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[Reply #15 on:]

The SSR definitely works with anything else.  Will the ones I ordered from China be better suited for the application?  Should I just wait and test those?

Edit:  The SSR has a little red LED on it so I know when it turns off and on, and I have used it for other applications in the past and it has worked perfectly.  It must be the inductive load like you said.

The relay modules you purchased use electro-mechanical relays, not a SSR. So your relays use simple mechanical switch contacts to turn on and off the external circuit, just like a standard wall light switch might. SSRs use internal semiconductor parts, a back to back SCR type devices called a triac to do the switching.

Lefty

Oh I didn't realize they were electro mechanical.  Makes sense.  Thanks for all the fast replies.  You have been amazingly helpful.

[Reply #16 on:]

So, do you see any problems with my super ghetto MS paint Schematic attached?

[Reply #17 on:]

Looks good to me.

[Reply #18 on:]

Ok,

So I have everything wired up and working, however I am having some issues with my temperaure sensors.  I have attached a full wiring schematic which looks pretty much exactly like my actual panel.

Red = Hot
Black = Signal
Green = Neutral/Ground

Like I said, everything works, however I am getting some strange noise in my temp sensors.

They work perfectly fine in the begining, all of them reading like 68 degrees.

Now there are two times when things go bad.  

1) When I trip a relay and a Valve is opened.  If I unhook the vavles, things remain ok.

2) when I let it sit for a long time doing nothing.  Everything starts out fine, temp sensors reading true temps, then after a random amount of time, any where from 5 minutes to 4 hours, temp readings are all over the place.

So when things go bad, the sensors just start reading crazy temps anywhere from like 40 to 110 degrees in ambient air (appox. 68 degrees).  After things go crazy, they never go back to normal until I unplug the arduino.  When I plug it back in the sensors read correct temps, until I either open a valve or after some random amount of time goes by.

Other things of interest:  Temp Sensors are LM34CAZ and I have check the voltages from power supplys and they are dead stable.


Any help is highly appreciated.

Thanks,
Craig

[Reply #19 on:]

1 has the faint smell of power issues, but hard to be sure - does the system settle down if you turn the solenoid off again?
2 says software. Please post your code.

[Reply #20 on:]

1 has the faint smell of power issues, but hard to be sure - does the system settle down if you turn the solenoid off again?
2 says software. Please post your code.

1) No,  the system never settles down even if I shut off the relays and solenoids, only when I complete unplug the Arduino, reset doesn't cut it.

2) I warn you I am not the best coder on the planet...  I'm welcome to any changes to clean things up as well.

Code:

#include <SPI.h>
#include <Ethernet.h>

#define maxLength 60

byte mac[] = { 0x90, 0xA2, 0xDA, 0x00, 0x5A, 0xFA };
byte ip[] = { 192,168,0, 177 };

Server server(80);

String inString = String(maxLength);
long previousMillis = 0;
int setferm1 = 300;
int setferm2 = 300;
int setferm3 = 300;
int setferm4 = 300;
int Posa = 0;
int Posb = 0;
int Posc = 0;
int Posd = 0;
int whichTank = -1;
int chillValue = 10;
char tempBuff[4];
int chill = 0;
int valveToOpenIdx = -1;
double volts = 0.48535;
int TempSensor1 =0;
int TempSensor2 =0;
int TempSensor3 =0;
int TempSensor4 =0;


void setup()
{
  Ethernet.begin(mac, ip);
  server.begin();
 
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(4, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(6, OUTPUT);
  
 
  digitalWrite(2, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(3, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(4, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(5, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(6, LOW);
  
 }

void loop()
{
  //Get Temps off sensors
  analogRead(1);
  delay(10);
  TempSensor1 = 0;
  for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    TempSensor1 = TempSensor1 + round(volts*analogRead(1));
  }
  analogRead(2);
  delay(10);
  TempSensor2 = 0;
  for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    TempSensor2 = TempSensor2 + round(volts*analogRead(2));
  }
  analogRead(3);
  delay(10);
  TempSensor3 = 0;
  for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    TempSensor3 = TempSensor3 + round(volts*analogRead(3));
  }
  analogRead(4);
  delay(10);
  TempSensor4 = 0;
  for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    TempSensor4 = TempSensor4 + round(volts*analogRead(4));
  }  
  TempSensor1 = round(TempSensor1/10);
  TempSensor2 = round(TempSensor2/10);
  TempSensor3 = round(TempSensor3/10);
  TempSensor4 = round(TempSensor4/10);
    
