BruControl: Brewery control & automation software

[Tartan1]

By chance did you miss wiring the TF-4 board to the AREF pin, also are you powering any other 5VDC devices from the MEGA board 5VDC pin? If the board's 5V pin has a heavy draw it could cause the temp readings to fluctuate.

 

[oakbarn]

By chance did you miss wiring the TF-4 board to the AREF pin, also are you powering any other 5VDC devices from the MEGA board 5VDC pin? If the board's 5V pin has a heavy draw it could cause the temp readings to fluctuate.

I went back an rechecked (and re documented) my wiring as I am not that neat with it. I made sure that the TF4 is powered with the 5+ volts of the Mega (tied to AREF) and that the ground is tied to a Mega GND. They are all steady now. I am not using the 5 vdc of the Mega for anything else but I might use it for One Wire as well. I will try it and if it causes an issue, I will use my Grand Central Valve Control Interface.

The Only reason I would run off the Mega is a "backup" for a 10K NTC Probe for a Mega PID.

 

[CDCTx]

Anyone using a pressure sensor/transducer in their kettles to measure volume? If so, what sensor/transducer are you using?

I use a transducer for my fermenter to measure head pressure, so the 30psi ones are fine for that, but I see that 30psi is far overkill for my Brewzilla Gen4 65L. I'm considering adding something to the bottom port (add a T for sensor and valve) to track my RO water fill and post-boil volumes (accounting for wort density, of course).

 

[Brewsader1]

Anyone using a pressure sensor/transducer in their kettles to measure volume? If so, what sensor/transducer are you using?

I use a transducer for my fermenter to measure head pressure, so the 30psi ones are fine for that, but I see that 30psi is far overkill for my Brewzilla Gen4 65L. I'm considering adding something to the bottom port (add a T for sensor and valve) to track my RO water fill and post-boil volumes (accounting for wort density, of course).

Yes, I have these or same from different store on alie: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...|x_object_id:1005008585128318|_p_origin_prod:

You can order different pressure sensitivities and can do a 4-20 mA output or usually they can do a 0-5v output as well.

 

[CDCTx]

Yes, I have these or same from different store on alie: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256808398813566.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.19.28d78x7E8x7EEK&algo_pvid=1724e246-c377-4395-87ff-4d100e086ab9&algo_exp_id=1724e246-c377-4395-87ff-4d100e086ab9-18&pdp_ext_f={"order":"2","eval":"1"}&pdp_npi=6@dis!USD!39.05!31.24!!!39.05!31.24!@2140f53817570010642504434e2c6d!12000045837463138!sea!US!0!ABX!1!0!n_tag:-29910;d:46d43c97;m03_new_user:-29895&curPageLogUid=E0ofEV4s8OBj&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:|x_object_id:1005008585128318|_p_origin_prod:

You can order different pressure sensitivities and can do a 4-20 mA output or usually they can do a 0-5v output as well.

Thanks for this. Looks like the holy grail is a 5v, 100mbar/0m1bar sanitary version, but at least I have some good direction now. I could try 4-20 mA with an ADC too... just more wiring then I'm looking forward to, hah

 

[Brewsader1]

Thanks for this. Looks like the holy grail is a 5v, 100mbar/0m1bar sanitary version, but at least I have some good direction now. I could try 4-20 mA with an ADC too... just more wiring then I'm looking forward to, hah

I like the 4-20 mA from the aspect that it resists noise better, but either way would work. And all you need is a 250 ohm resistor for 5v logic, or a 165 ohm resistor for 3.3v to turn the mA to voltage.

 

[CDCTx]

I like the 4-20 mA from the aspect that it resists noise better, but either way would work. And all you need is a 250 ohm resistor for 5v logic, or a 165 ohm resistor for 3.3v to turn the mA to voltage.

I think I found the one. Thank you!

 

[oakbarn]

Trying to set up some one wires probes.

I created the first one and it read good ( around 75 F). I added a second one and they both now read -196. I have wired it with the data wire to Pin /Port 6 , a 4.7K resistor between the 5 v (from the Mega) and the ground attacted to the Mega as well. Firmware 46. I don't have anything else connected to the Mega.

Any idea?

 

[Brewsader1]

Trying to set up some one wires probes.

I created the first one and it read good ( around 75 F). I added a second one and they both now read -196. I have wired it with the data wire to Pin /Port 6 , a 4.7K resistor between the 5 v (from the Mega) and the ground attacted to the Mega as well. Firmware 46. I don't have anything else connected to the Mega.

Any idea?

Just had this issue myself. You may need to drop the resistor value. I'm running all 10 and have a 1.2k ohm resistor. I don't think you want to go below 1k. Also, I need to shorten all my cable lengths, and that should help too. Lastly, don't be like me and fail to label each sensor index haha

 

[oakbarn]

My one wires are working or not. I am going to try a different resistor.

 

[oakbarn]

I have two heating elements in an HLT.

I do have a PWM to voltage converter.

The output of that goes to a 2-10v Propotional Controller.
I was trying to use a Hysteris Element type, but it heats but never reaches the Setpoint. (About 60-70 F below). I tried a Duty Cycle but that does not seem to even heat.

I try a PWM element and it works great. I wrote a little script to create my own Hysteris and it does the job maintaining my setpoint.

I have not tried a PID Element but may do so.

