HOWTO - Make a BrewPi Fermentation Controller For Cheap

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A quick question, as the brewpi has a PID function and supports relays, what stops me replacing the 10A relays with 20A SSRs and using it to control mashing?

I have stc1000s controlling my fridge and freezer.

Atb. Aamle
 
day_trippr said:
I'm thinking your soldered connectors are at the root of your current problems.

I'd remove the connectors and re-test each probe.

Then verify that you actually bought stereo plugs and receptacles and not mono headphone receptacles...

Cheers!
Click to expand...


I'll try that. Any chance it's a power issue? I'm currently running the Arduino off the pi's power. Maybe I need to power the arduino separately to provide enough juice. I tried adding the stereo probes after the spare one was working and then nothing was working again. I do remember occasionally losing temp values before when I had two probes connected straight to the breadboard. Every so often one would go out and come back.
 
There is no doubt that running an Uno via the RPi USB can be problematic, there've been ample accounts posted in this forum over the last year. There's a hella big variation in USB cables from my observations, to where I could end up below 4.5V measured at the Uno. Not good.

Fwiw, the best I got was 4.85 V, which should be ok unless there's more stuff hanging from the Uno than the three probes I used while doing my power survey (the results are somewhere buried in here).

[As an aside, the $2 spent on ebay for a 9V/1A wall wart to power the Uno via its dedicated power receptacle is money really well spent imo. Or, alternatively and with a slight mod to the Uno, connect everything directly to the output of a single 5V power supply (ie: not daisy-chained)].

So without actually measuring the voltage at your Uno one can't say what you're chasing (aside from the soldered connectors - that's a whole 'nuther thing). Could just be dodgy connections to your proto board - I'm not a huge fan of those things as the male Dupont pins just don't seem quite big enough to get a solid insertion - they're always floppy. That's also why I only use female Dupont terminations - they're nice and tight on the male header pins.

btw, the reason I added the note about the receptacles is there are 3 pin 3.5mm receptacles that are mono, but have the third pin to switch off a connected speaker when the mono plug is installed. I once grabbed what I thought was a stereo receptacle (hey - it had three pins!) only to discover when I got home what I actually had...

Cheers!
 
Has anyone used the brewpi to replace the ranco controller on a morebeer heated/cooled conical?
Where would you recommend sensor placement for the ambient temp?
 
aamcle said:
A quick question, as the brewpi has a PID function and supports relays, what stops me replacing the 10A relays with 20A SSRs and using it to control mashing?

I have stc1000s controlling my fridge and freezer.
Click to expand...

Nothing. Go for it. Just going to need to figure out if sticking the "beer" and "chamber" probes together will work...

Cheers!
 
aamcle said:
A quick question, as the brewpi has a PID function and supports relays, what stops me replacing the 10A relays with 20A SSRs and using it to control mashing?

I have stc1000s controlling my fridge and freezer.

Atb. Aamle
Click to expand...

thinking the same. interested to see how you go. I am running a 1V BIAB with the bag off the element in a crab cooker. I was thinking of putting the beer probe in a copper tube in the centre of the mash and the chamber probe next to the element.
 
heads up on my wheezy laptop arduino settup. It has been running like a dream since june over many brews. Last week it went whacko when the var directory filled up with temp files from the wheezy auto updates so data couldnt be logged. Arduino did its job though and never missed a beat so beer was safe but logging screwed up.
 
Anybody close the gulf coast wanna group buy some brewpi 2.0 units this weekend. If we get 2 it'll break the 250€ minimum for reduced shipping. Otherwise they are like $175 a piece.
 
Borisfa said:
@day_trippr and all, could you post link for power supply for RPi and UNO (from ebay?).
Click to expand...


You may well already have something that you can use, look for something with the same size socket at if it says DC between 9v and 12v that should be ideal to go into the arduino (that's the important part of he system) unless the RPI is rebooting or not working properly don't worry about the pi power source.
http://playground.arduino.cc/Learning/WhatAdapter

Depending on where your from plugs will differ so probably safer you look at the above link and search for the plug on your local Amazon
 
Not sure if I posted here a month ago or so when I was having issues transferring my BrewPi to my new chest freezer, but in case I did no, I will recap.

I moved my BrewPi to a new chamber, and in the process, lengthened the probe cables. This led to all kinds of issues. Sensors not being detected, null temp values, etc... I switched out every piece of hardware, including completely pulling everything apart and starting over. Still the issues. I took a break for a month because I was very frustrated, and started over again today.

Here is what I found... the 4.7k Ohm resistor pack of 50 I got at Fry's was mislabeled. They were really 120 ohm resistors. So even when I swapped resistors out, that was the root of the problem. I FINALLY looked at the actual resistor color codes and realised it was wrong. A quick trip to Radio Shack and a $1.50 for 5 ACTUAL 4.7k ohm resistors and I was rolling. It is all working fine now.

So if you are having trouble with your sensors being detected or returning null temperature values, look at the color bands on your pullup resistor!

Side note, I think I made the Radio Shack guy into a home brewer.

Chef Jay
 
Well that's great you got it sorted, that had to be a pita to figure out.

I came within a blink of the same thing - pulled a Philmore blister pack of what was labelled as 10K 1/4W resistors.
But when I set the pack on the counter to pay for them I noticed the color code was totally wrong.

