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New 3.5" Color LCD display

We are currently building the first batch of full color graphical displays with WiFi.

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Here is a highlight video of the assembly of the new TFT LCD. We are currently building them in-house.

mp4
MOVIE.mp4
(17.7 MB)
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Hi,


Thanks for the reply, good to know the GFCI is now integrated - should I simply enable the GFCI test option in the web UI?

Also (feel free to move this to another thread), my LCD appears to have stopped working. The ESP32 seems to work still, and the web UI is accessible and seems to work, however the LCD and the LEDs appear to have stopped working, the only light now being the green LED on the thermal sensor PCB.

Im not sure why - I havent powered it up since it was last powered, shortly after assembly. It was working then, and now it isn't.

Could this be some sort of firmware failure? Perhaps the LCD is not being initialised correctly? I did update the firmware.

I have tried downgrading to the firmware here:


https://objects.githubusercontent.com/github-production-release-asset-2e65be/202533650/3ddbd6b2-382b-498e-91bb-85f30ad59c3d?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAVCODYLSA53PQK4ZA%2F20240222%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240222T191149Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Signature=68145d4e52c63622208cdd96434798fdf933da28a92eae3e06b434795bf01f5b&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&actor_id=0&key_id=0&repo_id=202533650&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3Dopenevse_wifi_v1.bin&response-content-type=application%2Foctet-stream

and also updating to the latest firmware, but none have !he same version as the firmware that was shipped.

Until today, all these firmwares produced a display output that was just fine, so I am unsure what has changed, if anything, or wether I am simply unlucky and my LCD has had an early death.

I'm happy to probe voltages on the LCD board, if it helps - just say where...


Ta!

@Ian Molton,


 Wrong firmware, you have loaded firmware for the standalone WiFi module.


You need firmware for the TFT LCD WiFi module. It is here:

https://github.com/OpenEVSE/openevse_esp32_firmware/releases/tag/v5.1.0


File Name:

openevse_wifi_tft_v1.bin 

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Hi, thanks, I'd guessed it might be that, good to confirm it.

Unfortunately, although the LCD is fine now, the update feature is as broken as the original firmware it shipped with, and it now refuses to do updates (from git) when I click on the button.

Theu update starts, but dows not complete.

How do I fix this?

(the "direct install" button


@Ian Molton


Download and load via the manual install the 5.1.0 release here:

https://github.com/OpenEVSE/openevse_esp32_firmware/releases/tag/v5.1.0


Direct install should work for future releases.

I have a question. The TFT interface has something that looks like buttons (and is called buttons in the source code), and it seems that the hardware has either resistive or capacitive touch (at least the elecrow TFT boards has it). Am I right abouy the touch being available? If yes, does it work through the plastic glass?

@Kirill


The current TFT LCD does have provisions for touch. The LCD does have a resistive pad and we did create the footprint for the electronics on the board, however the chip is not yet populated. The resistive touch does NOT work through the plastic. We may release a touch enabled version in the future once we develop seals that can expose the display but keep water out.

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Is this new version compatible with the ethernet mod?

Not currently, you would have to remove the WiFi/LCD to add the Ethernet board, they both use the single serial interface on the OpenEVSE controller.  It may be possible to develop some code for the Wifi/LCD to relay serial commands to/from the second serial port.

I just installed an OpenEVSE with the new screen, and while it looks nice it does not display the charge current like the old text-only display did. Even while charging, it's just showing the limit, not the actual current. Is this intentional or is something not working for me?

@Patrik


We would suggest posting your suggestion as an issue here:

https://github.com/OpenEVSE/openevse_esp32_firmware/issues


The code for the TFT LCD is very new, so we are very likely to add improvements like what you suggest.

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I see that WIFI_BUTTON is set in the source buildflags for TFT, can I get a hint as to which pads it is on the TFT board?


Also, is there a board file, or something with the mechanical dimensions so I don't have to measure it myself to create a mount?

 Can I transfer the data and statistics over from my old display/wifi module?

I have to say, I'm rather underwhelmed by the new large display as it doesn't seem to be telling me more than the previous small one. In fact, rather less. Instead of clear text for current status, instead there's just a small icon in the top corner. The rest of the screen seems largely taken up by the current limit which is far from useful and along the bottom there is a row of what looks like buttons, but which cannot be made to work.


I appreciate it may be a 'work in progress' but I can't help but think it's a disappointing first attempt.


First, let me suggest that if the buttons are unusable, DON'T SHOW THEM. Fundamental rule of good interface design. Instead let's see some actually useful information being displayed and perhaps going to sleep after a user specified time (like an iPhone). Having it on the whole time seems wasteful and simply not needed.


I think there's lots of potential for this screen, but certainly not there yet.

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