Fermentrack: Fermentation monitoring & BrewPi-www Replacement for Raspberry Pi

[Thorrak]

@Thorak, do you know if theres a way to use ispindel without entering coefficients or going through guided calibration? In other words using the device as is and accepting its readings?

I could be mistaken, but back when I was building the iSpindel support I don't think that the message payload included a device-calibrated gravity. I'm working on rebuilding gravity support for Fermentrack 2 -- if it includes one now, I can definitely add that as an option.

 

[Thorrak]

I've been using Fermentrack on a RP3 with an Arduino UNO now for some 4 years and put down a lot of great brews, however the last 6 or 7 brews I have had the 'Cannot receiveLCD text fromController/Script" turn up once every ferment. Generally the ferment temperature stays at the last recorded temp but there has been occasions where the temperature has started to lower to the lowest set temperature on the ferment profile.

It's easily fixed to each current ferment by rebooting the RP3 but is a bit annoying, particularly when you are away from the unit for a day or so. I've check all the hardware and made sure all connections are good, still the problem exists.

The below shows the graphing from a Ferment from one of the brews that has the Fermentrack and an Ispindle (not attached to Fermentrack) plotted

View attachment 845409


Appreciate a direction to head with this. Thanks

Hey there - I apologize for the delayed response on this one -- we're in the process of moving, and due to a combination of poor timing and other life changes are having to effectively move four separate times over a month and a half. You happened to post this right as we were working through the first leg of the moves, but I'm hoping to have everything back to normal by late May.

Unfortunately, periodic "cannot receive LCD text" errors are what prompted the rewrite of the BrewPi-Script daemon early last year which is also what prompted the development of Fermentrack 2. I don't have a good solution for Legacy Fermentrack, but should have a solution for Fermentrack 2 to use Arduinos (and serial-connected devices) within the next few months. This is the feature I'm working on next after gravity support.

 

[bloombrews]

How do I Create a New Beer Profile and have the current beer temperature, be a variable number, as Set Point 1, and say add 6 degrees over the next 2 days?
I do not want to keep creating new beer profiles, with 0s (zero seconds, or the current temperature) being the first start set point that I must say what it is, and then the second point would be 2d (2 days) X+6 degrees. I just want the new profile to see what the current temperature is, on its own, and + or - degrees over set days.
In the past, I kept creating new Beer Profiles, with whatever the current temperature of the beer that is now fermenting, having to define this temperature as Set Point 1 - 0s.

 

[Thorrak]

How do I Create a New Beer Profile and have the current beer temperature, be a variable number, as Set Point 1, and say add 6 degrees over the next 2 days?
I do not want to keep creating new beer profiles, with 0s (zero seconds, or the current temperature) being the first start set point that I must say what it is, and then the second point would be 2d (2 days) X+6 degrees. I just want the new profile to see what the current temperature is, on its own, and + or - degrees over set days.
In the past, I kept creating new Beer Profiles, with whatever the current temperature of the beer that is now fermenting, having to define this temperature as Set Point 1 - 0s.

At the moment, there aren't variable setpoint beer profiles, but I was thinking of creating something like this as a "cold crash now" button for the end of fermentation. Is that what you're trying to do, or are you thinking of doing this at the start of fermentation? (If so, is your beer temperature really that variable at the start? Do you no-chill or something?)

 

[bloombrews]

At the moment, there aren't variable setpoint beer profiles, but I was thinking of creating something like this as a "cold crash now" button for the end of fermentation. Is that what you're trying to do, or are you thinking of doing this at the start of fermentation? (If so, is your beer temperature really that variable at the start? Do you no-chill or something?)

This is, at or near the end! I just want the profile to see what the exact current temp is, and either warm up to get the last gravity points out (or diacetyl clean up), or cool down (or crash). I just dont want to look at what the exact current temperature is ..... then create a New Profile, defining this as the start point, and then the second point would be + or -

 

[bloombrews]

At the moment, there aren't variable setpoint beer profiles, but I was thinking of creating something like this as a "cold crash now" button for the end of fermentation. Is that what you're trying to do, or are you thinking of doing this at the start of fermentation? (If so, is your beer temperature really that variable at the start? Do you no-chill or something?)

EXACTLY, @Thorrak ! "cold crash now" OR warm up NOW, button, will prevent having to make a new beer profile. This new button will insert an add-on Profile, that picks up at current temperature. Therefore, no need for anyone to manually look at the current temperature, make this set point 1, and then setpoint 2.... would be your crash or accelerated warm-up.
Thanks!