  
  // Web Interface
  int bufLength = 4;
  // listen for incoming clients
  Client client = server.available();
  if (client) {
    // an http request ends with a blank line
   // Serial.println(client.read());

    boolean currentLineIsBlank = true;
    while (client.connected()) {
      if (client.available()) {
        char c = client.read();
        if (inString.length() < maxLength) {
          inString += c;
         }        
        
        if (c == '\n' && currentLineIsBlank) {
          // send a standard http response header
          if (inString.indexOf("?") > -1) {
            Posa = inString.indexOf("a");
            Posb = inString.indexOf("b");
            Posc = inString.indexOf("c");
            Posd = inString.indexOf("d");
            
            inString.substring((Posa+2), (Posb-1)).toCharArray(tempBuff, bufLength);  //transfer substring to buffer
            setferm1 = atoi(tempBuff);
            inString.substring((Posb+2), (Posc-1)).toCharArray(tempBuff, bufLength);  //transfer substring to buffer
            setferm2 = atoi(tempBuff);
            inString.substring((Posc+2), (Posd-1)).toCharArray(tempBuff, bufLength);  //transfer substring to buffer
            setferm3 = atoi(tempBuff);
            inString.substring((Posd+2), (Posd+5)).toCharArray(tempBuff, bufLength);  //transfer substring to buffer
            setferm4 = atoi(tempBuff);
          
         }

          
          
          client.println("HTTP/1.1 200 OK");
          client.println("Content-Type: text/html");
          client.println();
          
          client.print("<font size=32 color=CDAD00><b><u>HGB Fermenter Control</u></b></font><br /><br /> ");
          
          // output the value of each analog input pin
          client.print("<font size=32>Temperature of Fermenter 1 is ");client.print(TempSensor1);client.println("</font><br />");
          client.print("<font size=32>Temperature of Fermenter 2 is ");client.print(TempSensor2);client.println("</font><br />");
          client.print("<font size=32>Temperature of Fermenter 3 is ");client.print(TempSensor3);client.println("</font><br />");
          client.print("<font size=32>Temperature of Fermenter 4 is ");client.print(TempSensor4);client.println("</font><br />");
          
          client.print("<br /><br /><form method=get><font size=32>");
          client.print("Setpoint Fermenter 1: <input type=text style=font-size:32pt size=3 name=a value="); client.print(setferm1);client.print(" />");
          if (valveToOpenIdx == 0) {
            client.print(" Open");
          }
          else {
            client.print(" Closed");
          }
          client.print("<br />");
          client.print("Setpoint Fermenter 2: <input type=text style=font-size:32pt size=3 name=b value="); client.print(setferm2);client.print(" />");
           if (valveToOpenIdx == 1) {
            client.print(" Open");
           }
           else {
            client.print(" Closed");
          }
          client.print("<br />");
          client.print("Setpoint Fermenter 3: <input type=text style=font-size:32pt size=3 name=c value="); client.print(setferm3);client.print(" />");
           if (valveToOpenIdx == 2) {
            client.print(" Open");
           }
          else {
            client.print(" Closed");
          }
          client.print("<br />");
          client.print("Setpoint Fermenter 4: <input type=text style=font-size:32pt size=3 name=d value="); client.print(setferm4);client.print(" />");
           if (valveToOpenIdx == 3) {
            client.print(" Open");
           }
          else {
            client.print(" Closed");
          }
          client.print("<br />");
          client.println("<br />");
          client.print("<input type=submit value=Update-Temps style=height:6em; width:24em />");
          client.print("</font></form>");
          client.println("<br />");
                  
          break;
        }
        if (c == '\n') {
          // you're starting a new line
          currentLineIsBlank = true;
        }
        else if (c != '\r') {
          // you've gotten a character on the current line
          currentLineIsBlank = false;
        }
      }
    }
  
    // give the web browser time to receive the data
    delay(1);
    inString = " ";
    // close the connection:
    client.stop();
  }  
  // Valve Control Logic
 
  delay(2000);
  
 Serial.println(TempSensor1);
 Serial.println(TempSensor2);
 Serial.println(TempSensor3);
 Serial.println(TempSensor4);
 Serial.println(digitalRead(6));
  
    switch ( whichTank ) {
      case 0: chillValue = TempSensor1-setferm1;
              break;
      case 1: chillValue = TempSensor2-setferm2;
              break;
      case 2: chillValue = TempSensor3-setferm3;
              break;
      case 3: chillValue = TempSensor4-setferm4;
              break;    
    }
    
    if (chillValue < -1 && valveToOpenIdx != -1) {
      digitalWrite(6, LOW);
      delay(1000);
      digitalWrite(2, HIGH);
      digitalWrite(3, HIGH);
      digitalWrite(4, HIGH);
      digitalWrite(5, HIGH);
      volts = 0.48535;
      delay(100);
       //Serial.println("Closed ");
      // Serial.println(valveToOpenIdx);
       chill = 0;
    }
    
    
    if (chill == 0) {    
      int tankSetTemps[4] = {setferm1, setferm2, setferm3, setferm4};
      int tankTemps[4] = {TempSensor1, TempSensor2, TempSensor3, TempSensor4};
      int curTankDiff;
      int maxTankDiff = 0;
 
      valveToOpenIdx = -1;
      
      for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
        curTankDiff = tankTemps[i] - tankSetTemps[i];
        if (curTankDiff > maxTankDiff) {
          valveToOpenIdx = i;
          whichTank = i;
          maxTankDiff = curTankDiff;
        }
      }
      
    if (valveToOpenIdx != -1) {  
        digitalWrite(valveToOpenIdx + 2, LOW);
        
        digitalWrite(6, HIGH);
        volts = 0.48535;
       // Serial.println("Opened ");
       // Serial.println(valveToOpenIdx);
        chill = 1;
      }  
    }
            

