hi, I builded an emontx v2 which I used for one month with a ds18b20 and a battery pack with no problems. after I started using it as monitor fv/consumption in my sister's house, with a emonglcd (this is my third emontx with emonglcd to monitor fv/consume).
that I see is that after few days turned on, emontx simply reboots after 2-3 seconds infinitely; I can see on serial output only the first rows and the restarted again; if I leave emontx turned off for one day, after I can see that emontx goes ok, but after few hours start again to reboot.
It seems that when it become "hot" it starts rebooting infinitely.
this my tests with no results:
- I changed power supply;
- change image of atmega;
- left emontx without sensors connected and it continues rebooting.
suggests? thanks
Re: emonTx restart every 3 seconds
Is "fv" photo-voltaic generation?
Does it work in your sister's house when powered by batteries? And when powered by the programmer? Are you using a power supply you bought from the shop or from somewhere else? See "Not all USB power adapters are created equal - highlighting importance of selecting good quality power adapters"
Can you measure the power supply voltages - when first powered, then when it starts to reboot?
"It seems that when it become "hot" ... " Which components are hot? What temperature (approximately) do they reach?
Which sketch are you using?
Re: emonTx restart every 3 seconds
yes, fv is for photo-voltaic production.
I haven't tried to power by batteries.
I have tried 3 different power supplies (one was bought in this shop) and every times emontx started rebooting after some hours; even powered by the programmer I saw through the serial output that it was restarting continuosly.
I'm using emonTx_CT123_Voltage sketch.
ps when I told "hot" I was not indicating the temperature but that it become unstable after some hours. if I keep turn off for one day I can see that I work for some hours, after it becomes unstable.
Re: emonTx restart every 3 seconds
I have not seen this problem reported before. We do not know for certain that the problem is new, or whether it has always been there but never appeared because you never used a mains power supply until now. I think it would be very useful to try powering it with batteries to see if runs properly as it did before, or whether it reboots.
Re: emonTx restart every 3 seconds
hi I'll come back after some weeks, I did more tests: with battery and ftdi power supply emontx keeps reboot, even with no CT and AC connectors.
emonTX CT123 Voltage example
OpenEnergyMonitor.org
Node: 9 Freq: 868Mhz Network: 210
1516 -16451 55.40
0 760 0.30
0 0 0.23
emonTX CT123 Voltage example
OpenEnergyMonitor.org
Node: 9 Freq: 868Mhz Network: 210
1527 -14416 55.59
0 827 0.31
0 0 0.30
0 0 0.23
emonTX CT123 Voltage example
OpenEnergyMonitor.org
Node: 9 Freq: 868Mhz Network: 210
1516 1497 55.38
0 0 0.25
emonTX CT123 Voltage example
OpenEnergyMonitor.org
Node: 9 Freq: 868Mhz Network: 210
1492 1483 54.96
0 0 0.22
emonTX CT123 Voltage example
OpenEnergyMonitor.org
Node: 9 Freq: 868Mhz Network: 210
1513 -17339 55.33
0
Re: emonTx restart every 3 seconds
I modified the sketch: if I disabled this line my emontx keeps running (without data over rfm12b)
send_rf_data(); // *SEND RF DATA* - see emontx_lib
so the problem was the rfm12b module; I re-soldered again all points and now seems to be running from 8 hours.
Re: emonTx restart every 3 seconds
If there are any problems with the RFM12B connections, the main program (sketch) is likely to stop running. I think this is because its waiting for a reply that never arrives. If the RF chip is not present, the code won't get past the initialisation stage in setup().
I have always found it very difficult to attach the RF module to the emonTx V2 board. A good way that I have found is to apply lots of solder so that the pins are shorted together, and then remove most of the excess solder using solder-wick. The resulting joints are always good because enough solder gets sucked underneath the pads by capillary action.
Re: emonTx restart every 3 seconds
I just put enough on so that there is a triangular fillet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillet_%28mechanics%29) of solder between the plated-through half-hole on the edge of the RFM12B and the PCB.
Re: emonTx restart every 3 seconds
The tip of my soldering iron is not ideal for fitting the RFMB to the emonTx V2, but the solder-wick approach provides an easy workaround.
In a factory, surface-mount components are generally fitted by running the board across a solder bath followed by an air knife to remove the excess. My solder-wick idea is doing much the same job on a smaller scale.
On my own PCB, I use a different method of attaching the RFM12B device. I find this approach to be much easier because the connection can be made at the top of the pads, rather than at the bottom where it can be difficult to get the solder to flow reliably.