illegalmexican
Member
When you say you have similar to them did you rework the PCB schematics ?
Idiots guide to getting an esp32 to control AC Infinity Cloudline EC fans esphome/HA
- Thread starter zen0n
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SloppyPotty
Member
hey hey! Has there been any update on this? Anyone been able to make the pcb work?
Didn't want to wake up a dead thread, but this sparked some interest for myself as I have one of these fans running in a shower room in the basement. So I took some inspirations from the design but changed so I could embed it in the controler box using a custom 3d printed cover. The device will expose a rotary controller with switch as well as a screen for some cool user interactions. The PCB was ordered and I should proceed with assembly over the next 2 weeks or so.
I did expose most of the free GPIOs so it will be possible to add some sensors like humidity, gas, etc. Gas sensor would ideally be part of an "automated poop smell extractor" or something like that, but not sure how practical this can be. Humidity is important as well in a shower as the fan also helps lower the humidity in the air.
I did expose most of the free GPIOs so it will be possible to add some sensors like humidity, gas, etc. Gas sensor would ideally be part of an "automated poop smell extractor" or something like that, but not sure how practical this can be. Humidity is important as well in a shower as the fan also helps lower the humidity in the air.
illegalmexican
Member
Wow nice work im just getting started with pcb design for another project. Is there any reasons for the weird shape of the PCB ?
Indeed. It fits in the fan's control case. The large notch on the upper right corner provides enough room to pass the wires so they can be connected to the screw terminal. I already had a mash up circuit assembled from several different components controlling the fan, but it was quite the mess and the power supply module (120V->5V) gave up after 1 year or so of being constantly plugged in.
So the shape is meant to fit in a case that will look like this:
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I managed to assemble a board early this morning, reflowed in my repurposed toaster oven, which I modified with a custom controller board, screen and firmware (that is another story).
Here's the controller in action with an early version of the esphome firmware, which will allow complete control of the fan from home assistant
Here's the controller in action with an early version of the esphome firmware, which will allow complete control of the fan from home assistant
MedicalInMO
Well-Known Member
That’s amazing!
What amazes me is how much the community (@javawizard's circuit in particular, who introduced me to a nifty member of the esp32 family that I didn't know about) has beaten down the trail to lower the initial effort in all that.
I'll try to post some final pictures/videos of the installed case with the brushed up UI (the video here was the early effort).
thank you for taking the time to respond.
Where are you located? In about to hit the order button on the next iteration of the PCB which has a dedicated ch4 sensor (methane... To modulate volume of air based on concentration. Sulphur would have been a better sensor for a bathroom smell sensor, but they are expensive and methane is an acceptable compromise since I'm more interested in checking for "activity" rather than measuring it.
I have reworked the board to have the rotary built in and repositioned. They are now on the other side of the board because it makes more sense for mounting.
MedicalInMO
Well-Known Member
I’d be in for 2 if you end up with any extras
Michigan area! Methane sensor won't be much use for me, but it will be neat to see the levels when my cat farts, hah. I was planning on attaching an SGP40 VOC sensor, I got a few laying around.
CH4 methane sensor I'm going to play with is part of a larger family (MQ4 being methane) and so the choice of sensor is really up to the usage you want to make. I have had some time yesterday to update hte board layout and I added some extra screw terminals for MQxx sensors, I2C sensors, DHT, etc.
I also flipped the OLED, rotary and led indicators on the opposite side of the board. It is much easier to design a case for this where the board will be screwed to the bottom with the screen facing down, and with all connectors available on the inner side so wires can be freely connected and routed to the inside of the duct for measuring air.
I also flipped the OLED, rotary and led indicators on the opposite side of the board. It is much easier to design a case for this where the board will be screwed to the bottom with the screen facing down, and with all connectors available on the inner side so wires can be freely connected and routed to the inside of the duct for measuring air.
MedicalInMO
Well-Known Member
Utterly amazing!
I also added the tach sensor, which I could not figure out before. Test driving Gemini AI from Google, it found several links and it figured out that reading needs a pull up resistor since the fan will sink to ground on each pulse. This was the last bit to make me happy, so I'll probably order the board (switched to 4 layers with VCC and ground plane inside the sandwiched PCB to help with simple traces). When I have everything out of my oven, I'll get and see if I can/want to sell a few units. That is if there's enough demand to go for the assembly service because with over 50 components these take at least an hour of manually picking and placing.