 

[RocketBrewer]

Or just being able to hold a temp until I want to trigger the next step of a profile, like for a diacetyl rest after fermentation slows.

 

[bloombrews]

Or just being able to hold a temp until I want to trigger the next step of a profile, like for a diacetyl rest after fermentation slows.

Yes, but this is a little easier to do - Just turn off Profile and then Set Beer Constant temperature.
So much labor went into this project from John, @Thorrak , me crying about a quicker way to accomplish something, makes me wonder if he needs to send me a bill..

 

[RocketBrewer]

So much labor went into this project from John, @Thorrak , me crying about a quicker way to accomplish something, makes me wonder if he needs to send me a bill..

Agreed! And @Thorrak has repeatedly rejected my offers to contribute to help him cover at least his out of pocket expenses. He is truly a generous soul, and I hope to at least send him a couple beers after he gets settled in his new house!

Yes, but this is a little easier to do - Just turn off Profile and then Set Beer Constant temperature.

As it is, I usually break up each profile into several smaller profiles because it's hard to know exactly when I want to start to ramp up for a diacetyl rest or starting a cold crash. I know that he hopes to make it so a Tilt can trigger different steps of a profile eventually, but I hadn't really considered a way to manually trigger each step until he mentioned adding a "Cold Crash Button". It would save having so many profiles if there was a way to have a complete profile that included "stop points" that require a trigger (whether manual, or by Tilt reading) to continue to the next set point.

I think Thorrak appreciates peoples ideas and input, and knows he's free to use or discard suggestions as he sees fit. I'm sure that Fermentrack wouldn't be what it is, if not for him taking the ideas that knuckleheads like me throw at him and making them work

 

[bloombrews]

Agreed! And @Thorrak has repeatedly rejected my offers to contribute to help him cover at least his out of pocket expenses. He is truly a generous soul, and I hope to at least send him a couple beers after he gets settled in his new house!



As it is, I usually break up each profile into several smaller profiles because it's hard to know exactly when I want to start to ramp up for a diacetyl rest or starting a cold crash. I know that he hopes to make it so a Tilt can trigger different steps of a profile eventually, but I hadn't really considered a way to manually trigger each step until he mentioned adding a "Cold Crash Button". It would save having so many profiles if there was a way to have a complete profile that included "stop points" that require a trigger (whether manual, or by Tilt reading) to continue to the next set point.

I think Thorrak appreciates peoples ideas and input, and knows he's free to use or discard suggestions as he sees fit. I'm sure that Fermentrack wouldn't be what it is, if not for him taking the ideas that knuckleheads like me throw at him and making them work

I am doing the same "thing". I have way more Profiles than beers I brewed, hoping one of the Profiles will fit my Cold Crash or Diacetyl cleanup.
This Software would cost a lot of money if only sold to whoever had the money! If you look at the commercial control systems, they don't do anything much better than Fermentrack or BrewPi. Really have to thank the recent programmers that are keeping this alive - @LBussy and @Thorrak !!

 

[Drinking Sensibly]

I don't think my problem is a Fermentrack one but there might be some ideas.

I live remotely so have 4G home broadband. The LTE router has most configurable settings hidden by the provider (no help there). Router is connected to a switch and then three wireless Access Points by cable. One is in the shed I ferment my beer (very, very cheap AP, only bought for intermittent use).

I built two controllers with what I had to hand. One esp8266, one esp32. The former works fine.
The esp32 built controller works fine connected to AP in the house. Connected to AP in brew shed it counts down from nine minutes "cooling starts in..." until it reaches five minutes and then resets - loses contact, reconnects, starts counting down from nine minutes again. Repeat ad infinitum.

I tried reflashing, resetting, restarting etc. Any ideas welcome. Is the solution likely to be a new AP, rebuild with esp8266? I don't want to give up on it too fast.

 

[bscuderi]

I don't think my problem is a Fermentrack one but there might be some ideas.

I live remotely so have 4G home broadband. The LTE router has most configurable settings hidden by the provider (no help there). Router is connected to a switch and then three wireless Access Points by cable. One is in the shed I ferment my beer (very, very cheap AP, only bought for intermittent use).

I built two controllers with what I had to hand. One esp8266, one esp32. The former works fine.
The esp32 built controller works fine connected to AP in the house. Connected to AP in brew shed it counts down from nine minutes "cooling starts in..." until it reaches five minutes and then resets - loses contact, reconnects, starts counting down from nine minutes again. Repeat ad infinitum.

