Computer Controlled VC Encore

[OK_Bill]

Prichan - good to hear you're happy with your VC 2040. Mine is very nicely built and fun to burn. But there's room for improvement I think ... we shall see

PROJECT UPDATE:

I'll be away this week and next at work so we'll resume the controller build till after the holidays.

Merry Christmas y'all

 

[turbojoe]

Prichan - good to hear you're happy with your VC 2040. Mine is very nicely built and fun to burn. But there's room for improvement I think ... we shall see

PROJECT UPDATE:

I'll be away this week and next at work so we'll resume the controller build till after the holidays.

Merry Christmas y'all

Keep the updates coming Bill and thanks for sharing, I will keep an eye on your progress and share how mine is coming along. Hopfully we can bounch idea's off each other.
My controller should be here after the holidays, Air valve is ready.
I know this project isn't a popular one, most wood burners like to keep it simple. It's all good

Merry Christmas

 

[OK_Bill]

Can you post a pic of the custom made thermocouple?

Omega TJ36-CAXL-14U-12-CC-XCIB

The probe body is 12" long and I wanted shorter but Omega would only build it to 12". No problem... it will protrude out the back of the stove maybe 3" or so.

I wanted the quality & precision of an Omega probe - no Chinese stuff here!

Project Update: I'm strongly considering going to a much larger display so the target temp can be displayed in a larger format. This will require a totally different LCD interface than I originally planned and additional cost, but only about $37 bucks.

On another note - I just got a new Harman Accentra 52i installed. Wow. Nice pellet stove!! I'm considering hacking the data port on it. I might be able to write some code that will parse the data output from that port to a laptop. Then we could just plug in any computer and see what's going on inside. There would be no need for the Harman diagnostic tool. Nice - need to have a very close look at the main board.

 

[mellow]

That is one thick TC, that should last a long time.

 

[OK_Bill]

Project update:

All the hardware is together, and the coding is coming along well. I decided to keep my 20x4 LCD in lieu of a larger GLCD due to unneeded complexity.

I've spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning up the code that drives the menu functions, but its done now and works perfectly. Now I'm interfacing all the "peripheral" stuff: the TC's, the SD card, and I've added a serial interface for the LCD so it takes fewer wires to communicate with the main board.

I'm hoping in the coming week I'll have enough done to do some un-regulated burns with SD card support so I can see how the TC's are responding.

This will take lots of beer...

 

[valuman]

I'm glad this was updated because I hadn't seen it before and will follow out of curiosity. I've wondered about how one might be able to set up a cat stove to run at more constant temperatures and know just enough to have realized that a bimetallic spring would probably not be the best way to maximize control. Please carry on and please keep us in the loop.

 

[Everhard]

I'm following this post with lots of interest as well, It's been something I've thought about in the past, and of course go figure some one is actually doing it. I'm gone from my house for 12-24hrs because of shift work but I load my stove to keep the electric baseboards from kicking on, and it would be great to more efficiently control the stove. My only concern would be working in redundancy so that it doesn't accidentally end up putting the stove into a wide open burn while I'm no where near it to shut it down. Also another fun option would be having it accessible by a computer so that I can log in remotely and control it manually if need be.

In any event, nice work Looking forward to future posts.

 

[3650]

Omega TJ36-CAXL-14U-12-CC-XCIB

The probe body is 12" long and I wanted shorter but Omega would only build it to 12". No problem... it will protrude out the back of the stove maybe 3" or so.

I wanted the quality & precision of an Omega probe - no Chinese stuff here!

Project Update: I'm strongly considering going to a much larger display so the target temp can be displayed in a larger format. This will require a totally different LCD interface than I originally planned and additional cost, but only about $37 bucks.

On another note - I just got a new Harman Accentra 52i installed. Wow. Nice pellet stove!! I'm considering hacking the data port on it. I might be able to write some code that will parse the data output from that port to a laptop. Then we could just plug in any computer and see what's going on inside. There would be no need for the Harman diagnostic tool. Nice - need to have a very close look at the main board.

