OP
OP
FuzzeWuzze
I Love DIY
Please do post a screenshot of a day of fermentation with it, i dont think i have an image readily available to show how well it really works in a small chamber.
HOWTO - Make a BrewPi Fermentation Controller For Cheap
- Thread starter FuzzeWuzze
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
- Status
Please do post a screenshot of a day of fermentation with it, i dont think i have an image readily available to show how well it really works in a small chamber.
Does anyone with a Lasko My Heat have a larger chamber (15 cubic foot) in a cold garage? Would it keep up? My garage can be about 40 degrees, so I would want it to raise the temp about 30 degrees. Is that asking too much?
It should be plenty. Mine is nearly too much for my ~12 cuft'er.
My original pi crapped out during the off season, so I bought a new one. The new one takes a microSD card and my brewpi software is on SD. Has anyone dealt with this?
I ordered an adapter so that I can write a microSD card from my laptop. I need to copy everything from my SD to my laptop and then write it to the microSD.
I ordered an adapter so that I can write a microSD card from my laptop. I need to copy everything from my SD to my laptop and then write it to the microSD.
My freezer/chamber (17cuft) is in the garage and it kept my ales at temp all last winter.
If your micro SD card is higher capacity than your original SD card, you can use Win32DiskImager with a card reader to create an image file of the old card then write that image to the new card...
Cheers!
Cool, thanks! Just curious- how cold does your garage get in the winter?
Freezing cold. I have 3 insulated walls but that's about it. The ceiling and door is not insulated. I'm in Ohio.
Sweet. I should be fine since my garage will never go below freezing. Thanks!
Just thought that i would post an update to the instruction below. After many hours trying to figure out why this was not working for me i had a web chat with Elco through his website store.brewpi.com and he diagnosed the issue as being with the script for the .htaccess file. He kindly logged on to my system and corrected it for me so if anyone else has problems with not being able to re-start their script on the BrewPi web interface after following the instructions below use the following for the .htaccess file instead:
<FilesMatch "admin.php|beer-panel.php|config.php|configuration.php|control-panel.php|maintenance-panel.php|previous_beers.php|program_arduino.php|save_beer_profile.php|start_script.php">
Allow from all
authuserFile /var/www/private/.htpasswd
AuthName "YOUR USER NAME"
AuthType Basic
Require valid-user
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "admin.php|beer-panel.php|config.php|configuration.php|control-panel.php|maintenance-panel.php|previous_beers.php|program_arduino.php|save_beer_profile.php|start_script.php">
Allow from all
authuserFile /var/www/private/.htpasswd
AuthName "YOUR USER NAME"
AuthType Basic
Require valid-user
</FilesMatch>
Why heat space? Heat your beer!
I use one of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F54AOW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
very effective and cheap for my side-by-side kegerator/ferm chamber fridge
I use one of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F54AOW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
very effective and cheap for my side-by-side kegerator/ferm chamber fridge
Last edited by a moderator:
I thought it didn't work like that. Is there a new algorithm for heaters applied directly to the beer? This is what Elco says about heating the beer:
"the algorithm is written for a chamber heater. The fridge air acts as a buffer between actuators and beer temperature. The actuators are therefore coupled to the fridge air temperature. Heating the beer directly will not work well."
From:
http://forum.brewpi.com/discussion/659/fermwrap-heater-attach-to-carboy-or-to-fridge-wall
Last edited by a moderator:
wbarber69
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2013
- Messages
- 2,191
- Reaction score
- 263
No but it has been proven that the algorithm will fiction perfectly fine with direct heating.
The heating pad I posted works perfectly for me. I suspect the lag time of heating 5-6 gal of beer a couple of degrees dampens the tendency to overshoot. Much more efficient this way, too I think (also cheaper and safer)
Oh, it's plenty fast, I just mean that heating 5gal of beer takes some time, it's not instant, in which case you'd probably overshoot. I suspect Elco's code needs that lag time, but probably not as much lag time as heating a volume of air to heat a volume of liquid inside that volume of air.
OP
OP
FuzzeWuzze
I Love DIY
I wonder at what point we will break the HBT database with this thread size? 
"Meh, I've seen longer"
Cheers!
Cheers!
GrogNerd
mean old man
at first I thought it was my probe, but now I see BrewPi measures or logs the Room Temperature differently.
in the graph, you can see the graphs for Beer, Fridge and Room temps, top to bottom.
at 8:32, I swapped the Room Temp & Beer Temp Device Functions. as expected, the 2 lines crossed, but the temperatures the probes were recording remained constant. it's just the function that swapped.
before I swapped the functions, I noticed the Room Temp displayed more as a sawtooth wave and not as smooth as the Beer & Fridge plots. when I swapped the functions, the line displaying the Room temp stayed sawtooth, but the history before the swap switched.
I don't know if I'm explaining it well at all.
in the graph, you can see the graphs for Beer, Fridge and Room temps, top to bottom.
at 8:32, I swapped the Room Temp & Beer Temp Device Functions. as expected, the 2 lines crossed, but the temperatures the probes were recording remained constant. it's just the function that swapped.
before I swapped the functions, I noticed the Room Temp displayed more as a sawtooth wave and not as smooth as the Beer & Fridge plots. when I swapped the functions, the line displaying the Room temp stayed sawtooth, but the history before the swap switched.
