I would focus on why the motor isn't starting first. What kind of motor is it? Capacitor start? When it does not start does it sit there and buzz or what?
-----Original Message----- From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> On Behalf Of Nate Burke Sent: Wednesday, January 1, 2025 10:54 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <af@af.afmug.com> Subject: [AFMUG] Temperature based reset switch I'm running an application with an industrial heater, basically you apply 120V to the unit, it blows hot air. I've built a 24VAC relay controlled by a smart thermostat so that the thermostat powers on and off the unit. The Issue I have is that I think there's a dead spot on the blower motor of the heater, so about 1/20 times, the heater won't start when 120v is applied. If the power is cycled on and off a few times, then the motor will start. The unit is smart enough that it won't start the heat if the fan isn't running, but the thermostat isn't smart enough to know that it's not actually heating and cycle it. I can tell when the unit isn't running because I have a temperature probe on the output air of the unit, and when it drops below ambient temperature, I know that the Louvers drawing outside air are open, but there is no heat being produced. Then I can Manually go in and cycle the thermostat on and off a few times, and the unit will start working. I'm trying to figure out a way to automatically cycle the unit if a temperature reading is below a set point. It would need to be something programmatic, like IF Temperature is Below SETPOINT for longer than 4 minutes, THEN CYCLE power for 5 seconds, REPEAT. The blower motor does draw about 1600W, so a 120v relay needs to be at least a 20A relay, a low voltage switch interrupting the 24VAC would be easier. I was wondering if something like this already existed. I could read/switch based on temperature from a packet flux, but I don't think I can do the timings without external scripts. Would this be simple with an Arduino? I've never used one before. I hope the collective might point me in the right direction to start looking. -- AF mailing list AF@af.afmug.com http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list AF@af.afmug.com http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
