iSpindle - DIY Electronic Hydrometer

[ChrisThomas]

@Lalo_uy Thank you! Excellent call, I was using an ESP12F as I had one to hand, it also is a direct drop in replacement. I'll be looking at the ESP03 this week to see how it works... I'll see how quick I can get some to test.

 

[DuncB]

@ChrisThomas
A smaller board opens up the possibility of a long narrow off the shelf " test tube" with the battery +- weight in the bottom and the Wifi antenna at the top, and the other components lined up in serial fashion. I will have a look at a test tube I've got to see whether it can get that 25 degree final angle and higher gravity angles without having the lid semi submerged.

 

[ChrisThomas]

I've got test tubes, but couldn't get the electronics small enough to fit. Over the next few days I'll have a detailed look at the dimesions and if it works I'll source some ESP03s to test. Thanks guys!

 

[Lalo_uy]

I've got test tubes, but couldn't get the electronics small enough to fit. Over the next few days I'll have a detailed look at the dimesions and if it works I'll source some ESP03s to test. Thanks guys!

Too bad I just chequed ESP-03 lacks analag input, so no battery voltage monitoring. Not good.

 

[pocketmon]

I wonder if it possible to fit iSpindel into RAPT pill's housing, which is roughly 37mm x 125mm.
What I hate most is the cap of the PET tube.

BTW, I updated the calibration HTML for saving/loading calibration data. You can get it here:
BrewPiLess/calibrationSG.htm at master · vitotai/BrewPiLess

 

[ChrisThomas]

Too bad I just chequed ESP-03 lacks analag input, so no battery voltage monitoring. Not good.

Ah! That's not good ,but thank you for checking. I'd be happy to solder a wire onto the ADC input of the chip, that does not mean that everyone is. I'm going to stick to the 12F for now and keep looking a smaller container. Slow burner project!

 

[DuncB]

Would the battery monitor be that important? Wouldn't take long to work out the " life " of the charged battery. I always recharge mine after each brew or is it to prevent overcharging?
I will still keep my eyes peeled for a suitable container.
@pocketmon I will test out your new calibration on one that needs redoing. ChrisThomas wants something narrower than the rapt pill container. But I agree it would be good to shoehorn the ipsindel into that container for the reasons you stated.

 

[ChrisThomas]

Would the battery monitor be that important?

I'm currently thinking yes it is? I recharge when I get down to 3.5V or so. I get a couple of months or half a dozen brews out one charge (so far).

I might add the Rapt Pill container parts to my next Kegland order and then look at a PCB redesign however, I'm more interested in a "shrunk" version for my needs.

 

[DuncB]

@ChrisThomas
Is that because you don't want to do full charge and discharge cycles on the battery to prolong it's life?
I agree a shrunk version would be useful, I want a smaller one to fit through the openings on keykegs which I ferment in sometimes.

 

[ChrisThomas]

@ChrisThomas
Is that because you don't want to do full charge and discharge cycles on the battery to prolong it's life?
I agree a shrunk version would be useful, I want a smaller one to fit through the openings on keykegs which I ferment in sometimes.

Yes to try and maintain battery health and yes I will continue to look for a suitable container/capsule.

 

[Basspaleale]

I'm hoping someone can answer my question. I brew in my non-connected garage and my wifi is in the house. The wifi works just fine in the garage as long as the garage door is open. My question is, after losing connection, will my ispindle auto connect to the wifi when the wifi is available in that area?

 

[BreeBrew]

I'm hoping someone can answer my question. I brew in my non-connected garage and my wifi is in the house. The wifi works just fine in the garage as long as the garage door is open. My question is, after losing connection, will my ispindle auto connect to the wifi when the wifi is available in that area?

Yes it will but you'll miss all data in between connections, it will only send the data of the moment it connects to WiFi successfully. I would recommend installing a WiFi range extender in your garage, then the iSpindel will always have a connection to the extender and the extender with your WiFi in the house.

 

[Big_D]

I'm hoping someone can answer my question. I brew in my non-connected garage and my wifi is in the house. The wifi works just fine in the garage as long as the garage door is open. My question is, after losing connection, will my ispindle auto connect to the wifi when the wifi is available in that area?

I had a similar situation, my wifi was hit or miss in the garage which is where I brew and where my fermenters are. I added a wifi range extender in the garage and it solved my issue, both ispindle’s stay connected with no issues.

 

[Basspaleale]

I'm sorry, will my

I had a similar situation, my wifi was hit or miss in the garage which is where I brew and where my fermenters are. I added a wifi range extender in the garage and it solved my issue, both ispindle’s stay connected with no issues.

