IC for 12V Latching relay board

@tedbear If you do want to buy some replacements, here is a link

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004182853457.html?spm=a2g0o.search0304.0.0.494511e6aOZfL1&algo_pvid=6bd71786-0578-4f75-9ac3-bf430f5ab45f&algo_exp_id=6bd71786-0578-4f75-9ac3-bf430f5ab45f-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000028308813382%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21CAD%21%212.7%21%21%211.59%21%21%40210318c216540183063218491ed57e%2112000028308813382%21sea

Hi Ron @zander and @tedbear,

  Yes Ron, you can buy the chips ... but they will not contain a program ... they will need to be programmed before they will perform the function.

That means:

• Writing a program that runs from scratch, including initialising the chip from boot.
• compiling/assembling and linking to produce object code
• arranging an in situ programming set up to program the chip

Can it be done? .. In principle, of course, yes.

Is it worth the bother?

Only, if you are looking for a real challenge!! It may be a tiny chip, but the data sheet is nearly 900 pages long, and that is only the beginning.  https://www.stcmicro.com/datasheet/STC15F2K60S2-en.pdf

Good luck @tedbear if you take that one on!!

Best wishes my friends. Dave

@davee I was not aware these were programmable chips, but looking at the pdf you supplied which I also supplied to Ted I see they are. The key takeaway is that it isn't even needed, they just add it to justify a higher price. The arduino post I posted has the beginning of a clue how to eliminate the chip.

@zander and others.  Thank you all for your efforts in helping me with what I thought would be just a generic IC.   You are correct in that I never expected this to be a cheap microcontroller that would need to be programmed for the task.  This means I will not pursue that approach but again thanks for all your efforts. If I need another latching relay I will just buy a complete unit as they were about $5 a piece.  Some actually do work as regular (non latching) relays with a reversed output. Again this was due to my error of connecting the trigger wire to 12V.  It triggers nicely when touched to ground but "dies" immediately when touched to 12V. 

Actually I haven't given you all the details of the entire project.  Originally I used an RF board with fobs to control the 3 button door opener.  It's 4th relay could be set to "latching" with a jumper to control the shop lights via a contactor.  This worked great for several years. 

After playing with an ESP32 and my phone I decided to attempt to use BOTH in this project.  This goal was so that I could operate the door opener or lights from either a fob, a phone with the appropriate app or the actual physical switches in the building.  This worked except for the lights.  The ESP32 relay board did NOT have a latching jumper for any of the relays.  I found that I could change the status of the lights from the phone but after communication with the ESP32 was lost, the lights returned to their former status. That was undesirable.

This is why I decided to go with a latching relay in the middle of things to control the light contactor.  This way a momentary pushbutton on the wall, the RF relay board with the light relay changed to momentary and the ESP32 relay board controlled by the phone can change the status of the latching relay, the contactor and ultimately the lights. 

I'm certain there would have been a better and easier way to accomplish this but this project "evolved" through the years. This appears to work properly.  I can use any device in any order to control the door movement and lights.

@zander

Posted by: @zander

I think at least some of your ire is misdirected. When the auto workers in China get a tiny fraction of the union workers in america where would you build your factory?

Not at all, Ron...
I did say I would rather pay more, and fight the global bastards!

Our sovereign survival depends on it!

@frogandtoad We are in 100% agreement re survival. There may be room for optimism, one or more  Taiwanese companies has made noise about building new facilities in the USA and I think Apple has been successful about getting one of its suppliers to build in the USA as well. My country Canada most likely does not stand a chance, we are too dependent on the US and are still largely a resource based economy. TBH, I have no idea where a person graduating with any kind of tech degree would get a job here. We do have a few pockets of good jobs, but I strongly suspect they will cease to exist if the government ever stops subsidizing them. Unfortunately I fear most do not share your willingness to put their money where their mouth is. I applaud you for your commitment, but I fear the majority are sheeple.

@zander

Posted by: @zander

@frogandtoad We are in 100% agreement re survival. There may be room for optimism, one or more  Taiwanese companies has made noise about building new facilities in the USA and I think Apple has been successful about getting one of its suppliers to build in the USA as well. My country Canada most likely does not stand a chance, we are too dependent on the US and are still largely a resource based economy. TBH, I have no idea where a person graduating with any kind of tech degree would get a job here. We do have a few pockets of good jobs, but I strongly suspect they will cease to exist if the government ever stops subsidizing them. Unfortunately I fear most do not share your willingness to put their money where their mouth is. I applaud you for your commitment, but I fear the majority are sheeple.

