CFW for KSGER/Quicko STM32 Soldering Stations

[DavidAlfa]

I found what it seems the bug reported by mastershake. Setting 400ºC the tip barely melted the solder.
Happened only when deleting the tip currently being used by the system.
The current tip was correctly changed, but the pointer used by the system was not being updated. So it was probably reading garbage.
Maybe that's what related to what tatel mentioned.
However this bug would not cause any issue with other tip being deleted. Editing or copying was unaffected.
Only affected the PID/adc/temperature conversion, as they read using that pointer.
Restarting the system would load the new tip and solve the issue.


Made new builds to solve this, I really couldn't live knowing that .
(2021-08-04)

[StephenR0]

thats just grass grown in your display. time to trim it! 
obviously time to change opamp

Maybe, I'm not opposed to it.  I'd like to play around further first, though.

[wickated]

I found what it seems the bug reported by mastershake. Setting 400ºC the tip barely melted the solder.
Happened only when deleting the tip currently being used by the system.
The current tip was correctly changed, but the pointer used by the system was not being updated. So it was probably reading garbage.
Maybe that's what related to what tatel mentioned.
However this bug would not cause any issue with other tip being deleted. Editing or copying was unaffected.
Only affected the PID/adc/temperature conversion, as they read using that pointer.
Restarting the system would load the new tip and solve the issue.


Made new builds to solve this, I really couldn't live knowing that .
(2021-08-04)

same was when switching global profile (t12-210-245) in settings. i thought it was very obvious to restart system

[DavidAlfa]

I know, that was a different bug, the profile is not applied instantly but when exiting the screen, and since I reworked the code recently, that part was lost and the profile was never changed.
It's already fixed in the current build.

Anyways, you should have reported the problem when you detected it, not now!

Let's see if we get more feedback from Ksger users. I need to know if it's only Stephen or there's a problem with these stations.
Stephen, for now try like lowering the tip power to 50w and disabling active detection.


Actually the only bug I'm aware of is the setpoint being locked/unlocked if you long click it. It's almost a feature

[pupkinv]

Hi David!
Could you please explain what this parameters mean? (except NTC resistor value)

Allows to fully configure the NTC.
- Pull-up/down resistor
- Pull resistor value
- NTC resistor value
- NTC Beta value

I was checked new build in deep night. With standart handle all working fine, but with Quicoo handle I've got a another problem: station can't hold setting temp (see/attachment pict.) Don't look at ambient temp, I was make photo after full reset. When I was set NTC res. value at 77K amb.temp looked like thru 26...27°C (real temp~29°C) and iron temp was unstable to.
And coomon question: How original FW determine which NTC in handle? I haven't any inconvenience with handles change

[DavidAlfa]

Put 100K in the menu, not 77. I didn't knew that original fw automatically switched between them.
Will look if I can make the same.

Anyways, that oscillation is related to the pid or adc filtering. Tuning the system is a hard part when I can't do it myself.
I know ksger v2.1 is has stability issues even with original fw. I need more feedback from users to find a pattern.

[mastershake]

awesome you found that yes thats pretty much what i had happening. i will flash the new build and have her test it again for me tomm. i would try it tonight but today was a rough day with the eye they took out the cataract in the previous surgery and removed the patch today and lets say its def not nearly what i had hoped it would be. apparently the macula took some damage from the detachment and the radiation and there is no left or upper periphery left at all just grey there. only central and thats not really great either. everything is wavy and warped and its a very limited range of vision from say 15" to maybe 10ft MAX thats pushing it, after that its blur. they claim its better then they hoped for given how large the tumor was but it still sucks. granted the tumor is def dead for sure they say. not sure how this will hinder my work i do and things like smd stuff now. ill have to try to get used to a camera on a bigger screen then using the scope all the time maybe, def not going to be able to do as much field work though. just not what they told me going in of course they promised the world and def were not able to deliver. next they move the muscles to try to fix the double vision they caused when they did the radiation 

sorry rant over back to the topic at hand now had to vent somewhere before it ate me up.

[DavidAlfa]

I know how it feels when you get hit by something like that. It takes a loooot of time to accept the situation and get used to it.
Keep it up! We're tough animals

I'm making an extra-advanced filtering menu to allow adjusting every internal filter parameter.
I'll put a description in the operation guide but don't expect me spend the day explaining it!