I tried reflashing, resetting, restarting etc. Any ideas welcome. Is the solution likely to be a new AP, rebuild with esp8266? I don't want to give up on it too fast.

Which esp32. I had all sorts of issues with an S2 mini build freezing up etc a while back and have been just fine with the classic d1 mini esp8266 instead. I haven’t tried the a S2 again in a while cause I’ve been busy.

 

[Drinking Sensibly]

It's a generic esp32S. WROOM-32 development board. 32 pins. Like these.
You think I should rebuild with esp8266 and not bother with esp32? I quite liked the idea of having a display, not that it would be that much use in a shed.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ESP-32S-Development-Bluetooth-Microcontroller-ESP-WROOM-32/dp/B08DR5T897/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=3FSRI87Q15L49&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GuBsuGdyJnZWjhrahsw5gXBTSu6AoPpBOCuSqDkMDsasIDDQgCX18UdkzIQPjmgDKuZ_eAnfgRbrRFEjpMM9y-yPTyhD4IS0x_3-t9wWiQtqYyrYH4aNvl5OAehNDakVmi_3N-nQDtSPPuxi0hxYTRfOF2GHsDG39zS1vAZVsOWt0aRwyhqJbyv9FRCwX8auBihqtAYQ-S1NVqmtjipHNQ.kEc16YysO-G8Iwu6ta_EPdzYu7K1r3Xo6poHACFs9gs&dib_tag=se&keywords=esp32+development+board&qid=1717920582&sprefix=esp32,aps,259&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

 

[Thorrak]

Out of curiousity, which version of the firmware are you working with? Does it happen to be one of the the v16 alphas?

And, uh, exactly how remote is this brew shed?

 

[Drinking Sensibly]

Version is BrewPi-ESP32 - WiFi I2c Display, v15d, I have some I2c displays, was thinking about using them but I don't have a box big enough to accommodate. Was wondering if the fact there isn't a display attached would cause problems but it works fine unless sited in the shed, which is where it should be
The shed isn't particularly remote from the house, as sheds go. The house is in the Outer Hebrides.

 

[Thorrak]

Hmm, v15d surprises me. Have you tried the v16 alpha? While I can't think of anything that changed that would resolve the issues you describe, there are a bunch of updates to v16 that were targeted at connection stability, and might help here.

My expectation was that you were already on the v16 alpha. Due to a bug in Espressif's framework, to have Inkbird support enabled in the v16 alpha requires that I monitor for a loss of the bluetooth radio. If no bluetooth devices happened to be in range of the controller, it might have interpreted that as the radio locking up.

 

[Drinking Sensibly]

I'll give it a go. No harm trying, not wildly difficult, especially so given your impressive flashing tool. Better than trying to flash with Arduino IDE

I don't really want you to waste your time on this since I doubt it's a Fermentrack issue but the error log is here if you want to see it, this snippet of text is repeated over and over.

 

[Worgz01]

I've been using Fermentrack on a RP3 with an Arduino UNO now for some 4 years and put down a lot of great brews, however the last 6 or 7 brews I have had the 'Cannot receiveLCD text fromController/Script" turn up once every ferment. Generally the ferment temperature stays at the last recorded temp but there has been occasions where the temperature has started to lower to the lowest set temperature on the ferment profile.

It's easily fixed to each current ferment by rebooting the RP3 but is a bit annoying, particularly when you are away from the unit for a day or so. I've check all the hardware and made sure all connections are good, still the problem exists.

The below shows the graphing from a Ferment from one of the brews that has the Fermentrack and an Ispindle (not attached to Fermentrack) plotted

View attachment 845409


Appreciate a direction to head with this. Thanks

OK, no one has experienced this one before.......darn!

Looks like are rebuild or another direction

 

[Drinking Sensibly]

OK, no one has experienced this one before.......darn!

Looks like are rebuild or another direction

This has happened to me as well, only been using fermentrack a couple of weeks. I have two home-made controllers running two fridges. Usually happens when I adjust or power down a controller, the other loses connection and the only way to get it to work again is to re-flash the board. I put it down to a bad build and probable EMI. I thought I should fix that before I complain

 

[wd16261]

OK, no one has experienced this one before.......darn!

Looks like are rebuild or another direction

I also had this problem on both of my Fermentrack controllers a few weeks ago and I'm also using the combination of RP4 and Arduino Uno.
Now since I did the latest update/upgrade of the RP4 it looks like it is stabel again!

