Kegland Rapt Pill floating hydrometer temperature monitor

[MajorJC]

How do I click on diagnostics? My browsers just show that they can't open the page / unable to connect.

Hmmm ... I just realized that when the Pill is in the fermentation vessel it goes into sleep mode and only wakes up on the preset schedule to send telemetry. You would have to catch it during the time that it wakes up. I think it will also wake up and connect when it senses movement, so perhaps swirling your fermenter will cause it to wake up and send data. If you try this and it works, let me know.

 

[BongoYodeler]

Additionally I believe there's been two recent firmware upgrades in the past month or so for the Pill. I believe one of them turns on bluetooth so the Pill can talk to a Rapt temperature controller, thus auto adjusting fermentation temperature control based on (near) real-time readings from the Pill.

 

[hotbeer]

Yes, you can change your settings while it is in use. See the above post but instead of clicking on Diagnostics, click on Settings.

Well I can't. I also thought from what I've read that the only time you can connect to it directly is when it's been put in a special mode by hooking it up to charge the battery or pressing a button on the circuit board. All of which I can't do when it's in actual use.

I was able to connect to it with a browser directly while it was charging initially. But after the LED's went out soon after unplugging the USB I could no longer access it directly with a browser and could only get data that is transmitted to their cloud periodically at the scheduled transmission interval in the setup.

This blurb in their quick start guide seems to back me up...

Cannot access the Pill Captive Portal This can only be accessed when the Pill is plugged in to USB-C. Access to the portal will cease after 10 minutes and the Pill will enter a sleep state. Unplugging and reconnecting to USB-C will allow it to be reconnected.

https://www.kegland.com.au/media/pd...rometer and Thermometer Quick Start Guide.pdf
They also give the battery life estimates on their website that suggest you can at least set it for 15 minute transmissions. Though you might be able to go lower still. Don't know, didn't try.

How long will the pill last between charges?
60min telemetry frequency - 1.5 years
30min telemetry frequency - 9.5 months
15min telemetry frequency - 5 months
NOTE: This is the default telemetry frequency is 60 min so if you do not change the settings then out of the box the battery should last 1.5years approximately.

https://www.kegland.com.au/red-rapt-pill-hydrometer-thermometer-wifi-bluetooth.html

Are you certain your browser isn't just taking you to the cloud app? Or perhaps the earlier Pills have this ability or maybe I'm just not doing something right.

 

[hotbeer]

You would have to catch it during the time that it wakes up. I think it will also wake up and connect when it senses movement, so perhaps swirling your fermenter will cause it to wake up and send data. If you try this and it works, let me know.

That's an interesting thought. Never tried that. However I will when I have the time to do so.

 

[MajorJC]

@MikeCo and @hotbeer I just did some testing on mine. My previous posts were incorrect. It does sleep between telemetry sends and will not wake to movement. I sat mine on my desk and waited. When I saw the green light come on I quickly refreshed the web page for my Pill's IP address and the page loaded. Before I could click on the Diagnostics or Settings link the Pill had gone back to sleep. The telemetry send lasted only about 2-3 seconds. Way too short a time to change any settings.

 

[MikeCo]

@MikeCo and @hotbeer I just did some testing on mine. My previous posts were incorrect. It does sleep between telemetry sends and will not wake to movement. I sat mine on my desk and waited. When I saw the green light come on I quickly refreshed the web page for my Pill's IP address and the page loaded. Before I could click on the Diagnostics or Settings link the Pill had gone back to sleep. The telemetry send lasted only about 2-3 seconds. Way too short a time to change any settings.

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[BongoYodeler]

After receiving the Pill a couple months ago I finally brewed yesterday and threw it in the fermenter. I've been watching the web output and it seems to be proceeding along quite nicely.

 

[MikeCo]

I have mine going now, and I've noticed it's kind of random as to how often it sends data. I have it at the default hourly setting, but it can be 2, 3 or 4 hours between readings. Has anybody else seen this behavior?

 

[GoodTruble]

I cannot get one of mine to connect. I've wasted hours on it, gave up, and am just using hydrometer readings.

If they are going to cost me more time than they save, then I have no use for them. I barely have time to brew already.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I have mine going now, and I've noticed it's kind of random as to how often it sends data. I have it at the default hourly setting, but it can be 2, 3 or 4 hours between readings.

