Outside temperature probe

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sybe@sijbesma.org
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Outside temperature probe

Post by sybe@sijbesma.org »

I have an opentherm gateway and I would like to use it to hook on an outside temperature probe.
How should I go about?
hvxl
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by hvxl »

I apologize for not responding sooner. Somehow I missed this topic when it was initially raised.

Alpha firmware version 4.0a5 has support for Dallas temperature sensors DS18S20 or DS18B20. You connect the device to the GPIO header of the gateway as follows: pin 1: GND, pin 2: DQ, pin3: Vdd. You also need a 4k7 (or thereabouts) resistor between DQ and Vdd, i.e. between pin 2 and 3 of the GPIO header.

Due to the apparent lack of interrest for this feature by the users, I have not put any effort in to retain the functionality in 4.0a6. But if it is useful for you let me know and I'll bring it back in 4.0a7. But once again, for your testing you will have to use 4.0a5.

I decided to only add support for a digital temperature sensor because of its calibrated output. Adding support for analog sensors would be nearly impossible due to the wide variety of sensors available. Whichever one I chose would probably be the wrong one for most people. The GPIO pins can be configured as analog inputs, so it should be possible to handle an analog temperature sensor. But if you want to go that route, you will have to write the code yourself.
Schelte
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by RedNax »

Please retain support for the Dallas probe. A much more accurate and economical alternative to the (in my case) rediculously overpriced vaillant 693...
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by raymonvdm »

I agree on that
Running HS3PRO on PC with Z-Wave / OpenTherm / Plugwise / RFXcom / MQTT / XAP400 / Logitech Media Server and Squeezelite on PI`s
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by hvxl »

But has anyone actually tried it with a sensor mounted outside (i.e. with a long cable)? And if so, did that work satisfactorily?

I ask because I used a very simple interface. But if that doesn't work too well, I may have to cater for a more elaborate interface (with features like slew control).
Schelte
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by RedNax »

The sensor is mounted outside via a 2 meter long lead. The temperature shown in otmonitor/vaillant thermostat is accurate (or at least on par with an outside sensor on my weatherstation). Only thing is that otmonitor loses the connection to the gateway a couple of times a day. Also, the error 03's have gone from none at all to multiple ones hourly after moving to 4a5 from 3.
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by hvxl »

I reintroduced the DS1820 outside temperature sensor feature in firmware 4.0a8. When using the same connections as with firmware 4.0a5, you have to configure the GPIO ports as follows: GA=2 and GB=7. After doing that, PR=G should return 27.
RedNax wrote:Only thing is that otmonitor loses the connection to the gateway a couple of times a day. Also, the error 03's have gone from none at all to multiple ones hourly after moving to 4a5 from 3.
What do you mean by "otmonitor loses the connection to the gateway"? The serial connection drops and you have to reconnect via Tools->Interface?

Hooking up a temperature sensor should not result in more errors. The code waits for the gap between the response from the boiler and the next request from the thermostat to do its thing. That gap should normally be more than half a second, which is plenty of time.

Can you load firmware 4.0a8 and confirm you still see either or both problems? If so, can you configure the GPIO ports back to GA=0 and GB=0 to check if that makes any difference? If it doesn't, can you disconnect the temperature sensor cable? Maybe it is picking up some interference.
Schelte
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by RedNax »

My replies take a while because they have to be vetted by the admins of the board.. wondering when that will be done..


Yes, i do mean dropping the rs232 connection. Admittedly the connection is built like an xmas tree..

otmon -> wifi -> router -> usb/rs232 conv -> otgw

however with the 'old' fw it didn't happen.. now it does.. could be anything in the chain ofcourse, it's just that onlly the otgw fw changed. No biggie, as the thermostat/boiler are still talking to eachother.

I'll flash the new fw when i get home tonight... stay tuned..
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by hvxl »

RedNax wrote:It's just that only the otgw fw changed.
And you hooked up a cable with a temperature sensor. I can't yet rule that out as the cause of the trouble.
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by RedNax »

Well, 4.0a8 has now been up for around 10~11 hours... Outside temperature works fire (are the settings saved somewhere or do i need to issue the gpio commands on every startup...), OTmonitor is still connected and error03's are at 5 which is a great improvement.

What i did notice, which may be totally unrelated, is that the + button on the boilers control panel doesn't do anything anymore (so when i have to go to the first option in de diagnostics mennu i havo to go down 99 times).
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by RedNax »

Not all is well... what i've noticed today:

RS232 connection dropped, powering the usb (usb/rs232 converter) port down and up again remedies it.
GW stopped responding to commands. It kept setting the MAX CH to 90 degrees. It did however still sent data on rs232. Powercycling the gateway remedies it.

