HeaterMeter Hardware v4.3.3, v4.3.4, v4.3.5, v4.3.6


 
I just finished up building a Heatermeter 4.3 along with a case, a stand, and an Adapt-a-Damper housing. I have a dozen different radial fans, but none of them are the correct size, so I have to wait a few more days until the correct fan is delivered. However, the unit seems to work.

I want to thank all the people for providing the electronically challenged people of the world with such an easy path to success. The kit was perfect and the on-line instructions are really great. If you have a decent iron and a little experience in soldering, I would imagine that anyone could build one without difficulty. I moved my soldering station from my work bench to my computer desk so I could follow along step by step and double/triple check the wonderful photographs of the various boards and components.

I'm an experienced 3D print guy. I'm greatly impressed with the precision and accuracy of the STL files for the case, the stand, and the fan/servo housing. Great job guys.

I'm looking forward to transitioning from the fan only controller I build several years ago and using the Heatermeter. My problem has been too much air leaking past the fan when trying low-and slow cooking and I anticipate that my new set-up with a damper will solve that problem.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this project.
 
I'd love to see in a next version an option for a more robust power plug. For some reason my power supply has spotty - perhaps the center pin sizes don't match up on mine but there are screw in locking power pins and it would be ideal...
 
NeilHeuer said:
I'd love to see in a next version an option for a more robust power plug. For some reason my power supply has spotty - perhaps the center pin sizes don't match up on mine but there are screw in locking power pins and it would be ideal...
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Yup, you have something thats not right.

Nothing wrong with Heatermeter power supply, it fits snug, holds tight , works great.
Try the one sold in heatermeter store
 
I've never had a problem with the power connector being loose or touchy and I've had HeaterMeters for longer than anyone! (despite leaving them outside for days at a time)

There are two standards for the size of the inner pin, 2.1mm and 2.2mm so perhaps that power supply expects the 2.2mm inner pin. The listing for that power supply doesn't say what size it uses, so it is possible it expects the larger center pin. Try one with a 5.5mm x 2.1mm barrel jack.
 
I second that, I have never had a problem with the power jack... I've used all sorts of random power adapters and find it works great with most of them, please do not change it!
 
hi all, I recently purchased, soldered, and assembled the heatermeter (thermistor), adapt-a-damper, and cases. Everything is working fine(except the servo), though I had to work through some mosfet issues initially because I soldered them in backward the first time. I've been reading and troubleshooting for about a week but haven't found a solution with the parts and tools I have at hand. My next step is to order new servo to test with. Also, i've read about adding a capacitor on the RJ45 in the adapt-a-damper case but I'm not sure in my case that makes sense....as I thought this cap would be used to troubleshoot erradic behavior of a servo and not the issue of having no response at all from the servo. I've posted a picture of my devices (note I have the wires for fan and servo tied together outside of the rj45 as i was trying to eliminate possible points of failure and also using a very short network cable for this testing). Lastly, please note that I've measured voltages on both ends of the rj45 (heatmeter) and rj45(fan/servo) and all voltages appear to be inline with those provided on the website by the team. I'm open to trying anything else if anyone has other ideas I should try.

Thanks
 

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I know you said that you had 4.96V on the 5V line, but what's the voltage on the servo pin (at either the RJ45 jack or the far end). With a servo range set up in the configuration to be 1000 to 2000 with fully open at 100%, I get 0.390V at 0% output, and 0.630V at 100% output. The values will be different depending on how your multimeter handles a constantly changing voltage, but you should see a voltage difference on the signal pin when the output changes.
 
Bryan Mayland said:
I know you said that you had 4.96V on the 5V line, but what's the voltage on the servo pin (at either the RJ45 jack or the far end). With a servo range set up in the configuration to be 1000 to 2000 with fully open at 100%, I get 0.390V at 0% output, and 0.630V at 100% output. The values will be different depending on how your multimeter handles a constantly changing voltage, but you should see a voltage difference on the signal pin when the output changes.
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Hi Bryan, thanks for the response. The readings I get are as follows:

Fan at 100%
@ Circuit Board Readings@ RJ45 Readings
Servo Signal ->4.98V (constant)4.92V (constant)
5V Line ->5.01V (constant)4.96V (constant)
Fan at 0%
Servo Signal ->4.98V (constant)4.98V (constant)
5V Line -5.01V (constant)5.01V (constant)

Since these values are much higher than what you have sent, I'm assuming there is a problem;)

Bob
 
Ah we're on to something there! Check at Q5 (one of the BS170s) it should be 0.390V on the top left pin, ~0.250V on the top right, and 3.3V on the bottom middle pin. Sounds like that part there might be blown and not transferring the servo signal.
 
