iSpindle - DIY Electronic Hydrometer

[redrocker652002]

With Brewfather, at least, this indicates that you've set the iSpindel to report in SG. Brewfather expects it to report in Plato.

I tried changing it in the settings of the Ispindel and it did nothing, same results. I am going to try again next brew.

 

[RyPA]

I tried changing it in the settings of the Ispindel and it did nothing, same results. I am going to try again next brew.

You can test it out prior to brew day, you just need some sugar and water..same as when you calibrated it after building.

 

[joshbuhl]

I have tried Brewers friend and Brewfather. I cannot get either to work. I have tried looking at the formula's and did the needed changes as described on the Youtube channel I found. I keep getting the same thing, a reading of 1.004. It is frustrating as hell and I am ready to just throw the darn thing out. I have had my wife look at it, since she is much better with technology stuff, and she cannot get it to work either. It is now collecting dust in the bottom of my box of stuff I use during my brew day. I am sure, for those who can get it to work, it is awesome. But, for me, I just cannot get it going.

If you keep getting 1.004 in BF then this is because your iSpindel is reporting SG, but Brewfather expects °Plato by default. You have to add 'SG' in the name of the device in the iSpindel config, e.g. 'iSpindel_SG'. Then BF knows the device reports SG.

 

[joshbuhl]

I had the same problem. I spent a year troubleshooting, and each time, it appeared promising but failed me on brew day (on brew father). BrewFather would recognize the iSpindle but not take readings when I brewed. I eventually decided to cut my losses and get a Tilt, which, for me, was a pleasant plug-and-play experience. I still have the spindle and harbor unrealistic dreams that I'll one day figure it out and have two brews in fermenters at the same time. The smart move would be to donate the iSpindle here, let someone else figure it out and not let it collect any more dust.

Hi. If you're getting only 1.004 in Brewfather, the your iSpindel is calibrated to report SG, while Bf expects °Plato. You just need to add 'SG' to the name of the deviceein the iSpindel config so BF knows thät the device reports SG e.g. 'iSpindel_SG'

 

[joshbuhl]

I have tried BrewSpy and Brewfather. It seems to connect, but the reading never comes off 1.004. The temp goes up and down so I think it is working. Who knows, I am not a very technical person

See my other replies above.

 

[joshbuhl]

I tried changing it in the settings of the Ispindel and it did nothing, same results. I am going to try again next brew.

What exactly, did you change?

 

[joshbuhl]

Hello,

I am looking for some help with setting up my Ispindel for its first use tomorrow. I have done all of the calibrations as shown on "Open Source Distilling". I ran the sugar water calibration from 1.080 to 1.010 and have a polynomial formula. The web software for logging data I will be using is Ubidots Stem. I added a new synthetic variable with the formula + Tilt.

I am confused about adding the same formula to the actual Ispindel configuration page. There is a formula already there but it has spaces?

Do I replace this formula with my new formula?

Here are the two formulas:

Original formula already in the text box 0.8846314422115845 + 0.006835318893387815 *tilt-0.00011168866813314932 *tilt*tilt + 7.789914994253684e-7 *tilt*tilt*tilt

My new calibrated formula -24.956278793534832+1.5129534951161707*tilt-0.024338771355036714*tilt*tilt+0.00016651996040404843*tilt*tilt*tilt

Thank you for your speedy help as I need to use this tomorrow. (should have done this sooner!!)

One thing you should do is use tilt^3 instead of tilt*tilt*tilt because you only have a limited number of characters for the formula.

For ubidots, you add one widget that just reports the value from the iSpindel as is (either SG or °Plato, whichever the iSpindel is reporting). For the other, use a 'synthetic varible' and enter an appropriate formula, either

°P = 260.4 - 260.5/SG (if the i&pindel reports SG) or

SG = 260.4/(260.4 - °Plato)
If the iSpindel reports °P.

 

[NSMikeD]

Hi. If you're getting only 1.004 in Brewfather, the your iSpindel is calibrated to report SG, while Bf expects °Plato. You just need to add 'SG' to the name of the deviceein the iSpindel config so BF knows thät the device reports SG e.g. 'iSpindel_SG'

thanks. Not the issue with mine.

 

[joshbuhl]

thanks. Not the issue with mine.

Are you sure. That's the diagnosis in the BF docs:

 

[NSMikeD]

Are you sure. That's the diagnosis in the BF docs:

View attachment 842642

100% sure. Been through a long list of troubleshooting. SG/Plato issue was one of the first things I looked into. I tried different decimal lengths, retaliated a dozen times, and so forth. I don't stress out about numbers, efficiency, etc. Out of curiosity, I picked up a Tilt, and it was more like plug-and-play. Based solely on my experience, the Tilt app makes the data flow, I think because it is just better at communicating with its own device so that once on my phone, the data can get to brewfather reliably.

Once you close the lid on the fermentor, it becomes much harder to trouble shoot the connection.

 

[redrocker652002]

What exactly, did you change?

Per instructions I added SG to the name in parenthesis, I changed it back to see if that might be the issue. It wasn't

 

[DuncB]

Did you have it like this
iSpindel_SG

Note the underscore between iSpindel and SG

 

[redrocker652002]

Did you have it like this
iSpindel_SG

Note the underscore between iSpindel and SG

No, Ispindel {sg} Actually it was my name then [sg] I think.

 

[joshbuhl]

No, Ispindel {sg} Actually it was my name then [sg] I think.

I just use ispindel_SG (no parentheses or braces capital letters SG) and it works.

 

[Bassman2003]

One thing you should do is use tilt^3 instead of tilt*tilt*tilt because you only have a limited number of characters for the formula.

