CFW for KSGER/Quicko STM32 Soldering Stations

[DavidAlfa]

The default tips are gone, as they were all the same with different names.
Now, to select the tips press and rotate
I already told that, debug menu was removed to save ram.
You can add it again by uncommenting a define in screen.h
Why is the DFLT unusable? All the tips are the same...

[jesusvallejo]

very low stability(set to 300 and keeps rising until no iron and down) but as you said B and dflt are the same i have no clue, the tips are well used and should be pretty stable, will keep an eye on it and report back.

[mikes]

Thanks. 200-300ºC seem close, however at 400 it's very different.
I guess what the temp is when using the 3000 calibration with the other tips.
If doesn't make a huge difference (420-430) then I might take the middle, 2800, as the default  400ºC calibration.

It is all based on using one of those cheap Chinese clones of a HAKKO FG-100, but I think it's reasonably accurate. I suggest staying on the low end. Better colder than hotter as a default.

I replaced the (unknown) op-amp with a good one (OPA317), then re-calibrated one tip. The result wasn't much different.

One new suggestion - a long press takes you into Settings. Make is so a long press from anywhere in Settings takes you back to the main screen. That would eliminate the need to scroll/back out through menu levels.

[mikes]

very low stability(set to 300 and keeps rising until no iron and down) but as you said B and dflt are the same i have no clue, the tips are well used and should be pretty stable, will keep an eye on it and report back.

I'm assuming you have the cheap Chinese tips. Do you have more than one? I've got one which is really unstable, like you describe. Most are OK, but some are better than others. Once I decide on my favorite tip (BC1 is the front runner right now for SMD work), I may buy a genuine HAKKO one, just to see how it behaves.

I think your issue is more the tip, and not @DavidAlfa code. For me, the original KSGER code was much worse (more tips had problems).

[DavidAlfa]

First, I don't understand why you have these tips.
Last code changed the data layout, so the tip data should be resetted.
And the new defaults don't include any of these tips.
Reset, and if it still does that, start with the pid. Ki kd to 0 and start from there. Search how to tune pid... But the values are the same.

About the menu, yes, I had done that. But caused some bugs, then removed the settings screen, then reverted that...
I will restore that too, but when it works correctly

[mikes]

About the menu, yes, I had done that. But caused some bugs, then removed the settings screen, then reverted that...
I will restore that too, but when it works correctly

It was just a suggestion. If it's not simple, don't waste your time. It would be better, but it's not important. Even better would be a timeout - no change in 15 (?) seconds, go back to main screen. But both would probably use similar logic, so if it's hard don't do it. I've been doing a lot of things in the menus because I've been testing things, but when just soldering the menu wouldn't be used as much.

I replaced the encoder with a Bourns one (PEC11R-4115K-S0018 - requires "Encoder REVERSE", thanks for adding that). Since then, I have not had the problem with button presses not working.

[DavidAlfa]

That also was made back then.
It's not hard, I just got overloaded with so many issues lately... What is hard is to guess all the issues without my iron working, I burned my tips down and recently accidentally cracked the oled .
Yep the issue with these cheap encoders is that they doesn't always make complete steps.
Sometimes it stays in the middle. So the encoder routine is waiting for it to complete the step.
I can't fix that. It needs to know the position before a click to detect the correct action. It can detect simple clicks but also "rotate while click".

[BlackICE]

You can add a timeout for the encoder routine so it if gets 1/2 a movement ignore it and return. The next movement may be unknown too and may have to throw it out as well.

[DavidAlfa]

Then it will be annoying too.
I will make some tests.

[nkls]

Set the coefficients KI and KD to zero. The problem is gone. But now the station is not gaining 480 degrees, it stops at 474.

[DavidAlfa]

Now you need to play with the PID. Increase Kp until it gets closer to the setpoint, then try low values on Ki (1-5) and Kd.
Sorry, PID is a complex thing, I can't teach you how to tune PID, search yourself!
When I get my tips I will try to tune these better.
From what I remember, it would vary a lot between tips, even same tips from different sellers.

These are the PIDs from the old firmware. They didn't work too well with my tips.

   "B"
   Kp = 40
   Ki = 31
   Kd = 7

   "BC2"
   Kp = 30
   Ki = 25
   Kd = 0

   "D24"
   Kp = 200
   Ki = 25
   Kd = 0


Updated the builds. Added return to main screen on long click or being idle for >15seconds.
Try to fix the cheap encoders. If it detects the encoder stopped in the middle position for more than 500mS, it will treat the clicks as normal clicks instead drag clicks.
It might need additional timing tweaking, and could cause more problems that it fixes.
If it's the case, I will revert the changes and forget about it. Use a quality encoder then.

[mastershake]

got new st link's in today and am going to try to reflash. im also curious due to my color vision would anyone know of a white oled i can solder in place of the blue one from ksger that will be fully compatible? i ordered a few to try but they are taking FOREVER to get here from china right now. is there a specific one anyone has tried yet?

edit this time it flashed fine with the new stlink. must have been something odd there. went through no issues. love the new gui imo

[DavidAlfa]

Nice!
If the pinout is the same, it should work.
I'm also waiting for them to come,  bought a blue and also a white one, but they're 7-pin modules, I think KSGER 3.0 uses 6-pin.
I think @Cosmin1 already did this...