Indeed... there are too many sheeple in the world without the slightest idea of what the hell is going on!

Unfortunately, your potato head prime minister (like mine), Trudeau is part of the WEF/WHO BS, as confirmed by the dragon Klaus himself!

I feel for our world, as there are far too many sheeple sill asleep as to whats going on!

I pray for another Carrington Event to wake them all up!

A few weeks ago, our Earth missed a massive solar flare by nine days of orbit!

@tedbear

Apologies, not trying to hijack your post, but sometimes comments lead to ranting, and stuff needs to be said 😉

Please continue with the original issue, and let us know where you're currently at!

Cheers

@frogandtoad Again thanks for the help.  After using the project for a few days now, I believe it to be where I want it to be.  I finalized the enclosures and are calling that one done (until some unforeseen problem arises).

However, yesterday I noticed a problem with another somewhat similar project.  That project also works with 3 button door openers in a different building.  For that project I used a generic ESP32 Dev board connected via a Darlington array to 6 of the 8 relays on a separate relay board.  A phone app allows me to work with two separate doors.  My phone app has buttons for UP, DOWN and STOP for each door.  DOWN for the South Door does not work.  When standing by the enclosure I can physically hear the other relays "click" when their button is pushed on the phone app but not the DOWN button for the South door. I suspect there is a problem with the connection from the ESP32 GPIO out pin for that function getting through the Darlington to the appropriate relay. I may have time today to remove the cover of the enclosure and investigate.

Later edit: I had done a search on the IC number that Ron had supplied for me.  I received a reply today. They are only $.41 so the price is right but I won't bother with them due to the need to program etc.  Seems like overkill to use a microcontroller for the task but they are cheap.

Seems I remember hearing that in the early days when chip quality was poor that it was fairly common that "half" of a dual chip would work but the other "half" did not.  I understood that these "half good" ICs were sold to suppliers for game boards that purposely only used the "good half". 

@tedbear In fact I read that the MCU was not really used (I doubt they were programmed) and a poster on another forum claimed to know how to bypass the MCU. 

As far as your controllers acting up, we would need a lot more information to attempt to resolve. My advice in these situations is always the same, reduce the problem to the smallest possible subset of parts and code.

Woke up last night with one of Bill's Tutorials on my TV.  It happened to show some of the many uses of the old 555 timer IC.  One of the uses was a latching relay.  Is there any chance that the Chinese IC that I've apparently destroyed or disabled is really a knockoff of a 555?  I am still not able to read the chip number directly.  

This is not a big deal since I've decided to dispose of the boards with the damaged IC but am curious more than anything. 

@tedbear Ted are you not seeing the several posts I and others have posted? Are you not subscribed to your own post? ALL your questions have been answered several times.

The IC number is 15F104E If you have an amazon link then we could look at a blow up of the image and see for sure.

company is STC I will again attach the datasheet. NO it's not a 555, it's an MCU, more like an arduino. As it turns out it is not really needed, it is there because they cost the manufacturers a penny or less but adds several dollars to your price because it contains an MCU. I think I did post a link to a set of instructions on how to bypass the chip but I am not looking for them again.

@zander Yes, I'm seeing your posts and appreciate your efforts.  It just seemed like quite a coincidence  that I happened to watch Bill's tutorial which used an 8 pin 555.  I'm curious as to how you can read the IC number from the photo and I am not able to read it with the IC in my hands with a magnifying glass. I looked at the Amazon image as you apparently did.  I am able to read the STC brand across the end, however my IC does not have the STC on it and the markings are written across the chip rather than on the end as in the Amazon picture..  It is not a big deal to dispose of the boards.  I must have missed your instructions on how to "get around the IC".

I may have questioned some of your other replies in the past, not that I don't believe your responses but as an effort to learn.  I realize that many of these help boards can be brutal.  I am involved with some agricultural electronic boards where I think I have much experience.  I'm frustrated when I reply with a suggestion and the original poster does not try my advice.  It goes both ways I guess. Keep up your good work.

@tedbear No problems, I was only concerned you were not getting some help. With these chips, they can and do substitute a competitors chip. The one you have in your hand may well be different I was able to magnify the image of the picture you posted. If you google "stc 15f104e" the top hit is the datasheet pdf.