Keep us posted on the "Harman Hack", that would be very useful.

 

[OK_Bill]

I'm following this post with lots of interest as well, It's been something I've thought about in the past, and of course go figure some one is actually doing it. I'm gone from my house for 12-24hrs because of shift work but I load my stove to keep the electric baseboards from kicking on, and it would be great to more efficiently control the stove. My only concern would be working in redundancy so that it doesn't accidentally end up putting the stove into a wide open burn while I'm no where near it to shut it down. Also another fun option would be having it accessible by a computer so that I can log in remotely and control it manually if need be.

In any event, nice work Looking forward to future posts.

Thank you!

Redundancy is a concern of mine also. I was thinking about how I'd want to handle something like a power failure, or a failure in some aspect of the control board, servos, etc. The unit I'm using can be battery powered, but its currently not set up to run on household AC *and* have a battery backup at the same time - its either one or the other. BUT that could be changed pretty easily to just allow a battery to take over if the AC dies. Also its good that it only takes 6 AA batteries to power the whole thing for a couple days.

One other neat thing about this setup is that it will have the capability to actually shut down the stove if needed. Doing that by simply closing off all air to the stove - and I'm thinking that if we starve out all the oxygen the fire will go out. Does anybody here have experience doing something like this? At the very least, it will greatly reduce the burn.

edit: Oh yeah, the "Harman Hack" - I need to pull the stove out and get a really close look at the control board to see how its put together... that is what chip set they're using for controlling the thing. Then with some research I might be able to develop some code that would just read that output using a USB cable and a generic laptop computer. Using FTDI chip to do the interfacing would be easy. Pretty much zero cost, but time consuming for me. Maybe that little gadget would be popular among Harman owners who want to see the output data w/o paying $$$ for the Harman diagnostic tool.

 

[Everhard]

Every stove is different, my BIS Ultima insert once it's going really hot even if I damper it down to zero it still burns strongly, in fact, that's how it gets left for the overnight burns as it burns hot and clean. The Drolet Austral on the other hand I've never been able to run shut down completely as it goes way too cold. (tried it when I first got it as an experiment.)
But to answer your question with both of my stoves if I close the air intake down completely it will bring the fire to a controlled state. (ie if it looks like it's going out of control then the closed air intake will at least bring it back to an under control state.) If you could close off all air 100% then yes you would snuff the fire out - in simple terms the fire needs 3 things to burn, fuel, heat, and oxygen, remove any one and the fire goes out. Having said that I'd guess there isn't a stove built that will close off the air intake 100%. Not that one couldn't modify the door to make it an air tight seal.

I was thinking about this after reading your post last time, how about a mechanical spring loaded option that in the event of a power failure will automatically pull the damper closed? (it could be simply be controlled via an electric magnet like what is used to hold doors open until a fire alarm activates in a building - in this case since the magnet will only work while there is electricity then once the power goes out the magnet releases allowing the spring to pull the air damper shut.)
Also with regards to power failures - I would most likely have a small battery backup that I'd plug the stove controller into so any power failure wouldn't effect it, well at least for a period of time, and like you say since they don't draw much power chances are you'd be able to run it off the battery backup at least long enough till you'd be able to get to it. (Thinking of my situation being gone for extended periods of time.)

E.

 

[OK_Bill]

Good ideas there... a spring loaded, electromagnet latched door: could be done! If power lost, the door would snap shut.

For my implementation, the stove will always be attended when burning, and I do have a battery plug-in to use if the city electric fails. It would probably run on the battery for a couple days. For now, that will be the backup solution but maybe something like you're thinking for future ideas... we shall see.

I've not experimented with my VC Encore to see how it might do if I shut ALL the air off. I have worked hard to make sure the stove is air tight, so hopefully if I close both air inlets down, the fire will go out. (fingers crossed) If not, like you say it most likely will drop down to a minimum burn.

Thanks for the feedback... keep it coming.

 

[velvetfoot]

Very impressed by your talent; really wish I had it.

