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Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

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Re: Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

#291
post #252
post #225

Is this tablet doing anything else beside the small user interface? Is that interface worth a tablet, or can it be done with 3 push buttons, a small LCD and a microcontroller?

By using an android tablet they leverage the existing OS/UI/Java ecosystem to write a (fairly simple) app. Recreating that from scratch would require a lot more development.

Sure, it saves development time & money. But if they anyway need some kind of custom interface... problem is, the lifetime of the tablet is way lower than a corresponding "dumb" system. I'd see the advantage of using a tablet if you have lots of controls (let's say you control the temperature for 6 rooms, you can see more info, etc.). By the way not everybody wants to have yet another touch screen in their home, but that's another story.

Re: Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tiny QOL change without too much work, you could install something like teamviewer on the tablet, and now you're able to control your AC remotely from your PC, your phone, or anywhere!

The MyAir (or e-Zone) app can already be accessed remotely. You install the app on your phone and pair it with your system by connecting to the same LAN. After the initial pairing it can be used from everywhere.

Using which reverse service, though?

Re: Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

#294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The MyAir (or e-Zone) app can already be accessed remotely. You install the app on your phone and pair it with your system by connecting to the same LAN. After the initial pairing it can be used from everywhere.

Using which reverse service, though?

From memory it connects to Firebase, possibly using the Realtime Database to sync state.

Re: Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

#295

I don’t quite get why snipping the data line on the PoE to USB fixed the connection issue. Is it because the USB has “two” data lines?

Because USB is not a multi-tap network. It's a point-to-point between host and peripheral, or host and host pretending to be a peripheral (OTG mode). That USB dongle was bodged on to the USB port D+/D- pins going to the tablet's SOC. If you then connect a PC to that port, you have two hosts (SOC & PC), and one peripheral on the same pair of data lines. No bueno. I can't believe the bodge job inside that tablet. It lo…

That’s why the replacement is so expensive, each unit is handcrafted.

Re: Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

#297
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I highly recommend people who live in hot environments to keep a spare capacitor on hand. Even if you know how to fix it, if the AC dies when your local HVAC supply store is closed (eg not between 7am-7pm Monday through Saturday usually) you’re either stuck paying out the nose to a contractor who has one on hand during emergency hours or you’re sweating it out waiting for the store to open. While they are readily ava…

How big can these capacitors be? Does replacing it require any safety precautions besides turning off the power?

When I see large capacitors (for me it’s more girth than my little finger), I have alarm bells going on. One « soda can sized » can definitely kill you. It should be discharged before messing with it. You can buy capacitor drains (basically a big ass resistor) that you put across the capacitor’s legs to drain the energy in it.

Some do it with an insulated screwdriver but that’s dangerous because it’s a short, can ark, fuse the driver to the capacitor, and result in a bad day.

Re: Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

#298
Given this is in Australia, I’d have thought that a threat to enforce your rights under the Australian Consumer Law[1] would get some action from the manufacturer.

Essentially, there’s a statutory warranty that exists regardless of any warranty term quoted by the manufacturer, and the manufacturer is on the hook if the product is not fit for purpose or sufficiently “durable”.

[1] https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-servic...

Re: Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

#299
post #269
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you have the RJ45 pinout too? Thanks!

This is from my earlier notes, hope it helps some. Pin 1: RS422 +/B Pin 2: RS422 -/A Pin 3: ? - appears to be unused; connected to unpopulated pad on PCB Pin 4: GND Pin 5: ~14.2v DC unloaded Pin 6: GND Pin 7: ? Pin 8: ? Shield: GND Note: the RS422 protocol has a basic bus arbitration built-in to allow both ends to communicate. The control unit sends Ping messages, after which it opens a slot for the Tablet to communi…

Wouldn't RS422 need 2 TX and 2 RX?

Re: Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch

#300
post #241

I installed AC in my home in the last year. I specifically went for units that were IR controlled rather than any proprietary smart B.S. For the smarts, I used cheap IR blasters from AliExpress and hooked them up to HomeAssistant. I just mounted cheap Lenovo tablets to the wall to do the room-dashboard thing to allow controlling lights/AC without a phone. These kind of horror stories only serve to reinforce my decisi…

I got the Daikin for the same reason. You have to pay extra for a wifi module but after reading the reviews on their app, they mostly said, it kinda worked but largely useless. I built an esp32 IR sender and put Tasmota IR on it. It has first class support for the Daikin. It can't receive but it seems no need as it's 100% reliable.

For Daikin, https://github.com/revk/ESP32-Faikin works well, and is tidier (and I think more featureful?) than an external IR port. Its existence is why I bought a Daikin!
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