So don't flash the latest yet. Skip to the new I'm going to upload in a while.

Also added NTC auto detection option. This is highly experimental, so it's disabled by default for good reasons.
First, it's impossible to guess the NTC value if you don't know its temperature neither it's value, it's a dead loop.
So you must choose two different NTC values, and the system will probe them.
The lower value will tested first. If the temperature result is negative, it will assume the NTC is wrong, and switch to the higher value.

- The default values are 10K and 100K.
- Each resistor have its own beta value.
- If your handle is below 0ºC it will use the higher value, causing a big negative offset (The temperature will be lower than the setpoint).
- With default 10/100K values, the detection will fail at ~60ºC, because the 100K NTC resistance at that temperature would be the same than the 10K NTC at 0ºC.
  In that case the higher value will be used, giving a huge positive offset (The temperature will be higher than the setpoint)
- The NTC is only probed after removing and putting back the handle (or any other error is detected). It's not checked while running, as it's impossible to replace the NTC without removing the handle and triggering an error.

The option is there, for 99% of the time it will work nicely. Just remember the limitations, nothing can be done for that.
It's mainly made only for 10K and 100K values. I don't recommend using this method, it's better have all handles with the same NTC type!


New builds updated. I know there's a copy&paste a bug in the NTC Auto detect options where the beta values are shown as KOhms. Will work anyway.
It's fixed in the code, but I can' loose my time that way, building for every single change!

[DavidAlfa]

I will explain how the advanced filtering menu works.
First, the new measurement is compared with filtered average and the difference extracted ([Delta]).

There are 4 filter modes:
- [Delta] < [Threshold start]: Normal filter coefficient is used (That one set in Iron settings screen). Usually the highest coefficient of all, to filter out the low amplitude noise.
- [Threshold start] < [Delta] < [Threshold end]: Threshold filter coefficient is used, usually lower, to provide faster response for the PID.
- [Threshold end] < [Delta] < [Reset limit]: Count the spikes. If within limits, use spike filter coefficient to avoid sending noise to the PID. Over that, use reset filter coefficient.
- [Delta] > [Reset limit]: Reset filter factor is used. Usually very low or none to reset the filter or provide very fast response (Used to detect the iron tip fast).

This parameters affect a lot the filter response. Too low thresholds will reduce filtering (crazy spikes everywhere), and too high will reduce response (Slow oscillation), also wrong reset and spike settings will cause all kind of issues.
If no filter is used in the iron settings, the menu will be disabled and simple average used (very noisy).

And yes, I had to figure all that by myself. There'are a LOT of testing hours behind 4 numbers. Think twice when you suggest random things like if it was my first day at work

[wickated]

why not use cpu temp as option? its enough for operation in range. stock ksger have this option for "empty" handles. quicko based on stc chips do this either.

[StephenR0]

So, I've been testing 2021-08-04, which I flashed yesterday.  I'll try 2021-08-04b shortly.  Those wild swings that I had before seem be much less now.  For my four similar tips the temperature seems to vary about 4 or 5 above and below the set temperature.  The measured temperature varies in a 4 degree range.  My  one wild tip varies about 8 or 9 above and below the set temperature.  But the measured temperature still varies in about a 4 or 5 degree range.  I tried setting the tip power to 50w and disabling active detection.  That didn't seem to change anything.

[Cuboy]

why not use cpu temp as option? its enough for operation in range. stock ksger have this option for "empty" handles. quicko based on stc chips do this either.

Is it a good idea to suppose that the NTC temp is the CPU temp (As it is fairly accurate)? If so, you might be able to get a ntc resistance value (Which from what I see, is just a bunch of equations).

Also, I'm backseat engineering here.

[wickated]

Is it a good idea to suppose that the NTC temp is the CPU temp (As it is fairly accurate)?

ppl overrate ntc accuracy. its just needed to know enviroment temp to bind tc voltage to real life C/F numbers. no real trouble with -+10c bias

[Tugo]

David, I updated FW to 2021-08.04b and just inserted my old PIDs and all Cal values. I have Ksger v2.1s (written on PCB) but I believe my real PCB version ahould be v2.0.
Everything is the same as before (I think my last version was 7.7.) and is working great!
I set pretty much everything as before (100ms/1ms/1x - or even 2x / filter set to 2) other things are default one.

