Hi
Dodgy board. New one on order.
Regards
Mains Power Monitor
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chipfryer27
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chipfryer27
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Re: Mains Power Monitor
Hi
New board arrive but I can't say I'm too impressed with the ESP32 boards I have. It could very well be that they are just "cheap". The range is not very impressive and I'd say the wireless equivalent of a bit of damp string.... However this board does seem to penetrate the Gyproc wall to the router about 2.5M away.
It is in a plastic case, a bog standard low profile box, to keep any prying fingers (or cat) away from the sensor module live terminals, so perhaps that is adding to range issue, but even so it still isn't great.
It's running now on an SSID that only has it and the associated laptop on it. Nothing else can access that LAN so hopefully connectivity will be stable.
I forgot to bring back my current clamp so I don't know how accurate it is recording, but from previous tests when down at around 200-300mA it was not accurate at all, but that to be fair is at the very lower limit of sensor operation. Once more current was flowing it was well within expected tolerances.
I set the chart recorder running (still have issues with that laptop even after reinstalling FC9, in that I need to open FAD first then the file, or the Network Interface can't be selected) and so far it seems to be working quite well. I did notice that if you point the mouse on any chart "Y-axis" it displays the value, but calls it Voltage. I guess that keeps it easy when telling people in the pub what you're up to.....
My current was pretty stable at around 800mA when I decided to do a quick vacuum.
Chart clearly showed the current rise etc for the duration and I could easily work out that for the five minutes or so it was running it cost me approximately 2.5p.....
Now looking for a smaller house....
Regards
Update....
After 5hrs and 3mins FAD crashed. When I went to check on it Windows informed along the lines of "FAD has stopped working and needs to be closed". Router logs didn't show much of interest and the Monitor could still be pinged. Laptop had to be restarted before FAD would connect again.
Update....
It's been running now for just over six hours and I can see a regular pattern emerging. I'm pretty consistent at around 700mA but every couple of hours I get a kick for a minute or so which I assume is the fridge as that's the only thing that can decide by itself to do something.
Update
It's now been running for just over 22hrs and in that time has caught pretty much a typical days usage. So far so good.
New board arrive but I can't say I'm too impressed with the ESP32 boards I have. It could very well be that they are just "cheap". The range is not very impressive and I'd say the wireless equivalent of a bit of damp string.... However this board does seem to penetrate the Gyproc wall to the router about 2.5M away.
It is in a plastic case, a bog standard low profile box, to keep any prying fingers (or cat) away from the sensor module live terminals, so perhaps that is adding to range issue, but even so it still isn't great.
It's running now on an SSID that only has it and the associated laptop on it. Nothing else can access that LAN so hopefully connectivity will be stable.
I forgot to bring back my current clamp so I don't know how accurate it is recording, but from previous tests when down at around 200-300mA it was not accurate at all, but that to be fair is at the very lower limit of sensor operation. Once more current was flowing it was well within expected tolerances.
I set the chart recorder running (still have issues with that laptop even after reinstalling FC9, in that I need to open FAD first then the file, or the Network Interface can't be selected) and so far it seems to be working quite well. I did notice that if you point the mouse on any chart "Y-axis" it displays the value, but calls it Voltage. I guess that keeps it easy when telling people in the pub what you're up to.....
My current was pretty stable at around 800mA when I decided to do a quick vacuum.
Chart clearly showed the current rise etc for the duration and I could easily work out that for the five minutes or so it was running it cost me approximately 2.5p.....
Now looking for a smaller house....
Regards
Update....
After 5hrs and 3mins FAD crashed. When I went to check on it Windows informed along the lines of "FAD has stopped working and needs to be closed". Router logs didn't show much of interest and the Monitor could still be pinged. Laptop had to be restarted before FAD would connect again.
Update....
It's been running now for just over six hours and I can see a regular pattern emerging. I'm pretty consistent at around 700mA but every couple of hours I get a kick for a minute or so which I assume is the fridge as that's the only thing that can decide by itself to do something.
Update
It's now been running for just over 22hrs and in that time has caught pretty much a typical days usage. So far so good.
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chipfryer27
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Re: Mains Power Monitor
Hi
It ran for the best part of a week with little issue before "crashing" which I'm putting down to the laptop. In that time I captured a lot of valuable data regarding consumption, and I guess the gadget has paid for itself in subsequent savings I've made.
