CraftBeerPi - Raspberry Pi Software

[Lalo_uy]

May be the SSR is overheating.

 

[gonzalito]

Hi guys. So I´m new to the raspberry but I was in the mood for building a craftbeerpi system. I just have a couple questions before beginning.

Can it handle multiple systems at once? For example 2 different mashing tuns?
I was going to buy a bundle from aliexpress, should i get one with a LCD screen? or the 3.5inch screen is too small for anything?

Right now I´m brewing with a brewmaniacEX system which works great, I´ve even translated it and adapted it to use a gas burner.

But I´m curious to try the raspberry.

 

[Lalo_uy]

3.5"is way to small. 10"is bare minimum for something useful.
You can control temp for as many vessels as you want, but only have one steps execution thread.

 

[gonzalito]

3.5"is way to small. 10"is bare minimum for something useful.
You can control temp for as many vessels as you want, but only have one steps execution thread.

Ok thanks! That´s what I wanted to know, about the ongoing simultaneous processes. It would be nice that it could control multiple processes simultaneously.
I´ll also get a bundle that doesn't contain a LCD screen.

 

[cohamop]

Hi guys. So I´m new to the raspberry but I was in the mood for building a craftbeerpi system. I just have a couple questions before beginning.

Can it handle multiple systems at once? For example 2 different mashing tuns?
I was going to buy a bundle from aliexpress, should i get one with a LCD screen? or the 3.5inch screen is too small for anything?

Right now I´m brewing with a brewmaniacEX system which works great, I´ve even translated it and adapted it to use a gas burner.

But I´m curious to try the raspberry.

Keep in mind that craftbeer pi has a web server, so you can log in on yur home network with a phone, tablet or PC and control the process. That is how I us mine.

 

[gonzalito]

Keep in mind that craftbeer pi has a web server, so you can log in on yur home network with a phone, tablet or PC and control the process. That is how I us mine.

Brewmaniacex has something like that too. While connected to my WiFi networks i can access the controller and watch the process. Turn on or off the pump, etc. After each successful brew has finished you can retrieve the logged data and graphics.

I ussually do that and paste it into an excel so i can keep track of what happened in each brew.

 

[tzacher]

I had a similar problem when first using my system.
On occasion my SSR would "latch" and stay on. Usually after being 100% on for a while, like when bringing mash up to temp.
I found if I killed power to the SSR for a few minutes after I noticed it had 'latched" on sometimes it would go back to working off duty cycle and would be fine for the rest of the mash.
Researching I found most SSR's on the internet are fake, I think mine was a fake Futek.
I purchased some used 40 amp Crydom SSR's on ebay and haven't had a problem since.
When you said the LED light was off on the SSR to me that sounds like the Pi is doing its job.

Cheers!

I went out and bought a Crydom SSR that I thought was correct but now I'm not sure.. The input is 3-32V DC but I believe the output is 40A 100V VDC.. Do I need a VAC SSR for this to work properly?

 

[jangevaa]

I went out and bought a Crydom SSR that I thought was correct but now I'm not sure.. The input is 3-32V DC but I believe the output is 40A 100V VDC.. Do I need a VAC SSR for this to work properly?

If you want to control something that runs on AC power - which is usually the case - yes.

 

[rkhanso]

I found the Glycol Chiller addon in the list, but can't figure out how to use it. Is it even necessary? Does it work?
If I just use 2 fermenters in the GUI, won't that do what I need? ie. Control the temp of the glycol temp in the tank (cooler), and control the pump to cool the chiller coil in the fermenter?

Has anyone used the Glycol Chiller addon and can give some hints?

Or, I suspect it's not actually a usable add-on.

 

[Lalo_uy]

I configured the Gycol Chiller as one more fermenter set to -5 C .
The other Frementers control each individual solenoid valve and a Group Actuator join them to control the pump.

 

[Yury]

CBPi - Why can't I install version 3.0? Thanks

 

[Ajes]

It's located in a different folder on the github. You have to use this command to clone first:

git clone https://github.com/Manuel83/craftbeerpi3

(notice the 3 at the end?)

then:
cd craftbeerpi3
sudo ./install.sh

 

[tzacher]

Alright, new Crydom SSR is here. But I can't get PID Autotune to work! Everything I've tried so far and it just keeps failing. Any thoughts on what to change to help??

 

[LBussy]

Alright, new Crydom SSR is here. But I can't get PID Autotune to work! Everything I've tried so far and it just keeps failing. Any thoughts on what to change to help??

You really need to get in the habit of telling us what is happening specifically, and including logs if you are able. Otherwise "can't get it to work" could mean anything.

This is a good read for that.

 

[tzacher]

Basically, I've run autotune with a couple of different settings now and it keeps failing at the end. I've done GPIO Simple & GPIO PWM, changed the lookback settings, etc. I have no problem getting to mash temp but from there it looks like it overshoots the temp by 1 or 2 degrees and holds that pretty constantly instead of the desired temperature. It'll run for about an hour or so and then eventually just fails. I've attached a log from one of my latest runs

 

[LBussy]

Basically, I've run autotune with a couple of different settings now and it keeps failing at the end. I've done GPIO Simple & GPIO PWM, changed the lookback settings, etc. I have no problem getting to mash temp but from there it looks like it overshoots the temp by 1 or 2 degrees and holds that pretty constantly instead of the desired temperature. It'll run for about an hour or so and then eventually just fails. I've attached a log from one of my latest runs

With the caveat that I don't run craftbeerpi - but I do understand PID loops, what it looks like is something is "oversized." What that "something" is depends on the setup. It could be the Kp is too large, the Kd not large enough, the heat source too strong, or the controlled mass too small. (Probably another 10 things it could be).

