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Hello,

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction - I've searched forum after forum and can't find the help I need to get setup with Artisan. I've followed all documentation word-for-word (at least I think), but for the life of me I cannot get my Hottop to be controlled through Artisan.

The red LED never lights up. But the amber light on the board is lit, my thermocouples are registering with Artisan, and I can connect to Arduino. I have slider settings configured as per documentation, etc. But I think I'm just missing a setting somewhere. It's been very difficult troubleshooting, because at one point it seemed my roaster wouldn't even preheat on it's own when the board combo was connected.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Dan

PS - I using the Hottop-B2K and Artisan 0.92 loaded with Arduino 1.62.
I originally tried to load RoastLogger instead of Artisan, but I was running into troubles with the sketches. The current sketch doesn't compile for some reason, and that's why I reverted to Artisan.

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I am sorry to hear that you are having problems getting started with both RoastLogger and Artisan. I am sure others will be along soon to help you with Artisan.

If you wish to try RoastLogger then the following should help:

To compile the RoastLoggerTC4 sketch you must use the correct version(version 1.0) of the Arduino IDE and install the required libraries correctly.

If you wish to try this again please ensure you are using the Arduino IDE version 1.0. Download the RoastLoggerTC4 sketch from the RoastLogger downloads page. This will ensure you have the correct version and the required libraries are included in the download.

Detailed instructions on compiling and uploading the sketch to your Arduino/TC4C have been provided by JackH a link to these instructions is provided on the downloads page.

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Hi and welcome to HRO.

I don't know much about the HTC boards. But can you control the roaster using the serial commands from the arduino serial terminal?

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Hello and thank you.

I was able to connect through the serial terminal and verify temperatures using a read command, but I'm not sure which commands are used for controlling - I tried "OT1,75" (not sure if this is correct) but nothing happened.

Also, I noticed my roaster seems to be taking a longer time to preheat when connected to the HTC+TC4C board vs. without it. I'm not sure if this is related to the problem or possibly an indication there might be a hardware issue. I just purchased the board so it should be fine, but I can't be sure since the LED and controls don't seem to be working properly.


Thank you GreenBean - I will try reloading RoastLogger in the meantime to see if I can rule out any hardward problems.

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Hi Dan,

Not too familiar with the HTC part, but I can help with some of the TC4 commands.

The OT1/OT2 commands will not respond with text like the READ command does.

I believe you have to be running the HotTop for the fan and heater controls to work. (In case you are trying to test with the roaster at idle).

There should be tiny leds on the TC4C near the OT1 and OT2 connectors that should light up or flash depending on the duty cycle you chose.

--Jack

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GreenBean - I'm still having the same problems as earlier with RoastLogger. I can't get the sketch to compile without an error. This is the message I receive:




Jack - I was trying Artisan when the roaster was on. There are a couple small lights on the board that light when connected, but the main red LED that attaches to the board doesn't light when the heat comes on. I don't know what commands to use to test control through the serial port. The sliders in Artisan do nothing when connected.

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GreenBean - thanks for your help. I was finally able to get RoastLogger to compile. I didn't realize I was using the updated Arduino software. After installing the older 1.0 version it worked. However, I'm still having problems getting the heat controls to work. Additionally, it seems my temperature readings are now off, BT is fine, but ET is showing as negative.

The fact the heat controls aren't working on both Artisan and RoastLogger lead me to believe the issue may be hardware related. Either that, or I'm just missing a setting somewhere. Any extra advice will be appreciated.

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It sounds as though you have not yet completed the installation of the HTRI boards correctly. I will discuss the two issues you mention separately below:

Negative readings from ET thermocouple:

Thermocouples must be connected the correct way around. If the thermocouple leads are reversed it will show temperatures falling as the thermocouple is heated. If this is what you are experiencing then simply swap the ET thermocouple leads around.

Heater not turning on:

For safety reasons the HTRI boards leave the Hottop control panel in overall control of the heater. That is the control panel can turn the heater off at any time regardless of what the external program is requesting. To achieve this the Hottop B-2K control panel must be programmed with a program that turns the heater and fan on 100% throughout the roast and this program must be selected for each roast you wish to be controlled by an external program. Please see the RoastLogger manual appendix G which describes in detail how to achieve this. The same information is included in the HTRI manual.

My guess is that you have not yet completed the above step and this is the cause of your problem. If you still have a problem getting the heater to turn on after taking this step then run the Hottop, select the control panel program for 100% heat and fan, run RoastLogger and the Controller. Move the heater slider and watch the ?Status data from roaster? at the top of the Controller. Within one second of moving the slider the status data should change to the new setting. This confirms that the TC4C has received the heater setting and has applied the new setting to the HTC. If the status data updates correctly but the heater still does not turn on then you probably have a bad connection on one of the control cables to/from the HTC. In this case unplug, inspect and carefully replug both cables.

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OK, great thank you. I'm making progress now! I'm not quite sure why my default program stored on Hottop didn't allow me to do controls initially, but after starting it up fresh (unplugged everything, saved over AD1 again, etc.) the controls seem to be working now. What threw me off a little bit was the fact that the temperature readings were still increasing even though I set heater down to 0%. It turns out there was more momentum in the initial heat setting than I thought there would be, and it took some extra time before the heat setting change was reflected in the temperatures.

The other thing that was throwing me off is the fact that the red LED light that attaches to the board never lit up and still doesn't. After inspecting the wire connection near the bulb, it appears one end is not connected completely to the wire and may be breaking the circuit. I'm going to try and get that replaced, and hopefully it will light as it should.

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If you are correct that the wire is broken then you would need to repair or replace it. You may want to check first that the LED is connected the correct way around. The side of the LED with a small flat must be connected to the negative or cathode side of the socket on the PCB. The negative side may be marked K on the PCB and the positive side A (for anode).

I hope that sorts out your last problem. Enjoy computer controlled roasting.

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GreenBean - thanks for all your help. Turns out the LED connection was in fact loose and the connection was broken. I replaced the bulb, and it lights up just fine. Finally, now I can start playing with some roasts. :)