hosehead electronic brewery controller

CornyKegs 728
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rayf said:
1 How do I know when updates are made to Elsinore?
2 Which version of Elsinore should I be using?
3 how can I help or report bugs?
4 I received my Hosehead about 3 weeks ago, would any of you know if the version of Elsinore that I have is up to date?
5 it specifically says on the Brewtronix site not to bother Doug about Hosehead issues, if I do have issues where can I address the problems?

I would like to thank Doug and Corey both for the work and knowledge they have put into these two projects that work together for the Home Brewing Community! Good work fellas! I understand that these projects are works in progress and in some cases there is no money being made. I wouldn't mind donating to the Elsinore project for the benefit of some great beer.
Click to expand...

Use the https://www.reddit.com/r/strangebrew subreddit for all information pertaining to Strangebrew, updates, how to submit bugs, get help etc.

Log into your box with Hosehead RPI with Putty, go into the Strangebrew directory and type git pull, that should do it. I believe Hosehead also had a youtube video or some instructions somewhere with more specifics if that doesnt make sense to you.

I doubt the version you have is the latest build, I am not 100% sure that Doug actually merged all his beta changes into the main code.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
Use the https://www.reddit.com/r/strangebrew subreddit for all information pertaining to Strangebrew, updates, how to submit bugs, get help etc.

Log into your box with Hosehead RPI with Putty, go into the Strangebrew directory and type git pull, that should do it. I believe Hosehead also had a youtube video or some instructions somewhere with more specifics if that doesnt make sense to you.

I doubt the version you have is the latest build, I am not 100% sure that Doug actually merged all his beta changes into the main code.
Click to expand...

This is the best thing to do, I moved active updates from Homebrewtalk because it's a pain to follow in the main thread and discussions get confusing.

There's also more pro users on reddit (like @Fuzzewuzze and @Jangeeva) that can help more frequently then I can.

New changes haven't been merged until I can get the pH sensors working again and do some more UI streamlining.
 
so i recently bought my hosehead 3BC and built my 3 kettle HERMS system. i could not be more happy with the customer service that Corey provided with the set up and some initial issues that i had.

my first two brew sessions went pretty bad though. i had issues with the controller crashing and with Elsinore. I have since learned that the controller cant sustain running the Elsinore software and accessing the software through built in browsers. In other words, the Ras pi doesnt have enough computing power to do it all. I have (as is suggested by Corey) started access Elsinore through an IP address on my home network and its much better. i have had none of the issues with the controller crashing like i did before.

I know some people on here are nervous about Elsinore and ripping on the software a bit, and I really think that is unfair to Doug. This software (limited and buggy as it may be) is the best thing there is right now and best of all, it is free! I was able to purchase a controller for $500!! Thats a deal! FuzzeWuzze can build the same thing for less money probably and still use a free software to do all the thinking!

I think people who are looking at Hosehead or Elsinore to run on their own system need to know that you can use this software and it works really well. There are some issues with customization but i would love to see you customize a Kal like panel in real time. doesnt happen.

just my opinion. I am happy with my setup and wouldnt change a thing. Thank you Corey and Doug for doing all the work for me so I can just get right to brewing!
 
wifi dongle is on the way, element enclosures, and 30a GFCI breaker also are on the way. Now I need to get a punch or step bit to cut the holes. What did all of you use for element kettle holes? Sucks to have to buy a tool that I'll only use a few times!
 
DougEdey said:
The thing is that Corey doesn't support the development of Elsinore, very few people do (any the money that does come in is used to expand Elsinores functionality).

Unless people report bugs, or fix them themselves, there's no way for me to identify bugs that people experience.

One thing that has always been in the documentation for elsinore is to have a Kill switch.

Elsinore isn't "Dougs", it's open source, anyone can write code for it, fix things, provide feedback.

I've never said it's something you should rely on 100% to do everything, hence why I despise when people ask how to set Elsinore up to run before they wake up and have the water at Mash Temp when they wake up.

If you are unhappy with the software that runs on Hosehead, that is up for you to discuss with Corey.
Click to expand...

I was only upset the sever went down for some reason. I don't know what box its on, if its dedicated or shared ETC. So many reasons it may have gone down. Nothing -DOUG- did or didn't do. I just was saying the down fall of all this is that it is fully dependent on the web..

