iSpindle - DIY Electronic Hydrometer

[Bigdaddyale]

I went PCB. Really happy with it. If you go this route you only need to remove diode from gyro, and no silly sled.View attachment 631478

what version of the PCB did you use?

 

[Stand]

4.0 the earlier versions aren't compatible with the newer and safer battery charging units.

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/iSpndel_4_0.html

 

[LBussy]

Who owns that design? Would love to get the Eagle/Gerber files.

 

[Stand]

I just found this from the guy that made the PCBs. I thought it would be helpful to drop it here.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

Whoops- link already posted

 

[LBussy]

Yeah unless I'm missing something, you can't download the files there. Can't seem to find contact information for that person.

I'm all about throwing a bone to the guy who took the time to create the board (folks often get credits at the fab house when you order them) but 1) I don't want to order from that place and 2) I'd like to make some changes. I suppose I could just make one from scratch, but it's nice to start from something that's been tested to work.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

Yeah unless I'm missing something, you can't download the files there. Can't seem to find contact information for that person.

I'm all about throwing a bone to the guy who took the time to create the board (folks often get credits at the fab house when you order them) but 1) I don't want to order from that place and 2) I'd like to make some changes. I suppose I could just make one from scratch, but it's nice to start from something that's been tested to work.

The guys name is Filippo here is his Github page https://github.com/cherryphilip74/iSpindel-PCB

 

[LBussy]

Oh awesome, thank you sir!

 

[BreeBrew]

They are also on here:
https://www.pcbs.io/search?query=Ispindel
This site is USA based.

 

[MT_Keg]

I am waiting on one more part but I am going to start soldering up the PCB. What orientation should I solder the header to the board and is the black spacer piece needed? The top part of the PCB (where my pointer finger is) will have the wemos and the accelerometer. Thanks for your help.

MT

 

[day_trippr]

I would go with the second option to assure complete mating with the microcontroller...

Cheers!

 

[MT_Keg]

I would go with the second option to assure complete mating with the microcontroller...

Cheers!

Thanks! I wasn't sure if the buildup the header spacer, microcontroller header, and the accelerometer would cause a height interfere.

MT

 

[day_trippr]

After you solder the header down you can always remove the plastic carrier allowing you to mount the micro almost in contact with the carrier pcb, then trim excess leads if desired...

Cheers!

 

[DuncB]

MT Keg
I only have experience making the Ispindel on the pcb 2.1 that BeeBrew used. I followed these instructions
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/rxnhrbdpkd8tsqf/DIY_Spindel_Anleitung_En.pdf

I think that if you are using the connector then the longer pins are up with the black blocks on as well. Certainly are on the instructions above and what I did.
However I did trim my connector down on the third ispindel to reduce the overall diameter of my electronics as it was very tight in the XL petlings I have.
As far as your comment on the sled I had to sand mine down a lot on the edges and also fenestrated it with a drill to reduce its weight from 12g to 8g. The first two only had half the angled lid out of the water at 25degrees. The weight reduction did make it float a little higher which was better.
I could probably get away with no sled just blutacking the battery and counter weight ( lead shot) in the bottom and the fit of the pcb in the top is so tight it would never move. Might try this for spindel number 4.
I went a bit mad and ordered parts for 15 so plenty of soldering to go.
If windows would open the jpg I could attach a picture. ( different forum for that though).
regards
All three I have made worked straight off and I've never soldered a circuit board before.
Two brewed with and worked great. So have faith.

 

[MT_Keg]

Thanks DuncB for the info!

 

[Factor]

I am waiting on one more part but I am going to start soldering up the PCB. What orientation should I solder the header to the board and is the black spacer piece needed? The top part of the PCB (where my pointer finger is) will have the wemos and the accelerometer. Thanks for your help.

The short ends of the pins go into the board. The spacer keeps the connectors up off the surface of the board.

 

[tomas.kopunec]

Follow Up:

Success Finally! Here is what I had to do.... (May or may not be relevant to anyone else)

Because I had previously been messing around with this thing perhaps I messed up the programming. In trying to figure it out, I tried programming it using the Arduino IDE and was able to load some sample sketches that connected to my network. This convinced me it was an error in programming. So back to the NodeMCU flasher. But first I uploaded a blank sketch with Arduino. (may or may not matter)

Then I flashed the Wemos with the following settings to (hopefully) clear the addresses.