One thing i'm not too sure of: i'm almost positive the 3.x fw would display the DHW setpoint correctly... 4a8 displays -0.00

Are you also the author of the otmonitor? It would be great if it could support commandline switches like /log:<logfile> /data:<datafile> /port:<usb|rs232|ip> /ondisconnect:<somebatchfile.bat|exit>
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by hvxl »

RedNax wrote:Are the settings saved somewhere or do i need to issue the gpio commands on every startup
Yes, GPIO settings are saved in EEPROM, so you don't have to reconfigure them on every startup. However, they are cleared when you reflash the firmware.
RedNax wrote:What i did notice, which may be totally unrelated, is that the + button on the boilers control panel doesn't do anything anymore
The opentherm protocol doesn't include any commands to influence the operation of the boiler's control panel.
RedNax wrote:RS232 connection dropped, powering the usb (usb/rs232 converter) port down and up again remedies it.
That means the usb-serial converter had trouble, not the gateway.
RedNax wrote:GW stopped responding to commands. It kept setting the MAX CH to 90 degrees. It did however still sent data on rs232.
This description is not clear to me. Do you have a log showing what happened?
RedNax wrote:i'm almost positive the 3.x fw would display the DHW setpoint correctly... 4a8 displays -0.00
The firmware doesn't display anything. It just reports the raw opentherm messages. On my system I see no irregularities regarding the DHW setpoint. Where do you see this -0.00? Again a log would be very helpful.
RedNax wrote:Are you also the author of the otmonitor? It would be great if it could support commandline switches like /log:<logfile> /data:<datafile> /port:<usb|rs232|ip> /ondisconnect:<somebatchfile.bat|exit>
I am, and it does. At least for most of the things you asked about. The command line is:
otmonitor [<options>] [<device>|<host>:<port>]
Valid options are:
-o, --outputfile FILE: write the message log to a file.
-d, --datafile FILE: periodically write some parameters to a file.
-l, --log: on startup, show the log tab.
-g, --graph: on startup, show the graph tab (default).
-s, --statistics: on startup, show the statistics tab.
-p, --port PORT: relay server port, default: 7686.
Schelte
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by RedNax »

Found teh persistence of the gpio settings in the new features section, thanks!

Unfortunately i have no logging of the MAx CH setpoint event. (Which in turn led me to the otmonitor cmd switches question).
OT monitor showed the MAx CH setpoint being at 90 degrees. Attempts to alter it using the slider in the configuration tab failed. Free format command would result in the command being echoed in the log pane (Command: <command>)). However it would seem it was never executed as no feeback ever appeared. Attempts to do it manually also failed. After taking the power off the gateway and powering it on again, everything behaved as expected again. otm is logging again, so when it happens again i'll have something to show.

I meant otmonitor, not the fw, displays the DWH setpoint as -0.00.
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by RedNax »

Hi,

The 90 degree Max CH water setpoint thing happend again, see the log extract below.. Around 23:49 it's at 75 degrees, which is nominal. At 00:23 it has suddenly gone up to 90.00...

Code: Select all

23:49:11.452759 T00382300 Read-Data  DHW setpoint: 35.00
23:49:11.573126 B4038FFFF Read-Ack   DHW setpoint: -0.00
23:49:12.009582 T00394B00 Read-Data  Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
23:49:12.128153 BF0394B00 Unk-DataId Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
23:49:12.140915 AC0394B00 Read-Ack   Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
23:49:12.566924 T10010A00 Write-Data Control setpoint: 10.00
23:49:12.684691 BD0010A00 Write-Ack  Control setpoint: 10.00
23:49:13.125787 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
23:49:13.242828 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:22:58.012274 80000800
00:22:58.129465 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:22:58.564976 T10010A00 Write-Data Control setpoint: 10.00
00:22:58.682557 BD0010A00 Write-Ack  Control setpoint: 10.00
00:22:59.118989 T90181271 Write-Data Room temperature: 18.44
00:22:59.236540 BF0181271 Unk-DataId Room temperature: 18.44
00:22:59.673784 T80190000 Read-Data  Boiler water temperature: 0.00
00:22:59.796862 BC0191D80 Read-Ack   Boiler water temperature: 29.50
00:23:00.230811 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:00.347853 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:00.785943 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:00.904688 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:01.342144 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:01.460294 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:01.898899 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:02.015821 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:02.459663 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:02.571661 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:03.061229 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:03.180063 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:03.619358 T10010A00 Write-Data Control setpoint: 10.00
00:23:03.736200 BD0010A00 Write-Ack  Control setpoint: 10.00
00:23:04.173549 T900E6400 Write-Data Maximum relative modulation level: 100.00
00:23:04.292625 B500E6400 Write-Ack  Maximum relative modulation level: 100.00
00:23:04.729302 T80190000 Read-Data  Boiler water temperature: 0.00
00:23:04.847717 BC0191D80 Read-Ack   Boiler water temperature: 29.50
00:23:05.286563 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:05.404209 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:05.842598 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:05.963009 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:06.397391 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:06.515680 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:06.953018 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:07.072436 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:07.540668 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:07.658331 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:08.096190 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:08.215924 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:08.651132 T00050000 Read-Data  Application-specific flags: 00000000 0
00:23:08.770406 BC00500FF Read-Ack   Application-specific flags: 00000000 255
00:23:09.207708 T10010A00 Write-Data Control setpoint: 10.00
00:23:09.326231 BD0010A00 Write-Ack  Control setpoint: 10.00
00:23:09.763566 T80190000 Read-Data  Boiler water temperature: 0.00
00:23:09.882050 BC0191D80 Read-Ack   Boiler water temperature: 29.50
00:23:10.319283 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:10.437615 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:10.874583 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:10.993234 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:11.434614 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:11.553268 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:11.991190 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:12.109237 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:12.546004 T00382300 Read-Data  DHW setpoint: 35.00
00:23:12.664246 B4038FFFF Read-Ack   DHW setpoint: -0.00
00:23:13.101963 T00394B00 Read-Data  Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
00:23:13.221466 BF0394B00 Unk-DataId Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
00:23:13.234136 AC0395A00 Read-Ack   Max CH water setpoint: 90.00
00:23:13.658635 T10010A00 Write-Data Control setpoint: 10.00
00:23:13.776867 BD0010A00 Write-Ack  Control setpoint: 10.00
00:23:14.214642 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:14.332958 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:14.769906 T80190000 Read-Data  Boiler water temperature: 0.00
00:23:14.889496 BC0191D80 Read-Ack   Boiler water temperature: 29.50
00:23:15.326851 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:15.445138 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:15.882549 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
00:23:16.002590 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
Also the connection dropped again @ 06:33, i manually restarted @ 07:00:

