BruControl: Brewery control & automation software

[staffordj]

That reads around 40F with a 100ohm resistor.

I found the issue. The was a pin inside the sensor that was touching the housing causing a short.

 

[BrunDog]

That reads around 40F with a 100ohm resistor.

Sounds about right. 40 F is pretty close to 0 C.

 

[staffordj]

I recently acquired an ESP 32. My router, from X Finity, does not allow static IP address. From a Google search it looks like I can reserve an IP address. Will they reserved IP address be good enough for an ESPN3 to connected via Wi-Fi to my PC?

Sounds like you are setting up a full multi-media experience with Brucontrol and ESPN3

 

[BrunDog]

I found the issue. The was a pin inside the sensor that was touching the housing causing a short.

Just a rambling on the use of connectors for RTDs... one of the risks of using connectors is that they can add incremental (or worse, variable) amounts of resistance to the circuit. RTD loops are REALLY REALLY sensitive to small resistance variations, and ideally are wired directly back to their amplifiers/controllers. But, it really makes a system hard to build and work on when the sensor wire needs to be hard-wired all the way. So if you are going to use connectors, make sure to use quality ones (legit gold plated, etc.) from reputable brands like TE, Amp, Molex, etc. Skip the Amazon/Ebay/Ali-whoever choices for these.

 

[staffordj]

I need to put a hole in my mashtun to install one of brucontrols volume sensors. I have seen some posts regarding side mount vs bottom mount. One thing I was wondering about is under the false bottom or above it? I could imagine that this could be very useful to predicting a stuck mash if installed under the false bottom. At the same time, there may be a pressure difference under the false bottom that makes the volume measurement very inaccurate for making sure the sparge addition is stable. Does anyone have one of these sensors on their MT, and if so what is your experience?

 

[BrunDog]

I like it under the false bottom, on the bottom of the vessel, along with the bottom drains. This can be tricky because the table needs to have a hole in it to accommodate the sensor, and your vessel cannot be a tri-clad design. There are very few who aren’t tri-clad.

I used a solder-on flange from @Bobby_M, and it works great because it is low profile and has no interior lip. Downside is you need to know how to silver solder this, and the heat will warp thin-walled vessels. You could use his threaded flange too, which requires no soldering but will have a lip for the nut and threaded section.

 

[staffordj]

How do I (or can I) use the same interface in two different configurations? When I tried it, it connected on one of them, but not the other.

 

[staffordj]

One more question on heating element setup. From the user manual I think I am drawing these conclusions:
For a HLT with and a RIMS using heating elements and SSR, set up as Deadband device to control temperature.
For the BK since we want control boil rate, not temperature and eliminate boil-over, set up as Duty Cycle device and control it through scripting.
For a proportional valve, set up as a Deadband device with PWM output based on flowmeter input.
Does this seem reasonable?

 

[BrunDog]

How do I (or can I) use the same interface in two different configurations? When I tried it, it connected on one of them, but not the other.

Should not be an issue - should connect on both configurations. Please make sure its set up and enabled the same on both.

 

[BrunDog]

One more question on heating element setup. From the user manual I think I am drawing these conclusions:
For a HLT with and a RIMS using heating elements and SSR, set up as Deadband device to control temperature.
For the BK since we want control boil rate, not temperature and eliminate boil-over, set up as Duty Cycle device and control it through scripting.
For a proportional valve, set up as a Deadband device with PWM output based on flowmeter input.
Does this seem reasonable?

To be totally honest, not a lot of people have used Deadband, thought it was created for the types of operations you noted. So feel free to give it a try. The good thing about heating water is there is no true overshoot. As soon as you stop heating, the temp stops climbing (assuming rapid mixing is happening effectively), so you can get away with a PID or even simple hysteresis.

For the proportional valve, you may want to control it in a loop via a script, depending on what type of control you are looking to dial in if the deadband doesn't cut it for you.

