replacing humidifier sensor with a probe?

[KingAether]

As per the title, specifically a elechomes humidifiers and whatever sensor type they have, does anyone have experience doing this and can give advice, I would like to take the humidifier out of the tent and put a hose through the vent but the sensor is built into the side of the humidifier and the wrong side for me at that.

 A few things im unsure about are its very easy to find temp/humidity probes cheap enough but gets more expensive for humidity only and im wondering if it would make a difference, if the humidifier just wouldn't show the temp on the screen which is fine or if it will cause problems taking in more info than it expects? Can you change a black/white striped style chip sensor, the ones that come on a little plastic blue mesh casing, for a metal cylinder type probe sensor without issue and visa versa or will it they need to be the same type? By the looks of it the cylinder probes use a 4-pin molex to plug directly into the main board where as the black/white chips solder onto a side board with a small resistor that then uses a 4-pin to go to the main board.

I suppose i could always desolder the sensor and put a few meters of stereo cable or 4-pin molex cable, sensor dependant, between the board and the sensor but that would just look a bit shite 

I know i could get an inkbird or similar but at the cost of a replacement probe from them and 30 minutes work i figure this is worth considering first.

Thanks for any help

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by KingAether

[DeepSmoke420]

Desoldering the sensor and extending the connections using stereo wire should be fine IMO, it was the first thing that popped into mind if you use some sleeving to cover the wires it will look alright.

 

I use a DHT22 cheapo temp/humidty sensor with an arduino and relay modules but no need for that if you already have a unit as you do!

 

I assume the plastic style sensor you are talking about will be a DHT11/22 style sensor and the metal probe style is actually different, its to do with the output of the signal, afaik the DHT11/22 is digital out and the metal probe style ones are potentially analog out.

 

I would go for the extending of the wires from the current sensor if you can, it will save headache trying to guess wich sensor will or wont work etc.

 

If you can post pics of the sensor in the unit I might be able to identify it. ATB!

[MindSoup]

What about a cheap control module? Like a stc-3028?

[KingAether]

2 hours ago, DeepSmoke420 said:

Desoldering the sensor and extending the connections using stereo wire should be fine IMO, it was the first thing that popped into mind if you use some sleeving to cover the wires it will look alright.

 

I use a DHT22 cheapo temp/humidty sensor with an arduino and relay modules but no need for that if you already have a unit as you do!

 

I assume the plastic style sensor you are talking about will be a DHT11/22 style sensor and the metal probe style is actually different, its to do with the output of the signal, afaik the DHT11/22 is digital out and the metal probe style ones are potentially analog out.

 

I would go for the extending of the wires from the current sensor if you can, it will save headache trying to guess wich sensor will or wont work etc.

 

If you can post pics of the sensor in the unit I might be able to identify it. ATB!

i managed to take a look yesterday and its one of the black/white striped chips- a HCZ-D5-A or similar, i had to replace one on another humidifier recently and so pretty confident in removing and extending it; i had a think about it last night and realised i can make a small case for the sensor with a bit of milk bottle and a drill so it wont look so bodged

1 hour ago, MindSoup said:

What about a cheap control module? Like a stc-3028?

Hadn't even seen these, have you tried them? Im curious if they are worth while considering people around here spend £100's on controllers that do the same

Edited December 9, 2021 by KingAether

[MindSoup]

I'm using one on my wine fridge curing chamber but haven't really tested it out yet, but the cheap peice doesn't bother me. It's some pretty basic technology that's been around for ages, so I don't see why it should cost very much at tbh, the big grow tech companies love to slap crazy prices on stuff. 

[FarmerPalmersNT]

Use an inkbird. Any humidity sensor built in to any appliance is always limiting. You can't move it around the canopy as the plants grow for a start. Placement is limited by where you can put the appliance. Then you've got the inherent limitations of being in/on the appliance casing.

 

Edit: just read it properly. Yes you can do that but God knows what the control board is so you'd need to match the sensor. Lot of ballache that. I'd still go for a humidistat like an inkbird.

Edited December 9, 2021 by FarmerPalmersNT

[DeepSmoke420]

Looks like an STC-3028 or extending the wires will do the trick ! 
I guess now its down to if you wanna buy something or make use of what you have, let us know how you get on wich route you choose to take.

[Flamedodger]

@KingAether Sonoff make wifi switches with a T/H sensor that plugs into the side. They’re only £20. I’ll be using one for my irrigation system, but not with the sensor 

[KingAether]

Someone else in the house was throwing out some old Christmas lights with a rubber 2 core cable so im going to salvage a length and give extending the sensor out a go to save having more stuff added to the set-up; in the long run having it all-in-one would be better and having the sensor on a length will make getting to it to replace the chip once in a while much easier too. If all else fails i can remove the whole Molex side board and replace with a STC-3028 or sonoff but both look like they will take a little wiring too so no less hassle
 

 

[MindSoup]

Good luck with the wire extension, always good if you can work with what you have, it's at least worth a try. 

 

Found this handy video for the STC 3028 if you do decide to go that route, I'm sure they're are similar modules that would also work, cant seem to find one solely for humidity, but who knows maybe the temperature relay will come in handy at some point. I've had mine running for a few hours now, alongside a little inkbird WiFi sensor and it seems accurate enough. The relay clicks are quite loud, maybe a tiny bit louder than an inkbird, and it doesn't have different time slots like the ink birds do but that shouldn't be an issue for what you're doing.