I contacted customer service about my 3 week battery life and they have already shipped me out a new tilt and apparently a return envelope so I can send the broken one back. Pretty damn good customer service.
Brewometer kickstarter thoughts - digital bluetooth hydrometer
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To chart the data yes, but it is still useful to be able to go to the fermenter and check the SG without having to open the vessel, sanitize anything, etc.
However, next step (almost there) is top connect to my BrewPi and its website, so I can view the fermentation progress from afar
To chart the data yes, but it is still useful to be able to go to the fermenter and check the SG without having to open the vessel, sanitize anything, etc.
However, next step (almost there) is top connect to my BrewPi and its website, so I can view the fermentation progress from afar
A user has set up a website that I use https://www.brewstat.us so I can check the status anywhere in the world.
Hi,
Haven't visited this thread for a while so just noticed your message! Oh there is? Where I can find "how to's"? At BrewPi forum or somewhere else? Yes, RPi3 has BT built in!
And I can access BrewPi's data remotely?
Cheers
First the easy one, access the community (forum) at BrewPi.com. you will see a (long) thread for Tilt/Brewometer integration. It includes most of what you need. Also, when you install SBowler's chnages, there is a readme file that explains more.
Regarding "remote" reading of your Tilt. as Tilt uses BLE, you will need to have your RPi fairy close to your fermenter. I have use SS kegs for fermenting, inside a freezer (i.e lots of metal) and a RPi2. So I have a dongle on the end of an extension cable, inside the freezer. Works for me.
Stefan
SlanginDueces
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allanmorgan
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The smartphone or tablet must always be in range of the hydrometer. I learned that the hard way. To constantly get data, it must also be plugged into a power source. Otherwise the data is sporadic.
New tilt owner on my first brew. I am very impressed so far, with one weird behavior. All of a sudden last night - about 72 hours into the fermentation - the temperature reported on the Google Sheet jumped from ~68F (which is correct) ~153F (which is not!) The temperature readout on the display of the Tilt app is correct.
I have been watching both the SG and temperature. The SG has been close enough to not needed calibration. I had calibrated the temp by -1.5 F shortly before this behavior.
Is it possible that somehow I changed a formula in the spreadsheet? A few times when i looked at it I'd get into edit mode. When I noticed this I'd back out, but maybe I changed something.
Any thoughts?
I have been watching both the SG and temperature. The SG has been close enough to not needed calibration. I had calibrated the temp by -1.5 F shortly before this behavior.
Is it possible that somehow I changed a formula in the spreadsheet? A few times when i looked at it I'd get into edit mode. When I noticed this I'd back out, but maybe I changed something.
Any thoughts?
I would love to get a tilt but all I have is a tablet to view the info. The one I have is a Samsun Galaxy Tab 4 8.0, and has blue tooth but not sure if it has the 4.0 Bluetooth. It would be nice if the tilt was wifi ready... or is it?
Also would the Tilt be usable from a ball lock keg in a chest freezer?
next thought...is there a wifi or Bluetooth device for the Mash to keep track of the mash temperature?
Also would the Tilt be usable from a ball lock keg in a chest freezer?
next thought...is there a wifi or Bluetooth device for the Mash to keep track of the mash temperature?
According to this review http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2458405,00.asp
the Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 has Bluetooth 4.0 LE.
Brew on
So anything with Bluetooth 4.0 including my PC will work?
just looked and it seems it has to run on iOS or Android which of course PC's don't run on those.
It would be nice if it ran off of Wifi.
just looked and it seems it has to run on iOS or Android which of course PC's don't run on those.
It would be nice if it ran off of Wifi.
WiFi uses too much power. Battery life would be totally unacceptable if the Tilt communicated with WiFi. Even full Bluetooth uses too much power, which is why the Tilt only broadcasts "beacons" (I think that's the right term.)
Brew on
good to know Doug. thanks
will it be able to communicate while in a ball lock keg which would be inside a chest freezer?
AF1HomeBrew
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worked for me when I had my SS BrewBuckets in a chest freezer,so it should work in a keg with no problem.
EmDubeu
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I was messing around with adding an email alert to my Tilt Hydrometer Cloud sheet (google sheet), and I came up with the following script.
If my Tilt hasn't responded within a specific amount of time, a status on my sheet will change to "Stopped". My script is looking at the status field for changes and will notify me via email when there is a change.
Here's the script that needs to be added:
function Email(e) {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName("Report");
var valueToCheck = sheet.getRange("B19").getValue();
var rangeEdit = ss.getActiveSheet();
var recipients = "[email protected]";
var message = '';
{
message = sheet.getRange('B19'+ sheet.getActiveCell().getRowIndex()).getValue()
}
var subject = 'Fermenator Status Change: ' + valueToCheck + '';
var body = ' Fermenator status chaged to: ' + valueToCheck + ' ' ;
MailApp.sendEmail(recipients, subject, body);
};
Here's my version of the Tilt Hydrometer Cloud sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ax7zJedDYJd3fK8plBWHHn2lNkG1isyJXFQO8rE2H6M/edit?usp=sharing
You'll also need to set up your script to run from a trigger, with an On Edit from spreadsheet event.
If my Tilt hasn't responded within a specific amount of time, a status on my sheet will change to "Stopped". My script is looking at the status field for changes and will notify me via email when there is a change.