Thanks, sounds like that's what I need to do.

 

[DuncB]

somewhere earlier in this I have posted the links to the Martin ger relay that you build on a D1 mini. Works great and you can add external antenna if needed.

 

[DuncB]

@ChrisThomas and others not sure if you have seen this but it's a scaled down ispindel. Might help you with your slimline design that you are working on.



This has the links to github as well and some images.

 

[ChrisThomas]

@DuncB That has a very similar appearance to what I was picturing. Going to have a look now!

 

[DuncB]

@ChrisThomas Thought it might be.
One that would fit in those yeast bay bottles would be the perfect size for my key keg fermenters.
Currently I'm trying to work out why one of my ispindel is losing 0.01 v per half hour and it's only signalling every half an hour. Brand new battery and tried another battery as well. No lights on and was working normally before but now excessive power loss.
When it was on every 15 minutes it lasted 36 hours and at half hour intervals with another battery lasted 52 hours very odd.

Not sure how to identify this issue anyone any ideas?

 

[mper]

@ChrisThomas Thought it might be.
One that would fit in those yeast bay bottles would be the perfect size for my key keg fermenters.
Currently I'm trying to work out why one of my ispindel is losing 0.01 v per half hour and it's only signalling every half an hour. Brand new battery and tried another battery as well. No lights on and was working normally before but now excessive power loss.
When it was on every 15 minutes it lasted 36 hours and at half hour intervals with another battery lasted 52 hours very odd.

Not sure how to identify this issue anyone any ideas?

It could be either some issues related to wifi connection (takes a long time) or the device is not going to deep-sleep properly.

 

[DuncB]

@mper
I have a good wifi signal as it's connecting to a repeater and has a signal of about 60.
Something not right for sure, I've watched it and the blue light only flashes at the interval the timing is set to. It's now at 3.76V and started at 4.13 less than 24 hours ago.
I'll get it out of the petling and take a picture with my FLIR camera and see if there's a hot spot. Reload the latest firmware and have a really good look at all the solder points to see if I can spot a problem.

 

[DuncB]

Well the FLIR camera was quite revealing wish I'd done it before.
Battery side
all is okay.

But flipped over quite different.


I'm going to swap out this board and I think we'll see a difference.

I've been running a micro heater in the test water!

 

[DuncB]

Swapped the gyro out and put a new one in and the picture tells a different story.

The bright bit at the bottom is just the shiny pad for adding solder weight too if needed.
Expect battery decay to be back to normal.

 

[mper]

@mper
I have a good wifi signal as it's connecting to a repeater and has a signal of about 60.
Something not right for sure, I've watched it and the blue light only flashes at the interval the timing is set to. It's now at 3.76V and started at 4.13 less than 24 hours ago.
I'll get it out of the petling and take a picture with my FLIR camera and see if there's a hot spot. Reload the latest firmware and have a really good look at all the solder points to see if I can spot a problem.

good you found the problem

 

[ChrisThomas]

@DuncB You have an IR camera?!?!

 

[DuncB]

@DuncB You have an IR camera?!?!

Yes a CAT 62 mobile phone, designed for builders, electricians house insulators etc. I use it at work for assessing blood flow in skin during and after some operations. Also good for assessing burn depth.
It is also good for finding dog in the dark/fog. Covid screening handy as well.

 

[ChrisThomas]

Why don't I have one

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I ferment under pressure.
My PRV is ~25psi has anyone fermented at that high a pressure?
Will the device leak?
Does anyone with experience foresee any issues or is there anything special I might need to do?

 

[DuncB]

Have been fermenting many times at that pressure and a little above. I did have one sink but it dried out okay and worked fine.
I do now use the Orings mentioned by me somewhere above now and don't get problems at all. I put a little bit of silicone grease on the top edge of the petling when I tighten it and then back it off and tighten again.
Not gone much above 30psi except by accident.

Tell tale you have a problem is if you suddenly see that the gravity is falling rapidly again when it should have finished. Liquid getting in makes it float more vertical. A really strong magnet ie hard disk drive type will attract an Ispindel and can support it if you think it's sinking.

 

[Lalo_uy]

I will be wonderfull if you can presurize the device before closing it. Lets say 10 psi. So not that big pressure
difference.

 

[DuncB]

I will be wonderfull if you can presurize the device before closing it. Lets say 10 psi. So not that big pressure
difference.

It would any ideas how to do that?