Doug, I'm sorry I said your name in this, as if, what occurred to me was your fault. I know it was not. As far as bugs, the ones that are occurring do not effect function for me. So that's less of an issue to me anyways. I don't speak your language to help development. Me saying, the delete buttons only work when they feel like it- tells you nothing at all. (I'm worthless to you) If I did, I'd not be using any of this stuff as, id be working on my own. Keep doing what you do and I'm sorry I came off as insulting you, personally. That was not what my mind set was, just how it read.

As far as directing things to Corey I have, and do. Corey answers questions lightning fast at all hours of the day and night. I can't be more pleased with his support. All in all, I need an industrial panel for piece of mind. This program does have extreme potential and I'm sure in time you will make it great. Its all ready, more then good.. One way or the other, glad it brought some life to this thread.

My stand, my kill switch, and a few other things are incomplete. I have no one to blame but myself there. I did cut corners with things other then the ground fault and wiring the house, brewing the other day.... But really, who could own all this gear and let it sit over as few small details (lesson learned) . Indoor boils overs do suck however when the garden hose is no longer floor clean up. Switch built, stand in the next week soon that will not even be a memory. Sorry for dragging you off reddit.
 
Bankrupter said:
I just was saying the down fall of all this is that it is fully dependent on the web..
Click to expand...

It's not dependent on the web, it's dependent on a web UI. If you kill the underlying process then everything will be set to off.
 
DougEdey said:
It's not dependent on the web, it's dependent on a web UI. If you kill the underlying process then everything will be set to off.
Click to expand...

Is there a way to have a seperate process that detects if the Elsinore.jar file is running and if not to force all GPIO pins off? That would fix the issue of if the GUI dies for whatever reason that the Element/Pumps arent stuck on.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
Is there a way to have a seperate process that detects if the Elsinore.jar file is running and if not to force all GPIO pins off? That would fix the issue of if the GUI dies for whatever reason that the Element/Pumps arent stuck on.
Click to expand...

When the elsinore jar exits it turns off all the GPIOs it's aware of.

The issue comes if the OS hangs. That's what I believe happened in this instance based on the very little info provided.

What you're talking about could screw with other things people are running.
 
Does anyone have the contact email for Corey? I see people say he answers lightning fast but I have yet to be able to reach him via the email address he provides via his website or paypal.

PM me please, I'm only missing the controller to get my brewery going and his product looks to be the answer.
 
Kinda cold in the basement brewery this morning. Time to turn on the heater and get going. Man, I'm loving my Hosehead and all electric brewing.

Brewery.jpg
 
I'm building a 2.5 Gallon recirculating eBIAB run by the Hosehead and my iPad. I plan on installing everything on a rolling tool cart and using a 12v Solar Pump to recirculate during mash and boil.

I recently plugged my hosehead in to a free HDMI monitor I had and started playing with SBE, man I'm going to love this thing!

I've got my kettle, cables/connectors, and the Hosehead. Now to get the pipe fittings and start building! I still haven't figured out how to mount my temp probe in the Tee fitting yet, but I'm close. I'm not sure I understand how the compression fitting works that's listed on the Hosehead website.

Who's got pics of their setup they can share for inspiration?
 
cdubbaya said:
I'm building a 2.5 Gallon recirculating eBIAB run by the Hosehead and my iPad. I plan on installing everything on a rolling tool cart and using a 12v Solar Pump to recirculate during mash and boil.

I recently plugged my hosehead in to a free HDMI monitor I had and started playing with SBE, man I'm going to love this thing!

I've got my kettle, cables/connectors, and the Hosehead. Now to get the pipe fittings and start building! I still haven't figured out how to mount my temp probe in the Tee fitting yet, but I'm close. I'm not sure I understand how the compression fitting works that's listed on the Hosehead website.

Who's got pics of their setup they can share for inspiration?
Click to expand...


View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454978901.699756.jpgHere is my setup. You'll see my hosehead on the lower shelf on the left. I love my setup and the ease of configuration of this system. The compression fitting screws into a tee on the outlet valve and you use two o-rings to make it water tight.
 
RonR said:
View attachment 336345Here is my setup. You'll see my hosehead on the lower shelf on the left. I love my setup and the ease of configuration of this system. The compression fitting screws into a tee on the outlet valve and you use two o-rings to make it water tight.
Click to expand...


