I'd think you would need/want to use a fridge sensor in your coolant? Never done it of course but it makes a little sense to me.
HOWTO - Make a BrewPi Fermentation Controller For Cheap
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Here is what changing Kd from 1.5 to 3.0 did -
Notice at near 11-hundred hours the change. It seems that the "Fridge Setting" responded but the H and C calls, kept cooking along, with no movement.
This could be, due to the fact that I am changing the algorithm half-way through my Munchen Dunkle (KOLSCH yeast- WLP-029 it LOVES Lager temps!).
Notice at near 11-hundred hours the change. It seems that the "Fridge Setting" responded but the H and C calls, kept cooking along, with no movement.
This could be, due to the fact that I am changing the algorithm half-way through my Munchen Dunkle (KOLSCH yeast- WLP-029 it LOVES Lager temps!).
Here is what happened when I did what Lee said to try ( put the "Fridge" Sensor in the damn freeking chilled water, where it should be, instead of dangling outside in room atmosphere) again, Lee did't say this exactly, it's my mine listening to other(Lee B.) smart people!
NOT good? unless you want your Brew to free-ride UP from the initial Pitch of yeast...
Again....maybe this is due to the fact that I am F'n with my brew half-way through the Temperature Profile?
I think I will just let this FREE ride, since it is 2.5 days+ into the initial pitch at near 53 degrees profile ...To be continued...........
Notice above 16 hundred hours, when I put the poor sensor in ball-cold water....poor!
NOT good? unless you want your Brew to free-ride UP from the initial Pitch of yeast...
Again....maybe this is due to the fact that I am F'n with my brew half-way through the Temperature Profile?
I think I will just let this FREE ride, since it is 2.5 days+ into the initial pitch at near 53 degrees profile ...To be continued...........
Notice above 16 hundred hours, when I put the poor sensor in ball-cold water....poor!
See what happens if you remove the second (currently "Fridge Temp") probe from the configured device list. It's clearly causing all kinds of havoc.
And I was mistaken wrt minimum actor on time settings. I could've sworn there was one for both sides but...
Cheers!
And I was mistaken wrt minimum actor on time settings. I could've sworn there was one for both sides but...
Cheers!
I'll wait until tomorrow when I am getting close to TGravity, when I can "afford" to just swing-it, if the control stops. I think this is what happens with only one sensor - the Beer only used. Will see tomorrow. But here is what happened last night, it finally called for COOL at about 22:30 and again in the wee hours. -
You can see the 25 gallons of chilled water heating up as much as the Beer is cooling down, 10 gallons of young beer -VS- 25 gallons of 35-38 degree water...
You can see the 25 gallons of chilled water heating up as much as the Beer is cooling down, 10 gallons of young beer -VS- 25 gallons of 35-38 degree water...
Mikmonken
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Is this related to the Uno just simply not being recognised by the Pi or is it deeper than that?
If so It would take an awful lot of reviewing the early days of this thread but this happened to a me where I had some uno that’s just wouldn’t be found?
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
There are a few identifying data points reported by the "Arduino" itself that contribute to the issue. I say "Arduino" in quotes because these are clones. A real card has well-known data elements where a new supplier making them may create a new VID/PID that is not specifically listed in the Python modules.
I'm not sure if there's some authority that issues these, which would facilitate a regular update of the scripts to support them. Right now it's just "what we know." I think the VID comes from the USB organization, not sure about the PID. China, however, will do whatever they want.
I thought I'd share something that I'm currently working on. I'm not a web developer, so CSS is a'kickin' mah @$$.
(There's only one Arduino connected at the moment.)
(There's only one Arduino connected at the moment.)
Cool Beans Lee! I see Chamber 10 is no longer between Chamber 1 and 2 ! I will try this soon, as I found out that my BrewPi and Fermentrack don't get along well together, when trying to share a "Negative" on two, 3-wire sensors....(I only have 5 wires, and tried to "share" the Negative, but it caused occasional huge phantom dips in the graph, that lasted for a few seconds of log time). This does work for 110 VAC circuits.....
If there is a way to screw up the Remix or FermPi, I'm ALL in!
If there is a way to screw up the Remix or FermPi, I'm ALL in!
