I've been tinkering with Arduinos and Raspberry Pis as my brewing and temp control solutions for quite some time. I started out with a homemade Arduino setup, then graduated to the CraftBeerPi software. I've had a great time tinkering and learning along the way.
The CraftBeerPi system is a great one with lots of promise, but I am finding that my technical capabilities are not quite what they need to be. I am continually running into technical issues. Small things like stable power supplies and complex circuits that I only have a vague understanding of what I'm doing seem to be my problem. My last brew I had to listen to the buzzer on the system sound for the whole brew! In trying to fix that problem I think I've managed to kill my Raspberry Pi.
Lately I've spent more time trying to get things to work than actually brewing!
So, I'm wondering if anybody can recommend an off the shelf (or very minimal build) version of a controller I might consider. My needs are pretty simple.
Any advice would be appreciated.
The CraftBeerPi system is a great one with lots of promise, but I am finding that my technical capabilities are not quite what they need to be. I am continually running into technical issues. Small things like stable power supplies and complex circuits that I only have a vague understanding of what I'm doing seem to be my problem. My last brew I had to listen to the buzzer on the system sound for the whole brew! In trying to fix that problem I think I've managed to kill my Raspberry Pi.
Lately I've spent more time trying to get things to work than actually brewing!
So, I'm wondering if anybody can recommend an off the shelf (or very minimal build) version of a controller I might consider. My needs are pretty simple.
- Indoor natural gas burner for the boil.
- 110v RIMS tube for mashing.
- Steelhead pump for circulating. I would like on and off control of this, but it could be a hardware switch rather than automated.
- Utilize One-Wire temp sensors so I can maintain my existing temp probes (edit)
- I may like to add an electric HLT at some point in the future, but that is not a current need.
- Automation other than PID control is a nice to have not a need to have.
Any advice would be appreciated.