Probes go on and off


 
R

RJ Riememsnider

TVWBB Pro
I have 732 probes with 22k resistors and all has been fine. I haven't used my HM in a while so I recently upgraded it to v10 and decided to cook. I haven't had this issue before with these probes and HM but now the probes go back and forth between off and the temp, probably about 75% off the time it says off with just a blip of the correct temp. Did anything change with the v10 code?
 
On a whim I flashed the AVR firmware back to the v8 version and still the same result. This setup has not done this before, I wonder what happened???????
 
Ok, so the plot thickens...... I flashed back to the v6 AVR firmware with the same issue and when i flached back to the 10/8 v10 firmware, the issue went away. The 10/8 was what i was running to begin with. Any ideas??????
 
I've been doing some experimentation with running my probes over a long CAT5 cable and had some issues with the probes dropping off, figured it was the cable. Right before I started using the CAT5 cable I had updated my HM to V10 but hadn't used it for a cook yet. After reading your 3rd post here I decided to do the the v6 then v10 AVR flash and it really tamed down the drop off's. I still see the probe drop off but much less frequent, it had been a steady flow of drop offs before I did this, now it drops only occasionally, the only thing I changed was doing the AVR flash downgrade/upgrade (via web page without touching the HM physically) I have a ThermoWorks probe connected to the probe jack on my Roto-Damper, then run through a very long ethernet cable into my kitchen where it connects to the CAT5 jack I added to my HM, it is currently about 55 degrees outside. I am starting to believe some of my problems may be related to the V10 HM update rather than using the CAT5 cable....
 
Ok, after testing today, It was not related to firmware, it appears to be the power supply. When I use a small digital power supply I have the issue but if I go back to a good old transformer the probes work again.
 
The code that reads the temperature hasn't changed in a very long time, like a year or so. I would say any correlation between the firmware version and -No Pit Probe- is pure coincidence. You can try switching the setpoint to ADC mode (enter 0A on the config page) and seeing if the numbers are just wonky, but that's just going to help you diagnose a hardware problem.
 
I have a silly question: How do you know what version you are running? I see this in the web config:

HeaterMeter Information
Version 20130228B

Is that version 10 and if so how do you know? Just curious?

Thanks,

Neil
 
You can go to System -> Software then look for linkmeter in the list to see what version of LinkMeter you're running. The HeaterMeter version you see is the AVR firmware. That version is somewhere around version 6? Maybe even before that.

If your LinkMeter version is 10, then you can sync the HeaterMeter version with that by going to LinkMeter -> AVR Firmware -> Bundled and flash hm.hex.
 
Mine is suddenly doing the same. Was messing around changing some probe settings this morning and suddenly my heatermeter started to acted funny. In the sense on the configuration page under probe setup it was all blanks no matter what I picked in the drop downs. Where normally on the homepage it will just say heatermeter off it showed dashes for the probes. Tried to run config again and it would not connect. So I reflashed it to v1028b I believe and everything seems to work connection wise can change probe setting etc. but keep getting no probe. I tested the et probes with the original remote and they register fine. Once it a while it would just flash the temp for a second. Tested to probe connectors and
getting 3.3v across all 4 with no probes connected. My wallwart still puts out 12.4 volts so.... Not sure what else to check. I am using these connectors. http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=161-5425-EXvirtualkey11180000virtualkey161-5425-EX
 
Maybe your probe got too hot or took on some water? Then tend to flake out when either of these things happen....
 
OK, doesn't seem likely you trashed 3 probes... I would pull the ATMega from the socket and reseat it, then flash it again and see if you get the same...
 
We'll it seems it might be the connectors. They seem loser than before. They are actually 4pin instead of the mono but just wired up pin 1 and 4 seemed to work for a couple weeks but when I wiggle them they read. Might have to try and combine pin 2,3,4 for ground and see if that would help the issue.
 
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