I’ve noticed that it occasionally misses a reading, although mine seems to be much less than yours, maybe once every 24-36 hours. How far from your router are you fermenting? Currently my fermenter is about 5ft from my router, but this close I wouldn’t expect any drops.

 

[MikeCo]

How far from your router are you fermenting?

Mine is about 15 feet away but in the basement below the router and the floor is concrete. My signal strength averages about -66dB.

 

[BongoYodeler]

Mine is about 15 feet away but in the basement below the router and the floor is concrete. My signal strength averages about -66dB.

Possibly at the bottom of the range as per Rapt folks anything approaching -75dB or so will start to see connection issues. I took a closer look at mine and found the missing data coincided with spikes nearing -68dB when normally I was seeing -35 to -39dB.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I cannot get one of mine to connect. I've wasted hours on it, gave up, and am just using hydrometer readings.

If they are going to cost me more time than they save, then I have no use for them. I barely have time to brew already.

By chance are you trying to connect with 5GHz? The Rapt pill currently only supports 2.4GHz.

 

[GoodTruble]

By chance are you trying to connect with 5GHz? The Rapt pill currently only supports 2.4GHz.

I don't think so. I was able to connect and calibrate both of them (I got 2 because I do double batches), but whenever I try to access one of them in the portal, I just get an error message. Next time I try to get them working, I will take photos.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I don't think so. I was able to connect and calibrate both of them (I got 2 because I do double batches), but whenever I try to access one of them in the portal, I just get an error message. Next time I try to get them working, I will take photos.

Another thought. You removed the blue plastic strips from the battery connections? If so you might also have to remove the battery and carefully bend the battery tabs inward just a scoonch, and reinsert and spin the battery and give it a turn to assure good contact.
I'm far from an expert on these, believe me, as I'm currently using mine for the first time. But I belong to the Rapt User's Group on the Facebook. One of he developers is a regular there and is quite helpful. My suggestions thus far are are the most common tips I see when users are experiencing issues.

 

[GoodTruble]

I don't think it's the battery connectors because the lights turn on/blink, and the wifi bridge works.

But it did take me a minute to discover the blue tape during the initial set-up (including basic set-up instructions would go a long way).

I'll post clearer info next time I try to use them. But it may be awhile.

 

[MikeCo]

Possibly at the bottom of the range as per Rapt folks anything approaching -75dB or so will start to see connection issues. I took a closer look at mine and found the missing data coincided with spikes nearing -68dB when normally I was seeing -35 to -39dB.

I may try increasing the reading frequency setting to see if I get more frequent actual readings. It may reduce battery life, but I don't mind. I can charge it between uses.

 

[MajorJC]

I dropped mine into the fermenter yesterday. It is set to send telemetry every 15 minutes and this is the second use since battery charge and it is still at 100%.

FYI: I managed to get mine linked up to my brewersfriend.com account by following the directions in this post.
If you want to do this, I found that you have to change "temp_unit": "F", to "temp_unit": "C", because app.rapt.io only sends the temp as centigrade. Brewersfriend.com will convert it back to Fahrenheit.

My signal strength ranges from -66dB to -79dB. Mine is in a plastic fermenter inside of an upright freezer/fridge in my garage and is about 60 feet from the nearest Wi-Fi repeater (xFi Pod) that is plugged into an outlet in my dining room.

 

[MikeCo]

My signal strength ranges from -66dB to -79dB. Mine is in a plastic fermenter inside of an upright freezer/fridge in my garage and is about 60 feet from the nearest Wi-Fi repeater (xFi Pod) that is plugged into an outlet in my dining room.

Your signal strength is similar to mine, but mine is missing readings. My pill is currently in a plastic fermenter in a mini-fridge. Does your data show readings every 15 minutes?

 

[hotbeer]

I cannot get one of mine to connect. I've wasted hours on it, gave up, and am just using hydrometer readings.

If they are going to cost me more time than they save, then I have no use for them. I barely have time to brew already.

You do realize that once you disconnect the charging cable you only have a few minutes before it quits accepting a direct wifi connection to it There is a brief message that comes up telling you this and allowing you to get more time once you disconnect the charging cable. Which is good for calibration and such.

But once that is done and you sign out, then everything else has to be done through the cloud link on their website. You won't directly connect to it again until you unscrew the top and connect to it with a usb charging cable or maybe there is also a button to push.

If you are unsatisfied and want to get rid of them then let me know, I'll send you a shipping label.

