Looking for some input...

The German

Hi yall,
I was wondering if I could pick your brains regarding what a humidifier should be able to do. Mine broke about a week ago and I started a small project to build my own. What I have so far:
- Multiple humidity/temperature sensors
- Two air circulating fans, switching on and off based on chosen humidity target
- Humidifies with distilled water
- Allows temperature control (just warming, not cooling)
- Internet access to status page and controls
- Alert (email) when water level drops below a specific level

Do you have any other thoughts what you would put into a "perfect" humidifier?

jgibv

sounds like a cool project you got going....

but .... if it was me ....
instead of making an alert for when the water level drops --- what about making a wi-fi connected hygrometer/ RH sensor.

that way you could track the RH level and have an alert for when RH drops below a certain point you'd know to refill the humidifier/check the humidors.

IDK, just seems like tracking the RH would be more beneficial than tracking the water level. just my $0.02
keep us posted

The German

Well, the fans and sensors will control and add to the humidity in the humidor, but they can only do so as long as the water reservoir is filled. I plan on adding a small water level sensor in there, that when reaching a low fill level, will get the alert (pretty much a reminder to refille water) triggered - it will also be on the little LCD screen, but I personally am more likely to read my e-mails than regularly check the display :-)

I got the first revision already running, keeps the humidity very steady and with the multiple fans, also quickly gets it back to the set level after it has been opened.

Will share some pics after I got the LCD completely set up...

The German

O.K., so here are some pics of the very first prototype :-) has been running in my humidor for several days now and works pretty well.

On the first pic, you can see the mini-computer (the green part), the development board, lots of cables, the small screen and in the back the relay that switches the fans.

The second pic shows the inside of the humidor with the water container, the fan and the white thing with the cables is one of the two sensors. On the other side of the humidor, I got another fan and another sensor which evens the humidity pretty quickly.

The last pic just shows the screen with the two sensor readings, the setpoints, temperature and date/time...
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

0patience

The German:

O.K., so here are some pics of the very first prototype :-) has been running in my humidor for several days now and works pretty well.

On the first pic, you can see the mini-computer (the green part), the development board, lots of cables, the small screen and in the back the relay that switches the fans.

The second pic shows the inside of the humidor with the water container, the fan and the white thing with the cables is one of the two sensors. On the other side of the humidor, I got another fan and another sensor which evens the humidity pretty quickly.

The last pic just shows the screen with the two sensor readings, the setpoints, temperature and date/time...
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

Holy cow! That is impressive.

ejgorman

I think you're missing a paper clip, some chewing gum and a rubber band. Other than that, it looks good MacGyver!

The German

Thanks - am looking forward to the coffee that thing will brew me tomorrow :-)

After reading the thread with the relative humidity vs. actual humidity/dewpoint, I just implemented a function to get the humidity controlled after a set dewpoint.  Will be interesting to see if that makes a difference with the temperature in the house being relatively constant... well - German engineered lol...

Rain

SM0K3Y

bigharpoon

Holy cow, man! I like, live in the woods in a log cabin and stuff...is this the kind of thing that happens in civilization all the time now?

The German

I would be more than happy to trade that place with the life in Cincinnati ;-)
It's just the nerd in me - and I was too cheap to put out $150 or so for a new electronic humidifier... (not that this one will run me much less, but it for sure has more functionality than just humidity control with a single fan..)

Rhamlin

Always cut the red wire!

The German

Well, I cut the red and some other wires :-)
Here's the latest version. Getting smaller and nicer... Plus the data is being sent to a website and I get an e-mail notification if the humidity cannot be reached within a certain timeframe :-) :-) The drops you can see in the curve are from when I opened the box...

Looks like 2015 arrived at my humidor...
...
Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3