 

[Tartan1]

I have 2 interfaces I'll call "A" and "B". Is it possible to set a PID or Hysteresis device element on interface (B) and have it reference an "Input Device" from interface (A)? I am trying to use a single temp probe (currently used on interface A) and have access to it via interface (B). I'm using the standard MEGA 250 with screw shield for both.
When I set up the PID or Hysteresis element on interface B, I can only see a list of what is available for Input Device from the same interface.
I'm not sure if it's something simple I'm missing or it is simply not possible to do this?

 

[BrunDog]

Not possible, because the PID or Hysteresis algorithm is done in the interface itself. This is a trade-off, but we think it yields more reliability - in case the communication between the application and the interface is lost, the interface keep running the set mode(s).

 

[staffordj]

I think I saw this before, but a feature request is arrays in scripting. Really just an indexing variable. I would like to configure elements like valves based on a step in the brewing process. It would be great if I could set a variable array of valve states by step.

 

[Chokpish]

Question on the UniShield

I have my order in for a MEGA UniShield, and have this 1-wire temp sensor wiring question;

-since the Unishield can accomodate 10 x 1-wire sensors, which are to be connected to interface pin 5 (per MEGA Wiring Map) - will all of these wires physically fit into pin 5? Seems like a lot of wires for a single pin?

 

[BrunDog]

They will not. Best to use some small external terminal blocks to tie all the sensor wires together.

 

[Chokpish]

OK, makes sense.

 

[oakbarn]

I think I saw this before, but a feature request is arrays in scripting. Really just an indexing variable. I would like to configure elements like valves based on a step in the brewing process. It would be great if I could set a variable array of valve states by step.

I do this in a way with a global value. I set the global element for my valves and a script sets the valves according to the plan.

I can set the global element in any script and then start my scrValveOperation script which if self resetting

Since it is a global element, I can also set it manually. I do have some buttons and "Water" worksheet that also use this. As an example, I have a 1/2 silicone hose with a Kent Connector on the outlet side so I can connect to a part of the manifold or use it as a cleaning hose. I have a button that has a 10 second delay the a 20 second water flow. Very handy when cleaning by myself.,

 

[Chokpish]

Question on 1-wire temp sensors; as I'm setting up the upgraded brewhouse, I will have 2 X 1-wire sensors that will be a little less than 20 feet long each. I know this is beyond the recommended 10 feet max, but can it still work?

 

[staffordj]

I do this in a way with a global value. I set the global element for my valves and a script sets the valves according to the plan.

I can set the global element in any script and then start my scrValveOperation script which if self resetting

Since it is a global element, I can also set it manually. I do have some buttons and "Water" worksheet that also use this. As an example, I have a 1/2 silicone hose with a Kent Connector on the outlet side so I can connect to a part of the manifold or use it as a cleaning hose. I have a button that has a 10 second delay the a 20 second water flow. Very handy when cleaning by myself.,

My comment was more around arrays in general being much more efficient for coding. If you have 10 devices and 10 steps, it takes at least 100 lines of code to set them individually. Looping with an array would be 10 at most. Much less error prone too.

 

[BrunDog]

Question on 1-wire temp sensors; as I'm setting up the upgraded brewhouse, I will have 2 X 1-wire sensors that will be a little less than 20 feet long each. I know this is beyond the recommended 10 feet max, but can it still work?

I’d recommend shielded cable, grounded back to the chassis/control panel.

 

[BrunDog]

My comment was more around arrays in general being much more efficient for coding. If you have 10 devices and 10 steps, it takes at least 100 lines of code to set them individually. Looping with an array would be 10 at most. Much less error prone too.

Agreed. We need to add this.

 

[Chokpish]

Question on 1-wire Temp Sensor indexing: I'm setting up my control panel with a spare MEGA ( connected to laptop via USB) while my Unishield is on order. Added first (port 200) & second (port 201) temp sensors, no issues except it seems like I need to remove power from the Mega (disconnect USB) after adding each new 1-wire sensor.

On my 3rd 1-wire addition (on port 202), it seems like it's reading from first 1-wire sensor..?

