How To: BrewPi LCD Add-On

[user 40839]

I took the initiative and removed the Arduino entirely. No PCBs, no shields, everything wired directly to Pi GPIO with DuPont cables.

All you really need is a Pi and a dual relay board, then you can do everything via the web interface. Adding an LCD is easy, as there are many modules that will plug in to the GPIO (I used an old Nokia cellphone display as they are very cheap).

The long-running "How to make a BrewPi controller for cheap" thread may or may not have been taking money out of Elco's pocket. It certainly has raised awareness of BrewPi, but it was his decision to open-source it, which comes with benefits and drawbacks. Hopefully the benefits outweigh the drawbacks and he's doing ok.

That's true - the initial platform was open source, he sold the boards to those who were unwilling/unable to make up one a DIY board on their own. In that sense, having boards printed would have been technically been "competition" against him. So suppose the question then is if he's no longer making, distributing, or selling the boards, is it still the case? If someone is willing to purchase a BrewPi Spark, would being able to get a pre-printed Arduino board (granted, they'd still have to solder the components on themselves) dissuade them from doing so, and cause them to go DIY? Probably not, thinking about it.

For me, I really liked the old interface - I (and this is a personal thing, everyone's mileage varies) loved the LCD display because while the web interface is nice, being able to just glance at it when in the garage, as I was passing was useful. As was being able to use the rotary dial to initiate a cold crash instead of having to root for a phone or laptop. There's something just nice about seeing mine sitting there. I mean...

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Surprised that nobody has taken the mighty initiative and done a printed PCB for these yet[...]

You haven't been paying attention...

 

[user 40839]

You haven't been paying attention...

I haven't been - been away from the hobby for a year and a half now, thanks to baby, keezer dying, then selling the house (and the six months of work that went into prepping it for sale.)

Am jumping back into it guns blazing now, though - move into the new place two weeks from today, and the brew day is scheduled for that weekend!

 

[day_trippr]

Well then, you have a bit of catching up to do...



Someone here may have some bare boards available...

Cheers!

[edit] You'll find a lot more about this going back to around May, but @cadibrewer had this layout pretty much done and made just a couple of tweaks at my request.

 

[user 40839]

Well then, you have a bit of catching up to do...

View attachment 375624

Someone here may be some bare boards available...

Cheers!

OH MY GIDDY AUNT.

As if I didn't love you enough for this thread and getting me up and running 18 months ago... now I need to search through here and find a couple of those. Huzzah!

 

[Bigdaddyale]

OH MY GIDDY AUNT.

As if I didn't love you enough for this thread and getting me up and running 18 months ago... now I need to search through here and find a couple of those. Huzzah!

If there is enough interest- I need a commitment of at least 8 shields sold I can do another run of these shields. 5 bucks a board including shipping.

 

[user 40839]

If there is enough interest- I need a commitment of at least 8 people I can do another run of these shields. 5 bucks a board including shipping.

I'll take two, likely three.

Also, @Bigdaddyale - tried responding to your PM, but won't let me. Appreciate the disclaimer/heads up, but for the sake of a couple bucks am happy to still rill the dice. Deffo let me know if you order up another batch!

 

[stlbeer]

I'll take two, likely three.

Also, @Bigdaddyale - tried responding to your PM, but won't let me. Appreciate the disclaimer/heads up, but for the sake of a couple bucks am happy to still rill the dice. Deffo let me know if you order up another batch!

I recently soldered up 3 of these exact boards. Every one of them works just fine.

Thanks Cadibrewer and Day_trippr!

PS. Soldering the pfets is a pain in the arse though.

 

[gromitdj]

PS. Soldering the pfets is a pain in the arse though.

Once you've done a couple, they really aren't too bad. The key is to have a good pair of tweezers, a magnifying light, and the right size tip on the iron.

 

[CadiBrewer]

If there is enough interest- I need a commitment of at least 8 shields sold I can do another run of these shields. 5 bucks a board including shipping.

I'd be in for two boards.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

BrewPi Shield batch run #2
Ubermick = 3
Cadibrewer = 2
SHB = 4

 

[Bigdaddyale]

BrewPi Shield batch run #2
Ubermick = 3
Cadibrewer = 2

Anybody have any preference to the color of the solder mask?I might go with a different color other than red.

 

[SHvanBommel]

Down for 4, blue

 

[user 40839]

Blue or black - to be honest, not that pushed about the colour.

Will these have the rotary breakout, or just the shield? Am still going off the old days of the original wiring schematic on page 2 of this thread, while I play catch up.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

Ok, I'll place the order tomorrow. Blue color solder mask it is.

 

[SHvanBommel]

where are you getting them made

 

[Bigdaddyale]

where are you getting them made

http://dirtypcbs.com/view.php?share=27556&accesskey=2baddaf44070f806238951fe2fceb202

 

[Bigdaddyale]

Blue or black - to be honest, not that pushed about the colour.

Will these have the rotary breakout, or just the shield? Am still going off the old days of the original wiring schematic on page 2 of this thread, while I play catch up.

you can see the boards here
http://dirtypcbs.com/view.php?share=27556&accesskey=2baddaf44070f806238951fe2fceb202
It's the same version 1.1 as in post 684 above

 

[Bigdaddyale]

Ok, I'll place the order tomorrow. Blue color solder mask it is.

I placed the order today.
Edit: Boards arrived today 11/19/16

 

[CadiBrewer]

I placed the order today.

Thanks!

 

[user 40839]

Got it - looking forward to getting my grubby little paws on them.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

Got it - looking forward to getting my grubby little paws on them.