 

[Everhard]

Ok_Bill, have you had a chance to do anything else with your setup? You got me all inspired enough that I got myself a microcontroller, time to resurrect long unused "programming" skills I once had. Actually have a couple projects I'd like to make work - not just wood stove related. Unfortunately I've got a busy few weeks ahead so that will have to sit on the back burner for a little bit..

E.

 

[OK_Bill]

Ok_Bill, have you had a chance to do anything else with your setup? You got me all inspired enough that I got myself a microcontroller, time to resurrect long unused "programming" skills I once had. Actually have a couple projects I'd like to make work - not just wood stove related. Unfortunately I've got a busy few weeks ahead so that will have to sit on the back burner for a little bit..

E.

Yes, I've been working on it but not nearly as much as I wanted, due to increased work load at my other job.

I have all the hardware together finally and am having issues with the TC's not communicating. I'm pretty sure I know why, but it will require some re-work on the wiring bus.

Its cool to hear about your renewed interest in micro controllers and programming. "C" is really the most prolific programming language used all over the world for embedded control systems - and heck, just about every thing else. Good thing these days is just how bloody cheap all the components have gotten due to increased demand across the board. You can buy an Arduino Uno for $25 bucks which packs a ton of controller power into a small board. That's what I'm using for the stove controller - but its maxed out in terms of digital I/O and nearly maxed out on the analog pins also.

Good luck on your projects!

 

[OK_Bill]

Update - the winter was all too quickly replaced by summer here in OKC and ON TOP of that I had a couple surgeries that slowed me down for a while. But I'm in good shape again and getting my other projects cleared off to regain the momentum on this one.

I did get together with another electrical engineer to help troubleshoot the data bus comm problem and then I wound up in the hospital... I'll be back here soon with more progress soon. Cheers... Bill.

 

[spirilis]

I have a little TC project I want to get started on soon myself... I think the most I intend to "control" will be the blower on/off though. This sounds like an exciting project!

What TC amplifiers are you using? I have a lot of experience playing with the MAX31855 which is my chip of choice.

 

[turbojoe]

Update - the winter was all too quickly replaced by summer here in OKC and ON TOP of that I had a couple surgeries that slowed me down for a while. But I'm in good shape again and getting my other projects cleared off to regain the momentum on this one.

I did get together with another electrical engineer to help troubleshoot the data bus comm problem and then I wound up in the hospital... I'll be back here soon with more progress soon. Cheers... Bill.

Hope you feel better soon
Glad you brought this back up. I forgot to keep you guys updated My bad. I somehow forgot this thread, must be the old age...lol
I had decent luck with the Smart controller, needed some changes to the PI loop to work like I wanted on a Cat stove. Couldn't make it work with Dan.
More on my end. Ran my servo controlled Air Damper with a $15 RC Car servo tester to finish the season.
Back running the Smart Controller again this year It does low burns well. perfect for shoulder season. It over controlled at higher temps last year.
Have plenty of pics if interested.

Take care Joe

 

[ChoppingAccountant]

Hope you feel better soon
Glad you brought this back up. I forgot to keep you guys updated My bad. I somehow forgot this thread, must be the old age...lol
I had decent luck with the Smart controller, needed some changes to the PI loop to work like I wanted on a Cat stove. Couldn't make it work with Dan.
More on my end. Ran my servo controlled Air Damper with a $15 RC Car servo tester to finish the season.
Back running the Smart Controller again this year It does low burns well. perfect for shoulder season. It over controlled at higher temps last year.
Have plenty of pics if interested.

Take care Joe

Turbojoe, can you start a thread with your project. I would love to see your results. I started one last winter as well but ran out of time to test it. I hope this winter I can reinstall and test out my controller.

 

[turbojoe]

Turbojoe, can you start a thread with your project. I would love to see your results. I started one last winter as well but ran out of time to test it. I hope this winter I can reinstall and test out my controller.

Here ya go.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/smart-stove-controller-on-blaze-king.139761/#post-1878465