HOWTO - Make a BrewPi Fermentation Controller For Cheap

bshaf · May 22, 2014

oy.. so i set up both arduino's with two instances of brewpi (named freezer and fridge) on the same raspberry pi and if i start the scripts manually (from terminal, not web interface) they both work..

fridge will autostart perfectly on restart but on freezer i get this error in the stderr.txt log

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/brewpi/freezer/brewpi.py", line 707, in <module>
csvFile = open(localCsvFileName, "a")
IOError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/home/brewpi/freezer/data/Lagering/Lage$

anyone have any idea? when i ran into other permission problems it was because i didnt add brewpi to the group.. but i can't see that being the case here since it is working for the fridge brewpi

the cron.d files are exactly the same. i save as-ed the working fridge one as the freezer one and fixed the path.. so i know its not from that

edit: ran fixPermissions.sh and that seems to have fixed it? for now at least

FuzzeWuzze · May 22, 2014

Good to hear you got it working for two chambers!

dtgrdn · May 22, 2014

ok, I have this running great except for the following issues:

1. I don't have wifi connected to it but the logs show that it's constantly checking for wifi. How can I turn that off?
2. I can't get the .htaccess script to work. I've followed the directions but it still allows anyone to view it on the web.

Thanks for all of the hard work from everyone, especially Fuzze!!!!

bshaf · May 22, 2014

dtgrdn said:
ok, I have this running great except for the following issues:

1. I don't have wifi connected to it but the logs show that it's constantly checking for wifi. How can I turn that off?
2. I can't get the .htaccess script to work. I've followed the directions but it still allows anyone to view it on the web.

Thanks for all of the hard work from everyone, especially Fuzze!!!!

for 1. its a line in the /etc/cron.d/brewpi i'm pretty sure

2. i have no idea

bshaf · May 22, 2014

FuzzeWuzze said:
Good to hear you got it working for two chambers!

thanks again for the post! just need a project box now and maybe try and figure out how to an add an lcd that i have

day_trippr · May 22, 2014

For the first problem:

cd /etc/cron.d
sudo nano brewpi

There should be two lines with "wifichecker".
The first is a comment. Make the second line a comment, too.
Thusly:

# entry:wifichecker
#*/10 * * * * root $scriptpath/utils/wifiChecker.sh 1>>$stdoutpath 2>>$stderrpath &

For the second:

Worth reviewing your steps. I've gone through this a few times and this has worked consistently.

cd /etc/apache2/sites-available

sudo nano default

look for <directory /var/www/> ... </directory>
change allowOverride to All

restart apache:
cd /usr/sbin
sudo apache2ctl -k graceful

cd /var/www

sudo nano .htaccess
Add all this including the punctuation:

<Files "index.php">
AuthUserFile /var/www/private/.htpasswd
AuthGroupFile /dev/null
AuthName "Put Your Brewery Name Here"
AuthType Basic

<Limit GET POST>
require valid-user
</Limit>
</Files>

Write the file out and exit.

mkdir private
cd private

htpasswd -c .htpasswd username (where username is whatever actual username you'll use to access the web page. I use brewpi, fwiw)...

Cheers!

dtgrdn · May 22, 2014

day_trippr

Thanks for the clear instructions! I found links for disabling wifi but they weren't clear on commenting the second line. After looking at your instructions for the password file I found 2 issues with mine. I changed the wrong Allowoverride in sites-available and had a spell error in my .htaccess.

Both work like a charm now!!

Thanks for you help :mug:

GrayTopBrewing · May 22, 2014

sub'd

I've been developing in Linux for over 10 years for work and just came across this thread. Hoping to build something similar soon.

day_trippr · May 22, 2014

dtgrdn said:
day_trippr

Thanks for the clear instructions! I found links for disabling wifi but they weren't clear on commenting the second line. After looking at your instructions for the password file I found 2 issues with mine. I changed the wrong Allowoverride in sites-available and had a spell error in my .htaccess.

Both work like a charm now!!

Thanks for you help

Happy to help!

I've been having more fun with this stuff than actual brewing.
Is that bad?

Cheers!

dtgrdn · May 22, 2014

day_trippr said:
Happy to help!

I've been having more fun with this stuff than actual brewing.
Is that bad?

Cheers!

No it's not bad at all!