Any thoughts?

 

[Brewsader1]

I have two heating elements in an HLT.

I do have a PWM to voltage converter.

The output of that goes to a 2-10v Propotional Controller.
I was trying to use a Hysteris Element type, but it heats but never reaches the Setpoint. (About 60-70 F below). I tried a Duty Cycle but that does not seem to even heat.

I try a PWM element and it works great. I wrote a little script to create my own Hysteris and it does the job maintaining my setpoint.

I have not tried a PID Element but may do so.

Any thoughts?

My understanding is that a PID is an advanced Hyesteris. You have to give it the P,I,D parameters, but properly done, it'll softly approach your target and keep it there. This should work with your proportional controller, just select the "PWM output" in the PID, and it will send the PWM signal out that controls your proportional output, and then will control your element proportionally, rather than the on/off timing based method of Hysteresis.

Also, just confirm the element (your temp probe) driving the is correctly set. And have you verified you are getting the proper voltage range from your voltage converter? If it's set to 1-5v output, then you're only getting 50% power at best.

 

[oakbarn]

Wow! I was lucky. I did a Brew the other day and had a Quadzilla melt.

I had set up my script so the Quadzilla could only be On if the Pump was On. The Quadzilla and circuit was the heater I had the least issues with.

It started as always as I use it as a heat source for a small HLT. I run water through a Chillzilla with the bath (from the Quadzilla) going through the outer tube and the Wort going through the inner tube. I was pre heating my water prior to brewing and was in another room when I heard a big pop. I went into the Brewery and the RIMS tube housing the Quadzilla was Cherry Red and hissing. I immediately hit the power Kill Switch and left the Brewery. After a while I came back and the worse was over. The silicone gaskets had melted and water was leaking.

I assume that the pump stopped working. My new fix will include a sight glass on the output and I may have a tube where I can see the output (it is only a Hot Water Bath and not WORT) as it returns to my small HLT.

It actually melted a hole in the Stainless Rim Tube! (Welding 101). Regardless, my Quadzilla is toast, the RIMs tube is toast and my Safety not reliable.

I am going to add an exit to stop my RIMs if the temperture exceeds something like 220 F or lower once I get a new system in.

It worked very well to maintain my Mash.

I was able to brew as I used my 50 gal HLT for the water bath. I had to rube goldberg some hoses to get that but it worked fine.

 

[oakbarn]

Working on my scripts again I was getting an error I could not track down then I remembered.

Global Elements do NOT have the displayname script code. If you try something like:

For any Global that is not a String Type:
"Global 1" displayname ="My Global Element"
you will get the error
[ERROR Line 4: Expected a value type]

For any Global that is a String Type:
"Global 1" displayname ="My Global Element"
will have the value as "My Global Element"
It does not change the displayname but the string value of the Element itself.

 

[oakbarn]

Interesting find about Inspector Elements.

I have been using isnspector elements as labels or to display a background. In the past I used globals but because of the data exchange overhead I try not to use them.

This is regarding the value you can set using a variable in a Script.
You have to have the Script running in a loop to have the value displayed in the Inspector, but it can be set before the loop and does not change. Of course you can make it dynamic by setting within the loop.

The pain was that is was showing ---- when there was no value. It showed on top of my background. I simply added a varible as

new string vSBlank
vS Blank = " "

 

[exoticatom]

Did anyone tested RPi5 ( 8 GB, + SSD), windows and Brucontrol recently?
Is this still an option?
For me its super interesting because of the size.

Cheers

 

[CDCTx]

Did anyone tested RPi5 ( 8 GB, + SSD), windows and Brucontrol recently?
Is this still an option?
For me its super interesting because of the size.

Cheers

Could be worth toying with. I tried looking at what processor architecture BC needs, but none is mentioned. .NET is available for ARM architecture, so in theory, BC should work...

I found old posts on the BC site' forum where BrunDog said an Intel Celeron-type processor or higher is ideal simply due to the graphics controls (LED, analog meter, etc.). The ARM processor on the RPi5 appears to be faster with more cores, so you may be good there.

I'm just not sure if BC itself requires x86 architecture, or if using an x86 emulator on Windows for Pi would create it's own performance issue

 

[purdman10]

BruControl on a Pi 5 runs well with wireless in a vm. Previously I wrote a how to in the automated forum on how to run BC on a pi 4
It had no wireless, but worked with an ethernet connection. I also got node-red running within as well. In posts 8152 and 8153 I have a rpi 5 running in a virtual machine on raspberrypi os bookworm built by a guy named botspot, which runs BC pretty fast with a wireless connection lacking on the pi 4 builds. I have only one issue which is assigning an ip address within termite, which I asked for help with. I can guide you if you wish, but need help getting an ip address to finish this.

 

[exoticatom]

BruControl on a Pi 5 runs well with wireless in a vm. Previously I wrote a how to in the automated forum on how to run BC on a pi 4
It had no wireless, but worked with an ethernet connection. I also got node-red running within as well. In posts 8152 and 8153 I have a rpi 5 running in a virtual machine on raspberrypi os bookworm built by a guy named botspot, which runs BC pretty fast with a wireless connection lacking on the pi 4 builds. I have only one issue which is assigning an ip address within termite, which I asked for help with. I can guide you if you wish, but need help getting an ip address to finish this.

Thx, I missed those posts