[mastershake]

edit i realized the spot in the corner i was seeing is because when set to F the graph is maxed out and its the triangle next the graph level in that top corner. erased and did a new flash and this time it did overshoot but was much faster to come down and i did not get the no iron message. it did go up to over 600 but came back down fairly quickly. i do still get a lot of jumping up and down though temps wise. when set to say 350c it bounces between around 300 and up to around 380 fairly quickly. i did use the build on the github this time from today instead of the last version posted here in the thread

is the a way to put the handle into sleep though without waiting?

[mastershake]

i think i found the almost identical display i ordered a few and will report back the pin layout is exactly the same as the 3.0/3.1 ksger and in white

is this the official github page for your builds? i just want to be sure im testing the proper builds? https://github.com/deividAlfa/stm32_soldering_iron_controller/tree/master/BOARDS/KSGER/%5Bv3.0%5D/%5B64pin%5D

thank you again for all the help.

[DavidAlfa]

https://github.com/deividAlfa/stm32_soldering_iron_controller

[DavidAlfa]

edit i realized the spot in the corner i was seeing is because when set to F the graph is maxed out and its the triangle next the graph level in that top corner. erased and did a new flash and this time it did overshoot but was much faster to come down and i did not get the no iron message. it did go up to over 600 but came back down fairly quickly. i do still get a lot of jumping up and down though temps wise. when set to say 350c it bounces between around 300 and up to around 380 fairly quickly. i did use the build on the github this time from today instead of the last version posted here in the thread

is the a way to put the handle into sleep though without waiting?

Is the temperature behaviour different? I didn't change anything in that part.
This is just a warning, I'm not blaming anyone!
Don't ever open an issue if PWM/DELAY/Filtering settings are not set as defaults.
This is an advanced FW, allowing a lot of tweaking, and it will cause a lot of trouble if not configured correctly.
Please don't touch them and complain later! These settings usually need probing with oscilloscope to ensure the ADC is reading a clean signal.


Entering sleep: Not manually with the encoder. You can set the wake input to "stand" mode in the settings.
You will have to connect the wake input (which normally goes to the handle "shake" sensor) to the stand, disconnecting it from the handle sensor.
And connect the tip to Gnd. When the tip touches the stand it will enter sleep instantly. And wake up automatically when removed.
You can also put a reed relay in the stand, that shorts the signal to gnd when activated, and a magnet somewhere in the handle to trigger it.

The weird corner: Ouch. The graph also expected Celsius only. Fixed and updated. Try it.

[mastershake]

i was using an older firmware you posted here in the thread that was causing the overshoot to 700 then no iron. the later one from the github does not cause that. but as an example with a "k" tip the china ksger branded one seems to bounce between 580 and 656 (highest i saw) F when set to 600f with the genuine hakko k tip its a bit better where it is less of a range of jumping around but still does it. this is even after calibration.

the spot in the corner is def gone now and the graph for F seems to be working fine now. ill try the stand setting and see how i like that one. i was thinking like with the ksger you could turn the knob quick right i think it is to go to stby. i did use that often as i would be doing other things as i was working and instead of waiting just put it in stby. my stands are black so i would have to scrape some paint prob for the stand setting to work properly i think. i may leave it the way it is then and just set it for shorter time. if i could get the temp to stabilize better on the display this would be super useable and i would prob flash the other 2 i have also. i much prefer this to the ksger firmware personally. ill try a better calibration of the tip later today and see if that helps.

is there a place to get the original ksger firmware im curious to see what all the pid values are for all the various tips? (i have large variety of types)

[mikes]

Entering sleep: Not manually with the encoder. You can set the wake input to "stand" mode in the settings.

How about "push and turn right" for tips, "push and turn left" for sleep (and wake, even if "button wake" is off)? Also, when "button wake" is off, you can't "push and turn" to change tips. It would be nice if you could. If sleeping with a cold tip, and you want to change tips, right now you have to wake first, which means the tip you want to replace gets hot.

[mastershake]

^^^ that is what i was hoping for. i dont know how much work it would be to do that or if it can be done though. push turn right for tips and the push left similar to the stock firmware either way would be awesome (imo). has anyone figured out a good way to get the temp numbers to sit more still and not jump around as much? i assume the ksger firmware gives a more general idea of temps?

[jesusvallejo]

dont know ksger but on my quicko the set temp coul be 280, current temp 280 , and the tip be 280+-20c , already has been discussed better to know the real temp jumping around than showing a fake stable one.

[DavidAlfa]

Just replace the tip cold. It will detect no iron and wake when the new tip is plugged in.
Yes, that button behavior can be done.
Tune the pid for stability. I had very stable temps. +-3°C usually.

[mikes]

Just replace the tip cold. It will detect no iron and wake when the new tip is plugged in.

The concept was to change the type before waking, so the new tip comes up with all the right settings. But I suppose the tips are close enough that it doesn't matter much.

[mastershake]

using the d24 pid you showed above temps are within 10-20deg f. where can we find the stock pid settings for the various tips? i have another unit on ksger 3.1 is that firmware able to be dumped to a file to read them?

[mikes]

using the d24 pid you showed above temps are within 10-20deg f. where can we find the stock pid settings for the various tips? i have another unit on ksger 3.1 is that firmware able to be dumped to a file to read them?

There is only one default tip now, and David has said that all the default tips in earlier versions had the same settings.