I don't know if I'm explaining it well at all.
Your graph looks perfectly normal to me. As I've previously mentioned, the Beer Temp uses software filtering, so the graph will appear to be a smoother line. The Room Temp and the Fridge Temp Sensor do not utilize the filtering. That is also why the Beer temp sensor will appear to react slower than the others. Since you swapped their assignments in the maintenance panel, your graph is what I would expect.
Edited to add:
It's referenced on the BrewPi Forum here: Room Temp Sensor Sensitivity
GrogNerd
mean old man
That would certainly explain it, thank you
Not that I was concerned, just thought it odd
I felt compelled to help out a fellow friend of a Beagle!
virgil1
Well-Known Member
I didn't really want to control my brewPi setup remotely(away from home), but I did want to be able to monitor it. I wrote a python script that reads the csv file that brewPi already creates, and set it up to read it every 5 minutes. Plot.ly is totally free. It allows you to send data and create graphs 'on the fly' that you can access via a public URL(a website anyone can access). Now I can check to see how things are going anytime I want(without opening up my network):
https://plot.ly/~virgil1/86
If anyone is interested, happy to share the script.
https://plot.ly/~virgil1/86
If anyone is interested, happy to share the script.
Ok, that's nice, but I have to ask, why go to all the trouble when you get every bit of that for "free" already?
I mean, I can check any of my BrewPi systems from anywhere with i'net access without doing...anything...outside of the box-stock installation plus a tiny bit of router and gateway configuration...which I'm pretty sure you had to do anyway.
Can you zoom into the plot with that tool?
Cheers!
I mean, I can check any of my BrewPi systems from anywhere with i'net access without doing...anything...outside of the box-stock installation plus a tiny bit of router and gateway configuration...which I'm pretty sure you had to do anyway.
Can you zoom into the plot with that tool?
Cheers!
virgil1
Well-Known Member
Yep, you can zoom into the plot. One of the pics I showed is 'zoomed in'. I read so many people having trouble trying to get their apache configured so they could access it remotely(read all the pages of this forum), I figured it would be useful. I'm not interested in opening up my network. Call me paranoid, I would just prefer not to do it, and I am fine not having access to start/stop/change things. Plus, I like to code. It was fun
You must've allowed access into your lan to be able to pull up that plot, yes?
Doesn't seem any different to me...
Cheers!
Doesn't seem any different to me...
Cheers!
I'd like to see your script
So if I'm understanding correctly, your script uploads the brewpi data every 5 minutes to the plot.ly servers so that you don't need to open up your firewall. Right?
virgil1
Well-Known Member
The plot is hosted on plot.ly. No access to the lan. They have libraries in just about any language you want to write it in. I used Python. The API sends data to their website/engine.
virgil1
Well-Known Member
I'd like to see your script
Yep, you have it right. I could send it to you as well, but here it is. I put some notes/comments in it.
Be sure to change the user id and api key! I could make those command line arguments, just didn't get around to it.
Code:
#!/usr/bin/python
# Learn about API authentication here: https://plot.ly/python/getting-started
# Find your api_key here(you need to sign up first): https://plot.ly/settings/api
# a few of the pages I read to get things going
# https://plot.ly/python/axes/
# https://plot.ly/python/line-and-scatter-plots-tutorial/
# this page really got me started with the multiple lines in one plot:
# https://plot.ly/python/line-charts/
# I put the script here on my pi:
# /home/pi/brewpi-tools/brewpi_plot_ly.py
# here is the crontab entry I used:
# 0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * * sudo /home/pi/brewpi-tools/brewpi_plot_ly.py >/home/pi/logs/brewpi_plot_ly.log 2>&1
# the script looks in your /var/www/data/ directory
# it will look for csv files of the same name of the directory and name your graph the same name as your directory
# It skips the "Sample Data", ".gitignore" ,"profiles" and "My First BrewPi Run" directories
# it will print out the name of the graph/directory and the URL when it is done
import os, sys
import os.path, time
import string
import plotly.plotly as py
from plotly.graph_objs import *
import plotly.tools as tls
def read_and_write_graph(whole_path, graph_name):
graph_name = string.replace(graph_name, '%20', ' ')
time_stamp = []
bt = []
ft = []
bs = []
fs = []
with open(whole_path) as f:
content = f.readlines()
for beer_string in content:
beer_data = beer_string.split(';',9)
beer_date = beer_data[0]
beer_temp = beer_data[1]
beer_setting = beer_data[2]
ignore_1 = beer_data[3]
fridge_temp = beer_data[4]
fridge_setting = beer_data[5]
ignore_2 = beer_data[6]
ignore_3 = beer_data[7]
ignore_4 = beer_data[8]
time_stamp.append(beer_date)
bt.append(beer_temp)
ft.append(fridge_temp)
