Diesel Heater Controller

ESPHome
1

I give you Diesel Heater Controller.

This is a full drop-in replacement for the current Diesel Heater Controller and fully open source based on the ESP32S3.

This controller gives you hugely flexible configuration and monitoring of your diesel heater. See current drops, Glow plug status etc all in real time.

Features include

  • Decimal Accuracy Core Temperature Monitoring
  • PC and Mobile friendly WebUI
  • Auto Tune Mode
  • Dead Glow Plug Detection
  • Schedules
  • ESPhome Ready
  • High current Voltage and Current monitoring with the on-baord INA219.
  • Heater Profiles
  • LCD Touchscreen Remote
  • RF Remote Support
  • And more.

Diesel Heater Controller – deanfourie.me

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2

There are a lot of diesel heaters on the market. Which one(s) does this work with?

3

As of right now, all Chinese Diesel Heaters work.

I will need to confirm for other models, Webasto etc.

4

Are you positive about this? Afterburner (Australia aftermarket CDH controller) specifies that it only works with heaters that have specific control panels, and I’ve read that people have to change the CDH’s main logic board if they have another control panel. Is your board replacing the main logic board, or just interfacing like a control panel
???

5

Replaces the entire existing electronics. Full plug and play replacement.

6

I see this is a product advertisement.

I see no high power switching devices in the photo of your board, and no ESPHome source code on github, just an advertisement for your board on your website, rather than on GitHub. This would lead me to suspect that some of the original equipment may still be required, and not replaced.

A temperature sensor on the controller circuit board may not be the ideal location for most users. Was that leftover from part of the development process?

It looks to be WiFi connected. No BLE, RS485, Matter/Thread, ZigBee or other connectivity options? Do you have to install added apps on HACS to control this?

Anybody wondering if their ‘chinese unit’ is going to work is probably going to need a little more specifics I suspect before splurging out to replace it with your controller.

Do you have a user manual?

Does your product support non-English users, both code and documentation?

Looks like you are well on your way to develop a final product and just the documentations aspect needs more input before sales commence.

7

Yep, still in active development and updates will be available most likely regularly.

Does your product support non-English users, both code and documentation?

This is currently on the list.

User manual to come and will be found at https://docs.deanfourie.me

8

Where do you propose to provide public user support? On these forums, your website, or GitHub?

If I cannot examine the source, how can I be reassured your code is kosher?

How am I monitoring glow plug status?

9

The code is not open source. The hardware is.

10

Where can I find the hardware design documentation, circuit diagrams, etc?

11

Will be on gitgub.

12

Would something like the ESP32-S31 be a better option, with added connectivity options compared to the older ESP32-S3 device? For such an expensive final board price, the small added price for the latest controller may be desirable in the final polished design.

What protocol does it use to communicate to the diesel heater device?

Best wishes. By the time winter rolls around, you should find a ready market once you have received valuable feedback from early adopters.