Have you done any validation of the readings you are getting. I've looked and tried a few different supposed power monitoring devices or circuits and have found the results questionable. Have you tried running a known load against the PZEM and say a wattmeter to see if they actually agree on what the load is pulling?
It's been over 2 years since you uploaded this video (at time of writing), did you ever find out where your electricity was going? Are you still running the system you built? I've recently started using a pzem-016 connected to a pi and the pymodbus library, reports back to my server running grafana.
ah nice one! yeah it helped a good bit, the big thing was knowing when power is being consumed but we need to optimize a few things which is the tough bit tbh! It has had its fair share of troubles though as the esp32 can have difficulty communicating with multiple modules. I recently tweaked the housing and added am going to dig into the code a bit more to see whats happening. I might make a video if I get it all working together , down the line I'd like to maybe start adding some sort of analysis on the power (for e.g power factor and current draw) to figure out which appliance is running at what time but at this point thats mainly a pipe dream!
@fionnOCH hope alls well... never got much further because the JST XH cables i keep ordering are the incorrect width 😢 Any chance you could post a link to the version you ordered? Thanks as ever 😊
sure thing, I used these myself so can guarantee they work, you can get them on aliexpress for cheaper but you'll have to wait. Another thing is make sure you have a half decent crimper. the ferrule things are small enough on these www.amazon.co.uk/Litorange-500PCS-Housing-Adapter-Connector/dp/B086W9HB3M/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=jst%2Bconnectors&qid=1692049849&sprefix=jst%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-5&th=1
I'm still hoping to do a part 3 on this, changed up the config slightly and also realized I made a mistake in the video, if you're wiring up you want to connect rx on the arduino to tx on the PZEM and vice versa. annoyingly its not rx to rx and tx to tx like I thought.
@@rossicullen the JST connectors or the PZEMs? I can make up JST connectors or pre connected if you'd like but they might end up coming the same as ones online but they'll have a very DIY esthetic 😅
Hi, nice video i have been doing the same stuff as you but i am not using pzem module, just wondering if i can see your dashboard for monitoring, btw i am using the ubidots platform
Thank you, I appreciate it! I've uploaded a copy of one of my basic dashboards on HomeAssistant to my github page github.com/Fionnoch/ESPHome_PZEM_Monitoring/blob/main/Basic_Dashboard_Code.yaml Its basic but its what I use most. Also HomeAssistant recently added an energy monitoring tab though that is really good for power monitoring and its fairly intuitive, I'd recommend checking it out
Great video and really useful... looking to build similar...have parts ordered from Aliexpress for PZEM-004T on the slow boat/train from China. Have you made much changed to the setup 17 months later? Go raibh maith agat!
So I actually have made an update to this since, been meaning to do a follow-up actually but need to make the time! Basically I tried connecting directly to the hardware serial ports rather than doing software serial, had an odd problem where the PZEM would randomly disconnect with the esp8266 and I'd have to update or reboot the system then it would work. Weird but not the end of the world, hardware serial seemed to sort that out but comes with a few difficulties too, mostly the fact that you use the same serial connection for debugging/logging. Also bought new clamps as the ones I had weren't actually the correct ones, I'm in the same boat as yourself waiting for them to arrive back from China! When I get them in maybe I'll do a recap, but good luck in the meantime!
The esp8266 pins are 3.3V and I have seen other implementations use a 5v to 3v logic level shifter. However you are not doing this. Have you experienced any issues with this? I also see other implementations of multiple pzems using diodes to avoid clashes on response. However, again, it seems that you are not doing this. Again, any issues with that?
Yeah so I'm using a 5V power supply but the board I'm using is a wemos d1 mini which has a 5v to 3.3v regulator so that's how im powering the device. The 5v for the pzem's comes directly from the 5v power supply. In terms of diodes I havent had any issues with miscommunication with the pzem. They're all addressable so I'm not sure it would be too much of an issue. Occasionally I do have issues with reading not being taken but I've been told it could be because I use software serial rather than hardware serial, but I havent been able to test it out!
yeah so you'd need a voltage converter if you're powering it directly from the esp32, some esp32s have a 5v output but not all, its worth checking if you do but the pzem won't work with 3.3V. The board I used did have a 5V pin but what I did was use a 230VAC to 5VDC power supply to power the PZEM and esp8266, you could do the same and have the power supplies 5v dc connected to the Vin of you're board maybe
Verry nice Video. Good explaned. I have it setup with ESPHome and now I get the next message on my HA screen : PZEM Current UNKNOW. What I'm doing wrong ?
thank you! hard to diagnose without a screenshot but I do occasionally have an issue where occasionally it might stop taking reading for a while generally i just turn it off and on and it fixes it. If you're not able to connect at all I'd check you have the correct address assigned to it first, if you're confident the wiring is all correct and the continuity of the wires are good I'd maybe try swapping the Rx and Tx pins in esphome
@@fionnoch9867 That's because you are using software serial. Software serial is a crap. Connect the pzems to the hardware serial port of the esp and use hardware serial.