Please help with ESP8266 sketch

[Skybound]

I am in the process of migrating my hydroponics controller from an Arduino Mega to several ESP8266 boards. With research I was able to piece together a sketch that uses the ESP and a DHT22 Temp/humidity sensor, so I am now trying to utilize the same framework of that sketch, and just switch out the functions. In this sketch, I merely wish to control an 8 channel relay module that was used for more than a year on the Mega with Blynk but for some reason, it seems this new sketch is getting hung up somewhere in the setup() function. Usually, after a fresh upload, all the Blynk widget values are returned to zero as instructed in the code, but this is not happening now.

Could someone kindly read my sketch and offer pointers for what’s needed and what’s not needed? Thank you in advance.

#define BLYNK_PRINT Serial    // Comment this out to     disable prints and save space
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <BlynkSimpleEsp8266.h>
char auth[] = "auth";   // Cloud Server
//char auth[] = "auth";   // Cloud Server
//char auth[] = "auth"; // Local Server

char ssid[] = "netName";
char pass[] = "password";
byte arduino_mac[] = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED };
IPAddress device_ip ( 192,   168,   0,  80);
IPAddress gateway_ip ( 192,   168,   0,   1);
IPAddress subnet_mask(255, 255, 255, 0);

BlynkTimer timer;
byte blynkInterval = 3000;

uint32_t msPerGallon = 33000; //ms per gallon
uint32_t ROstart = 0;
uint32_t countGallons;
boolean runningRO = false;

int ROpumpOn = 0;     //Blynk Triggered RO Pump
float totalGallons;   //Number of RO Gallons Selected in Widget

BLYNK_WRITE(V1) {
  ROpumpOn = param.asInt();  // ROpump remote
}
BLYNK_WRITE(V2) {
  totalGallons = param.asFloat();  // ROpump remote
}

// Digital Pins - 8 Channel Relay Assignments - ESP8266 Pins - 120VAC~ switching
#define lightA 0
#define lightB 2
#define pumpA 4
#define pumpB 5
#define ROpump 12
#define scrubberFan 13
#define VentA 14
#define VentB 15
#define TURN_ON 0 // TURN_ON and TURN_OFF are defined to account for Active LOW relays
#define TURN_OFF 1 // Used to switch relay states for on/off of 120VAC~ devices 

//WidgetLCD lcdA(V7);  //Set LCD widget to Advanced Mode - Widget to display project clock
WidgetTerminal terminal(V8);

//---------------------------------------------------------------//
//----------------------------Functions--------------------------//
void checkBlynk() {
  unsigned long startConnecting = millis();
  unsigned int Timeout = 5000;
  while (!Blynk.connected())
  {
    Blynk.connect();
    if (millis() > startConnecting + Timeout)
    {
      break;
    }
  }
}
void reconnectBlynk()
{
  if (!Blynk.connected())
  {
    if (Blynk.connect())
    {
      Serial.print("Blynk Reconnected");
    }
    else
    {
      Serial.print("Blynk Not reconnected");
    }
  }
}
void ROcheck()  //RO Pump = 34 seconds on time per gallon
{
  if (ROpumpOn == 1 && runningRO == false)            // Activates when Blynk button is toggled
  {
    digitalWrite(ROpump, TURN_ON);
    Blynk.virtualWrite(V1, 1);                     // Illuminates Blynk button widget
    runningRO = true;
    ROstart = millis();
    countGallons = msPerGallon * totalGallons;        // Calculates length of runtime for pump
    Blynk.virtualWrite(V2, 0);
    terminal.print("Pumping:");
    terminal.print(totalGallons);
    terminal.println(" Gallons of RO");
  }
  if (millis() - ROstart > countGallons)              // Determines when runtime ends
  {
    ROpumpOn = 0;
    runningRO = false;
    digitalWrite(ROpump, TURN_OFF);
    Blynk.virtualWrite(V1, 0);
    //Blynk.virtualWrite(V22, 0);
  }
  terminal.flush();
}

//------------------------Functions------------------------------//
//---------------------------------------------------------------//