Stand
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I've been reading over the forums for awhile, and I'm about to go buy the hardware to get started on this. As far as hardware goes, is the Parts List on https://diybrewpi.fandom.com/wiki/DIYBrewPi_Wikia still the best way to go? I see you talking about doing legacy support; Is the Arduino Uno still the obvious choice?
Right now I just plan to follow that DIY very closely, thoughts?
Thanks!
Right now I just plan to follow that DIY very closely, thoughts?
Thanks!
“Legacy” support is referring to the name of the branch of the firmware that runs on devices like the Arduino and ESP8266. It is in contrast to the “modern” branch of the firmware which runs on the BrewPi being sold at BrewPi.com.
The Uno was - until recently - the only choice for BrewPi builds (I don’t think anyone successfully built a Spark one??) - but there’s now also an ESP8266 port and a port of the firmware to Python which can run naturally on the Raspberry Pi. The Uno remains the most common hardware choice - though it no longer is the only one.
If you go the Uno route, I believe that list is the most up to date - though someone else who has used it recently could probably confirm.
Yes, the secret was to stop adding chambers after 9 ...
Seriously though, there's no mandatory format for adding chambers. A person can call them "Fred" and "Ginger" if they want. The solution if someone REALLY needs > 9 chambers AND they want to give them the same name with numbers at the end, is to start naming them "chamber01", "chamber02", etc.
When I did controls I always learned to keep digital systems completely separate. I'm sure @day_trippr will have a good reason why you had the results you did.I found out that my BrewPi and Fermentrack don't get along well together, when trying to share a "Negative" on two, 3-wire sensors....(I only have 5 wires, and tried to "share" the Negative, but it caused occasional huge phantom dips in the graph, that lasted for a few seconds of log time). This does work for 110 VAC circuits.....
We call you a "worst case scenario".
I gave it a quick look-over and yes, I think as a source for a hardware list (and maybe hardware assembly) it's still valid.
I would suggest three things to make your life easier:
- Do this on a Raspberry Pi. They are cheap, separating machines by function makes good sense, and darn near every tutorial (and most of the code) is written assuming you are on a Pi. When you get experienced you can go experimenting with other things like running it on a VM or whatever. If you want to save $20 or so, use the Raspberry Pi Uno W which is a single-processor version (still wifi capable) of the Pi. I like using a full size board, there's a better selection of cases for them, and the quad-processor of the current 3 B+ is very nice to have.
- Make sure your temp probes are not intended to be parasitic. If you scroll through this thread there's lots of talk about this and some recommendations for known good ones. Go for "known good" over "I can save $2" for your own sanity.
- Use a real Arduino Uno and not one of the Chinese knock-offs. Most of the Chinese ones work fine, but there's always a new one out there that causes issues. Paying a couple dollars extra for something that will not cause you a headache is money well spent.
If you are intent on doing a DIY, yes. If you want a "thing" that works out of the box and has commercial support, I'd recommend the latest BrewPi from the source. Some folks have done a DIY BrewPI on the Spark, but this thread is all about the Arduino. I'd hazard a guess that the institutional experience/knowledge on this forum favors the Arduino by a large margin.
Uh ... maybe.
As a parts list and a source for parts, sure. I don't believe those articles have been updated for current Raspbian OS's and that's where the original "BrewPi Legacy" has become long in the teeth. Elco did us all a GREAT favor by 1) making this open source; and 2) creating the Legacy branch to persist and protect the Arduino support. He's not maintaining it however, so as it sits it will no longer install or even work correctly in some cases. That's why I created my Remix. It's my personal, albeit prejudiced opinion, that the better way to install BrewPi Legacy now is via my fork.
Once you have the hardware prepared, all you need to do is issue this command:
curl -L install.brewpiremix.com | sudo bash
If you'd like to read more about it, there's the GitHub readme, and a new website I've created.
This does all highlight a need for a single, concise source for a new person to get a "what do I do" list from A-Z to set this all up. I hope to do that soon, but for now these instructions and of course the fine folks here, will be able to get you going.
