Native ESP8266 BrewPi Firmware - WiFi BrewPi, no Arduino needed!

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Thorrak said:
Oh yikes! Yeah, on my Pi 3 it took a few hours for Python to recompile - I can't imagine on an OG Pi. The lack of backports of compiled packages of Python 3.7 for earlier versions of Raspbian makes things difficult.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if you are making notes on the situation, I can attest that for older Pi models, the best approach is to just rebuild to a new Raspbian version. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Just found the time to get this finished off.

Fresh install of Buster (Lite version as I'm headless), ran the Fermentrack install script, copied the contents of the data directory over and chown'd to fermentrack user, copied the db.sqlite3 file over, rebooted and it is all good.

Thanks Thorak - great job as always.
 
Update on my ESP8266 temp probe issues from above: After getting probes recommended by day_trippr, I soldered them up to the 3.5mm jacks, plugged 'em in, and nothing, just like before. I hacked off the microphone jacks and ran the probe wire straight onto the terminal block, and they popped right up in Fermentrack, and are working just fine via WiFi.

So if you're having issues with the probes using the microphone jacks with a similar build, check that first. I didn't start there, 'cuz the soldering on them was fine, so it didn't look like it should have been an issue.
 
fwiw, I use 3 pin TinyXLR connectors for all of my ds18b20 probes (a few dozen in use).
I don't like "phono" connectors for anything - including audio :)

Cheers!
 
Was anyone playing with the PIDs?
"pidMax": 10.000,"Kp": 5.000,"Ki": 0.250,"Kd":-1.500
this is default and I do not now why Kd is minus? Should it be like that?
 
fwiw, these are from a system currently running a ferm cycle, but the live values are similar to yours, just a higher pidMax: 18.000, 5.000, .250 and -1.500.

Cheers!
 
oh so its fine probably? Long time I did not use controller and I am fermenting right now, I observed that the cooling is not really overshooting but maybe because of the heat produced during first days of ferm. We will see :) I think I have played with those values before but now i started from scratch and I do not remember what I have changed but I think it was the minus value.
 
I try to remember to load defaults at the beginning of a cycle just to know I'm starting at a "known place".
My fridges have auto-defrost cycles that if badly timed (like right at the beginning of a run) have caused persistent weird behavior that does show reactions in the advanced control variables...

Cheers!
 
Does anyone know if it's possible to send temperature data from a Fermentrack-connected ESP8266 controller to Brewfather? From what I can tell it will only push temp data that comes from a gravity sensor? I don't have a gravity sensor, just a few ESP8266 controllers on my fermentation chambers. Thanks in advance.
 
BrewHop said:
Does anyone know if it's possible to send temperature data from a Fermentrack-connected ESP8266 controller to Brewfather? From what I can tell it will only push temp data that comes from a gravity sensor? I don't have a gravity sensor, just a few ESP8266 controllers on my fermentation chambers. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I don't recall if there is an issue on GitHub for this, but if there isn't, open one. The short answer is that right now there isn't a way to do this, but I'm not averse to adding one.
 
Thorrak said:
I don't recall if there is an issue on GitHub for this, but if there isn't, open one. The short answer is that right now there isn't a way to do this, but I'm not averse to adding one.
Click to expand...

Thorakk, I just added a comment on github requesting for the ESP8266 BrewLessPi Fermentrack data be pushed to BrewFather, as it would be awesome when out and about.

Cheers
 
Does anyone have any left-over control boards or sensor boards? I'd be interested in buying them off you.

I'm assembling the gear to make one of these, but don't have use for 5x of each board & would like to reduce waste!

Edit: got control boards
 
Last edited:
clientsoup said:
Does anyone have any left-over control boards or sensor boards? I'd be interested in buying them off you.

I'm assembling the gear to make one of these, but don't have use for 5x of each board & would like to reduce waste!

Edit: got control boards
Click to expand...

I've got some. Shoot me a PM and I'll check out exactly what I've got when I get home
 
Thorrak said:
I've got some. Shoot me a PM and I'll check out exactly what I've got when I get home
Click to expand...

I can't for the life of me figure out how to send messages -- it might be that I'm not allowed to yet as my account is young. I can reply to those sent to me, though.
 
I love the program. One question I have to an ongoing fermentation, and maybe this is something that is already implemented that I have not found, but is there a countdown until the next event with respect to temperature change? I am currently working on a Kveik sitting at 90F and will be cold crashing soon, so I would like to prevent suck back in the blow off tube.
 
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge so far.
I'm just troubleshooting my unit and I was looking at the PCB and it says 'Description: # Note - This board is not recommended for new builds'
I've attached the PCB.
Any reason I shouldn't be using this PCB or why it's not recommended?
Thanks
 

Attachments

  • PCB.jpg
    PCB.jpg
    278.1 KB · Views: 32
Taps said:
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge so far.
I'm just troubleshooting my unit and I was looking at the PCB and it says 'Description: # Note - This board is not recommended for new builds'
I've attached the PCB.
Any reason I shouldn't be using this PCB or why it's not recommended?
Thanks
Click to expand...
That PCB design uses the old RJ-12 jack, whereas the new designs use RJ-45. They both work, but the RJ-12 jack is a bit trickier to wire with the sensor breakout board as you have to make sure that you use the correct wire type to connect the boards together.