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Blynk.begin(auth, ssid, pass, "blynk-cloud.com", 8442); // Cloud Server
  //Blynk.begin(auth, ssid, pass, server_ip, 8442); // Local Server
  WiFi.begin(ssid, pass);
  Blynk.config(auth);
  //Blynk.connect();             // this is OK
  //WiFi.config(device_ip, gateway_ip, subnet_mask);
  
  for (int allRelays = lightA; allRelays <= VentB; allRelays++)
  {
    pinMode(allRelays, OUTPUT);
    digitalWrite(allRelays, TURN_OFF);
  }


    Blynk.virtualWrite(V1, 0);
    Blynk.virtualWrite(V2, 0);
    Blynk.virtualWrite(V8, 0);
  

  timer.setInterval(1007L, ROcheck);
  //timer.setInterval(blynkInterval, checkBlynk);
  //timer.setInterval(60000, reconnectBlynk);

  while (Blynk.connect() == false) {}

  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("setup complete.");
}


void loop()
{
  // only attempt Blynk-related functions when connected to Blynk
  if (Blynk.connected())
  {
    Blynk.run();
  }
  timer.run();
}

As a reference point, here is the functioning DHT22 sketch;

//#define BLYNK_PRINT Serial    // Comment this out to     disable prints and save space
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <BlynkSimpleEsp8266.h>
char auth[] = "auth";   // Cloud Server
//char auth[] = "auth"; // Local Server
char ssid[] = "netName";
char pass[] = "password";
byte arduino_mac[] = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED };
IPAddress device_ip ( 192,   168,   0,  80);
//IPAddress server_ip ( 192, 168, 0, 1 );      //IP of machine server runs on
IPAddress gateway_ip ( 192,   168,   0,   1);
IPAddress subnet_mask(255, 255, 255, 0);

#include <DHT.h>
#define DHTPIN 2 //pin gpio 12 in sensor
#define DHTTYPE DHT22
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);
BlynkTimer timer;
byte blynkInterval = 3000;

void readSensor()
{
  float h = dht.readHumidity();
  float t = dht.readTemperature(true);

  Blynk.virtualWrite(V0, t); // virtual pin
  Blynk.virtualWrite(V1, h); // virtual pin
}
void checkBlynk() {
  unsigned long startConnecting = millis();
  unsigned int Timeout = 5000;
  while (!Blynk.connected())
  {
    Blynk.connect();
    if (millis() > startConnecting + Timeout)
    {
      break;
    }
  }
}

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Blynk.begin(auth, ssid, pass, "blynk-cloud.com", 8442); // Cloud Server
  //Blynk.begin(auth, ssid, pass, server_ip, 8442); // Local Server

  // Setup WiFi network
  //WiFi.config(device_ip, gateway_ip, subnet_mask);
  WiFi.begin(ssid, pass);

  // Setup Blynk
  Blynk.config(auth);
  dht.begin();
  timer.setInterval(3000, readSensor);     //Read every 3 secs
  timer.setInterval(blynkInterval, checkBlynk); // check connection to server per blynkInterval
}


void loop()
{
  // only attempt Blynk-related functions when connected to Blynk
  if (Blynk.connected())
  {
    Blynk.run();
  }
  timer.run();
}

Edit - Note, because all of these sketches have the same credentials, none of them are powered on at the same time. I will give each unique credentials upon successful connection and operation.

[PeteKnight]

Using GPIO0 can be a bad thing, as it’s also used for flashing the MCU.

In addition, this bit of code seems a but sloppy…

@Skybound

for (int allRelays = lightA; allRelays <= VentB; allRelays++)
  {
    pinMode(allRelays, OUTPUT);
    digitalWrite(allRelays, TURN_OFF);
  }

You’re setting GPIO 0 to 15 low (16 Pins in total) when you’re only using 8 of them.

Take a look at this thread to learn more about which GPIO pins are safe to use on the ESP8266:

ESP8266 GPIO pins info, restrictions and features

hi blynkers! the esp8266 mcu is widely used in iot projects. however, most gpio pins on this mcu have special / multiple functionality and are not safe to use in all circumstances. these “features” are still not well documented and not explained in a friendly manner for newbies. i see lots of cases when the “issues” are simply caused by not knowing which pins to use in which case. [esp8266 pin features] here is a basic table for startup. i’ve collected the info from various sources on the i…

Pete.

[Skybound]

Thanks Pete, that(those) were the problems. I began the pins at 4 and manually itemized them in pinMode. All works fine now. Thanks again!

[PeteKnight]

Excellent!
I’ve marked this topic as “Solved”

Pete.