I'm the same way. I work in technology so this is all fun to me. When I first started brewing I didn't realize how much technology was involved in these little projects. I think it keeps it more interesting.

Cheers!!

FuzzeWuzze · May 23, 2014

day_trippr said:
Happy to help!

I've been having more fun with this stuff than actual brewing.
Is that bad?

Cheers!

I know the feel, this is probably my 3rd fermentation build the first two being my own code.

I have some theories and ideas on making a digital hydrometer, the so called "Holy grail" of homebrewing gadgets IMO...I really need to do some more work on it to see if its feasible. Its really the only thing no one has cracked to make truely functioning and cheap..theres some products but they are just way too expensive and from what i understand way too sensitive to going out of calibration.

BrewerJack · May 23, 2014

FuzzeWuzze said:
I know the feel, this is probably my 3rd fermentation build the first two being my own code.

I have some theories and ideas on making a digital hydrometer, the so called "Holy grail" of homebrewing gadgets IMO...I really need to do some more work on it to see if its feasible. Its really the only thing no one has cracked to make truely functioning and cheap..theres some products but they are just way too expensive and from what i understand way too sensitive to going out of calibration.

I have actually been working on this as well. Let me know if you want to bang heads together for this. :tank:

balrog · May 23, 2014

FuzzeWuzze said:
I have some theories and ideas on making a digital hydrometer, the so called "Holy grail" of homebrewing gadgets

Interesting! Count me in as watching closely. So far I"ve seen the BrewBug measure weight of object suspended by fishline, then the tilting capsule whose tilt changes with density, and the two pressures of tubes at different heights--I stand by with breathless antici....pation to see what you come up with, given the resounding success of your past endeavors. :rockin:

cool77 · May 23, 2014

Hello,

I have seen a Temperature Sensor Shield Module on eBay. Is this module replace the need of the 4.7K resistor? If I understand correctly what I read so far, I would be able to plug in all the sensors on one of this module.

I'm starting to build my brewpi fermentor with the help of this thread.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-DS18B20-Temperature-Sensor-Shield-Module-without-DS18B20-Chip-/141271598463

Thanks

Cool77

atoughram · May 23, 2014

My .htaccess file

Code:

<Files "index.php">
AuthUserFile /var/www/foo/.htpasswd
AuthGroupFile /dev/null
AuthName "Clover Creek Brewery Restricted Area"
AuthType Basic

<Limit GET POST>
require valid-user
</Limit>
</Files>

my /etc/apache2/sites-available/default file

Code:

<VirtualHost *:80>
	ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost

	DocumentRoot /var/www
	<Directory />
		Options FollowSymLinks
		AllowOverride None
	</Directory>
	<Directory /var/www/>
		Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
		AllowOverride All
		Order allow,deny
		allow from all
	</Directory>

	ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/
	<Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin">
		AllowOverride None
		Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
		Order allow,deny
		Allow from all
	</Directory>

	ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log

	# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
	# alert, emerg.
	LogLevel warn

	CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

and lets assume that my .passwd file is correct and in the correct place.

File Permissions
/etc/apache2/sites-available/default 644
/var/www/brewpi/.htaccess 644
/var/www/foo/.htpasswd 644

It's still not working..

atoughram · May 23, 2014

cool77 said:
Hello,

I have seen a Temperature Sensor Shield Module on eBay. Is this module replace the need of the 4.7K resistor? If I understand correctly what I read so far, I would be able to plug in all the sensors on one of this module.

I'm starting to build my brewpi fermentor with the help of this thread.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-DS18B20-Temperature-Sensor-Shield-Module-without-DS18B20-Chip-/141271598463

Thanks

Cool77

uh.... that is probably a 4.7K resistor and a current limiting resistor for the LED. My pi's arduino has a proto-shield plugged into it with the 4.7K resistor and four DS18B20's soldered onto it. Buy a protosheild like this and solder a resistor into it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Arduino...417?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27e03e2fe1

atoughram · May 23, 2014

Never mind on the .htaccess help - got it to work - It's amazing how things look different when you post them on a forum - the error becomes glaringly obvious... I changed the AllowOveride in the first group "DocumentRoot" to All.

