Whenever I manually filter my beer from 5 gallon corneys to 1.75 or 2.5 gallon kegs, or I transfer commercial 15.5 gallon or 50 liter kegs to corneys for ease of use I end up with inconsistent amounts so my kegbot system is never accurate when it comes to telling me how much is left in a keg. I would LOVE to be able to transfer using an FT330 and automate the process as much as possible however I am not a programmer and I'm wondering if any of you out there would be willing to help me with some code to do this?
I will be using an arduino Mega for this, not a KBPM - I am willing to buy a different model of Arduino & associated parts if necessary.
When I filter my home brew the process involves transferring beer from one keg, through a filter then into a second keg. My kegs range in size from 1.5 gallon to 15.5 gallons and the transfer process takes a long time (way over an hour for the larger kegs) as I have to use very low pressure and if I'm transferring a large keg into multiple small ones it requires standing to watch so I can catch it before the beer overflows and due to this I never get the exact same amount in each keg. Transferring by time isn't a real option as pressure varies and what may take 10 minutes one time may take 8 or 12 on a different transfer.
This is where Arduino comes in .
What I'm thinking is if I install a flow meter and solenoid valve (powered by a relay) in the filter line then I can use an Arduino to turn on the solenoid, monitor the liquid flow then shut off the solenoid, sound a buzzer and send me an e-mail when the desired liquid amount has transferred.
The Arduino will be housed in a project box, on the outside of the box will be a 4 line LCD display, 3 push buttons and a potentiometer. The potentiometer will be for selecting how much liquid to transfer (as it is turned the amount of liquid to transfer will show on the screen like a menu (from 0 to 16 gallons), when the correct amount is displayed on screen pressing one of the push buttons will activate the solenoid, transfer the amount of beer selected then shut off & buzz etc.. The 2nd push button will be set as a manual on/off switch to activate the solenoid with no auto shutoff for when I'm cleaning the filters and it will also act as an emergency shutoff, the 3rd will be a reset.
I will be using an FT330 flow meter which pulses 2724 times per liter so that will need converting to gallons (at least for the display). This is the same flow meter used by the Kegbot system for serving beer.
When the Arduino is powered on or the reset button is pressed I would like the lines of the screen to display:
1) Select Amount to transfer using rotary switch
2) This will be the actual amount to transfer which is selected by turning the switch right or left (right to increase)
3)
4) Press the green button to begin transfer
When the transfer has started I would like the screen to show the following on the 4 lines:
1) Flow Rate (Gallons per min)
2) Amount Transferred so Far / Amount Remaining
3) Percent Transferred / Percent Remaining
4) Time Taken so far / Estimated Time Remaining (calculated from rate the liquid is transferring & how much is left)
When the transfer is complete I would like the display to
1) Transfer Complete!
2) Amount Transferred in Time Taken
3) Press Reset to continue
I would also like lines 1&2 to be the content of an e-mail that is sent to me
Thank You in advance for any suggestions/advice or assistance with this,
Mark
I will be using an arduino Mega for this, not a KBPM - I am willing to buy a different model of Arduino & associated parts if necessary.
When I filter my home brew the process involves transferring beer from one keg, through a filter then into a second keg. My kegs range in size from 1.5 gallon to 15.5 gallons and the transfer process takes a long time (way over an hour for the larger kegs) as I have to use very low pressure and if I'm transferring a large keg into multiple small ones it requires standing to watch so I can catch it before the beer overflows and due to this I never get the exact same amount in each keg. Transferring by time isn't a real option as pressure varies and what may take 10 minutes one time may take 8 or 12 on a different transfer.
This is where Arduino comes in .
What I'm thinking is if I install a flow meter and solenoid valve (powered by a relay) in the filter line then I can use an Arduino to turn on the solenoid, monitor the liquid flow then shut off the solenoid, sound a buzzer and send me an e-mail when the desired liquid amount has transferred.
The Arduino will be housed in a project box, on the outside of the box will be a 4 line LCD display, 3 push buttons and a potentiometer. The potentiometer will be for selecting how much liquid to transfer (as it is turned the amount of liquid to transfer will show on the screen like a menu (from 0 to 16 gallons), when the correct amount is displayed on screen pressing one of the push buttons will activate the solenoid, transfer the amount of beer selected then shut off & buzz etc.. The 2nd push button will be set as a manual on/off switch to activate the solenoid with no auto shutoff for when I'm cleaning the filters and it will also act as an emergency shutoff, the 3rd will be a reset.
I will be using an FT330 flow meter which pulses 2724 times per liter so that will need converting to gallons (at least for the display). This is the same flow meter used by the Kegbot system for serving beer.
When the Arduino is powered on or the reset button is pressed I would like the lines of the screen to display:
1) Select Amount to transfer using rotary switch
2) This will be the actual amount to transfer which is selected by turning the switch right or left (right to increase)
3)
4) Press the green button to begin transfer
When the transfer has started I would like the screen to show the following on the 4 lines:
1) Flow Rate (Gallons per min)
2) Amount Transferred so Far / Amount Remaining
3) Percent Transferred / Percent Remaining
4) Time Taken so far / Estimated Time Remaining (calculated from rate the liquid is transferring & how much is left)
When the transfer is complete I would like the display to
1) Transfer Complete!
2) Amount Transferred in Time Taken
3) Press Reset to continue
I would also like lines 1&2 to be the content of an e-mail that is sent to me
Thank You in advance for any suggestions/advice or assistance with this,
Mark
