I wonder if someone already tried tapping directly into the eletronic circuit of a home cooling system like the one in the picture.
My idea is to check for realtime operating status of the device. Controlling it remotely with an IR remote is already possible, but getting back it’s real working status (e.g. in case the IR blaster is not acting consistently) is not.
Maybe those units share some common/standardized serial communication (e.g. for diagnostics) that can be hacked? Just wondering.
Will look personally inside the units I got home, but I’d like to share/get more with all of you too
It is possible, you might get lucky. Mine isn’t a mini split like yours, but a Whirlpool window AC. The control board plug was labelled with everything I needed. I have mine ducted into my furnace and connected to the main house thermostat (Nest) but I could have controlled it directly with an ESP board and relay and used a template thermostat. I do use that 5V to power an ESP8266 with DS18B20 temperature sensors to monitor it for freeze up.
I did leave the original control board unplugged, as it conflicted and tripped the breaker. It must have been trying to connect Fan Low at the same time as my circuit connected Fan High.
I’ve found a couple of sources, a few did precisely that … but nothing comprehensive or standardized. Well, true to be said I expect that to be the case since I assume every commercial company tend to develop its own tech.
Still, hoping to be proved wrong.
I have a Samsung device, but not hacking into the machine. Why don´t you just buy the wifi module and like that you can use the Samsung MELCloud integration and you can manage the device and see the status as you want.
A lot of large and small HVAC companies are just sticking their brand badges on Midea split units, and there are long threads here about identifying all of the Midea re-badges and the ESP32 projects to tap into them…