It usually takes about a month from order date to my mailbox, then a week for me to mail them out.

 

[colenz]

you can see the boards here
http://dirtypcbs.com/view.php?share=27556&accesskey=2baddaf44070f806238951fe2fceb202
It's the same version 1.1 as in post 684 above

I'd like white pcb with blue writing can we get it changed so that the lcd can be directly fitted to the pcb and RJ11 ports for the temp probe and mount the encoder to the pcb?

 

[ame]

It usually takes about a month from order date to my mailbox, then a week for me to mail them out.

I recently did a board with dirtypcbs and it came out perfectly. I am really happy with them, but I will pay more next time for shipping. It took over a month for Hong Kong post to deliver to Korea. We're literally next door!

 

[Bigdaddyale]

I'd like white pcb with blue writing can we get it changed so that the lcd can be directly fitted to the pcb and RJ11 ports for the temp probe and mount the encoder to the pcb?

This round of shields sold out fast. There was talk of a new version sometime in the far away future with the RJ11 ports.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

I recently did a board with dirtypcbs and it came out perfectly. I am really happy with them, but I will pay more next time for shipping. It took over a month for Hong Kong post to deliver to Korea. We're literally next door!

The boards are of great quality, I like the way they pre tin them. If you're not in a hurry these are great boards. I went with the thicker boards this time just to see what the difference feels like.

 

[LBussy]

I'd like white pcb with blue writing can we get it changed so that the lcd can be directly fitted to the pcb and RJ11 ports for the temp probe and mount the encoder to the pcb?

Why would you want the LCD and encoder mounted to the PCB? Do I sound like a grumpy EE yet? (I keed, I keed!)

Someone (won't call him out but if he wants to volunteer he can) made a break-out board for the encoder that works very well. Maybe he'll make those available.

 

[gromitdj]

They are available on both OshPark and DirtyPCB. If they can't be found by a search, I will post a link to them as soon as I am able.

 

[LBussy]

They are available on both OshPark and DirtyPCB. If they can't be found by a search, I will post a link to them as soon as I am able.

Can't find anything named "encoder" on DirtyPCB. The ones so titled on OshPark don't look right ... if you have a moment and can link the right one I'd appreciate it.

 

[wbarber69]

I found encoders already attached to breakout boards on eBay a while back I think the seller was alice1101983

 

[gromitdj]

...if you have a moment and can link the right one I'd appreciate it.

Sorry for the long delay. I actually uploaded them to the Dangerous Prototypes site because someone requested them after you posted about them earlier. I believe they are essentially DirtyPCB.

Dangerous Prototypes - Rotary Encoder

They can be found on Osh Park here:

Osh Park Rotary Encoder

Because of their small size they are actually cheaper per board if ordered through Osh Park. I just hope you like purple.

If there is any interest, I also have a Temp Sensor breakout that I use. I could add it to the Encoder breakout and it could probably be had for the same cost as the encoder alone. Due to DirtyPCB's pricing. That might take me a day or two tho.

ETA: These encoders work for the encoder in the Cadibrewer's Mouser project list, and I tried to list that specific model. It may work for a few others, but no guarantees. I'd be willing to revise the design and upload it if there are other encoders someone needs it for.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I've bought three "different" encoders with PB and they're interchangeable wrt footprint.
As mine are panel mounted and soldered it didn't matter, but still the odds are favorable...

Cheers!

 

[gromitdj]

That's what I thought and the odds didn't play out in my favor... and I designed the board. What I can tell you for certain, is that it won't work with the Bourns PEC16-4115F-S0012. So I've got a board that will work with that unit now as well.

 

[day_trippr]

Awww...I reckon there's always an outlier to be had
Sorry about that though, it'd be easier for everyone if there was conformance...

Cheers!

 

[gromitdj]

If I was more than a rookie, hacking my way through KiCad it wouldn't be as much fun, right.

 

[ame]

You can buy these ones ready-made:
http://www.dx.com/p/ky-040-rotary-encoder-module-brick-sensor-development-for-arduino-avr-pic-420429

http://www.dx.com/p/keyestudior-rotary-encode-module-for-arduino-black-407632

They have pull-ups on-board, so you don't need them on your main board. Although, you could just turn on the built-in pull-ups on the micro.

Mine is just a bare switch, with pull-ups soldered directly onto the pins and floating in space:

I really ought to try turning on the pull-ups on the Pi to see if it works without them.

 

[LBussy]

You can buy these ones ready-made:

The way the ones we have now are set up, there are four connections:

• ROT A
• PB
• GND
• ROT B

I see the ones you listed (most of them out there) have five connections:

• CLK
• DT
• SW
• +
• GND

How does one "adapt" five connections to the four in the wiring diagrams we are using now?

I really ought to try turning on the pull-ups on the Pi to see if it works without them.

I don't believe we are using pull-ups on the Arduino ... I suppose the Arduino has that capability as well?

 

[CadiBrewer]

I don't believe we are using pull-ups on the Arduino ... I suppose the Arduino has that capability as well?

Not true. We are using the pull ups. There are two resistors in day_trippr's layout that are connected to the i/o pins 7 and 8.

 

[ame]

Not true. We are using the pull ups. There are two resistors in day_trippr's layout that are connected to the i/o pins 7 and 8.

Ah, I was referring to internal pull-ups. Sorry.

 

[CadiBrewer]

Ah, I was referring to internal pull-ups. Sorry.

Sorry, I forgot that you were able to get everything working without an Arduous and were going directly to the Pi.