I saw a couple of your new things (boost, set temp, PID debug,...) and I like them a lot.
I didn't have time to check any new tests but I did a quick test by adding new tips, set it to first one and then delete first selected tip from the tip menu. I didn't have any problems. Everything worked. I believe this is something you needed to be tested? Or did I read and forget what you really wanted to be tested on the Ksger boards?

EDIT: Did you wanted to know if Ksger board has oscillation? No, it is dependant of period, delay, PWM  multiplier and PID settings on mine if I remember correctly.

EDIT 2: And I forgot to tell you that I really like that I can change tip type and temperature even without inserted tip 
Boost is working 

EDIT 3: I also forgot about encoding. Thank you, it works 

[ygi]

A couple thing I noticed with my v1.5:

The "GUI time" setting seams to be broken in the latest version.

The value decreases by turning counter-clockwise as expected, but turning right does nothing. Other settings in the same menu work as expected.

---------------

I'm unsure if it's by design or a bug but the option to "reset all settings" does not apply to settings in the Iron menu. I does apply to the system menu.

[pupkinv]

Model:  KSGER STM32 HW: v3.x
Tip:    T12-BC3
Handle Quecoo T12-M8 with 100K NTC (NTC Detect OFF in NTC menu and Resistance set to 100K)

My Calibration settings
  Cal250         1708
  Cal350         2316
  Cal450         3341

build: 2021-08--04b
Differences between set.temp and measurement ~5ºC lower

[ricktendo]

Feature request:

I don't know if this has been requested or if its possible to add a feature like the 3.1s KSGER firmware, where when you turn the knob slow it will adjust temperature in by one degree increment and fast at ten degree (or custom) increments?

https://youtu.be/w0nZCK7B-0U?t=1371

Also when in sub-menu, could you make long press go back one instead of exit. If you do want to totally exit (instead of letting go, then long pressing again,) maybe just keep pressed (really long press) and then it will exit?

Just some personal requests, please do not make these a priority vs other stuff you have on the table!

[DavidAlfa]

1°C steps?
I could also add 0.1°C steps, so you can safely grow bacteria in your laboratory.
/Ironic off
C'mon, really? 
Also it would mess up the boost mode badly.
Keep it simple! Nobody needs 1°C precision.
How in the Earth would you need specifically 237°C?
Furthermore, the station itself is unable to provide such accuracy. There's a small error in the whole working range.
You might set 250 and get 252. Set 350 and get 349. Set 400 and get 401.
So just why?

The "GUI time" setting seams to be broken in the latest version.
I'm unsure if it's by design or a bug but the option to "reset all settings" does not apply to settings in the Iron menu. I does apply to the system menu.

Maybe it's a little confusing.
Settings=System settings, but not iron Settings.
Iron Settings belongs to the tip profile.

[profile] [profiles] [all] will reset the profile (tips and iron).
[Profile]=current selected profile, [profiles]=all profiles.

[settings] [all] will reset system settings.

Definitely the Gui time option was bugged. Fixed.

Handle Quecoo T12-M8 with 100K NTC (NTC Detect OFF in NTC menu and Resistance set to 100K)

Does the autodetect work when switching between the 10K/100K handles?

[illiac4]

One think that i have noticed is that when I flash original firmware from KSGER the display is brighter than on this one. Also contrast seems to not do anything after like 150. It does not dim proportional.

[Tugo]

illiac4:
Try push and rotate to change (it will change by +-10) and see if it is really like that because on mine it is working ok. I also have Ksger.

[DavidAlfa]

That's a display controller thing, you have 0-255 adjustment and the display controller does whatever with it.
Will make 20 step again.
Also these displays lose some brightness when you turn on a lot of pixels.

[triedgetech]

Where can I find hot tweezers compatible with KSGER 3.1S plug, which is gx16-8 male?

[illiac4]

I saw someone made them.

[wickated]

to make twezeers u actually only need to select 1 pair by resistance.

[DavidAlfa]

Took the debug menu back to life and completely reworked it.
Can be enabled in System options. New option will appear in main settings menu.
Click to switch between debug and debug pid screens, long click to exit.
Theres's a setpoint adjustment, so you can see everything in real time as you change the temps.

I forgot to add auto reset this time, the settings structure changed, it might detect wrong checksum, but if it doesn't, reset it to factory.