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My condensation management setup worked!
- Thread starter dewbane
- Start date
Good thread. I was thinking it's a current time until seeing 2018. I like so many aspects of the discussion.
Programming, machinist, machine, arduino, truck driver, language major (?), too many talents problem, midi, health and 401k, on and on
I thought to suggest wifi and remote control/monitor, but you touched that.
For warm temperatures, I would use dehumidifier vs heat to deal with the problem.
As some has already said, the oscillation, chatter or whatever that term is about control is not about margin you go above the dew point. It is at whatever value you have. As long as the sensor is not persistent or the temperature is not changing fast, or dealing with floating point value, you may run into problem. Give a range before kick in, such as if running, has to be 0.2 above set temp to turn off. If off, has to be 0.2 below set temperature to turn on.
Programming, machinist, machine, arduino, truck driver, language major (?), too many talents problem, midi, health and 401k, on and on
I thought to suggest wifi and remote control/monitor, but you touched that.
For warm temperatures, I would use dehumidifier vs heat to deal with the problem.
As some has already said, the oscillation, chatter or whatever that term is about control is not about margin you go above the dew point. It is at whatever value you have. As long as the sensor is not persistent or the temperature is not changing fast, or dealing with floating point value, you may run into problem. Give a range before kick in, such as if running, has to be 0.2 above set temp to turn off. If off, has to be 0.2 below set temperature to turn on.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
- Messages
- 1,237
Would it be just as well to connect a 3 foot pipe heat tape to the machines. They have a built in thermostat and would come on not letting the machine go below freezing.
I think it just depends on power. The oil-pan heaters are available around 200-300 W. Nice broad surface should have good heat transfer. I’m tempted to order a few of ai can identify places on my machines to give them a try.
Pipe heat tape could work but may be more difficult to integrate with a machine.
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2018
- Messages
- 232
I did add some small dehumidifiers to help with warm temperatures, and they pull a lot of water. The system hasn't quite been working as I hoped, but it works well enough that I haven't gotten around to going back into it to try to tweak it. Sometimes it does behave stupidly, cycling the heaters when it's obvious to me that there is no real danger of condensation, no matter how close it seems to be according to the readings. The logic I used clearly isn't optimal, and I should probably rewrite the code using one of those more clever algorithms that have been suggested along the way.
In spite of the caveats, it has basically proven to be a thing I can turn on and ignore. I can comfortably assume that any condensation will be minimal, and manageable.
At this point, the biggest obstacle to going back into it and tweaking the code is the fact that everything is covered in a sludge of oil and chips. I'm lazy. I work 70 hours a week, and don't get much hobby time. I have been avoiding cleaning up that mess for a long time. When I do, I need to take steps to cover as much of everything as possible in something that will be easier to keep cleaned off.
I hear that pain. It’s often not as convenient as I’d like to update code in my microcontroller projects. I did my boiler controller with a Raspberry Pi and it’s easy to change. Python script edited through a terminal window.