missing op-amp chip in kill-a-watt? Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[mrtz]

some more pics of finished project

[mrtz]

and another

[adafruit]

great pix, thanks!

[ghaon]

Awesome. I have two Kill-A-Watts one old version and one newer. I was just about to upload some photos of my own but I see they're not needed. One question, how did you get your wires to fit underneath the LCD? Thanks!

[brettinman]

I got the newer style too (from Newegg, for reference). I removed the keypad (won't be using it anyway, you can always stick something metal in there to activate the key if need be) and dremeled down the plastic surrounding the keys on the inside so the wires are routed down through where the keys used to be. I'm sure there's a better way but this works fine for me. I removed some foam that held the LCD up (where the cables go through) and the LCD sits fine now.

[richms]

I wouldnt be sticking metal things in to activate the keys since the whole circuitboard in these is live with respect to ground, so it will either be an enlightening experiance or trip out the circuit protection.

[mrtz]

I simply let the wires run from the chip run to the sides and then to the front via notches made on the PCB with clippers. It seemed ok to let the wires press somewhat against the LCD foam - caused no harm. See the pictures. Routed the wires to avoid covering the touch sensors of the rubber buttons. LCD and buttons all work as normal.

[scott216]

I just picked a kill-a-watt up that's the same design as the one in this thread. Instead of soldering the tweet-a-watt leads to the surface mounted chip 2902, are there connections on the tan side of the circuit board that I could more easily connect too. Wouldn't there be several options for GND and 5V - just getting those two from an easier location would make the soldering twice as easy.


--Scott

[minerva]

I just picked a kill-a-watt up that's the same design as the one in this thread. Instead of soldering the tweet-a-watt leads to the surface mounted chip 2902, are there connections on the tan side of the circuit board that I could more easily connect too. Wouldn't there be several options for GND and 5V - just getting those two from an easier location would make the soldering twice as easy.

That's a good idea. Use a multimeter with continuity measurement to poke around until you find convenient pins or component leads that are connected to the +5V and ground pins on the opamp.

[psyhoidz]

can you make kill a watt for this http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet- ... Z324M.html
i have an european energy monitor from http://www.duewi.de/ article number: 05370

i want to modd 05370 with xbee same transmiter from kill a watt!


here is another example with another energy monitor but i could't find the energy monitor and i dont see where to put the xbee

[agepacaero]

I just picked a kill-a-watt up that's the same design as the one in this thread. Instead of soldering the tweet-a-watt leads to the surface mounted chip 2902, are there connections on the tan side of the circuit board that I could more easily connect too. Wouldn't there be several options for GND and 5V - just getting those two from an easier location would make the soldering twice as easy.

That's a good idea. Use a multimeter with continuity measurement to poke around until you find convenient pins or component leads that are connected to the +5V and ground pins on the opamp.

Has anyone sorted this out.

[Volkemon]

Yep! oPossum has found areas MUCH easier to solder to on this model.

http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=16073

Enjoy!

[RaviMikkelsen]

It looks like the KAW has changed once again. I just purchased this earlier this week and was dismayed at first opening it as it looked so different from the pictures in the instructions (I am a n00b to electronics). Here are the pictures of new KAW.

[RaviMikkelsen]

Here is the fourth photo. I am still waiting for my tweet-a-watt kit in the mail and hopefully will have it complete without too many mishaps. :)

[transcender]

Inspired by this project, I decided to build my own variation. I'm only interested in monitoring power usage at my desk (where all of my power hungry gadgets are). Instead of going wireless, I'm working on using my wireless router to interface with the KAW (using the serial port on board, and a GPIO pin to enable a serial ADC). Anyway...

It appears there is yet another version of the KAW not yet seen in the forums. It has the PDIP version of the LM2902N like the original, with an inconveniently placed voltage regulator (in terms of soldering). Just thought I'd share a few pics to add to the collection.