DHT11 is returning nonsensical values

Question

I am trying to get humidity and temperature readings (eventually to trigger a misting system), but the values keep returning as 0C and 0%humidity (in general). Originally, I was using an am2320 sensor and using the analog pins. Here, I used the following code:

#include "dht.h"
#define dht_apin A2 // Analog Pin sensor is connected to
#define MIST 7
#define LIGHT 2
dht DHT;
void setup(){
 pinMode(MIST, OUTPUT);
 pinMode(LIGHT, OUTPUT);
 Serial.begin(9600);
 delay(500);//Delay to let system boot
 Serial.println("DHT11 Humidity & temperature Sensor\n\n");
 delay(1000);//Wait before accessing Sensor
}//end "setup()"
void loop(){
 //Start of Program 
 DHT.read11(dht_apin);
 Serial.print("Current humidity = ");
 Serial.print(DHT.humidity);
 Serial.print("% ");
 Serial.print("temperature = ");
 Serial.print(DHT.temperature); 
 Serial.println("C ");
 delay(5000); //Wait 5 seconds before accessing sensor again.
 }
 //Fastest should be once every two seconds.
// end loop() 
}

Thinking the sensor may have not been working, I tried using a different sensor (DHT11), and following the tutorials got the same result using this code:

#include <dht11.h>
#define DHT11PIN 4
dht11 DHT11;
void setup()
{
 Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop()
{
 Serial.println();
 int chk = DHT11.read(DHT11PIN);
 Serial.print("Humidity (%): ");
 Serial.println((float)DHT11.humidity, 2);
 Serial.print("Temperature (C): ");
 Serial.println((float)DHT11.temperature, 2);
 delay(2000);
}
// end loop() 

The Arduino is being powered by a wall wart and is also connected to my computer via USB (I read that sometimes the USB doesn't supply enough power). The weird part is that for about 1 minute I got reasonable results (humidity ~50%, temp 22C). Then, I tried adding an if loop to turn on an LED if the humidity dropped below 60% (thinking I could use the same code to operate a relay to turn on a misting system). The LED lit up, but the readout went back to the 0%humidity and 0C. I have since deleted this loop but cannot seem to get reasonable measurements. If I change the signal pin, I sometimes get a new readout 255% humidity and 255C, but I haven't been able to repeat this reliably.

For the wiring: S to pin, + to 5V, - to GND

Note: I have tried every analog pin and "regular" pin, so the code may designate something that is different in my picture. When testing, I have triple checked that the signal pin in the code is correct for my wiring configuration. I've also tried with a different Arduino with the same result. I'm pretty new at this, but the code is pretty much copy-paste and there are only 3 wires. I've read that there are many DHT libraries, so I'm thinking my issue has something to do with that, but I have no clue how to judge the appropriateness of a library for my application.

Order of pins = S, +, - My wiring[[[[[[[[[[[[p

• hcheung: Does your DHT11 board has a pull up resistor on it? The Data pin requires a pull-up resistor (4.7k would be okay) to 5V.
• StarCat: Have you tried a different library, to rule out hardware issues?

Answer 1

You need to add the following line of code in the setup() function:

 dht.begin();

Answer 2

Connect the sensor as in this diagramm (including a 10k resistor!): DHT sensor to UNO
Watch the empty connector opposite to your breadboard plug-in and use the following test sketch with this library:

// Example testing sketch for DHT humidity/temperature sensor
#include "DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 4 // Digital pin connected to the DHT sensor
#define DHTTYPE DHT11 // DHT 11
// Connect pin 1 (on the left) of the sensor to +5V
// NOTE: If using a board with 3.3V logic like an Arduino Due connect pin 1 to 3.3V instead of 5V!
// Connect pin 2 of the sensor to whatever your DHTPIN is
// Connect pin 4 (on the right) of the sensor to GROUND
// Connect a 10K resistor from pin 2 (data) to pin 1 (power) of the sensor
// Initialize DHT sensor.
// Note that older versions of this library took an optional third parameter to
// tweak the timings for faster processors. This parameter is no longer needed
// as the current DHT reading algorithm adjusts itself to work on faster procs.
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);
void setup() {
 Serial.begin(9600);
 Serial.println(F("DHTxx test!"));
 dht.begin();
}
void loop() {
 // Wait a few seconds between measurements.
 delay(2000);
 // Reading temperature or humidity takes about 250 milliseconds!
 // Sensor readings may also be up to 2 seconds 'old' (its a very slow sensor)
 float h = dht.readHumidity();
 // Read temperature as Celsius (the default)
 float t = dht.readTemperature();
 // Read temperature as Fahrenheit (isFahrenheit = true)
 float f = dht.readTemperature(true);
 // Check if any reads failed and exit early (to try again).
 if (isnan(h) || isnan(t) || isnan(f)) {
 Serial.println(F("Failed to read from DHT sensor!"));
 return;
 }
 // Compute heat index in Fahrenheit (the default)
 float hif = dht.computeHeatIndex(f, h);
 // Compute heat index in Celsius (isFahreheit = false)
 float hic = dht.computeHeatIndex(t, h, false);
 Serial.print(F("Humidity: "));
 Serial.print(h);
 Serial.print(F("% Temperature: "));
 Serial.print(t);
 Serial.print(F("°C "));
 Serial.print(f);
 Serial.print(F("°F Heat index: "));
 Serial.print(hic);
 Serial.print(F("°C "));
 Serial.print(hif);
 Serial.println(F("°F"));
}

• sumbody32point5: 2 issues: 1.) The code is giving an "error compiling for board Arduino" (full error message at bottom) 2.) I ony have 3 pins to connect, not four. Should I try a resistor on the signal pin? DataSheet velleman.eu/downloads/29/vma311_a4v01.pdf Full error code
• sumbody32point5: In file included from LIBRARY LOCATION/DHT_sensor_library-1.3.8/DHT_U.cpp:15:0: LIBRARY LOCATION/DHT_U.h:36:10: fatal error: Adafruit_Sensor.h: No such file or directory #include <Adafruit_Sensor.h> ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ compilation terminated. exit status 1 Error compiling for board Arduino Uno.
• Sim Son: @sumbody32point5 do you see any resistor on the sensor's breakout board? If no, then add one between signal and Vcc.
• Codebreaker007: You need the additiona llib installed its asking for - read the error message: Adafruit_Sensor.h: No such file or directory Add the Adafruit_Sensor lib Install it with IDE via lib manager
• sumbody32point5: @Codebreaker007 Sorry that was dumb of me - got the library. The output is now "DHTxx test! Failed to read from DHT sensor!" There is a resistor on the breakout board, so I don't think that is the issue. Just to be sure, I measured the resistance berween VCC and data line and got about 10Kohms. I'm using pin 4 as in your code and tried on other pins as well. I got one reading where the output was "Read from DHT sensor," (one single line) but then it went back to "Failed to read from DHT sensor." Is there a way to use a multimeter to verify eveything is working?