bs.append(beer_setting)
fs.append(fridge_setting)
trace1 = Scatter(
x=time_stamp,
y=bt,
mode='lines+markers',
name="beer temp",
line=Line(
shape='linear',
width=0.4
),
marker=Marker(
size=2,
)
)
trace2 = Scatter(
x=time_stamp,
y=ft,
mode='lines+markers',
name="fridge temp",
line=Line(
shape='linear',
width=0.4
),
marker=Marker(
size=2,
)
)
trace3 = Scatter(
x=time_stamp,
y=bs,
mode='lines+markers',
name="beer setting",
line=Line(
shape='linear',
width=0.4
),
marker=Marker(
size=2,
)
)
trace4 = Scatter(
x=time_stamp,
y=fs,
mode='lines+markers',
name="fridge setting",
line=Line(
shape='linear',
width=0.4
),
marker=Marker(
size=2,
)
)
data = Data([trace1, trace2, trace3, trace4])
layout = Layout(
title=graph_name,
legend=Legend(
y=0.5,
traceorder='reversed',
font=Font(
size=16
),
),
xaxis=XAxis(
tickmode='auto',
nticks=6
)
)
fig = Figure(data=data, layout=layout)
plot_url = py.plot(fig, filename=graph_name)
print graph_name + " is at this URL: " + plot_url
tls.set_credentials_file(username='YOUR_USER_ID', api_key='YOUR_KEY')
# Open the directory
path = "/var/www/data/"
dirs = os.listdir( path )
file_list = []
# This would print all the files and directories
for file in dirs:
#print file
if file != "Sample Data" and file != ".gitignore" and file != "profiles" and file != "My First BrewPi Run":
#print "adding ", file
whole_path = path + file + "/" + file + ".csv"
#print "adding whole path", whole_path
#print "last modified: %s" % time.ctime(os.path.getmtime(whole_path))
#print "created: %s" % time.ctime(os.path.getctime(whole_path))
read_and_write_graph(whole_path,file)Ah, I get it now (slow on the uptake last night )
Cheers!
)Cheers!
virgil1
Well-Known Member
Ah, I get it now (slow on the uptake last night
Cheers!
You are not slow on the uptake. You are one of the reasons I was able to build all of this in the first place!
OP
OP
FuzzeWuzze
I Love DIY
Very cool, my first home made ferm controller I made on arduino used cosm which turned to xively...same idea as that service you got there.
OP
OP
FuzzeWuzze
I Love DIY
Here i am a year and a half later rebuilding my BrewPi after moving and taking it all apart...reading my own instructions on how to do it.
Brewski_59
https://www.facebook.com/narcosisbrew/
Good thing you took such good notes.
virgil1
Well-Known Member
I did a cold crash after dry hopping this week. BrewPi is the best thing ever. Here are pics from BrewPi and from plot.ly. I went a little colder than I wanted to start, so bumped it up.
OP
OP
FuzzeWuzze
I Love DIY
I did a cold crash after dry hopping this week. BrewPi is the best thing ever. Here are pics from BrewPi and from plot.ly. I went a little colder than I wanted to start, so bumped it up.
Looks good!
I did a cold crash after dry hopping this week. BrewPi is the best thing ever. Here are pics from BrewPi and from plot.ly. I went a little colder than I wanted to start, so bumped it up.
Looks good. Similar to what I see. My current profile for us05/ simple ale is 6 days 18degc. Ramp to 20 over 2 days hold at 20 for another 6 days cold crash 2 days. If I re pitch a slurry it usually takes off quicker than a rehydrated pack so I reduce the initial 6 to 4 or 5 days. Here is the time taken to reach 4 deg c. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1444898251.886557.jpg
virgil1
Well-Known Member
Cool. I've only done the dry packs so far. I have some liquid yeast waiting to brew another. Might do it this weekend once I get this one in the keg.
virgil1
Well-Known Member
Just an FYI in case some folks are reading this and limited on space like I am. I had kegged my first beer and used brewPi to keep it at chilling temperatures. Worked great. I don't really have room for another keezer, but really wanted to use brewPi and my keezer to control my ferm temps. I went ahead used my keezer to ferment, forgoing the serving temp of my keg for a while. Worked great for fermenting. I cold crashed(about two weeks later...also dry hopped before I cold crashed), which essentially brought be back down to serving temps, and the keg still tastes great! I only brew every 6-8 weeks so this works really well for me.
Had my BrewPi successfully running through the first batch. Thanks to everyone for posting, especially Fuzze. 
I go to set my profile for tonight's brew session this afternoon and blamo Raspberry Pi crashed and nothing is happening when I reboot. Decided to reinstall OS and BrewPi software. Now I am unable to access http://raspberrypi.local (this got me to the interface before). Tried the IP address too. The RPi GUI looks considerably updated as well.
Any ideas on how to access the BrewPi web interface?
Thanks in advance!
I go to set my profile for tonight's brew session this afternoon and blamo Raspberry Pi crashed and nothing is happening when I reboot. Decided to reinstall OS and BrewPi software. Now I am unable to access http://raspberrypi.local (this got me to the interface before). Tried the IP address too. The RPi GUI looks considerably updated as well.
Any ideas on how to access the BrewPi web interface?
Thanks in advance!
- Status