Still unimpressed by the ESP, I have just taken delivery of another "WROOM" from a different source, costing three times the price I paid for the first couple. When I get some time I'll have a play and see if I get any better range. Visually the construction is miles ahead of the "cheapo's".
Regards
It ran for the best part of a week with little issue before "crashing" which I'm putting down to the laptop. In that time I captured a lot of valuable data regarding consumption, and I guess the gadget has paid for itself in subsequent savings I've made.
Still unimpressed by the ESP, I have just taken delivery of another "WROOM" from a different source, costing three times the price I paid for the first couple. When I get some time I'll have a play and see if I get any better range. Visually the construction is miles ahead of the "cheapo's".
Regards
-
chipfryer27
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Re: Mains Power Monitor
Hi
Sorry for tardy reply, a bit of unexpected travelling.
I actually bought two.
The first is an Open Smart ESP-32 and is by far and away of superior build quality to the "cheapo" ones from well known sources.
https://hobbycomponents.com/other-dev-b ... ment-board
The second is a Thing Plus ESP32-S2 from Sparkfun which is considerably more expensive but has a few extra features.
https://coolcomponents.co.uk/products/s ... f371&_ss=r
Whilst the first works straight out of the box with Flowcode the S2 isn't yet supported. However word on the forum suggests S2 may be in the pipeline.. This particular S2 board has onboard LiPo charging for a cell so this fits well with a hopeful application I have in mind. It can be programmed via the usual routes whilst we wait on FC, which my colleague will be forced to do
Whilst both visually are clearly of high quality, I haven't yet got around to testing them out and when I get time I will probably do a range comparison running the same code.
Regards
Sorry for tardy reply, a bit of unexpected travelling.
I actually bought two.
The first is an Open Smart ESP-32 and is by far and away of superior build quality to the "cheapo" ones from well known sources.
https://hobbycomponents.com/other-dev-b ... ment-board
The second is a Thing Plus ESP32-S2 from Sparkfun which is considerably more expensive but has a few extra features.
https://coolcomponents.co.uk/products/s ... f371&_ss=r
Whilst the first works straight out of the box with Flowcode the S2 isn't yet supported. However word on the forum suggests S2 may be in the pipeline..
This particular S2 board has onboard LiPo charging for a cell so this fits well with a hopeful application I have in mind. It can be programmed via the usual routes whilst we wait on FC, which my colleague will be forced to do Whilst both visually are clearly of high quality, I haven't yet got around to testing them out and when I get time I will probably do a range comparison running the same code.
Regards
-
chipfryer27
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Re: Mains Power Monitor
Hi
I documented earlier that when using the cheapo modules in the Evil Lab, I would struggle to get connection over an 8m LOS distance and at home I could barely go 2.5m through a standard partition wall.
Downloaded the code to the Open Smart module and it connected straight away in the Evil Lab. I didn't even need to precariously balance it up high or anything, as needed before. Feeling confident I then placed the module so that my mezzanine (or Ivory Tower as I prefer to call it) was between module and router. That's a half tonne of metal. Made no difference, the module stayed connected I could never do that with the previous modules.
Whilst this is obviously just anecdotal evidence, I now have far more confidence in using ESP32's as targets. I appreciate I could just have had bad luck with the cheapo's but I guess you do get what you pay for....
Regards
Update...
Just downloaded the credentials to use in my house. Module connected straight away
I documented earlier that when using the cheapo modules in the Evil Lab, I would struggle to get connection over an 8m LOS distance and at home I could barely go 2.5m through a standard partition wall.
Downloaded the code to the Open Smart module and it connected straight away in the Evil Lab. I didn't even need to precariously balance it up high or anything, as needed before. Feeling confident I then placed the module so that my mezzanine (or Ivory Tower as I prefer to call it) was between module and router. That's a half tonne of metal. Made no difference, the module stayed connected
I could never do that with the previous modules.Whilst this is obviously just anecdotal evidence, I now have far more confidence in using ESP32's as targets. I appreciate I could just have had bad luck with the cheapo's but I guess you do get what you pay for....
Regards
Update...
Just downloaded the credentials to use in my house. Module connected straight away