Nice setup! Do you have a close up of the compression fitting with the probe? Corey at Brewtronix says he drilled out his compression fitting, that's the part that confuses me. Maybe I just need to buy one and see for myself - did you buy it from brewhardware.com?

Last question, looks like you are running the Hosehead without a monitor. Are you running it from a tablet or smart phone? Edit: I think I see an HDMI cord coming from the controller, maybe it's not pictured.
 
cdubbaya said:
Nice setup! Do you have a close up of the compression fitting with the probe? Corey at Brewtronix says he drilled out his compression fitting, that's the part that confuses me. Maybe I just need to buy one and see for myself - did you buy it from brewhardware.com?

Last question, looks like you are running the Hosehead without a monitor. Are you running it from a tablet or smart phone? Edit: I think I see an HDMI cord coming from the controller, maybe it's not pictured.
Click to expand...


My monitor is off to the left on a desk. I didn't have to drill my fittings. They were designed to work with these probes. I'll see if I can find where I ordered them from and get back with you this evening.
 
Does anyone use the hosehead temperature probes with a triclamp thermowell? My EBIAB kettle is going to have a 1.5" TC ferrule for a temp probe, and while I could do a TC to NPT fitting and then an NPT compression fitting, I'd rather keep the sanitary connections if possible.
 
cdubbaya said:
Nice setup! Do you have a close up of the compression fitting with the probe? Corey at Brewtronix says he drilled out his compression fitting, that's the part that confuses me. Maybe I just need to buy one and see for myself - did you buy it from brewhardware.com?

Last question, looks like you are running the Hosehead without a monitor. Are you running it from a tablet or smart phone? Edit: I think I see an HDMI cord coming from the controller, maybe it's not pictured.
Click to expand...

https://www.brewershardware.com/CF1412.html

This is the link to the compression fittings I use. The only draw back to this setup is that you have to be recirculating to get an accurate temp. I'm thinking about drilling a thermowell into my boil kettle to keep from recirculating, but I can't bring myself to doing it.

CF_1412.jpg


CF1412_ASSEMBLE.jpg
 
20160209_191119_zpsrvvtipvi.jpg


Tried to paste in more but photobucket is jacking up my note 5 hard.. Thats my boil kettle anyways all the others are in T's as normal.

Ron it works with out recirculation but reads a little low even under hard boil. Ill also add a well in place of just the compression one day.. Not that we can't see boil and I boil in manual mode, regardless
 
RonR said:
https://www.brewershardware.com/CF1412.html



This is the link to the compression fittings I use. The only draw back to this setup is that you have to be recirculating to get an accurate temp. I'm thinking about drilling a thermowell into my boil kettle to keep from recirculating, but I can't bring myself to doing it.
Click to expand...


Excellent, thanks! I think I'll go that route and buy the fittings. It looks like that particular one is bored out which must be what the Brewtronix website was referencing. Can you pull the probe out without disassembly? Looks like it's possible but I plan on putting the tee behind my ball valve. Maybe I should reconsider the order.

I plan on recirculating during both mash and boil so I'm not too worried about the temps. If that becomes an issue I'll drill another hole but I'd prefer to start here first.
 
cdubbaya said:
I'm building a 2.5 Gallon recirculating eBIAB run by the Hosehead and my iPad. I plan on installing everything on a rolling tool cart and using a 12v Solar Pump to recirculate during mash and boil.

I recently plugged my hosehead in to a free HDMI monitor I had and started playing with SBE, man I'm going to love this thing!

I've got my kettle, cables/connectors, and the Hosehead. Now to get the pipe fittings and start building! I still haven't figured out how to mount my temp probe in the Tee fitting yet, but I'm close. I'm not sure I understand how the compression fitting works that's listed on the Hosehead website.

Who's got pics of their setup they can share for inspiration?
Click to expand...


Here is my hosehead setup in my basement...

Keyboard and pumps slide away when not in use. Cheap Walmart led tv for monitor...

I've been brewing on it for about a year now, and love it...View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1455112516.915666.jpg
 
cdubbaya said:
Excellent, thanks! I think I'll go that route and buy the fittings. It looks like that particular one is bored out which must be what the Brewtronix website was referencing. Can you pull the probe out without disassembly? Looks like it's possible but I plan on putting the tee behind my ball valve. Maybe I should reconsider the order.

I plan on recirculating during both mash and boil so I'm not too worried about the temps. If that becomes an issue I'll drill another hole but I'd prefer to start here first.
Click to expand...