 

[Thorrak]

While I highly doubt this will mean anything to most of you, this is after four days of running 3 separate “solder free” BrewPis:



Espressif finally solved their issues! Official solder-free support is (coming) back, baby!

 

[Derp]

Espressif finally solved their issues! Official solder-free support is (coming) back, baby!

I've been running a test setup of the solder-free Fermentrack 2, and over the last 20 days I've had 10 events where everything drops to zero. Are these Bluetooth crashes, or something else? If it's something that's difficult to track down, would there be a way to implement logic that would replace obviously incorrect values with the previous good value to smooth out the graph?

I just realized that even the Beer Setting value dropped to zero. That shouldn't be read by any type of sensor, right? I would expect it to be a static, configured value.

 

[Nagorg]

I don't see this in the FAQ, perhaps its not an FAQ.. lol

I'm wondering if/how I can make changes to an active fermentation profile after its started.

For example, lets say I'm using a profile that has been set for a 7 day primary phase before it starts a cold crash. But along the way I notice the beer is not attenuating as fast as expected and I want to extend this phase longer. Or even the reverse of that, its attenuated faster and I want to start a cold crash sooner.

Is this possible?

 

[Thorrak]

I don't see this in the FAQ, perhaps its not an FAQ.. lol

I'm wondering if/how I can make changes to an active fermentation profile after its started.

For example, lets say I'm using a profile that has been set for a 7 day primary phase before it starts a cold crash. But along the way I notice the beer is not attenuating as fast as expected and I want to extend this phase longer. Or even the reverse of that, its attenuated faster and I want to start a cold crash sooner.

Is this possible?

Sort of. Since a profile can be in use by multiple ferments at once, you can't edit a profile that is in use, but you can unassign the profile, edit it, and then reassign the profile - starting it X hours into the future (where X is the number of hours in your current ferment is). It's not quite as easy as directly editing it, but it prevents any weirdness if you have multiple fermenters going at once.

 

[Nagorg]

Did I toast my Arduino Uno?

I finally got around to wiring up my Arduino Uno for use with Fermentrack.

I started the guided controller wizard, everything seemed to be going well. My controller was new and needed to be flashed. I started that process, it was detected and everything seemed good. At least until after the flashing finished. Now its not seen by Fermentrack.

Does it sound like its toast? Anything I can do at this point or just buy another one and start over?

@Thorrak or anyone?

EDIT: Nevermind... Its not toast. I'm a total noob with this stuff. It seems I did flash it and it is seen. But looks like I need to configure the pins for what they do within Fermentrack, at least I think anyway... That didn't seem apparent and I either didn't find this info or glossed over it somehow.

If I'm on-track, wish me luck. Or if it seems like my noobieness is destined for more confusion and frustration, please point me in a better direction!

 

[Nagorg]

Welp... After I selected the correct Brew-Pi firmware (RevC) that matched the wiring diagram I've been using, I was able to assign temp probes and am getting input!

IT'S ALIVE! A bit of a learning curve, just makes me want to keep digging in more. I've obviously got a LOT to learn about this stuff but looks like I'm well on my way to controlling my fermentations..

 

[Nagorg]

After getting Fermentrack running and playing with profiles and switching options for Control Mode, I think I kinda answered my own question I posted a few days ago about changing operation during fermentation.

Aside from switching to a new profile as suggested by @Thorrak , I can always switch from the "Beer Profile" control mode to "Beer Constant" and basically take over the control of my fermentation whenever I think I need to.

I need to do some testing with beer profile switching but worst case, I think switching to beer constant will give me what I was looking for!

Thanks for all the hard work to everyone keeping these projects going for the community. I just wish I had taken a leap back in 2017 when I was first interested. Better late than never I suppose...

Looking forward to seeing what comes with Fermentrack2! But meanwhile, having fun with V1 and putting these components into a box so I can start using it!

 

[tieflyer]

good day brewers!!!! It has been forever since i brewed and i would like to get started brewing again. Eons ago, in a galaxy far far way, when i was brewing i used a raspberry pi, this great software and a iSpindel to monitor my fermentation.

Well fast forward to today, and i was contemplating using brewfather and i believe i could hook my iSpindel to it, however i really don't remember/know the calibration for it. Is there anyway to see what my setting were in Fermentrack? If so can anyone lead me in a direction to do it?

My first problem is hooking Fermentrack up to my pi, but i found an old post here that helped me get it up on my laptop so I am trying that while waiting on finding the settings. Yes i can redo finding the correct calibration settings, but since it has been so long, i wanted to get a few brews under my belt before i try doing the calibrations and i feel the using the old settings just might be a starting point.