Here's the script that needs to be added:
function Email(e) {
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName("Report");
var valueToCheck = sheet.getRange("B19").getValue();
var rangeEdit = ss.getActiveSheet();
var recipients = "[email protected]";
var message = '';
{
message = sheet.getRange('B19'+ sheet.getActiveCell().getRowIndex()).getValue()
}
var subject = 'Fermenator Status Change: ' + valueToCheck + '';
var body = ' Fermenator status chaged to: ' + valueToCheck + ' ' ;
MailApp.sendEmail(recipients, subject, body);
};
Here's my version of the Tilt Hydrometer Cloud sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ax7zJedDYJd3fK8plBWHHn2lNkG1isyJXFQO8rE2H6M/edit?usp=sharing
You'll also need to set up your script to run from a trigger, with an On Edit from spreadsheet event.
Thanks for taking the time to post this. I have copied your spreadsheet to my Google drive and now I'll try to figure out how to implement it. I don't have a lot of Excel experience but I did notice that your script did copy over.
how about temperature? I lager a lot and the temperature is normally about 50 F. for fermentation would that effect the Gravity readings or anything else?
Yes, temperature must be taken into account when measuring SG. The hydrometer has a temperature sensor on-board which is used in the SG calculation.
Make sure that your BT 4.0 includes BLE (Low Energy), not sure that all devices that run BT 4.0 automatically have BLE. But I could be wrong, maybe a BT guru can set me right
I use an add-on to BrewPi instead of their app and am pretty happy with the results. I did notice on the prior brew that there is a sharp dip in SG when cold crashing, although the SG did rise over time back to where it should have been (according to the refractometer)
Stefan
Worked for me, although I did add an extension USB cable to mt RPi so I could hang the BT dongle inside the freezer, for reliability
Stefan
Way back in the early part of this thread, there was described a way to read the battery level using bluetooth tools in linux. The downside to the method seems to be excessive battery drain, killing the battery in a week or so.
Feel free to peruse the thread for the info.
AF1HomeBrew
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Love the Tilt, but dang it forgot to throw the two I own into two beers I fermented a few weeks ago. Another dimension of having all of these gadget's I guess.
Oh damn... that would kinda suck if it drains batt in about a week
I've got it to work after leaving it for about 30 odd minutes.
I have an additional question... as im integrating this with my network monitoring system..(pushes the value to the sql table which is how the monitoring system grabs the data by running a sql query).
I was wondering if is it possible to have an OG column instead of manually remembering it.
As i am also looking to input the brewname within a column, if i define the following will that work ?
$brewname = "Belgium Blonde";
$sql= "INSERT INTO `device`(`name`,`mac`,`time`, `sg`, `temp`, `abv`) VALUES('$brewname','$tiltStr','$now','$sgStr','$tempStr','$abvStr')";
Or i might just input the brew name as a db (perhaps to create a new db for each brew) or if you guys have any recomendations.
Let me know... thanks
I have an additional question... as im integrating this with my network monitoring system..(pushes the value to the sql table which is how the monitoring system grabs the data by running a sql query).
I was wondering if is it possible to have an OG column instead of manually remembering it.
As i am also looking to input the brewname within a column, if i define the following will that work ?
$brewname = "Belgium Blonde";
$sql= "INSERT INTO `device`(`name`,`mac`,`time`, `sg`, `temp`, `abv`) VALUES('$brewname','$tiltStr','$now','$sgStr','$tempStr','$abvStr')";
Or i might just input the brew name as a db (perhaps to create a new db for each brew) or if you guys have any recomendations.
Let me know... thanks
Wouldn't the OG be the first SG result when you query the database? And the FG is the last one, when you order by date. No need to store them separately, but it would be advisable to double-check the readings with a hydrometer and make a note with pen and paper.
An alternative which im thinking of is to modify the line and manually input the oglevel within $oglevel
$oglevel = "1.050"; (using this as an example)
$sql= "INSERT INTO `device`(`name`,`mac`,`time`, `og`, `fg`, `temp`, `abv`) VALUES('$brewname','$tiltStr','$now','$oglevel', '$sgStr','$tempStr','$abvStr')";
$oglevel = "1.050"; (using this as an example)
$sql= "INSERT INTO `device`(`name`,`mac`,`time`, `og`, `fg`, `temp`, `abv`) VALUES('$brewname','$tiltStr','$now','$oglevel', '$sgStr','$tempStr','$abvStr')";
Can you modify the query?
Sticking OG in there, by hand, for every row is extremely inelegant. I suppose you don't always have a choice though.
Yeah, im trying to find ways around it.. still thinking if there is a better way...
In my Raspberry Pi PHP code, I use a query to get the first gravity reading:
Code:
$sql = "select abv from device";
$rowVal = mysqli_query($link, $sql);
echo "rows = ",mysqli_num_rows($rowVal)."\n";
if(mysqli_num_rows($rowVal) > 0)
{
$firstRow = FALSE;
$sql = "select sg from device order by time asc limit 1;";
$rowVal = mysqli_query($link, $sql);
$row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($rowVal);
$ogStr = (float) $row["sg"];
echo "\$ogStr = $ogStr\n";
}else{
$firstRow = TRUE;
}Then I compare the current sg with the first sg and store it in the current entry:
Code:
if($firstRow == TRUE)
{
$abvStr = 0.0;
}else{
$abvStr = (float) (((float) $ogStr - (float) $sgStr) * (float) 131.25);
}I use rubber gloves, gives me a little more traction.
Question for anyone using the Tilt. I got mine yesterday and tested it in a glass of water, and it worked fine. However, I could never get the indicator light to blink. After setting it upright, then laying it on it's side, once I got a red flash. What have others seen?
I'm hoping that I did not receive a new unit with a dead battery, or that getting jostled around between Santa Rosa and Houston didn't use up all its juice.
I'm hoping that I did not receive a new unit with a dead battery, or that getting jostled around between Santa Rosa and Houston didn't use up all its juice.
