the assistance the community is providing! Other parts of life took priority over my desire to get my HeaterMeter working, and I literally have not gotten to touch my WSM or HeaterMeter since my last post. Thank you very much again for your help!

Have you tried disconnecting the servo ground to see if the fan starts to work again? I applaud you for getting this far on your first soldering job. Was your 12+ hour cook with the fan or the servo working? Just trying to make sure I have a clearer picture of the timeline.

Darren, what's odd is I did disconnect the servo ground and then the fan worked for literally a few seconds. Then I repositioned and tried again and it's back to not working. The 12+ hour cook was just with the servo. That's why I'm even more impressed with the WSM/HeaterMeter combo and hoping the fan will allow me to get a rock solid 325 on the WSM for higher temp cooks.

You definitely can power the fan with a 9V battery to see if it works, although if it is wired up you might have a hard time doing so.

Some basic troubleshooting: Set your blower to "Pulse" mode in the webui (instead of Voltage). Then set the setpoint to 100%. Now with the multimeter, measure the voltage between the BLOW and GND pins on the HeaterMeter output jack (the RJ45). Should be 12V. Blower still doesn't work? You've got a problem in your wiring going to the fan. Don't have 12V? PCB soldering problem. This is all with the HeaterMeter powered on 12V power obviously.

Bryan, the fan works with a 9V battery. Thanks for assuaging my fears on that test! I tried following your steps and am not getting 12V between the BLOW and GND pins. It's fluctuating somewhere above 80V (I am getting a rock solid 4.9V between the +5V and GNC pins). How is this possible if I am powering the device with a 12V power block (again, forgive my newb electronics knowledge)?