Bryan Mayland said:
Ah we're on to something there! Check at Q5 (one of the BS170s) it should be 0.390V on the top left pin, ~0.250V on the top right, and 3.3V on the bottom middle pin. Sounds like that part there might be blown and not transferring the servo signal.
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Hi Bryan, checking the voltages as you mentioned above on Q5, I get 4.96V top left pin, 2.26V on the top right, and 3.3V on the bottom middle pin. I will replace it to see if that results in the voltages you've provided. One question, if I look at the troubleshooting voltages guide....on Q5 the voltages on the picture show Yellow=12V for top left pin, Green=?V for top right, and Pink=3.3V for middle pin. or am I reading this incorrectly? Thanks
 
RobMorey said:
If I look at the troubleshooting voltages guide....on Q5 the voltages on the picture show Yellow=12V for top left pin, Green=?V for top right, and Pink=3.3V for middle pin.
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Oh wow good catch. 3 years that image has been up there and I've never noticed that is wrong. The top left should not be yellow, it should be a green dot. Green dot just means "not specified" or "it depends". The voltages I've provided here I just measured from an active 4.3 device, and it on mine it was actually 0.390V (top left), 0.285V (top right), 3.28V (middle bottom), at 0% output. If you just remove Q5, it should change to 5V, 0.285V (no change), 3.3V. If it does then Q5 just needs to be replaced and you'll be back in business. If it doesn't, then likely the ATmega will need to be replaced as well, but that is unlikely.
 
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RobMorey said:
Hi Bryan, checking the voltages as you mentioned above on Q5, I get 4.96V top left pin, 2.26V on the top right, and 3.3V on the bottom middle pin. I will replace it to see if that results in the voltages you've provided. One question, if I look at the troubleshooting voltages guide....on Q5 the voltages on the picture show Yellow=12V for top left pin, Green=?V for top right, and Pink=3.3V for middle pin. or am I reading this incorrectly? Thanks
Click to expand...
Checking back, after replacing the Q5 BS170....I still have the same readings as I reported above. Based on your previous comment, I will try replacing the ATmega and see how the system responds. One thing, the voltage on my top right is significantly higher (2.26V vs your 0.285V) reading then what you have. Would ATmega also be a cause for this or possibly something else?
 
RobMorey said:
Checking back, after replacing the Q5 BS170....I still have the same readings as I reported above.
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Can you try measuring it without Q5 in place? The top right pin should definitely not be that high, although I'm wondering if your multimeter reports voltages differently. It is a 3.3V signal that's 1ms long followed by a 19ms pause, which could theoretically be called anything from 0V to 3.3V I suppose.
 
Bryan Mayland said:
Can you try measuring it without Q5 in place? The top right pin should definitely not be that high, although I'm wondering if your multimeter reports voltages differently. It is a 3.3V signal that's 1ms long followed by a 19ms pause, which could theoretically be called anything from 0V to 3.3V I suppose.
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Bryan, taking out the Q5 and measuring. I saw 0V on both the right/left holes and I saw 2.46V on the middle hole. This was the same no matter what speed I had the fan set at.
 
Errrrrrrrooooo that doesn't sound right at all. The middle hole is connected to VCC which is 3.3V, check it at the ATmegea. The left hole should be pulled up using that 1K resistor next to the power jack, verify both sides of that have 5V. The right pin is driven by the servo output SVO at the ATmega. If those three check out, then unplug power and check continuity between VCC->Middle Pin, Right pin of 1K resistor -> Left Pin, SVO -> Right Pin.

This is all looking from the soldered side of the HeaterMeter board, not the component side I should say. If you have a hard time measuring the SVO/VCC you can run the HeaterMeter without the LCD/Button board attached, just remove it before powering up.
 
Bryan Mayland said:
Errrrrrrrooooo that doesn't sound right at all. The middle hole is connected to VCC which is 3.3V, check it at the ATmegea. The left hole should be pulled up using that 1K resistor next to the power jack, verify both sides of that have 5V. The right pin is driven by the servo output SVO at the ATmega. If those three check out, then unplug power and check continuity between VCC->Middle Pin, Right pin of 1K resistor -> Left Pin, SVO -> Right Pin.

This is all looking from the soldered side of the HeaterMeter board, not the component side I should say. If you have a hard time measuring the SVO/VCC you can run the HeaterMeter without the LCD/Button board attached, just remove it before powering up.
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Bryan, sorry it took so long to get a response back to you, trying to work from home with kids who need help on homework is a bit tough. I decided to clean up the Q5 area and put the BS170 back into the board. I then measured as you asked and captured the measurements in the attached picture (sorry probably more than you actually wanted to get). Note, I took measurements with the fan at 100% and LCD on the board and off the board (to the readings on the RPi connector). All 12V measurements match that of the picture so I didn't put any annotations on the jpg. If I read your feedback correctly, the ATMega/VCC is holding the middle pin of Q5 at 2.46V (in my case). The 3.3V pins on the ATMega are definitely lower than they should be (except those at AVC and AAE.
Continuity: VCC and Middle Pin had continuity, but no continuity on the right and left pins to the resistor and SVO. Just a thought, I've had to remove 2 BS170's from the Q5 location already. Is there a chance I screwed up the board enough where I may have broke the connections where the pins go through the board? I hate taking so much of your time on this, maybe it's time to just purchase another base board and scrap the old one;)
 

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