 

[MajorJC]

Does your data show readings every 15 minutes?

No, I did see one spot where it skipped one, there may be more but I didn't check the whole time period for missed readings.

 

[MajorJC]

Ok, I just went over the whole time period and it missed a telemetry send seven times out of twenty hours. That is less than a 10% failure rate. I guess I'm ok with that.

 

[BongoYodeler]

Just wrapped up fermentation on my American Wheat Ale flavored with orange zest, and fermented with Voss Kveik. OG 1.052 (hydrometer), 1.057 (Pill). FG 1.008 (hydrometer), 1.012 (Pill). I calibrated it a few weeks ago in distilled water. I'll probably do it again before my next brew.

 

[GoodTruble]

@hotbeer - yeah, the "the cloud link on their website" is what I'm calling the portal. Both of them show up in the cloud/portal, but one of them just gives an error message.

 

[beren]

I was so excited yesterday my RAPT Pill arrived finally. And it doesn’t fit in my glass carboys. FML.

 

[GoodTruble]

I was so excited yesterday my RAPT Pill arrived finally. And it doesn’t fit in my glass carboys. FML.

Ouch.

 

[hotbeer]

I was so excited yesterday my RAPT Pill arrived finally. And it doesn’t fit in my glass carboys. FML.

It's probably time for another type of FV anyhow just to keep your brewing experience expanding and your wallet shrinking.

 

[Elric]

@hotbeer - yeah, the "the cloud link on their website" is what I'm calling the portal. Both of them show up in the cloud/portal, but one of them just gives an error message.

Just delete that one from the portal and re-register it. Mine flaked out after initial registration and I deleted and re-registered and it has been rock solid since.

 

[beren]

It's probably time for another type of FV anyhow just to keep your brewing experience expanding and your wallet shrinking.

Sure I’ll pm you my address. No plastic, please.

Honestly other than Duotight and consumables, almost everything brewing I have is used and was a good deal. My LHBS guy was shaking his head when I said how much I was getting my equipment for. All grain, too. My $45 stainless perlicks and stout faucet are the exceptions. I guess I could sell off 3-4 carboys and get a wide mouth…

 

[beren]

The thing I don’t understand is in the advertising material it specifically says it’s made to fit in std. carboys.

“The RAPT Pill is universal and is compatible with most standard carboys, Cornelius kegs, stainless steel fermenters, and pressurisable fermenters.”

 

[hotbeer]

Well your idea of standard might not be their idea of standard. I'd only imagine it being standard to any carboys they might sell. For all other's I'd measure. Which is what I did before getting mine.

 

[beren]

Well your idea of standard might not be their idea of standard. I'd only imagine it being standard to any carboys they might sell. For all other's I'd measure. Which is what I did before getting mine.

23L Glass Carboy - Italian Made looks the same as mine, 29mm opening.

 

[hotbeer]

Well then ask them about it. Obviously a 36'ish mm diameter RaptPill isn't going to fit.

Though I don't have any idea if there is a organization that controls what a standard carboy opening should be. And of course they did use the word "most".

But you might have a valid reason to gripe to them and point out the misleading statement in their advertising that tripped you up. And maybe see if they'll offer you a discount on a future purchase or something if you bought that RaptPill just with the intention of using it with those carboys

 

[MikeCo]

I put a cheap wifi extender I had on hand near my ferm chamber. The signal is greatly improved in my testing. It went from a signal strength in the -55dB to -60dB range to in the -25 to -30.

 

[MikeCo]

23L Glass Carboy - Italian Made looks the same as mine, 29mm opening.

I still have one 5-gallon glass carboy. I just tried to put the pill in the opening and it's not even close to fitting.

 

[MajorJC]

This is why you still need to get your final gravity with a glass hydrometer! My Pill was reading 1.008 at the end, my floating hydrometer gave me 1.010 on a degassed sample.

 

[beren]

Fun fact, glass hydrometers are normally ± 0.001 or 0.0015

 

[MikeCo]

I followed the standard calibration procedure for the pill, and it's within .001 of my hydrometer for FG on the 2 batches I've done.

 

[beren]

“A man with one watch always knows the time. A man with 2 watches is never sure.”

 

[hotbeer]

“A man with one watch always knows the time. A man with 2 watches is never sure.”

That aphorism probably makes less sense to many people that are use to getting their time from devices that synchronize to network time.