My issue is my soldering stick, i think it's too hot, i can change the temp but still, when i try to desolder something it finished with a lifted padle...
Thanks for your help guys and i'm sorry if this is my fault from the beginning ^^
I got into the habit of flashing the firmware to the Wemos before I remove the diode and solder it to the board.
I did the same, and I have to ask: Is it really electrically necessary to remove the Wemos diode?..
Hrm, I have not had the same experience. I didn't remove the diode or the led and didn't have any trouble using the mikmonken shield. Looking at https://github.com/universam1/iSpindel/issues/119 perhaps that's because I've always made sure the switch was off.If your using the mikmonken shield, all I know for sure is that if you don't remove it, the Wemos will crash and burn after a few seconds. According to the GitHub it provides a short circuit to the LiPo charger. I found out the hard way, as I forgot to remove the diode before attaching a new wemos to the shield in order to flash it.
@mattrox , Where are you located? I have a couple of extra sleds I could donate to the project. If you need them.
Hi guys,
I've just build and calibrated this device and it works pretty good, however I've noticed that data are not transmitted to the ubidots all the time.
If I lay ispindel freely on the table maybe 5m from router with very thin wall, it shows -60 RSSI. Seems it sends data reliably. But if I put it into the same place in a big glass with water it's not transmitting maybe 8 from 10 records. When record is transmitted the signal strength shown is -77 RSSI.
Do you know what is a good value for signal strength and what is too low ? Is -77 bad value ? Thank you.
The short answer is, yes, -77 is a marginal RSSI value. For reliable packet delivery, an RSSI of >-70 is recommended. Anything <-80 is recommended just to maintain basic connectivity to the router. RSSI is a relative term and how it’s measured varies by manufacurer, but it does give at least some measure of how well the device can “hear” the transmitter (router).
If your router isn’t close to where you’ll be running the iSpindel, you may want to consider adding a repeater close by. Another alternative is to build it using a WeMos D1 Mini Pro with an external antenna attached. I’ve built one of each version, and the external antenna provides a much stronger connection.
The protection IC cuts the power at 2.90~2.99 V
Also note that the current code defines a low battery state at 3.3 volts. When it reaches this threshold, it drops the WiFi transmit power to minimum, and lengthens the sleep time to at least 1 hour (or 3 times your specified sleep time, whichever is longest). It’s purpose is to try to survive a bit longer.Thank you!
Also note that the current code defines a low battery state at 3.3 volts. When it reaches this threshold, it drops the WiFi transmit power to minimum, and lengthens the sleep time to at least 1 hour (or 3 times your specified sleep time, whichever is longest). It’s purpose is to try to survive a bit longer.
FWIW, I ran mine for almost a month reporting every 10 mins. recently. It was only charged to about 4.2V when it started, and it was still at about 3.8V when my fermentation was done.
I’d actually not looked too closely at the RSSI since mine always reported fine. I went back and took a look at what had been logged and it averaged between -80 to -85! But, as I said earlier, this value is a relative term so comparing across devices / environments isn’t necessarily helpful. So long as you are getting good connectivity and reliable reporting, I wouldn’t worry about it much. And, yes, your reported RSSI values are very typical at those distances (and -60 is an excellent signal quality).
What battery are you using? That of course will make a difference in how long it will last. (I’m using the Samsung 30Q recommended by @cherryphilip74, since I’m using his board). Also, the battery voltage will likely not decline linearly, so extrapolating like you’re doing won’t necessarily give you the max runtime.
As far as range goes, I’ve been using these ESP boards (the WeMos / Lolin design) for several years, and have always been impressed by the range they provide for connectivity, especially given the small size of the antenna. That said, there are now MANY knockoffs made now and I’m sure quality control is about the last thing with which the makers of these are concerned. So, I’m sure YMMV depending on the source of your board. Given that my board was in a Petling, in a fermenter full of wort, inside a chest freezer, I was darned impressed it even was able to get a connection!
It’s hard to say what the periodic reporting failure could be, as there are so many variables. I would probably lean towards some sort of network / WiFi issue if I were troubleshooting it. Perhaps it could be some sort of interference with the WiFi signal; maybe try changing the channel on your router and observe for a while to see if you have any better luck.Thank you. Yes, it's strange with that RSSI. Recently I've installed a repeater (in roaming mode), pretty close to the router an it shows RSSI usually about -60 to -70 but despite of this I have sometimes a blackout. It's not reporting maybe for an hour, then it starts normally. So I'm not sure it's the wifi strenght. What could be the problem not all the readings are transmitted ? It's iSpindle issue or network issue ? I don't know.
I have the same board from cherryphilip v3 and use the same battery as you. But yes, maybe what it is different is the chip. I've ordered wemos board but I think I've received a clone because I cannot see wemos logo anywhere. What I see is only ESP-12F - ESP8266MOD. I don't know if this can be a culprit the reliability is not that great. Have you got one with a wemos logo on it? Where did you buy yours?
As for battery readings I had 4.06V two days ago, now it reads 3.88V. With 600s report rate I still think this is too much, isn't it ?
Can someone help me out?
I ordered the parts to make an iSpindel a while back and finally got around to putting it together today. It was simple to put together using the connection board provided by mikmoken in this thread and I didn't have any issues until I went to turn it on after I put it together. The temperature sensor is getting extremely hot and even started to smoke when I tried to turn it on. I already double checked and I put all 3 of the resistors in the correct place, so I can't figure out what's going on. Even when I have the 2 sections separated and it's just the battery, connection board and battery charger without the wemos or accelerometer and I try to turn it on the temp sensor gets hot and smokes. Any ideas?
Yeah I can post a pic. I have it mounted and oriented the same way it shows in the instructions on github.Can you post a photo oif the temp sensor? If I had to guess, you have it mounted backwards.
Yeah I can post a pic. I have it mounted and oriented the same way it shows in the instructions on github.
See my post above, let me know if you have any suggestions.I agree w/ @Thorrak. If it's getting hot, it's probably in backwards. I've built at least 10 of these without any of the temp sensors overheating. A picture would most certainly help.
Also, most recommend that if the sensor has heated up in this manner, you replace the sensor. I would especially recommend it if you've seen smoke.
I don't get any led lights when the Wemos is plugged in directly to usb and it doesn't heat up either. I also don't get any lights when there is a usb plugged into the charger and it doesn't heat up, whether the switch is on or off. It seems like it only heats up on battery power. The only thing I can think is when I had the temp sensor in backwards initially and tried to turn it on a few times and hadn't noticed it was getting hot it may have fried something in the unit before I noticed and turned it off and now it's just shorting out or something.I don't see any major flaws and the temp sensor is correct in those pictures. Does it heat up on both battery power and when the charging module is plugged in? Switch on/off? What about if you plug in the wemos to USB? If the whole thing is heating up, my only guess would be a short in the charging module.
If you're willing, you could send it to me and I can take a look and hopefully fix it. PM me if interested.
Yeah I'm kicking myself for not ordering extras the first time since shipping from China takes so long. I'm definitely ordering at least 5 of each part this time around. I'll let you know if I still run into issues after getting the new parts in.I recommend ordering extras, if you can swing it. Let me know about putting one together for you.
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