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Sauna Heater Control. Help Needed.

studioab

I've finished my first IoT project based on Arduino Yun. It's a remote control for my sauna. Everything is working as expected in test mode (relay is not connected to contactor so there is no real load), I was able to test this system for hours without any problems.

 

When I hook up contactor to relay, it turns the heater on and off, and everything seems to be working, but after a while (absolutely random, it could be an hour or a few minutes) LCD screen freezes, or sometimes, starts flashing random symbols, server is not responding to commands, rotary encoder isn't working and it seems Arduino freezes. The only workaround is to turn off the power and reset the system. After it restarts, everything is back to normal.

 

I came across this post 16*2 LCD getting weird characters symptoms are the same, I think high AC load is causing EMF impulse that is crashing Arduino. Power Module, Relay board, LCD, and Arduino board are really close to each other and inside the box.

 

I'm not sure if it violates the rules, but I would like to mention these people from the other post @ @ @ @ @

 

I think here are my options. What would you recommend to do?

 

- replace relays with solid state relay

- shield AC wires

- remove power module from the box

- don't use the same power module for relays

- ???

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  • I would like to say huge thank you to all people that contributed to this thread. I was able to eliminate all the issues causing arduino to crash. Now my project is in "production" mode. It's cold out here and we use sauna regularly.

     

    Here is the video showing how Android phone is being used as a secondary display in the sauna room as well as remote control https://photos.app.goo.gl/qZVTBh0PwFJLmZzv2

     

    Few words about project "Sauna Nest" (UI was inspired by Nest thermostat)

     

    Hardware:

    - 9KW Humm Heater

    - Arduino Yun + Temp Sensor + Door Sensor + Rotary Encoder + 1602 LCD + Relay Board + 40Am contactor

     

    Arduino Software (server side):

    - Libraries (Bridge, Encoder, LCD)

    - Server to process GET requests

    - support for test modes to emulate temp increase/decrease, door state, temp sensor errors, etc.

     

    Android/iOS/Web (client side):

    - Cordova crossplatform framework

    - SVG is being used to render "Nest" like UI

    - all UI/UX business logic is in JavaScript

     

    Features:

    - remote turn on/off

    - remote change target temp (40 - 110)

    - turn off heater after 90 mins

    - open door alarm

    - turn off sauna after door is open for more than 60 sec

    - show estimated time to get to target temp

    - turn off heater when temp sensor is failed

     

    Todo:

    - phone push notifications

    - phone control for music in the room

    - phone control LED lightning

     

    Do you guys think this project should be opensourced? Would people benefit from it?

     

    Happy new year!

Reply

  • I would like to say huge thank you to all people that contributed to this thread. I was able to eliminate all the issues causing arduino to crash. Now my project is in "production" mode. It's cold out here and we use sauna regularly.

     

    Here is the video showing how Android phone is being used as a secondary display in the sauna room as well as remote control https://photos.app.goo.gl/qZVTBh0PwFJLmZzv2

     

    Few words about project "Sauna Nest" (UI was inspired by Nest thermostat)

     

    Hardware:

    - 9KW Humm Heater

    - Arduino Yun + Temp Sensor + Door Sensor + Rotary Encoder + 1602 LCD + Relay Board + 40Am contactor

     

    Arduino Software (server side):

    - Libraries (Bridge, Encoder, LCD)

    - Server to process GET requests

    - support for test modes to emulate temp increase/decrease, door state, temp sensor errors, etc.

     

    Android/iOS/Web (client side):

    - Cordova crossplatform framework

    - SVG is being used to render "Nest" like UI

    - all UI/UX business logic is in JavaScript

     

    Features:

    - remote turn on/off

    - remote change target temp (40 - 110)

    - turn off heater after 90 mins

    - open door alarm

    - turn off sauna after door is open for more than 60 sec

    - show estimated time to get to target temp

    - turn off heater when temp sensor is failed

     

    Todo:

    - phone push notifications

    - phone control for music in the room

    - phone control LED lightning

     

    Do you guys think this project should be opensourced? Would people benefit from it?

     

    Happy new year!

Children
  • in reply to studioab

    I would like to say huge thank you to all people that contributed to this thread. I was able to eliminate all the issues causing arduino to crash

    Glad we could help.

     

    Do you guys think this project should be opensourced? Would people benefit from it?

    A detailed writeup here would be good.

    You reached out to this community to help, and the community was able to help, so it might be a good place to start.

     

    You can either do it as a blog in Arduino, or your personal blogs, and add lots of appropriate tags so people find it when searching.

     

     

    I would suggest that you add warnings about working with mains and suggest that people get it checked by a qualified electrician.

    In some countries the work you've done may not be legal, (which may comprimise any insurance claims) but could be legal if checked and fitted by a registered electrican.

     

    Mark

  • in reply to studioab

    It's great to see such a detailed post image

    Keen to see how you progress with your improvements.

     

    Paul