Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
common types of problems with the microcontroller itself.
For the Bear Chamber specifically, there are a few common problems that are easily ixed:
The screen is too dark or you cannot see anything on the screen:
Make sure the Arduino is con-
nected to the power adapter and rotate the potentiometer near the LCD screen to adjust the
brightness.
After increasing the relative humidity and trying to reduce the humidity afterwards, the relative hu-
midity takes a prohibitively long time to change:
As discussed above, it is always going to take
longer to dehumidify than humidify in this chamber. Experiments in general should thus
be scheduled appropriately (e.g. if you are doing tests as a function of humidity start with
the least humid test first). If that is not possible, the best option is to open the door to restart
at your room humidity. So if the system achieved a relative humidity above 40% and the
user wants something lower than 20%, open the system's door and wait until the excess of
moisture is released and then close. Do not open the chamber frequently if low-humidity
conditions are demanded.
The screen is showing weird leters:
Restart the system; to avoid this error, good isolation and
proper wire connection are required. We have found that there can be interference from
power supplies, so it is recommended that you locate the power supply away from the con-
trols circuitry.
The display shows incorrect or strange relative humidity readings (e.g. negative values):
Check for
equipment capable of emiting radiofrequencies near the system and remove them if pos-
sible. The power supply can cause readings errors; so keep it as far away from the controls
as practical. If the problem persists, implement a band pass filter for the relative humidity
sensor's frequency output (i.e. frequency band: 5-10 KHz).
The keypad does not respond or is working improperly:
Some keypads have different wiring
setups, so it is possible that your wiring may be slightly different than the examples shown
in this topic. You need to ind the correct pins to be assigned. Follow this Arduino tutori-
The relative humidity does not increase when programmed to do so:
Verify that the humidiier
water tank has water in it.
The relative humidity does not decrease:
Verify that the dehumidifiers are still able to absorb
moisture by looking at the front of your Eva-Dry as shown in
Figure 4.26
. If the color
inside the rectangle is near orange, it needs to be recharged; to do so, remove from the Bear
Chamber and plug into the wall until it turns blue again. Do not leave it plugged in for
more than 18 h as the manufacturer warns this can cause a malfunction.
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