CadiBrewer
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Wait, if I'm understanding what you're saying, you had two one-wire probes and you connected the negatives together but left the 5v and data lines separate and that caused you problems? The one-wire probes are designed to share all three wires. You could have 6 or more of them and combine the datas on one wire, the 5v on another wire, and the grounds on the 3rd wire. You only need 3 wires, not 5.Cool Beans Lee! I see Chamber 10 is no longer between Chamber 1 and 2 ! I will try this soon, as I found out that my BrewPi and Fermentrack don't get along well together, when trying to share a "Negative" on two, 3-wire sensors....(I only have 5 wires, and tried to "share" the Negative, but it caused occasional huge phantom dips in the graph, that lasted for a few seconds of log time). This does work for 110 VAC circuits.....
If there is a way to screw up the Remix or FermPi, I'm ALL in!
Did I misunderstand how you shared the negative?
CadiBrewer
Well-Known Member
The only thing I will add to what everyone else has replied is that I look now at how I am going to connect the device to my Raspberry Pi when I choose whether to go with an Uno or the ESP8266. If your setup is going to be next to the Pi and hooked up via USB cable, the UNO is great and you can choose Lee's BrewPi remix or Fermentrack. The ESP8266 will also work well in this scenario.
If you are wanting to put your controller across the room from your Pi, go with the ESP8266 and Fermentrack. There is a great way to do the UNO over bluetooth, but the Fermentrack route is less complicated and has less parts.
Carry on.
It (obviously) took me a while to type my original reply, in that time @Thorrak also posted. Yes, definitely, Fermentrack is a great option as well. I have one such install running on a test rig right next to me and his work inspired some of my most recent tweaks.
Up next on my "list-o-stuff to do" I will be tinkering with the Arduino over WiFi and hopefully "more native" Bluetooth support.
In my "perfect world" of brewing nirvana, I'd like to see Fermentrack and BrewPi as interchangeable as Legos.
CadiBrewer
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I appreciate you reinvigorating the BrewPi environment, Lee. It is especially cool to see the multiple chambers running on one webpage!
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Without the work you and some others put into the shields I might not have stayed with it!
Nope, you got it almost 100%
I have 2 separate RaspberryPi's running side-by-side, one with Lee's LegacyPi running and the other with Fermentrack running. Both have dedicated UNO's.
They have there own DATA and 5V wires that run on my 18-5 thermostat wire that connects my work station with the remote fermenter's. (so now I used 4 of the 5 wires, and I only have one left). So, I used the 5th. wire to "share" the Negative. Here is what happens --
I am an Expert at taking these working Pi's and throwing a big Monkey Wrench into it...!
CadiBrewer
Well-Known Member
I'm intrigued by your setup. Why do you have two Raspberry Pis running? Is there something specific about your setup that precludes you from having both UNOs running off of one Pi?
Not really....I have 4 RPi's "sitting around" in various states of projects. Two older V2's and newer version-3. I had a Kolsch brewing away on Lee's LegacyPi and wanted to compare the Fermentrack to the BrewPi without screwing up something on the running SD card (and loose sleep over my out-of-control beer) So I brewed a Cream Ale next to it. (Kolsch WLP-029 yeast also, at 54 degrees!) Realized, I think..., that I needed 6 wires for two-RPi's and only had 5....and that's why I said "share the Negative", hell, it works for 110vac circuits!
This is for another yet to be started Thread, so I will not bore you with my Cons-V-Pros here.
I don't think you can have 2-BEER temps and 2-Chamber temperature probes on the same UNO...??
Now that Lee has a Multi-Chamber supported, I assume that each "Chamber" has it's own BEER, CHAMBER, and ROOM assigned probes and my crazy set up is not needed, other then having two separate SD cards chugging along.
This is for another yet to be started Thread, so I will not bore you with my Cons-V-Pros here.
I don't think you can have 2-BEER temps and 2-Chamber temperature probes on the same UNO...??
Now that Lee has a Multi-Chamber supported, I assume that each "Chamber" has it's own BEER, CHAMBER, and ROOM assigned probes and my crazy set up is not needed, other then having two separate SD cards chugging along.
The only "thing" I see often, as a "problem", is trying to get the Assignments absolutely correct for your Sensor probes. Otherwise, you have a BrewPi that just sits there in LA-LAA land not logging and controlling anything.
The Fermentrack does the Assignments automatically, so it has a big thumbs-up on this one compared to this Legacy BrewPi. I'm here cause I just love the BrewPi when all is on the table...
I think just wiring one up, is half the fun, and then seeing and drinking your beer fermenting is the other half!