DivrDwn · May 23, 2014

FYI

If you're having a problem with brewpi recognizing but not reading your temp sensors after you assign them, it could be a power problem you're having. I was using a 5V 1A cellphone charger to power my Rpi and I had everything set up correctly but was getting a "null" value for my temp sensors after assigning them.

I did some reading and due to the high resistance of the cheap wires in the cell phone charger, my system wasn't able to draw enough power.

I picked up a different power supply for the Rpi and a power supply for the arduino, and I'm now in business...WOOHOO

mbbransc · May 23, 2014

FuzzeWuzze said:
I have some theories and ideas on making a digital hydrometer, the so called "Holy grail" of homebrewing gadgets IMO...I really need to do some more work on it to see if its feasible. Its really the only thing no one has cracked to make truely functioning and cheap..theres some products but they are just way too expensive and from what i understand way too sensitive to going out of calibration.

The dream. Just think of the custom brewing profiles you could create base on gravity instead of just time and temp. All through an interface without opening up the fermenter.

Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

day_trippr · May 23, 2014

cool77 said:
I have seen a Temperature Sensor Shield Module on eBay. Is this module replace the need of the 4.7K resistor? If I understand correctly what I read so far, I would be able to plug in all the sensors on one of this module.[...]

Clearly you could only "plug" one sensor into that little module.
What you need is something that looks like this - only prettier

Cheers!

vince805 · May 23, 2014

Finally got mine finished up!

FuzzeWuzze · May 23, 2014

Looks good, my only advice is just make sure there isn't a bunch of bare wire if you're cramming it in that tight, I'd hate to see the 120v lines short and start a fire, wrap exposed wires in electrical tape.

vince805 · May 23, 2014

Thanks. there's no exposed wires, everything is soldered and shrink wrapped.

Thanks again for your write up, I can't wait to use this on my next brew!

FuzzeWuzze · May 24, 2014

Hook it up with some water before hand to work out any issues

Also what plastic box is that

stewart194 · May 24, 2014

I just picked up my spare fridge and it is now in place. More noob questions...

1. Will the freezer portion of the refrigerator still work? Or will both sections be the temp you set it at in brewpi?

2. Can you bypass the freezer portion altogether? If so would that be a good place to store my netbook, arduino, relay board, etc? Then just drill a hole straight through the bottom of the freezer floor for the temp probe? I know there wouldn't be a lot of air movement in there, but I got the netbook for free and am not really worried about it prematurely breaking on me...plus my garage will be plenty hot this summer anyway....regardless if it is sitting on top of the refrigerator or not.

3. Where can I purchase the 4.7k resistor? Are they all a standard type?

Thanks!

FuzzeWuzze · May 24, 2014

1. Work yes, get cold enough i dont know it really depends. The brewpi will control the entire refrigerator, the freezer and fridge are one...and in most cases the fridge gets some of its cooling from the freezer compartment anyways. But because the fridge will be turning on and off repeatedly i wouldnt actually use it as a freezer as i dont know how cold it will keep things, you could try putting in one of those digital thermometers that track high and low in there to see how cold it gets over a typical brew cycle of turning on and off and if it remains cold enough for what you want to put in it.

2) Not really no, as i said earlier a lot of fridges get atleast some of their cooling from the freezer. I wouldnt go drilling holes inside as you may hit a coolant line and ruin the entire unit.

3) Radio shack sells them in various wattage sizes, the wattage doesnt really matter just get one thats large enough for you to work with..i think i got a pack of 5 for a few dollars...

BrewerJack · May 24, 2014

The correct answers are basically everything Fuzze said.

hukdizzle · May 25, 2014

Finally finished boxing up my Pi, I think it turned out pretty good!

stewart194 · May 25, 2014

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the advice and guidance as this is completely new territory for me.

SO basically, if I understand this correctly, once this is all wired up...the refrigerator plugs into one of the sockets and the heater plugs into the other correct? You don't need to hard wire anything into the electrical system of the refrigerator itself?

If this is correct, then really the only things that need to be ran into the inside of the refrigerator are the temp probe (which attaches to the arduino) and the power cable going to the heater? All of the other components can be mounted outside of the refrigerator?

If this is correct, where is the best place to drill a hole in the fridge to get these things inside?

Thanks again!

stewart194 · May 25, 2014

hukdizzle -

That is super badass man.

HOWTO - Make a BrewPi Fermentation Controller For Cheap

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