Yes. Simply loosen the compression fitting and slide the probe out. It's also not necessary to screw it down real hard. That destroys your o-rings. If you notice a slight leak, just tighten a little more. Be sure to order some replacement o-rings.
 
jimboj79 said:
Here is my hosehead setup in my basement...

Keyboard and pumps slide away when not in use. Cheap Walmart led tv for monitor...

I've been brewing on it for about a year now, and love it...View attachment 336635
Click to expand...

That's awesome! I've been trying to decide if I wanted to go with a monitor or add a wifi adapter to the Hosehead and use my iPad or iPhone. I have a separate monitor handy, but I'm trying to make the system mobile so I can roll it out to brew and store it in my garage when not in use.
 
RonR said:
Yes. Simply loosen the compression fitting and slide the probe out. It's also not necessary to screw it down real hard. That destroys your o-rings. If you notice a slight leak, just tighten a little more. Be sure to order some replacement o-rings.
Click to expand...

Perfect. I think I'm going to go that route and place my Tee behind my valve. That saves me some fittings and allows the valve to close so I can take out my probe.

My step bit and wifi adapter came today so I'll rig up my kettle and give it a test!
 
RonR said:
Yes. Simply loosen the compression fitting and slide the probe out. It's also not necessary to screw it down real hard. That destroys your o-rings. If you notice a slight leak, just tighten a little more. Be sure to order some replacement o-rings.
Click to expand...

If your using welded in fittings, i found it easier to just remove the entire compression fitting rather than unscrewing just the compression bit to release the probe for cleaning pots.

Teflon tape is a lot easier to replace than O-Rings all the time.
 
Anyone know how to have Elsinore start automatically when you turn on the hosehead? I've been trying to figure this out for awhile other than that I love the controller, or and I broke one probe my fault but is there any way to replace, I do biab so don't really need 3 probes but would still like to replace thanks in advance
 
Anyone used a triclamp thermowell with the probes that come with the hosehead? Which one did you use?
 
Just wanted to give a shout out to Corey. I bought my Hosehead in November and started using it in January. Had a bunch issues with the kettles not firing webpage not updating, ect... Figured it was user error but after about 6 batches under my belt things were not getting better. Contacted Corey and he had me call. He was able to identify the problem and get my Hosehead working properly. Have 3 batches done since the fix with no issues. Hosehead works flawlessly and worth every penny.

Thanks Corey!
 
Just got mine last night, can't wait to try it out I need a couple more parts to make my new rig complete (should be ready to roll Saturday).
 
So I just turned my hosehead on for the first time in about a month, and I am getting a rasp pi login screen that I have never seen before.

Normally, I switch it on it boots up right into the home screen and I proceed.

Anyone have thoughts on how I got this? I definitely did not add a password, I wouldn't know how...

IMG_0918.JPG
 
i love my hosehead, just updated it to the new version (with help from doug over the phone) and love it. basically what i wanted with my all electric setup without having to spend the money for a big blichmannesque setup
 
Guys sorry this is kind of a cross post from the electric brewing forum but figured I'd ask here too. Anyone using the hosehead with a rims tube? Im curious about the specs of your rims tube heating element. ive always seen 120v used for the element however hosehead is 220v output. thanks in advance.

edit: I just found that plumbingsupply.com has a couple different 240V options for elements including an ULWD one that is ~12" long and fits my brewers hardware rims tube. Its 240V at 1500W. They also have a 2500W unit at ~12" long.
 
I'm using a brewhardware 5500W element in their RIMS tube. No problems with boiling in the RIMS tube, but I make sure I have good flow while mashing.
 
I have somewhat unusual setup with my hosehead and wanted to get everyone's input.

I use RIMS for mashing and have brewhardware Hot Rod heat stick used in my HLT and BK.

Hosehead has 3 probes - yellow, blue, and black. You are able to associate the element 1 and element 2 outputs with the temp sensors. i.e. associate yellow temp probe with element 1 (RIMS) and the blue tempt probe with element 2 (HLT).

In my configuration, I need to move the Hot Rod to the BK after sparging. I could move the blue temp probe from my HLT to BK, but was wondering if there is a better way to do this. It appears I can assign the same GPO pin to two sensors. Not sure what would happen if they both were turned on at the same time, but wondering if this work.
 

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