Stand
Well-Known Member
@LBussy Thanks for the suggestions, I'll avoid the knock-offs. I was planning on getting a RPi 3 B+, and it looks like the DIY still points to known items that work. I'm glad to hear that so much of it is still relevant.
I have a Johnson's controller right now that runs my fermentation chamber (must be 7-8 years old by now), so I'm in no huge rush. The DIY is half the reason I want to do this.
All the guides I have looked at are really well done, but they are fragmented. Is there a guide that takes you from Items -> Build -> Raspbian -> BrewPi/Fermentrack ?
I didn't think to ask before, but is there a better guide than the DIY page from the original post?
@CadiBrewer I hadn't looked into the ESP8266, but I will now. That sounds like a really neat way to run things, and I'd be able to take the RPi out of my garage which is an attractive option.
I have a Johnson's controller right now that runs my fermentation chamber (must be 7-8 years old by now), so I'm in no huge rush. The DIY is half the reason I want to do this.
All the guides I have looked at are really well done, but they are fragmented. Is there a guide that takes you from Items -> Build -> Raspbian -> BrewPi/Fermentrack ?
I didn't think to ask before, but is there a better guide than the DIY page from the original post?
@CadiBrewer I hadn't looked into the ESP8266, but I will now. That sounds like a really neat way to run things, and I'd be able to take the RPi out of my garage which is an attractive option.
Stand
Well-Known Member
You will be amazed at the control this gives you. Your brew runs several degrees warmer at times than the fridge due to the fermentation. Getting a thermowell and a controller really makes a difference, especially with "picky" yeast.
Not that I am aware of. I am writing some slowly but they are definitely not done. Here's a couple:
- https://www.brewpiremix.com/headless-raspberry-pi/ - This will get you a running Raspberry Pi. It's written for using an RPi headless, but if you want to use a keyboard, mouse and monitor, you can skip the supplicant setup and stop when it gets time to talk about .ssh and VNC. I sincerely suggest however you give some thought to using SSH. It makes things a whole lot easier. You can connect from wherever without having to walk to wherever your Pi is. It also makes it easy for instance to take a screenshot on your PC and paste it here if you have issues. You can also cut and paste in the terminal window.
- https://www.brewpiremix.com/brewpi-remix-install/ - This page describes the install, but it really is as easy as typing in:
curl -L install.brewpiremix.com
https://www.brewpiremix.com/brewpi-remix-install/I
Not for the hardware setup, no. The software setup is much improved now (IMHO).
I have one running here and it is very nice. It takes the DIY up a notch in my opinion by requiring a bit of PCB assembly but the through-hole version of the boards is do-able for a guy with patience and a steady hand.
Leaving the Pi in the garage with the cooler is what I do, and I access the Pi remotely with SSH and VNC if I need administrative access. Of course to just see the screen you use the web browser from anywhere on the network (with any of the solutions).
We talk about this a lot ... I'm gonna do a flowchart for new folks to decide on what to use. I'll bounce it past @Thorrak, @pocketmon and @ame to make sure it captures everything.
CadiBrewer
Well-Known Member
Nope, you're correct that you can't have multiple chamber probes on the same UNO. You'll need a separate UNO for each chamber that you want to control, with probes and relay connected to each. Then you can hook all of the UNOs up to one Raspberry Pi.
Hi all,
I found this post after wanting to start up brewing again, but keep things wife friendly and not having it fermenting in the kitchen to keep at a reasonable temperature.
Forllowed instructions and bar a few issues with cheap incompatible probes, all seems to be working
My set up pretty much the same as listed at start of post with a tall fridge (should fit two fermenters in it in the future) and a 60w tube heater sitting at the bottom of the fridge.
Issue I have is when running some tests with water in the fermenter is that I cannot get the fridge temperature above 20c. Reading info on this site and others I thought the 60W tube heater is recommended so wondering whats wrong.
Is it something I need to change In Brewpi, the heater does heat up the fridge but perhaps is faulty? Or perhaps the airflow in the fridge needs sorting. At the moment I have the vessel siting on one of the glass shelves, while I can see creating a vented stand might mean the top of the fridge heats up quicker (and is something I was planing to do in the future anyway) I can't see why the temp would not rise over time?
