Hi,
I know I am missing something really simple here but I have been debugging for about 4 hours now and I just can't see it.
I will use the Aduino to turn dump loads on and off based on a voltage reading I get from 3 PZEM004T meters on a 3 phase circuit.
It is for a hydro electric project I have on a waterfall at home and there always needs to be a load on the generators. If I am not using enough power at the house I need to create a load to stop the turbines over speeding = too high voltage
The code is below. I am using 'if' and 'else if' statements to try to change 3 level variables (1 per phase) up one increment if the voltage for that phase is above a high set point and v.v. if its below a low set point.
The level variable is then used to decide which relays are on/off, the relays control heating elements creating the dump load. (I know its not very efficient but it is phase one of the project to give me stable, useable power. Phase two will be to use it more efficiently.)
The problem I am having is the level variables...
byte brLevel = 3;
byte blLevel = 3;
byte grLevel = 3;
...go straight to 1 and stay there. I even tried //ing out the 'if' statements leaving simply
++brLevel;
but
Serial.println(brLevel);
always returns 1
Help, and thanks.
// Written for Arduino Nano
#include <SoftwareSerial.h> // Arduino IDE <1.6.6
#include <PZEM004T.h>
// Voltage setpoint high and low limits
const int voltstpth = 210;
const int voltstptl = 209;
// Variable for dump load level
byte brLevel = 3;
byte blLevel = 3;
byte grLevel = 3;
// PZEM004T coms for brown, black and grey phases
// Arduino TX, RX pins (PZEM004T RX, TX)
PZEM004T pzembr(2, 3);
PZEM004T pzembl(4, 5);
PZEM004T pzemgr(6, 7);
IPAddress ip(192, 168, 1, 1);
// Dump load relay control pins for brown, black and grey phases
// Using Analog pins A0 - A5 as digital out pins
const byte br1 = 14; //1000w
const byte br2 = 15; //1500w
const byte bl1 = 16; //1000w
const byte bl2 = 17; //1500w
const byte gr1 = 18; //1000w
const byte gr2 = 19; //1500w
void setup()
{
// Open Serial coms for debugging and set PZEM004T meter addresses
Serial.begin(9600);
pzembr.setAddress(ip);
pzembl.setAddress(ip);
pzemgr.setAddress(ip);
// set relay control pins as output
pinMode(br1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(br2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(bl1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(bl2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(gr1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(gr2, OUTPUT);
}
void loop()
{
// Read voltage from brown PZEM
int vbr = pzembr.voltage(ip);
// Adjust brown dump load level if volage is outside limits
// and maintain level setting between 1 - 4
if (vbr > voltstptl)
{
++brLevel;
}
if (vbr < voltstptl)
{
--brLevel;
}
constrain(brLevel, 1, 4);
// Set relay pins according to level
if (brLevel = 1) {
digitalWrite(br1, LOW);
digitalWrite(br2, LOW);
}
else if (brLevel = 2) {
digitalWrite(br1, HIGH);
digitalWrite(br2, LOW);
}
else if (brLevel = 3) {
digitalWrite(br1, LOW);
digitalWrite(br2, HIGH);
}
else if (brLevel = 4) {
digitalWrite(br1, HIGH);
digitalWrite(br2, HIGH);
}
// Read voltage from black PZEM
int vbl = pzembl.voltage(ip);
// Adjust black dump load level if volage is outside limits
if (vbl > voltstpth) {
++blLevel;
}
else if (vbl < voltstptl) {
--blLevel;
}
// Maintain level setting within limits
constrain(blLevel, 1, 4);
// Set relay pins according to level
if (blLevel = 1) {
digitalWrite(bl1, LOW);
digitalWrite(bl2, LOW);
}
else if (blLevel = 2) {
digitalWrite(bl1, HIGH);
digitalWrite(bl2, LOW);
}
else if (blLevel = 3) {
digitalWrite(bl1, LOW);
digitalWrite(bl2, HIGH);
}
else if (blLevel = 4) {
digitalWrite(bl1, HIGH);
digitalWrite(bl2, HIGH);
}
// Read voltage from grey PZEM
int vgr = pzemgr.voltage(ip);
// Adjust grey dump load level if volage is outside limits
//and maintain level setting within limits
if (vgr > voltstpth) {
++grLevel;
}
else if (vgr < voltstptl) {
--grLevel;
}
constrain(grLevel, 1, 4);
// Set relay pins according to level
if (grLevel = 1) {
digitalWrite(gr1, LOW);
digitalWrite(gr2, LOW);
}
else if (grLevel = 2) {
digitalWrite(gr1, HIGH);
digitalWrite(gr2, LOW);
}
else if (grLevel = 3) {
digitalWrite(gr1, LOW);
digitalWrite(gr2, HIGH);
}
else if (grLevel = 4) {
digitalWrite(gr1, HIGH);
digitalWrite(gr2, HIGH);
}
// /*
// De bugging
Serial.print("Brown V = ");
Serial.println(vbr);
Serial.print("Brown lvl ");
Serial.println(brLevel);
Serial.print("Black V = ");
Serial.println(vbl);
Serial.print("Black lvl ");
Serial.println(blLevel);
Serial.print("Grey V = ");
Serial.println(vgr);
Serial.print("Grey lvl ");
Serial.println(grLevel);
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
// End debugging
// */
// Delay in the loop is not normally necessary
// because the PZEM004T reply is not instant
}
That function does nothing to brLevel, it 