I might also cross post on the home assistant forums, as the community is probably more aligned with the usage I am doing
Firmware right now is esphome and it is simple yet efficient, but growing more complex requirements is a pain to code in YAML so I might end up switching for a different framework altogether. For example I could go on the Arduino even if it is not my preference choice, as the learning curve is not as big as a pure esp-idf project which is my preferred tool. Suggestions are of course welcomed.
Yeah, we're kinda pushing ESPHome with this sort of stuff. The upside is it's really simple to use and add to HomeAssistant. The whole thing is looking absolutely fantastic though. Gonna use a black PCB for it?I also added the tach sensor, which I could not figure out before. Test driving Gemini AI from Google, it found several links and it figured out that reading needs a pull up resistor since the fan will sink to ground on each pulse. This was the last bit to make me happy, so I'll probably order the board (switched to 4 layers with VCC and ground plane inside the sandwiched PCB to help with simple traces). When I have everything out of my oven, I'll get and see if I can/want to sell a few units. That is if there's enough demand to go for the assembly service because with over 50 components these take at least an hour of manually picking and placing.
I might also cross post on the home assistant forums, as the community is probably more aligned with the usage I am doing
Firmware right now is esphome and it is simple yet efficient, but growing more complex requirements is a pain to code in YAML so I might end up switching for a different framework altogether. For example I could go on the Arduino even if it is not my preference choice, as the learning curve is not as big as a pure esp-idf project which is my preferred tool. Suggestions are of course welcomed.
If there's general demand for itYeah, we're kinda pushing ESPHome with this sort of stuff. The upside is it's really simple to use and add to HomeAssistant. The whole thing is looking absolutely fantastic though. Gonna use a black PCB for it?
It does look cool in that color, I have to admit. Manufacturing takes a bit more, but I like it.
I am still holding on hitting that purchase button as I keep finding better ways to organize the components and lay down the traces, but the circuit itself hasn't changed much this weekend. I'm hoping the tachometer read will work; I love getting feedback from a system. I am also leaning towards a bigger screen. Even though I layed out the board to fit in the original enclosure, I realize that the same board could very well be installed remotely with a 4 strands wire (or even a standard Cat 5 cable/Telephone cable. So a bigger screen to show sensor readings might make some sense after all.
Two units could also be combined, paired using bluetooth, and one acting as the sensor/controller with the other one sending the PWM signal.
So many options
Heck yeah, the black looks fantastic! And oh god, I'm just blown away at all the possibilities now. There's also a bunch of other displays we could use, so maybe adding the extra parts and cost for it might not be the best idea? Like, check out the Streacom VU1, it's an epaper VU meter!If there's general demand for it
It does look cool in that color, I have to admit. Manufacturing takes a bit more, but I like it.
I am still holding on hitting that purchase button as I keep finding better ways to organize the components and lay down the traces, but the circuit itself hasn't changed much this weekend. I'm hoping the tachometer read will work; I love getting feedback from a system. I am also leaning towards a bigger screen. Even though I layed out the board to fit in the original enclosure, I realize that the same board could very well be installed remotely with a 4 strands wire (or even a standard Cat 5 cable/Telephone cable. So a bigger screen to show sensor readings might make some sense after all.
Two units could also be combined, paired using bluetooth, and one acting as the sensor/controller with the other one sending the PWM signal.
So many options
View attachment 5373304
I could also just mirror the screen pins for a couple of options (positioned based on size on the board), but choosing a couple of options. My original choice was dictated by.... Availability since I have a bunch of these. But I have several other displays that I used for testing of my other project, but that's a different topic (it's a multi room streaming device for which I developed the firmware with a friend and for which I also designed and built an actual physical device complete with Ethernet, spdif, coax, analog, etc etc)Heck yeah, the black looks fantastic! And oh god, I'm just blown away at all the possibilities now. There's also a bunch of other displays we could use, so maybe adding the extra parts and cost for it might not be the best idea? Like, check out the Streacom VU1, it's an epaper VU meter!
