Well as you know, a hydrometer reading only not accurate until the liquid is at its calibrated temp, and I'll bet 95 ain't it, so... yeah.
The website says it has a range of 32* to 135* F. Given that you or I can correct the reading of a 'normal' hydrometer based on the temperature of the wort, I assume the Tilt can as well since it is also taking that reading.
The fermentation has been event free since this strange issue. Once I retrieve the Tilt I will check it against the hydrometer in RO water and sugar water at various temperatures and see if I can replicate the issue.
Separately, the cloud logging of the data has been flawless with the Samsung S5 that I've been using. When I used a Dell tablet I would get a large, 1 period spike in both temp and SG every night at midnight. Weird. Weirder yet, each night's spike would erase the previous night's spike from the spreadsheet!
So, while I'm still working out some gremlins, I have to say that this little bugger is very useful and addictive to look at. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1T6A-Fziirz3LK_d60xqmIB8N3XMM-qHdm_931tmg7rM/edit#gid=734290882
As you know they didn't create the board - it is an off the shelf Bean. But given they have probably sold a bunch of these, it might start to make sense to make their own and customize how they see fit.
Just transferred my beer from the fermentor into the keg and found wort in the Tilt. I was the second beer that I had used it for. I had the thing floating in a star san solution prior to putting it in the fermentor and didn't notice any leak. Dang! I guess I'll look at a few of the recent posts to see I can salvage it.
I performed an experiment today. Using a jar of water and adding sugar to it, I compared my glass hydrometer, the TILT and my cheap Chinese refractometer at progressively higher sugar concentrations. I held the temp constant (OK, maybe +/- 1*) until the last couple of readings when I warmed it up to see the effect. I made sure the sugar was well dissolved and used the same sample for each of the devices. I let TILT equalize and 'tapped' it a couple of times to ensure it had no bubbles on it or that it wasn't touching the sides. Using the hydrometer, I was careful to read it correctly. The refractometer was a cleaner line in the eyepiece than I expected and I really only ever had ~ .1* ambiguity......
Bottom line, the TILT has some kind of divergence over the 1.030 to 1.085 range. We're talking about 15% off at its maximum. Ouch.
This explains the low SG reading I had (a few posts back) with the TILT, but doesn't explain the odd peak unless it temporary corrected itself......
Glitch? I wonder if the TILT guys have any calibration graphs like this? Anyone else ever done this comparison?
Mine has a problem to: battery life seems to be going down every time I change the battery. Yesterday, I put a new battery in while the wort was cooling. My phone was receiving the signal correctly. About one hour later, when I pitched the Tilt in, there was no signal at all. For my previous brew, the battery lasted about 3 weeks. I think I will write to them....
I contacted the crew @ Tilt asking if they'd be interested in my BrewOmeter that took on some wort recently. They asked for a photo, which I supplied. They told me that they would ship me a replacement Tilt and I'll send the other one back. Gotta say customer support doesn't get better than that!
Apparently they changed to different gaskets in the newer Tilt models from the BrewOMeter (older model) to supply a better seal.
Mine has a problem to: battery life seems to be going down every time I change the battery. Yesterday, I put a new battery in while the wort was cooling. My phone was receiving the signal correctly. About one hour later, when I pitched the Tilt in, there was no signal at all. For my previous brew, the battery lasted about 3 weeks. I think I will write to them....
Just a quick update: they are sending me another unit (already in the mail) and I'll send them back my unit. Good customer service!
Im kinda surprised no one has tried to figure out how to write an app for an old android phone to be used this way in a glass jar... I have no shortage of old android smart phones with the tilt sensors in them myself... This along with a $5 external battery pack could theoretically do the job with the right app running on them.... just saying..
well I dont make $240 an hour so yeah 30 minutes with some old stuff lying around would be worth my time here but honestly it would take me a lot longer...Here we go... Dude I love your contributions, but you must NOT be serious here!?! The thing is $120, and it works like a champ right out of the box. Even if by some miracle you could get your glass/phone/battery/app rube to work, it wouldn't be worth even 30 minutes of your time to try! Stop the insanity and focus your mind on productive matters. Like inventing the *next* cool brewing toy...
when I see the original prototype was a $12 wii remote in a jar and you know they are likely a lot cheaper now that they are streamlined...
and from all the exchanges and mixed feelings reported here I dont see it working like a champ the same way you do...
well I dont make $240 an hour so yeah 30 minutes with some old stuff lying around would be worth my time here but honestly it would take me a lot longer...