I've got a Saison kit I want to brew first which I understand should ferment over 24 depending on the yeast that comes with the kit which I have yet to check.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks in advance
I found this post after wanting to start up brewing again, but keep things wife friendly and not having it fermenting in the kitchen to keep at a reasonable temperature.
Forllowed instructions and bar a few issues with cheap incompatible probes, all seems to be working
My set up pretty much the same as listed at start of post with a tall fridge (should fit two fermenters in it in the future) and a 60w tube heater sitting at the bottom of the fridge. Issue I have is when running some tests with water in the fermenter is that I cannot get the fridge temperature above 20c. Reading info on this site and others I thought the 60W tube heater is recommended so wondering whats wrong.
Is it something I need to change In Brewpi, the heater does heat up the fridge but perhaps is faulty? Or perhaps the airflow in the fridge needs sorting. At the moment I have the vessel siting on one of the glass shelves, while I can see creating a vented stand might mean the top of the fridge heats up quicker (and is something I was planing to do in the future anyway) I can't see why the temp would not rise over time?
I've got a Saison kit I want to brew first which I understand should ferment over 24 depending on the yeast that comes with the kit which I have yet to check.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks in advance
So in case anyone else is a "parochial American" (like me), 20°C×9/5+32=68°F
I don't know what your weather is there, but I have a 60w lightbulb in a paint can as my heater. If you go through the calculations that's MORE than enough for a small keg fort in my part of the country in the garage. So, my questions to you would be:
I don't know what your weather is there, but I have a 60w lightbulb in a paint can as my heater. If you go through the calculations that's MORE than enough for a small keg fort in my part of the country in the garage. So, my questions to you would be:
- What's the ambient temp where your chamber is?
- What's the size of the chamber?
- Do you have a fan circulating air inside the chamber?
- Are there multiple chambers in play here?
Some happy news for you guys:
Release 0.5.2.0
lbussy released this 22 hours ago
Changes include:
The number of changes in each areas belies the fact that the basic system was very good before I started mucking with it. Tools do most of the work to do things like multi-chamber, some scripts, less web page stuff.
Hope some of you enjoy it.
Release 0.5.2.0
Changes include:
- BrewPi-Tools-Remix
- Added banners/colors to begin/finish of script
- Added logging back in
- Added timestamps to logs
- Significantly cleaner logs than a straight tee/redirect
- Removed www-data from brewpi group (security)
- Added a respawn with sudo when called without it
- Further removed dependencies on actual 'pi' user
- Typos, globbing errors, script display issues
- Tools are now cloned as non-root user
- Added in a diagnostic script for devices (probably short lived)
- Improve final instruction output
- Moved to curl from wget to shorten the command line
- Created 301 redirect from domain to GitHub raw pages
- Install: curl -L install.brewpiremix.com | sudo bash
- Uninstall: curl -L uninstall.brewpiremix.com | sudo bash
- Clone multi-chamber from existing local repo to maintain consistent versions on device
- Add ability to uninstall one chamber
- BrewPi-Script-Remix
- Changed user brewpi to be passwordless (security)
- Fixed a bug in working directory detection under some conditions
- Fixed some arguments not getting passed to includes
- Added a new known Arduino vid/pid
- Initial support for networked controller (testing required, waiting on hardware from China)
- doPerms now checks user accounts and groups
- BrewPi-WWW-Remix
- Added version display to web page footer
- VASTLY improved multi-chamber index
- Other code and file organization that end users will never see hopefully
Code:
/home/brewpi/utils/doUpdate.shThe number of changes in each areas belies the fact that the basic system was very good before I started mucking with it. Tools do most of the work to do things like multi-chamber, some scripts, less web page stuff.
Hope some of you enjoy it.
Is there a call for HEAT showing on your LCD display? It should keep calling for Heat unless you have your settings stopping it. Here is something I vaguely remember from this sort of situation I had -
I ran across this "problem" a few years ago and found that the MIN and MAX setting were stopping the call for Cooling to stay on, (or it may have been a call for Heat?)..
Anyway, go check in Advanced Settings, and find what temperature your MIN/Max is set at.
I don't have the BPi fired up now, so sorry, I can't give you an exact place to go look under Advanced Settings. I do remember that my brew at the time stopped cooling, I believe, and I finally found the settings Min/Max stopping it.
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