Then, I reprogrammed the Wemos with the iSpindel bin, placing it at the 0x00000, rather than the INTERNAL://NODEMCU like the below image.

hi, the photos are already deleted, could you upload them again?

 

[MT_Keg]

hi, the photos are already deleted, could you upload them again?

I think this is what you are looking for:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...tronic-hydrometer.598187/page-19#post-8366882

 

[gromitdj]

hi, the photos are already deleted, could you upload them again?

@MT_Keg pointed you in the right place. Also, there is a text version that @TugsyNZ provided directly following. Hope those help!

 

[filip]

I'm trying to assemble an iSpindel based on the high level circuit diagram found here: http://www.ispindel.de/docs/circuit_diagram_en.html. Even though I have no previous experience with electronics I think I understand most of it. What I don't get is how to connect the TP4056 charging module to the Wemos D1:

1) Where does the orange connector from the TP4056 go and why? Should I solder it to the same place as the removed diode?

2) Why are we using [+Out] and [+In] on the TP4056? To me it sounds more intuitive to use [+Out] and [-Out].

I hope this is the right place for questions like these

 

[BreeBrew]

I'm trying to assemble an iSpindel based on the high level circuit diagram found here: http://www.ispindel.de/docs/circuit_diagram_en.html. Even though I have no previous experience with electronics I think I understand most of it. What I don't get is how to connect the TP4056 charging module to the Wemos D1:

1) Where does the orange connector from the TP4056 go and why? Should I solder it to the same place as the removed diode?

2) Why are we using [+Out] and [+In] on the TP4056? To me it sounds more intuitive to use [+Out] and [-Out].

I hope this is the right place for questions like these

I use this pdf to assemble my Ispindel:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/28ugwuem1c4u7ki/DIY_Spindel_Anleitung_En.pdf?dl=0

 

[BreeBrew]

@MT_Keg pointed you in the right place. Also, there is a text version that @TugsyNZ provided directly following. Hope those help!

I am so happy to have found this. Initially I had the same problem described here, a constant lit blue led on the wemos. After initializing as described and flashing with the latest ispindel firmware 6.0.6 it turns out it solves another problem some of the users have and I had.

The offset tilt of about 90 degrees was saved after calibration but after powering off and on the offset tilt was back to what it was before calibration. Only thing that seem to help with this problem was going back to an older version of the firmware 5.8.6. Any firmware version above 5.8.6 wouldn't hold the offset tilt so it seemed a bug in the firmware. With the 5.8.6 version on it everything worked fine, except of not being able to upgrade to a newer version.

As it turns out it was a problem with the flashing of the firmware all along. Probably some code that isn't being overwritten by just flashing it with firmware.

I think it would be good practice to initialize the memory of a new wemos before doing anything else with it. Like you would do with a new harddrive, format it first otherwise it can't be used.

I posted this in one of the issues on the github page of universam's ispindel project and refered to @gromitdj his post about this. Universam replied and asked me to make a pull request of the FAQ on there so it wil be available to anyone having either one of the problem.

So kuddos go to @gromitdj thanks very much

 

[Stand]

I just got the ability to ferment under pressure, and I am wondering if it will impact the iSpindel?

Will it leak under 15psi?

Change readings?

I know those vessels are made for pressure, but not from the outside.

 

[BreeBrew]

I just got the ability to ferment under pressure, and I am wondering if it will impact the iSpindel?

Will it leak under 15psi?

Change readings?

I know those vessels are made for pressure, but not from the outside.

I wouldn't risk it. Under normal circumstances these tubes are watertight but I've experienced that during fermentation muck will cumulate between the lid and the thread of the tube. That doesn't harm anything but I am afraid that under pressure liquid will find it's way into the tube.

That said, 15psi is not very much, maybe it will hold. Only one way to find out

 

[MT_Keg]

I officially got mine soldered and firmware loaded. I loaded the Firmware 6.0.X but my offset calibration wouldn't "stick" after a power cycle. I downgraded to version 5.9.1 and all is well. Not sure what happened to the source code between v5 and v6. I do know that the offsets have been successfully written to the GY-521 (MPU-6050) register; if I perform the offset calibration on the version 6.0.x then upload the version 5.9.1 the offset is taken into account even after a power cycle.