I know its tough to put yourself in others shoes but $500 for one of these in each of my conicals is a lot of dough for me to shell out on my income... let alone justify when I see the original prototype was a $12 wii remote in a jar and you know they are likely a lot cheaper now that they are streamlined...
and from all the exchanges and mixed feelings reported here I dont see it working like a champ the same way you do...
Where does the $500/each come from?
Yeah, I saw how the prototype was a wii remote in a tennis ball canister, but the LightBlue Bean that they're using now goes for $55. I'm sure they're getting a discount by buying in bulk, but they're a pretty small operation, so I doubt they're buying that many at once. Either way, more than $12 worth of materials in the units.
I do agree thought that saying they "work like a champ" would be a bit of a stretch.
I think they're using the $30 one (unless Punch Through upped the price in the past 2 weeks). That, a $5 battery holder (Amazon price), a $2 battery (same), custom tube/gasket/end caps I'll guess is $10, and a custom clip to tie it all together which I'll peg at $3 to make the math easier. So all in, probably $50 in parts before volume discounts.
Of course, that doesn't account for warranty support, defective products, etc. or the cost to acquire the original patent.
It's a healthy profit margin - but that's just it, it's healthy. Enough to support a small operation producing a custom product targeted at a tiny market. If someone could build a cheaper DIY solution that has decent battery life and consistency then that would be fantastic -- but I don't see that happening soon.
I think they're using the $30 one (unless Punch Through upped the price in the past 2 weeks). That, a $5 battery holder (Amazon price), a $2 battery (same), custom tube/gasket/end caps I'll guess is $10, and a custom clip to tie it all together which I'll peg at $3 to make the math easier. So all in, probably $50 in parts before volume discounts.
Of course, that doesn't account for warranty support, defective products, etc. or the cost to acquire the original patent.
It's a healthy profit margin - but that's just it, it's healthy. Enough to support a small operation producing a custom product targeted at a tiny market. If someone could build a cheaper DIY solution that has decent battery life and consistency then that would be fantastic -- but I don't see that happening soon.
I never said each.. $500 for one for each of my conicals.. 4 total.Where does the $500/each come from?
Yeah, I saw how the prototype was a wii remote in a tennis ball canister, but the LightBlue Bean that they're using now goes for $55. I'm sure they're getting a discount by buying in bulk, but they're a pretty small operation, so I doubt they're buying that many at once. Either way, more than $12 worth of materials in the units.
I do agree thought that saying they "work like a champ" would be a bit of a stretch.
If they are buying $50 and selling for $120 that's not huge margin. I would bet they almost net neutral before drawing any compensation.
Hello,
My phone that I've been using to post data from TILT to Google Sheets just died (I guess because being old or because being hooked up to charger all the time). Before I start hunting for new old phone from my friends and family, I'd like to know if I'm able to post data to Google Sheets or Brewstat.us with Raspberry Pi 3? I know that I can use Rasp Pi with TILT, but where it can it post the data? Also have to mention that I'm totally noob what comes to Raspberry and coding, so if I choose to go the Rasp Pi way, I need someone to hold my hand and take me through the steps needed to set up Rasp Pi. Help really appreciated! Cheers from Finland!
Antti
Here we go... Dude I love your contributions, but you must NOT be serious here!?! The thing is $120, and it works like a champ right out of the box. Even if by some miracle you could get your glass/phone/battery/app rube to work, it wouldn't be worth even 30 minutes of your time to try! Stop the insanity and focus your mind on productive matters. Like inventing the *next* cool brewing toy...
I performed an experiment today. Using a jar of water and adding sugar to it, I compared my glass hydrometer, the TILT and my cheap Chinese refractometer at progressively higher sugar concentrations. I held the temp constant (OK, maybe +/- 1*) until the last couple of readings when I warmed it up to see the effect. I made sure the sugar was well dissolved and used the same sample for each of the devices. I let TILT equalize and 'tapped' it a couple of times to ensure it had no bubbles on it or that it wasn't touching the sides. Using the hydrometer, I was careful to read it correctly. The refractometer was a cleaner line in the eyepiece than I expected and I really only ever had ~ .1* ambiguity......
Bottom line, the TILT has some kind of divergence over the 1.030 to 1.085 range. We're talking about 15% off at its maximum. Ouch.
This explains the low SG reading I had (a few posts back) with the TILT, but doesn't explain the odd peak unless it temporary corrected itself......
Glitch? I wonder if the TILT guys have any calibration graphs like this? Anyone else ever done this comparison?
The tilt hydrometer continues to save measurement readings when the smartphones or tablets are not in range? Or is necessary to have a smartphone or a tablet in rage all the time to be able to chart the data?
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