EDIT: playing around with the otmonitor switches i tried the -p which opens a port to talk to otmonitor through a telnet (putty in this case) interface. When the connection drops, it can be revived with a GW=R issued throuhg this interface.

Code: Select all

06:33:12.093581 T80000800 Read-Data  Status: 00001000 00000000
06:33:12.211141 B40000800 Read-Ack   Status: 00001000 00000000
06:33:12.648515 T00382300 Read-Data  DHW setpoint: 35.00
06:33:12.766966 B4038FFFF Read-Ack   DHW setpoint: -0.00
06:33:13.204091 T00394B00 Read-Data  Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
06:33:29.087553 BF0394B Unk-DataId Max CH water setpoint: 0.29
07:00:13.751465 00394B00
07:00:13.874119 BF0394B00 Unk-DataId Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
07:00:13.882589 AC0395A00 Read-Ack   Max CH water setpoint: 90.00
07:00:14.308314 T10012B00 Write-Data Control setpoint: 43.00
07:00:14.429573 BD0012B00 Write-Ack  Control setpoint: 43.00
07:00:14.864402 T80190000 Read-Data  Boiler water temperature: 0.00
07:00:14.983720 BC0191900 Read-Ack   Boiler water temperature: 25.00
And here's the DHW setpoint -0.00 display:

Code: Select all

21:53:11.841465 B40000B00 Read-Ack   Status: 00001011 00000000
21:53:12.242548 T80000B00 Read-Data  Status: 00001011 00000000
21:53:12.391442 B40000B00 Read-Ack   Status: 00001011 00000000
21:53:12.798126 T00382300 Read-Data  DHW setpoint: 35.00
21:53:12.917542 B4038FFFF Read-Ack   DHW setpoint: -0.00
21:53:13.392198 T00394B00 Read-Data  Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
21:53:13.524478 BF0394B00 Unk-DataId Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
21:53:13.656422 AC0394B00 Read-Ack   Max CH water setpoint: 75.00
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Re: Outside temperature probe

Post by hvxl »

Max CH water setpoint:
If you look closely at who sends which message, you'll see that it starts with the thermostat sending a read request (Read-Data). The boiler then responds that it doesn't support the message ID (Unk-DataId). In this case the gateway returns its own internal idea of the max CH water setpoint (Read-Ack). Apparently the gateway was reset somewhere between 23:49 and 00:22. After a reset the gateway initializes the Max CH setpoint to 90. It will adjust that when it receives:
  • Relevant information from the boiler (MsgID 49 or MsgID 57), which your boiler doesn't support.
  • A Write-Data message for MsgID 57 from the thermostat, but in the log your thermostat only sends Read-Data messages.
  • The 'SH' serial command, which you sent at 07:24.
I don't currently store the Max CH setpoint in EEPROM, maybe I should. But in any case this is not something to worry about.

Dropped connection:
It's difficult to determine what causes this. I could possibly add a recovery mechanism to otmonitor that will try to reconnect if it gets disconnected.

DHW setpoint:
The log shows that the boiler reports a value of 0xFFFF for the DHW setpoint. That translates to -0.0039, which is displayed as -0.00. I have no reason to assume the gateway makes that number up. But you can check what the boiler actually sends by setting the gateway to monitor mode (GW=0). If that still shows the -0.00, I guess the boiler is confused. You can try to set the the DHW setpoint via a SW=60 command, or via the control panel on the boiler itself. If you get different values in monitor mode and gateway mode, I would definitely be interested to see a log of that.
Schelte
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