Arduino Tumble Dryer
My Hoover VHC 691B Condenser Tumble Dryer died. My attempts to fix it failed. I could have brought a new one. I could pay £56 for a new controller PCB, or I could hack it back to life with an Arduino. Yes - lets try that
Monday, 12 December 2016
Sensor Drying
I don't know what the yellow wire does, but I cant seem to see any sensor hardware.
But I do have 2 temperature sensors.
I did a bit of research and there was one page that suggested that you could use a single sensor and imply how dry the clothes are. In theory as the cloths become dryer they heat up and cool down quicker. Something like that.
My numbers did not seem to show this.
What I did notice was that the differential between the two sensors increases as the closed become dryer,
Labels:
Arduino,
Arduino pro mini,
Condenser,
Hoover,
Tumber Dryer,
VHC 691B
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
Arduino Tumble Dryer State machine
Its simple.
I'm not sure if this is quite by the book. All three states in the yellow box can lead to FULL or COOL_SPIN
Pressing the button on the machine cycles through ready, run and cool spin. What more do you need?
you can get the code here :
http://jtumbledryer.blogspot.co.uk/p/pins-define-motordir-5-define-motoren.html
Labels:
Arduino,
Arduino pro mini,
Condenser,
Hoover,
Tumber Dryer,
VHC 691B
Ethernet strads
Damn it! one of my wires has come loose or snapped.
Ethernet core wires have a habit of snapping and soldering in almost sub zero temperatures results in poor results.
I think I get me some modding wire, or wire wrap stuff
Ethernet core wires have a habit of snapping and soldering in almost sub zero temperatures results in poor results.
I think I get me some modding wire, or wire wrap stuff
Monday, 5 December 2016
Arduino Resets
One little problem I am having is that when the Motor starts or stops, It can cause the Arduino to reset. To avoid this, I have initially remove the code that reversed the direction every minute or so.
This is not caused by switch the relays as I have tested this and all three seem to happily switch without issues.
Today I made a couple o changes. I moved the arduino away from the Motor relay and have added a 10uF electrolitic and a small 10nf ceramic across the arduino power. ( I probably need a 0.1uF ceramic capacitor but I dont have one to hand)
This seem to have help a little, but not perfect.
Oh, and it seems the arduino is not compactly isolated from the mains. The USB cable was a tad tingly
useful info here:
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/101815/pic16f628a-resetting-after-relay-turned-off/101879#101879
Someone else has done something similar here and has included a stabalizer
http://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-and-Upcycle-Defective-Dryer-With-Arduino/?ALLSTEPS
This is not caused by switch the relays as I have tested this and all three seem to happily switch without issues.
Today I made a couple o changes. I moved the arduino away from the Motor relay and have added a 10uF electrolitic and a small 10nf ceramic across the arduino power. ( I probably need a 0.1uF ceramic capacitor but I dont have one to hand)
This seem to have help a little, but not perfect.
Oh, and it seems the arduino is not compactly isolated from the mains. The USB cable was a tad tingly
useful info here:
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/101815/pic16f628a-resetting-after-relay-turned-off/101879#101879
Someone else has done something similar here and has included a stabalizer
http://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-and-Upcycle-Defective-Dryer-With-Arduino/?ALLSTEPS
Labels:
Arduino,
Arduino pro mini,
Condenser,
Hoover,
Tumber Dryer,
VHC 691B
Success My clothes are drying
Sunday, 4 December 2016
Controlling the LEDS
The transistors on the left control the three relays.
The LEDs are controlled in pairs ( coloumn) so you are a little limited but its sufficient to make silly little patterns.
I'll draw a little diagram at some point
Labels:
Arduino,
Arduino pro mini,
Condenser,
Hoover,
Tumber Dryer,
VHC 691B
Initial tests
Only have 3 relays and one NTC sensor connected. I added a 20kohm pull down resistor on the NTC, but the board already had a 5k on board, so in hindsight I'll use that.
The relays are controlled with a high side PNP transistor ( A8A ) which in-turn is switched with a NPN (A6A), this is nice an easy to intercept.
It was easy enough to track the circuits and probe for places to tack a connection to.
The relays are controlled with a high side PNP transistor ( A8A ) which in-turn is switched with a NPN (A6A), this is nice an easy to intercept.
It was easy enough to track the circuits and probe for places to tack a connection to.
Saturday, 3 December 2016
I concede defeat
I give up. After drawing out a circuit myself, cross revenue with a diagram I found on the Internet which doesn't match my diagram, I decided to strip off everything.
This is crazy. Why have they connected the +
-5v to live. Actually, why he -5v, -12v and GND.
This is crazy. Why have they connected the +
-5v to live. Actually, why he -5v, -12v and GND.
The circuit diagram that does not match mine:
Friday, 2 December 2016
Thursday, 1 December 2016
Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Monday, 28 November 2016
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