Any solution to solving this puzzle? Also, does it mean the laptop and MEGA will need to be powered at all times in order to keep these 1-wire sensors properly indexed?

 

[BrunDog]

1-wire sensors are indexed upon bus reset, which happens at power-up or if manually reset. You can use the reset button on the MEGA instead of unplugging. Indexing happens in an arbitrary, but consistent manner… meaning the same devices will always index in the same order. So once your devices are wired-in, they will always fall into the same slot (0, 1, 2, etc.) until a sensor is added or removed from the bus.

Make sure you have different indexes set up on each different port, otherwise two different ports will report the same temp. For example, port 200 has index 0, port 201 has index 1, and port 202 has index 2. You can change the indexes without changing the ports later, once you know where each probe is physically located.

 

[Chokpish]

1-wire sensors are indexed upon bus reset, which happens at power-up or if manually reset. You can use the reset button on the MEGA instead of unplugging. Indexing happens in an arbitrary, but consistent manner… meaning the same devices will always index in the same order. So once your devices are wired-in, they will always fall into the same slot (0, 1, 2, etc.) until a sensor is added or removed from the bus.

Make sure you have different indexes set up on each different port, otherwise two different ports will report the same temp. For example, port 200 has index 0, port 201 has index 1, and port 202 has index 2. You can change the indexes without changing the ports later, once you know where each probe is physically located.

OK, flushed my temp sensor elements and started from scratch; 1st one, reset, 2nd one, reset - all good. When setting up my 3rd element in the same fashion, it starts reading 1 st sensor... again!!

My Ports and Sensor indexes: Port 200/index 0, Port 201/index1, Port 202/index 2... I'm obviously missing something here. I understand the virtual ports 200-209, but I wonder what's the Sensor Index purpose?

 

[swanwick]

Wiring Scematic and other info about using a BruControl volume sensor ?

There are 3 wires
Red: VCC1
Yellow: GND
Blue: Out

Assume (for Mega)
Red: +12 vdc (can take up to 30 vdc)
Yellow:GND
Blue: Analog Pin (A0-A15) and ASSOCIATED Analog Port (100 -115) (0 to +5 vdc )

The volume sensor that I just received from BruControl has 4 wires

• Red
• Blue
• Black
• Silver (metal w/no cover)

Thoughts on what each wire is? How to wire to Uniflex v2?

 

[Chokpish]

OK, flushed my temp sensor elements and started from scratch; 1st one, reset, 2nd one, reset - all good. When setting up my 3rd element in the same fashion, it starts reading 1 st sensor... again!!

My Ports and Sensor indexes: Port 200/index 0, Port 201/index1, Port 202/index 2... I'm obviously missing something here. I understand the virtual ports 200-209, but I wonder what's the Sensor Inde

 

[Chokpish]

...more on the 1-wire indexing; the brucontrol manual says: Sensor Index is used to associate a Device Element to a specific sensor. The actual index will need be determined by trial and error...

What does the trial and error mean?

Again, my setup: Port 200/index 0 - works!
Port 201/index 1 - works!
Port 202/index 2 - no joy!
Port 203/index 3 - no joy!!
Should I trial and error the Port 202 & 203 indexes until I hit the right ones?

 

[staffordj]

The volume sensor that I just received from BruControl has 4 wires

• Red
• Blue
• Black
• Silver (metal w/no cover)

Thoughts on what each wire is? How to wire to Uniflex v2?

They changed the wiring on the recent batch. Red-power, black-ground, blue-signal, and silver is the shielding.

 

[staffordj]

Does someone have starting PID parameters for flow control using a proportional valve through a RIMS tube?

 

[DuncB]

I have fitted a DSB1820 to my SmartPid and this is a second sensor, the main one on the boiler and mash kettle is an NTC 100k.

I keep getting readings that are completely random ( probably not random) of correct temperature, -0.1 C or 2000 plus celsius.

Does anyone know if this is a recognised thing due to poor voltage, bad connection or bad connector?
The DSB1820 worked absolutely fine on my brewpiless although there is a resistor involved in that setup.