HeaterMeter v4.0 for RaspberyPi / Standalone


 
They're not thermocouples (or thermocouplers). They're thermistors, which are type "Internal" and then use the preset link to select which model Maverick probes you have. If you have ET-732 probes, they may read as "Off" at room temperature until they warm up to 100F or so. Also ET-732s may need to be grounded to work properly.

EDIT: Also ET-732s can be inserted too far into the jacks. The should just go in until they snap in place, not all the way inserted.
 
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Ok thanks for the info I have to admit I am new at this stuff :) I found that one probe works very well in one of the jacks consistently the other probes don't work in that jack and the working one doesn't work well in the other jacks. I will go back to internal and see if that fixes my problems!

EDIT: I updated to internal and I can get the first two ports to work but not the last two. I assume at this point it is a hardware problem on my assembly? My solder joints look good on the ports and the resistors I need to look at the schematics to see whats next in line....


Thanks,

Neil
 
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Ok gents I am stumped for sure now. I confirmed that all of my plugs for the probes are properly grounded. I confirmed my solders for the resistors for each probe is measuring proper resistance on the board side. I have continuity between the one side of the resistor and the plug and I have continuity from the other side of the resistor to the chip. I basically have a complete circuit between the chip and the plug so now I am at a loss why only two out of three plugs would work with the same probe. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Neil
 
I thought maybe it was the temperature issue being under 100 so I put the probe in some hot water. The pit probe read 135, food probe 1 read 1135?! and then the other two remained off. Very strange.
 
Recheck your resisters as being correct. And resolder with putting solder resin flux on each solder joint, that will make the joints pool up on the pads better.
 
I resoldered all four resistors today and same behavior unfortunately so that made me test with the water. I know I used the correct resistors but I will double check for sure.

Man this is frustrating I have been through this thing with a fine tooth comb - I'd like to believe and I still can't get it working. Is there a chance the IC is bad? I know it might be remote but unless it is software or the IC I feel like everything else checks out?

Thanks,

Neil
 
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Ok I am a total moron. I don't know why but the settings were different on those ports and when I picked the default and reset them it started working. I really am smarter than that but for some reason I appeared to be part of the lesser than average group. Hopefully my slowness might help other people from getting bitten by a snake that is right in their face!

Neil
 
Glad its working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah I looked again and all I did was pick the presets and repopulate things and hit save and apply. Now all are working but my pit sensor which is probably a soldering joint I screwed up fixing the others I didn't have to. I will go back in there tomorrow and work on it tomorrow.

I need to purchase new probes. Can anyone suggest some probes? I was hoping to find something with a super long lead since I am going to use this with my big smoker.

Thanks!

Neil
 
Yeah I looked again and all I did was pick the presets and repopulate things and hit save and apply. Now all are working but my pit sensor which is probably a soldering joint I screwed up fixing the others I didn't have to. I will go back in there tomorrow and work on it tomorrow.

I need to purchase new probes. Can anyone suggest some probes? I was hoping to find something with a super long lead since I am going to use this with my big smoker.

Thanks!

Neil

These have a 6 foot cable on them.

http://maverickhousewares.bigcartel.com/product/et-72-73-high-heat-6ft-food-probe
 
Sooooo.....I should know better but I was lazy and didn't go upstairs to grab a mini-USB cable and decided what the heck, the board looks right, let's plug it into 12V. And wait for it....wait for it...nothing happens then all of a sudden I get a nice spark shooting out of my AC/DC adapter. Crapola. I inspect everything. I don't see any visible damage. I do notice the ATMEGA chip wasn't seated properly, but it was still connected. I provided enough pressure to get it to snap in completely. I separated the RPi and I get the boot screen but I don't have a keyboard connected to it. I guess it's working?

I plugged into the microUSB of the Rpi and nothing happens other than I see the RPi power led come on. The DIP-16 74HC595 feels warm.

So I pretend to play around with the multimeter but really don't know where to start. So I'm hear to freely admit my newbie mistake and hope someone here can point me in the right direction. I've triple check orientation of parts, etc but can't figure this out. Any help is appreciated!
 
After sleeping on it and rechecking things, it became painfully obvious that the DIP-16 74HC595 was installed in the wrong orientation. So, I'll swap that around, but I guess the real question is what else should I check out before I try to power up again (w/3.3V)?
 
Simple stuff but make sure the pi is on the right way? That the diodes are oriented the correct way along with the capacitors. That should do It I would think?
 
Also, check to make sure the rPi is getting enough voltage. check the volts with your multimeter between test point 1 and the 12v input on the HeaterMeter. This should be between 4.75 and 5.25 volts.
 
Swapped out the DIP-16 in the right orientation and all is well! This was a really fun project...might have to build some more. And thanks to Tom for the awesome case. It adds a high quality touch.
 
Swapped out the DIP-16 in the right orientation and all is well! This was a really fun project...might have to build some more. And thanks to Tom for the awesome case. It adds a high quality touch.

Agreed. The first things my friends said when they saw my completed build was "how can we market this?"
 
Hi there,

I'm looking for help with the fan to RCA conversion. How should I solder the RCA connector to the fan wires? Also, if powering using the USB connection rather than the barrel jack, will the fan get enough power to run?
 
Hi there,

I'm looking for help with the fan to RCA conversion. How should I solder the RCA connector to the fan wires? Also, if powering using the USB connection rather than the barrel jack, will the fan get enough power to run?

The red wire from the fan goes to the TIP of the rca jack, the black goes to the shield.
The fan needs 12VDC and therefore will not work if the unit is powered by USB, the HM and rPi will function pretty much as normal, but the fan will not blow unless you have a 12VDC power supply connected to the HM...
 
Thank you Ralph, I appreciate your time to answer those questions. I had soldered the wires together correctly but got no fan movement when plugged in. I figured it was the power supply but want to get confirmation of that since I was using the USB power for initial startup. Going to order the right power cord and WiFI Fob here soon. Again, thanks for the help!
 
Thank you Ralph, I appreciate your time to answer those questions. I had soldered the wires together correctly but got no fan movement when plugged in. I figured it was the power supply but want to get confirmation of that since I was using the USB power for initial startup. Going to order the right power cord and WiFI Fob here soon. Again, thanks for the help!

Glad to help....
Do yourself a favor and get a decent power supply. I think the BOM states 12V 1A, which will do, but I got a 12V 2A power supply for roughly the same price. The reason being, the HM+rPi can "brown out" if your power supply is too small if the fan or servo draws too much current. 1Amp should be fine for the stock blower, but if you end up going down the servo damper route the servo is a little more power hungry, or if you decide you need a larger blower you could have the same situation. So get an extra amp on the power supply if possible....
 

 

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