For some reason when I switch from degrees C to Degrees F that change doesn't stick in v5 or v6.

Thoughts on the offset or temperature unit issues would be great!

I am going to stick with 5.9.1 for now.

Thanks for your help.

MT

 

[Stand]

I had the same problem and had decent luck updating through the iSpindel directly. I'm not sure why, but it seemed to work better. I have built 2 and had the problem with both. What version of the ESP8266 did you use? I used the 3.0.0

 

[MT_Keg]

I had the same problem and had decent luck updating through the iSpindel directly. I'm not sure why, but it seemed to work better. I have built 2 and had the problem with both. What version of the ESP8266 did you use? I used the 3.0.0

I used the the version suggested by in the AliExpress wish list (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/ispindle-diy-electronic-hydrometer.598187/page-2#post-7924123).

I bought these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32703511086.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.3da24c4dubIWRR

@Stand Which version firmware did you install prior to updating the iSpindel? Do you have to jumper the sleep pads on the back for the 3.0.0?

MT

 

[Stand]

@MT_Keg I honestly can't remember. I installed them backwards until I got one that would save my network settings and then I updated it to the latest version by downloading the upload on my phone (how I was accessing the iSpindel config page), and installing it from there.

I used this board: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32845084675.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d2wJmXb

I'm sure the one you got will work, but it seems like a common problem with the updates.

I didn't modify the chip at all. The only thing I altered on the electronics was removing the green light from the gyro sensor.

Cheers!

 

[filip]

I use this pdf to assemble my Ispindel:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/28ugwuem1c4u7ki/DIY_Spindel_Anleitung_En.pdf?dl=0

Thank you. It made me realize my mistake; for some reason the circuit diagram doesn't match the written instructions below it.

 

[shambolic94]

Looking for any troubleshooting ideas on my mostly-built iSpindel, which I cannot get to accept the firmware via NodeMCU flasher.

My build followed the perfboard approach (as shown here: https://www.hobbybrouwen.nl/forum/index.php?topic=33743.0). Pics below. I used the BAT43 diode in place of the 470ohm resistor. I removed the wemos diode by pulling it off with tweezers but left on the LEDs on the gyroscope and Wemos (for now) so I could tell when it is on. The battery seems to charge fine and when I switch it on with the Wemos plugged into my (windows 10) PC, NodeMCU flasher recognizes a new COM port. When I try to flash the firmware (I've tried the latest version and a few earlier ones) the Wemos's blue LED starts flashing, but nothing happens in the software. Just an endless rotating blue circle in the bottom left corner and "Waiting MAC."

I've tried several different USB cords for the Wemos and also checked my soldering as best I can without removing the charger from the perfboard. I specifically tried to make sure I hadn't inadvertently bridged any adjacent soldering points (thus the scuffed up areas of the board). I've also tried it with and without external power from a USB port. I've also uninstalled and reinstalled the CH340 driver. I've tried various baud rates and flash speeds (though probably not every possible combination). The flash location I've used is 0x00000.

I did make an earlier mistake in that I tried numerous times to flash the Wemos before I hooked up the battery, using just the current from the USB to the charger. It wouldn't even recognize the COM port when I tried that approach, and I later learned the battery was essential for flashing. I'm wondering if those prior battery-less attempts somehow damaged the Wemos? I've already ordered a new Wemos from China just in case, but wondering if there's any other troubleshooting I can try while I wait a month for it arrive?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
View attachment 631281 View attachment 631282

View attachment 631281 View attachment 631282

So, just to close the loop on this in case it is helpful for anyone, I finally got the new Wemos from China, flashed it first -- WITHOUT removing the diode or attaching it to anything -- and it took the firmware no problem. Then I hooked it up to the rest of my existing build and everything seems to work great. I guess I must have fried the old one or damaged something when I pried off the diode. One question: if I chose not to pry off the diode on this Wemos, am I correct that it's safe as long as I don't connect a USB cable to the Wemos while the battery is attached?