[Reply #21 on:]

Here's a short output of TempSensor1.  You can easily see when I turn on the relay.  The strange part to me is that it really only shows readings from like 52-110.  Granted they are all over the place.  When I read it straight off the arduino with a volt meter, I get a constant voltage across the power supply and the temp probes show steady numbers at 0.76 volts.  Very confusing.  Must be a coding issue??

Code:

75
75
75
75
75
75
75
75
75
75
75
76
75
54
102
88
95
107
85
69
99
89
104
97
100
83
88
89
59
95
67
79
87
57
64
59
77
82
110
63
71
58
74
101
88
54
66
56
77
85
108
92
61
82
113
72
99
95
88
79
55
72
89
105
65
57
74
83
71
84
53
80
101
67
118
82
95
65
99
84
108
60
94
77
99
62
52
54
56
62
89
88
61
93
53
78
82
54
86
80
98
92
58
81
74
99
75
55
72
74
80
100
66
105
68
112
102
56
99
73
92
70
83
79
86
74
83
81
97
72
88
56
85
104
84
94
98
97
84
82
81
98
65
106
75
110
108
75
62
112
64
101

 

[Reply #22 on:]

Ok,

In an effort to simplify the crap out of this problem, I made the code very simplistic, and I am seeing the same issue.

When I remove the power from the solenoids, no issue.  Readings remain constant.

This to me screams of some sort of power issue.

Code:

#include <SPI.h>

double volts = 0.48535;

void setup()
{

  // initialize serial communications at 9600 bps:
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(4, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(6, OUTPUT);
  
 
  digitalWrite(2, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(3, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(4, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(5, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(6, LOW);
  
 }

void loop()
{
  //Get Temps off sensors
  for (int g = 0; g < 10; g++) {
    Serial.println(volts*analogRead(1));
    Serial.println(volts*analogRead(2));
    Serial.println(volts*analogRead(3));
    Serial.println(volts*analogRead(4));
    delay(1000);
  }

  
  //Turn Relay On
  digitalWrite(2, LOW);
    
  delay(3000);
  
  //Turn Relay Off      
  digitalWrite(2, HIGH);
 
  delay(3000);    
    
}

[Reply #23 on:]

I don't know what the analogRead command is going to do with analogRead(1). From the documentation, it looks like it is acceptable but humour me and try analogRead(A1) instead. I've no business advising you about hardware issues, but I'd be inclined to try driving a LED (with a suitable resistor) instead of the solenoid to zero in on whether power is your issue.

[Reply #24 on:]

I don't know what the analogRead command is going to do with analogRead(1). From the documentation, it looks like it is acceptable but humour me and try analogRead(A1) instead. I've no business advising you about hardware issues, but I'd be inclined to try driving a LED (with a suitable resistor) instead of the solenoid to zero in on whether power is your issue.

A1 does the same thing.

So lets talk crazy.

I plugged in the 12 volt power supply while I had good readings going.  All I had to do was plug it in, and everything went to shit.  So I unplug it to see if things stable.  Nope.

I go to unplug the Arduino to reset it, and I touch the ethernet cat 5 jack.  I get a little shock, and everything goes back to normal....... right back to good sensor readings.

So somehow, Something is not grounded properly or something.  The arduino is carrying some sort of stored charge.  I'm so confused.  

[Reply #25 on:]

Alight,  That's messed up.  I unplugged my ethernet cable....  Everything works perfectly.  What the hell do I do about that?

Edit: Nevermind.  That was the not the issue.  There is definitely some sort of power problem tho.

[Reply #26 on:]

Ok, so to add to things that I just dont truly understand, if I plug ANYTHING into ANY of the outlets in the room, it sets the temp sensors going crazy.

Like I pluged a lamp in, comletely unrelated to the control panel, and then sensors went nuts. This is with the arduino plugged in via the USB cable ONLY.  the solenoids werent even attached in any way. So weird.

I also removed teh Ethernet sheild to see if that was causing the issue.  Same thing was heppening with out it.

I hope someone has a good idea, becuase I am stumped and demotivated....

[Reply #27 on:]

So I found a, solution, kinda...

I switched the temp sensors over to the 3.3V line and left the relays on the 5V line.

Everything appears to be working properly now.  There must have been some noise coming through the relays.  I ordered some DS18B20 Digital Temp sensors prior to finiding this fix.  I will give them a go and see if I have more stable.