Pump + Relais + Decoupling

[Naitsirhc]

Hi,

Picked up the hobby again :-)
I would like to build an irregation system with a pump, 4 valves and a sensor to easure the total amount of water in a tank.
I have found some sketches to help me with the problem. So I hope this would not be the problem.
I now have tried the relais sketch on my doormagnet (other project), and after a while it will fail (probably noise causes the problem)
My system is:
Arduino nano
radio NRF2401 PA/LNA
NRF24L01+ Socket Adapter Board
relais board
All of this are connected with jumper wires and the arduino + radio are fed seperatly with a charger.

Before I try to build the irregation system I would like to know if there is a good method to calcuate the size of the decoupling capacitor. And where do I have to put it. Do I have to put it on the 230V side, or also on the 5V (on the relais board)

Hope too get some aswers here, thanks in advance

[AWI]

@Naitsirhc Since you are using the amplified Radio (PA/LNA) with the socket adapter board he decoupling for the radio should be fine. There are a few discussions on the forum on what kind of problems you can encounter.
First suggestion I have is lowering the transmission energy #define RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_LOW and make sure you have a sufficient supply (not the on-board ldo of the nano or an FTDI adapter).

[mfalkvidd]

@Naitsirhc welcome back :)

Whatever you do, DO NOT put the capacitor on the 230V side. Doing that will be very dangerous.

[gohan]

Does the relay board have an optocoupler?

[Naitsirhc]

To all,

Thanks for your answers. Unfortunatly I didn't have time to check your answers. I will keep in touch

[Naitsirhc]

Hi,

I promised to keep in touch.... :-)

I have disconnected the radio from the Arduino, so the radio is fed through a seperate stable 5V.
And also the relais board is fed seperately.
It runs for a cuple of days and it seems to work well. Time to move on.
To see if the magnet is working or not, I decided to connect a RGB led. When I connect the led, the board is going bonkers. The led is connected on D5 and D6 and the other side to ground (via a resistor)

Anybody a clue?

[gohan]

Maybe it's not related, but shouldn't you have a resistor for every color pin of the rgb led? (unless you turn on one color at a time)

[Naitsirhc]

Thanks for your quick reply.

The led is indicating one colour at the same time. Green for open and red for close.
I can give it a try to have more resistors connected...

[gohan]

I just remember it from the learning kit it had one resistor for every pin of the colors, but I actually don't know if it can cause issues.

[mfalkvidd]

@Naitsirhc could you describe what you mean by "going bonkers"?

[Naitsirhc]

Going bonkers is probably not the right word. I actually meant that the owner, and especialy his wife, are going bonkers :-)
What I meant is:
When I connect the led: (red = D5, Green = D6 and the ground is connected through a resistor of 1K.) When I turn on the relay it's answering for aprox. 5 minutes and than it crashes.
I can only reanimate it by turning off the power

[mfalkvidd]

@Naitsirhc there are no crashes if you disconnect the led?

[Naitsirhc]

Again, thanks all for answering

Until now its working 2 days flawlessly.

[Naitsirhc]

Unfortunatly the sensor stopped working last night. I have ordered a relais board with opto coupler....
I will keep in touch