 

[bloombrews]

The First thing You do, to your new Icemaster Max2 Chiller, to work with Fementrack!
My 110 VAC switching is up on the wall with my Fermentrack on other side of Brewery. Had to override the onboard pumps, to switch on/off, with Ftrack commands. I used an A-B toggle switch to isolate the 12 vdc onboard the Icemaster. Then ran the Ftrack switching through the SSR.
Works awesome so far, with the Chiller or without. I have my choice to use the dumb STC-1000 variation, or @Thorrak , awesome bug-less-proof, Logic
controller.
Obviously, my first hack, was to have all control from Fermentrack.
Next... tidy up the Hack, to make it look OEM-BloomBrews Building Standerd!

EDIT... Had to get the TiltBridge in the second retake Pix, by @Thorrak ,

 

[bloombrews]

Merry Christmas to All, and to All, A Happy Brewyear !

 

[bloombrews]

@Thorrak
Where can we go, to buy you a Coffee? So, you can stay awake and get Fermentrack2 totally released?
I can not wait to try it...

 

[Thorrak]

@Thorrak
Where can we go, to buy you a Coffee? So, you can stay awake and get Fermentrack2 totally released?
I can not wait to try it...

Which feature are you waiting on? Gravity support, or the source + installer to run it locally? Fermentrack 2 is Fermentrack.net, after all!

Gravity support is coming soon, but will bring with it an updated TiltBridge. For a discussion of the latest challenges in building it see here.

If it’s the source, just ping me and I can add you to the project on GitHub. I’m not keeping the source secret from anyone interested, other than that I’m not providing any support for installing/maintaining it at this point. I’d rather focus on features than debug environmental concerns for now.

 

[bloombrews]

Just waiting for the Beta release, so I don't screw something up trying to update to 2......
Fermentrack has been running almost flawlessly for the past couple years with multiple fermentors going at the same time... I'm just afraid to change to Fermentrack2 and turn my Lager into a Steam Ale

 

[wd16261]

I managed to install the local version in a Container (PROXMOX) but it wasn't easy so I think an Installer would be useful for most users.

During the first tests that I was able to perform I already encountered a few small bugs such as:
- I can't create a superuser (manage.py doesn't work)
- Saving 'Unit and Display Preferences' doesn't work either.

And as @Thorrak already mentioned the focus is more on 'Features' so I certainly wouldn't use this local version for production yet.

I also have another question, is there some more information available somewhere on how to connect a TFT (wiring diagram or something like that)? At the moment I am using the Lolin D32 Pro with the accompanying TFT and TFT cable and this works fine, but I would like to install a 2nd one and use a less expensive 2.8" TFT for that but I can't figure out how to connect it.
The only thing I have been able to find on Github so far is this:

TFT Pins

• 14 - TFT CS
• 27 - TFT DC
• 33 - TFT RST
• 12 - TS CS
• 32 - TFT Backlight

But there are still some connections missing here such as MOSI, MISO, ... or am I wrong?

 

[Thorrak]

I managed to install the local version in a Container (PROXMOX) but it wasn't easy so I think an Installer would be useful for most users.

During the first tests that I was able to perform I already encountered a few small bugs such as:
- I can't create a superuser (manage.py doesn't work)
- Saving 'Unit and Display Preferences' doesn't work either.

And as @Thorrak already mentioned the focus is more on 'Features' so I certainly wouldn't use this local version for production yet.

I also have another question, is there some more information available somewhere on how to connect a TFT (wiring diagram or something like that)? At the moment I am using the Lolin D32 Pro with the accompanying TFT and TFT cable and this works fine, but I would like to install a 2nd one and use a less expensive 2.8" TFT for that but I can't figure out how to connect it.
The only thing I have been able to find on Github so far is this:

TFT Pins

• 14 - TFT CS
• 27 - TFT DC
• 33 - TFT RST
• 12 - TS CS
• 32 - TFT Backlight

But there are still some connections missing here such as MOSI, MISO, ... or am I wrong?

Manage.py definitely works, but you have to invoke it differently for FT2. How? Unfortunately, it’s been a good while since I’ve done it — I’ll have to check and get back to you.

I can check the PCB design when I’m back home, but the pins are the same as the D32 Pro for compatibility. Good call on the documentation needing to be updated on that point.

 

[wd16261]

OK I found the missing information:

23 - MOSI
19 - MISO
18 - SCK

I Found it here.

 

[Thorrak]

That looks right. This is from the schematic of my board designs: