I'm currently developing a fan/temperature controller that provides some interesting features and addresses some of the problems, to my eyes, in the current commercial offerings. In this thread I'd like to gather some opinions as to the features of the basic hardware and discover if there is any interest from the community in a diy electronics project such as this. In addition if there are any electronics types out there feel free to correct any mistakes or bad assumptions on my part.
1) I'm attempting to build this entirely from off the shelf parts making it as plug and play as possible, still assembly will require:
2) Inputs
a) 4 maybe 6 inputs for the standard foil/thermistor temperature sensors
b) Support for many digital sensors, specifically the Dallas/Maxim DS18B20. How many is many ? Would 30 be enough ? I doubt I'll be able to afford this many for testing but once again I'll see what I can do.
c) Measurement of 5v and 12v lines
d) A couple of inputs connecting to motherboard fan headers. If your motherboard has built in fan/temperature control it should be possible to use the voltage on these inputs to indicate CPU, chipset etc temperatures without the need to run Windows or additional applications.
e) Standard fan speed monitoring, pump speed where possible. I don't feel the need to monitor every fan individually, you may disagree. Would 6 be enough ?
f) Flow monitoring. I've not used a flow monitor but I'll see what I can do. Would 2 inputs be enough ?
3) Fan/Pump(?) control. I've abandoned PWM in favour of 90%+ efficient switch mode analogue/voltage control.
a) 4 channels. Would 6 be better ?
b) 25 Watts per channel.
c) Each channel is fully protected against short circuit and over temperature.
d) 4 Amp short term peak per channel.
c) Channels can be connected in parallel (! further testing required).
d) Option to power the fans from an external PSU. This allows for much greater maximum load, say 120Watts, it also allows for 13v or 14v to be used at the input for those worried about not getting the full 12v at the fan.
4) Main power ie not fan power
a) USB
b) External PSU, the unit can run while the PC is off
5) Form factor
a) For mounting in a PC, 2 x 5 1/4
b) Single 95mm x 40mm cut out for the display
6) Display. I want to view temperature traces at all times, including during boot up, so
a) 4.3" 480x270 colour LCD, the same screen used in the Sony PSP
b) Touch screen so no need to drill holes for switches
c) For the strange people among us who do not like to view temperature traces all day the will be able to show static pictures. I am trying to come up with a way of displaying video and WinAmp visualisations etc but at the moment it is not looking good.
d) Wiggly lines without windows, Linux users rejoice.
7) Alarms, alerts etc
a) With the exception of any data linked to third party applications, SpeedFan etc, the controller will run independently of windows. It may flash, it may beep, it will certainly be able to switch the PC off
8) Data logging
a) I aim to log all values from all connected inputs every second.
b) Logged data may be viewed on the display.
c) Logged data may be uploaded to the PC.
d) I've not yet decided on where the data will be stored. There is not much ram available but flash is cheap and it should be possible to support some types of memory cards.
Some approximate costs / possible suppliers. Better parts? Better prices? Let me know :nod:
I'll update this post with anything I've forgotten.
Thanks for reading. Over kill? Over priced? Over reaching? Barking mad?
What are your thoughts ?
Whoops. I forgot to mention that fan control will be manual and/or automatic - temperature curves work best for me
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