I read your other posts and it seems you're using a 5500W heater for this and I assume doing a mash given the temps. You have about 1 degree/min heating shown there so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is a very small mash size. Maybe 5 gallons of water and no grain to test? It looks like a 13% duty cycle if I'm right so far.

I'm not trying to solve your problem here, just trying to show you what's going on. If CBP has a min duty cycle, that needs to be lowered. Cycle time need to be reduced as well possibly. The PID loop is not reacting fast enough (or you've got too much input) to control the system.

Hopefully that helps point you the right direction - or one of the more skilled folks with the application will chime in.

 

[tzacher]

@LBussy I appreciate your help and input here. You pretty much nailed it exactly for what's being run.

I have a 5500W heating element that's heating 8 gallons of water, no grain at the moment, to try and tune in PID parameters for future brew settings. For the plugin (PIDAutoTune) they recommend doing a simulated mash but without the grain. So I've been setting to 154F and trying to autotune off of that. When setting up the kettle before running autotune, you have the option to change the three righthand columns on the screenshot below. Most recommendations I've seen are to increase the lookback seconds. I've tried 60s so far but I might try 120 or 180 next.

 

[LBussy]

I'm not sure what "lookback seconds" is (no spare mule to install right now, but I am curious) but the basics for testing is applicable: Change one thing at a time. So if you're going to change that value; change it significantly, change only that, and see what your results are. Don't worry if it "works" but see what direction things go.

Another thing that might work is cutting down the wattage. You could cut your heat input in half by going to 110. I would not recommend changing both at the same time but if there's not a PWM setting which allows you to get the heat input low enough, that's an option. If I were developing this (and I ain't) I'd look to control that with PWM before cutting the wattage.

I looked for docs on the website but all I see is installation docs. Surely some exist somewhere?

I've always believed the best way to get the right answer on the Internet is to have someone give the wrong one. I'll keep throwing out ideas till someone who knows more corrects me.

 

[day_trippr]

"Under the Logic drop-down menu, choose PIDAutoTune and then configure the following options:

1. output step %: defines the output of the autotune-algorithm when stepping up/down, e.g. output step = 100; step up (=heating) output = 100; step down (= cooling) output = -100. This setting should stay at 100%
2. max. output %: limits the maximum power output. This is useful if your heater is overpowered and would heat up the kettle way too fast. If you don't want to limit your heater, leave this at the default value of 100%
3. lookback seconds: determines how far the algorithm will look back when trying to find local (temperature) extrema (minima/maxima). If the algorithm recognizes even short peaks as extrema, you should increase this value. If it doesn't recognize actual extrema, you should decrease it. Usually the default of 30 seconds work fine.
   • Descriptions of settings from the CraftBeerPi Wiki"

 

[tzacher]

New problem! My heating element turns on as soon as it's plugged in, whether the SSR is activated or not. Is this SSR shot already? I don't think it should be overheated as the entire thing is just being plugged in whenever I go to test it out

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Is this SSR shot already? [...]

Assuming you're certain the enables are totally, utterly "off", it doesn't look good...

 

[LBussy]

Descriptions of settings from the CraftBeerPi Wiki

Since he appears to have other issues (which definitely could have resulted in the tuning failing) this may not help him but, thanks for pointing me there. I forgot all about the GitHub wikis.

 

[carrsgarage]

Not to sound like a nerk, but are you sure everything is wired correctly?

I have the same wattage elements and tuned using practically the same volume of water using the default settings and came out with some very serviceable settings.

I can't help thinking something is either wired wrong or set up on the Pi incorrectly.

 

[tzacher]

Not to sound like a nerk, but are you sure everything is wired correctly?

I have the same wattage elements and tuned using practically the same volume of water using the default settings and came out with some very serviceable settings.

I can't help thinking something is either wired wrong or set up on the Pi incorrectly.

I honestly don't see how it could be wired wrong, seeing as how it's such a simple setup and I've gone over it so many times. 4 prong 240V power cord comes in, one hot leg is run to the SSR, then out to the 3 prong input for the element. The other hot leg and ground run directly to the 3 prong input. Neutral is left out.

Pi has a ground and GPIO running to the SSR for the element. Thermometer runs to GPIO4, 3.3V power, and ground. Those are the only wires I have coming off the Pi, I left my pump as a standalone for the time being. I'm really not sure what could be going wrong, outside of my element being too strong when trying to autotune. However, since the SSR is no longer working properly, that seems like a moot point until I get it corrected.

 

[Gravitysucks]

Not sure if this will make any difference with the issues you are currently having but this is how the folks at the CBPi forum currently recommend as the most stable way to wire your temperature probes...

 

[Lalo_uy]

Is this SSR shot already?

Very likelly

 

[Ajes]

Hey guys.
I'm trying to set up cbpi3 on a rpio-w, using a waveshare 4.3" touch screen.

My problem is with setting up a kiosk browser for cbpi.
Everything boots nicely (I'm using raspbian stretch lite), and I can log in to the interface through a browser from another computer.
However, since this is only a rpi0, I'm trying to make everything as light as possible.
Have anyone else been successfull in using cbpi3 in any other browser than chromium?
I've been trying kweb, midori, others, but I can't seem to get any other browser than chromium to display the interface...

 

[Lalo_uy]

CBPi is heavy in JavaScript use, may be some other browser do not have all the required features. Will love to see CBPi running on other lighter browser with on screen kbd support.

 

[swimIan]

Any get the Alexa plugin working? The flask-ask install errors out on me.

 

[Ajes]

I haven't tried that plugin, but earlier I had some trouble installing CBPi - I had to install some python packages first. Can't remember which ones though :-/