Brown-Black-Black? They were 10 ohm resistors.

Sheesh...

Cheers!
 
Borisfa said:
@day_trippr and all, could you post link for power supply for RPi and UNO (from ebay?).
Click to expand...

This is what I use for Uno's that I haven't modified to use the 5V supply that powers my RPi cards (as in my BrewPi Bluetooth minions).

It's a 9V 1A wall wart with a USA style AC plug, and a 5.5/2.5mm plug.
I've seen it for under $2, as well as nearly $10. Anything over $3 is theft, unless you're paying for quick availability (eg: Amazon has had the same wall wart for $5 delivered in two days)...

Cheers!
 
@day_trippr It was! It was driving me crazy. It worked for 3 one gallon batches in the dorm fridge, and then all of a sudden, it was not working any more. Trust me on that I checked the color codes before I even got to the counter at Radio Shack! To think that close to 35 years ago, I used to have the resistor color codes memorized :) Oh well. I wanted to pass on my experience so that others could learn. All the stuff I read about null values on 1 wire probes was about not having 5 volts at the probe. I checked and checked and checked that, I powered the Arduino with it's own power, checked the 5 volts at the probe, and then the D'oh! moment.

Really it was an A-HA moment when I figured it out, and made me happy that I did. Gotta love a home brew DIY that makes me want to learn electronics again. And maybe some Python programming....

Chef Jay
 
I double checked my resistors, but unfortunately, they were the right ones. ;)

Last night, I ordered a multimeter and a power supply for the uno. If the extra juice doesn't solve the issue I can at least use the multimeter to further diagnose the issue.

BTW, thanks for all the help. This forum is a wealth of knowledge.
 
Not a problem. The contacts are "Dry Contacts". Meaning that no power flows from the Arduino through the contacts in the relay. ALL power is supplied externally from another power source, In this case, a 110 v.a.c.
If you wish to power anything else, you must get contacts that are rated for your load. Also the dry side of the switching, must be able to be closed with your Arduino low voltage output that is Direct Current of 3volts, 5 volts, or whatever output voltage D.C. you use from your Arduino .
 
Forgive me if it has been answered numerous times, but searching through thousands of posts is a time consuming process...

I am thinking of buying a "Cool Zone" jacket and using it with Glycol and a Fermwrap heater around my Keg Fermenter (with hopes of upgrading to a conical soon). Does anyone have any experience with this type of setup, and if a Raspberry PI/Arduino setup would be a good option to control and track the fermentation process? I am interested in programming ramp temps as well as graphing the temps.

Thinking out loud now... I have an old laptop that is as good as a boat anchor, but it has network/usb ports. Could that be used to feed the Arduino and receive the data?

Thanks!
 
My Conicals have Flex-Watt "Ferm-Wrap" heater strips around them. I cycle them via BrewPi with the assigned Function "Chamber Heater".
Your relay that will cycle the Cooling "unit", is assigned "Chamber Cooler".
You need a "Beer Temp" sensor assigned a "Device Slot" number, and the second sensor can be used to measure "another" temperature.
Just make sure your second sensor is assigned Function "Chamber Temp".
Even though you may NOT have a "Chamber" (Fridge), you must assign the second sensor a Function that will be used for the Algorithm. If you assign your second sensor "Room Temp", you will not get any logging data. It will just sit and idle forever.......
I am just learning this hole PI myself, so I hope I helped you a bit and did not make any mistakes here.....:D
 
People, something is unsyncronized on my RPi. If you look on the pictures attached you can see on main graphic that the time scale is about 6 am and the current machine time is about 10 pm (look beer profile graphic). The beer profile graphic is a example created to start NOW, but on the main graphic is collecting data considering about 6 am. How to solve it?

PS: my Brewpi use only the first temperature and doesnt change the temperature like beer temperaturw profile configureted.

Thanks,

Fabiano
 
@mr_so, you are almost right. It is only a local network, without internet access. My beer production is in a small city and I havent internet there.
 
@day_tripp, but a RTC is really necessary? I would like to solve my problem and operate like everybody. 😁
 
I diagnosed my temp probe problem as the stereo connectors. I don't know what is wrong with them, but they are not transmitting data because the voltage was going through them fine. Also, I may have fried my Uno when I pulled a temp probe out of the jack before I shutdown the brewpi. I immediately realized my mistake but couldn't get the Uno to turn on again.

So, I may be purchasing a new Uno and maybe some XLR connectors to replace the stereo ones.
 
Hint: go to rj11 jacks. So you are future proof. You can buy 100 of em for like 10 bucks.
 
Can you use those without having to purchase a specialized crimper?
 
Yeah but the crimper is like 5 bucks at lowes. Go to the "data" aisle and look where all the old school phone jack connectors are. They have a cheap plastic one.
 
I'll have to go check it out. $15 shipped had been the cheapest I found online. I guess even if you throw down for the uni-tasker tool you will still spend less money on rj11 then you would for a bunch of xlr connectors.
 
I agree, RJ11 jacks are the way to go. And if you buy a phone cord and cut one end off, you don't need a crimper. That's what I did. Just be careful which end you cut off, since they are cross-over style cables.

Ask me how I know.
 
+1 phone jacks. I used stereo and they are still going strong but I rarely unplug them. Stereo plugs not the best choice. If was going to rebuild I would use the rj11


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
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