For ubidots, you add one widget that just reports the value from the iSpindel as is (either SG or °Plato, whichever the iSpindel is reporting). For the other, use a 'synthetic varible' and enter an appropriate formula, either

°P = 260.4 - 260.5/SG (if the i&pindel reports SG) or

SG = 260.4/(260.4 - °Plato)
If the iSpindel reports °P.

Thank you. I will check it all out when I can fish the Ispindel out of the unitank in a few months!

 

[redrocker652002]

I just use ispindel_SG (no parentheses or braces capital letters SG) and it works.

I will give that a try. Seems I remember a Youtube vid saying to use the quotes. Who knows, but I am willing to try anything at this point Thank for the info

 

[sdbbp]

I opened an enhancement request so that the "SG" setting can be changed in brewfather instead of by the device name.
https://gitlab.com/warpkode/public/brewfather/-/issues/1483

 

[dmitch21]

looking for validation here. Electronics and math are my Krptonite
Ispindel will send the first readings but nothing after that. Suspect the diode(?) maybe resistors
as mounted on the board - Resistance on the diode was going + left to - right 1.076k, going - left to + right 8.47k. If I do the diode test on my MM its come back OL both directions.
+ DO to - RST = 8.54k
- DO to + RST = 1.92k
I measured across all the resistors also if we need those readings
Also I noticed the wemos still has the "SL" diode on it. It's been charged numerous times without incident, do I need to work about it.
I have pix if that helps
Thanks

 

[DuncB]

Picture would help me.

 

[mper]

looking for validation here. Electronics and math are my Krptonite
Ispindel will send the first readings but nothing after that. Suspect the diode(?) maybe resistors
as mounted on the board - Resistance on the diode was going + left to - right 1.076k, going - left to + right 8.47k. If I do the diode test on my MM its come back OL both directions.
+ DO to - RST = 8.54k
- DO to + RST = 1.92k
I measured across all the resistors also if we need those readings
Also I noticed the wemos still has the "SL" diode on it. It's been charged numerous times without incident, do I need to work about it.
I have pix if that helps
Thanks

You have a problem with the diode/resistor between D0 and RST. It will not wake up ofter the first run if there is an issue here.

 

[dmitch21]

Thanks for the replies. Guess I'll replace the resistors and diode, easier to do it all at once. Should I worry about the "SL" diode by the usb port? hasn't been an issue yet.
Here are pics

 

[mper]

Thanks for the replies. Guess I'll replace the resistors and diode, easier to do it all at once. Should I worry about the "SL" diode by the usb port? hasn't been an issue yet.
Here are pics

Just remove the battery when connecting to the esp usb and you should be fine (remove the risk). You only need to replace the diode och check the connections (could be bad solder as well)

 

[bazante]

Hey guys, i’m stucked with a problem. I set up my iSpindel correctly and successfully, bug the iSpindel dont connect to network. What can be?

 

[mper]

Hey guys, i’m stucked with a problem. I set up my iSpindel correctly and successfully, bug the iSpindel dont connect to network. What can be?

Check these points these are general limitations for the esp8266

• Don’t use space in your wifi SSID or wifi password
• Only supports 2.4Ghz bands, channels must be 1-13, other channels are not supported (In 802.11 b/g/n modes)
• Channels between 20-25 Mhz bands
• SSID must be visible (hidden SSID dont work)

 

[dmitch21]

You have a problem with the diode/resistor between D0 and RST. It will not wake up ofter the first run if there is an issue here.

replaced the diode zero change, moving on to the ressistors

 

[mper]

replaced the diode zero change, moving on to the ressistors

Replacing the other resistors would not have any effect. Did you check that there is a connection between the diode pins and the esp pins? Could be a broken trace on the pcb as well. Could also be a faulty esp....

 

[dmitch21]

not yet. thanks for the suggestion. definitely not my strong point

 

[DuncB]

Hey guys, i’m stucked with a problem. I set up my iSpindel correctly and successfully, bug the iSpindel dont connect to network. What can be?

Does brewpiless forward to the internet? I thought it was just an access point inside your network?

 

[paulfg]

sorry to resurrect an old thread but
I am trying to setup my ispindel and can see the data in Brewspy,i have checked the ispindel flat on a spirit level and it read 90 degrees.
I now have it floating in 20c water and as you can see the tilt is within +/- 2 of 25 but the Sg is showing as 0.989 not 1.000
How do I correct this ?
is it with the calibration at different sugar levels or add weight in some way to the top of the ispindel
@Open Source Distilling

these a my last 2 readings
2025-02-12 13:56
0.989
20.44°C
4.13 V
-67.00
23.85


2025-02-12 14:11
0.989
19.88°C
4.13 V
-65.00
23.82

 

[joshbuhl]

sorry to resurrect an old thread but
I am trying to setup my ispindel and can see the data in Brewspy,i have checked the ispindel flat on a spirit level and it read 90 degrees.
I now have it floating in 20c water and as you can see the tilt is within +/- 2 of 25 but the Sg is showing as 0.989 not 1.000
How do I correct this ?
is it with the calibration at different sugar levels or add weight in some way to the top of the ispindel
@Open Source Distilling

these a my last 2 readings
2025-02-12 13:56
0.989
20.44°C
4.13 V
-67.00
23.85


2025-02-12 14:11
0.989
19.88°C
4.13 V
-65.00
23.82

You need to calibrate it properly. In the Spindel configuration there's an entry field for a calibration equation. You need to make as many sugar solutions of varying SG as you care to (the more the better) in the range 1.000-1.090 and record the iSpindel angle for the given SG and use this data to get a best-fit polynomial equation. You enter this equation in the config using the variable 'tilt' for the angle.

Good Luck!