That said, if you're directly splicing the sensors into a telephone cable & using a line splitter, you'll be fine.
 
haha yeh I only just worked out they were for the RJ-12 after doing some further reading. 😖
So I've wired the temp probes into an XLR jack to a 3 screw terminal then onto some pin headers on the PCB. Will this work?
hopefully you can see from the attached image.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20200507_100108.jpg
    IMG_20200507_100108.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 40
Hello! I'm just getting this set up for the first time, I'm wondering if i could ask for a bit of help. I'm using Fermentrack to flash an ESP32 (ESP-WROOM-32) on a DOIT devkit v1 development board.

I've chosen the ESP8266 for the board since the ESP32 firmware was only for tilt bridge.

Checking the output, it says that it's been flashed
(Wrote 417584 bytes (292388 compressed) at 0x00000000 in 26.6 seconds (effective 125.6 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.)

But I can't seem to find it when then looking for the device as a wireless access point. Am I doing something incorrect, or do I perhaps have a board that's incorrect?

My hope was to use the ESP32 for wireless control of a fermentation chamber instead of needing to keep the RPi in the enclosure.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask!
 
iduncant said:
Hello! I'm just getting this set up for the first time, I'm wondering if i could ask for a bit of help. I'm using Fermentrack to flash an ESP32 (ESP-WROOM-32) on a DOIT devkit v1 development board.

I've chosen the ESP8266 for the board since the ESP32 firmware was only for tilt bridge.

Checking the output, it says that it's been flashed
(Wrote 417584 bytes (292388 compressed) at 0x00000000 in 26.6 seconds (effective 125.6 kbit/s)...
Hash of data verified.)

But I can't seem to find it when then looking for the device as a wireless access point. Am I doing something incorrect, or do I perhaps have a board that's incorrect?

My hope was to use the ESP32 for wireless control of a fermentation chamber instead of needing to keep the RPi in the enclosure.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the ESP32 and ESP8266 can't run the same firmware. You will need an ESP8266 board to run ESP8266 firmware. The board I (strongly) recommend is this one.

That said, the ESP8266 BrewPi firmware should enable you to do what you want - that is, control your fermentation chamber without needing a nearby RPi.
 
Thorrak said:
Unfortunately, the ESP32 and ESP8266 can't run the same firmware. You will need an ESP8266 board to run ESP8266 firmware. The board I (strongly) recommend is this one.

That said, the ESP8266 BrewPi firmware should enable you to do what you want - that is, control your fermentation chamber without needing a nearby RPi.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for that clarification, and answering me so fast. I misunderstood. I'll pick up the 8266 as you suggested. I've got a few Arduinos around I can try this out with. Really appreciate it and I love the whole platform!
 
hey, just with reference to my last post, is there any problem not using the rj12 cabling?
 
Taps said:
hey, just with reference to my last post, is there any problem not using the rj12 cabling?
Click to expand...

I couldn't see enough from the pic you posted to be able to tell whether that wiring would work, but the short answer to your question is no - there's nothing wrong whatsoever with just wiring directly to the appropriate holes on the PCB and not using an RJ-12 jack.
 
Has anyone experienced issues with PCBs.io? I placed an order for Thorrak's boards in early April and it is still in the fabrication stage. I ordered the PCB components through Mouser and I'm just waiting for the boards to show up. I also can't find any customer service email nor will they respond on Twitter.

Second, I am looking for a different temperature probe than the standard three-wire one as that one is too large to fit in the thermowell of my fermenter. I did purchase a random one off of amazon but I have no idea if it will work or not. I would love any suggestions that you might have. As of right now, I use an inkbird and that probe diameter fits in the thermowell fine.
Here is the sensor I bought

Thanks!
 
Archy88 said:
Has anyone experienced issues with PCBs.io? I placed an order for Thorrak's boards in early April and it is still in the fabrication stage. I ordered the PCB components through Mouser and I'm just waiting for the boards to show up. I also can't find any customer service email nor will they respond on Twitter.

Second, I am looking for a different temperature probe than the standard three-wire one as that one is too large to fit in the thermowell of my fermenter. I did purchase a random one off of amazon but I have no idea if it will work or not. I would love any suggestions that you might have. As of right now, I use an inkbird and that probe diameter fits in the thermowell fine.
Here is the sensor I bought

Thanks!
Click to expand...
You can build your own ds18b20 sensor
1589808978364.png
 
Last edited:
Archy88 said:
Has anyone experienced issues with PCBs.io? I placed an order for Thorrak's boards in early April and it is still in the fabrication stage. I ordered the PCB components through Mouser and I'm just waiting for the boards to show up. I also can't find any customer service email nor will they respond on Twitter.

Second, I am looking for a different temperature probe than the standard three-wire one as that one is too large to fit in the thermowell of my fermenter. I did purchase a random one off of amazon but I have no idea if it will work or not. I would love any suggestions that you might have. As of right now, I use an inkbird and that probe diameter fits in the thermowell fine.
Here is the sensor I bought

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You know, I'm in the same boat. I ordered a set of PCBs for a Fermentrack related project on 4/24, and it too is still 'In Fabrication'. Supposed to be 7-10 days to ship. Maybe they are actually coming from China? Maybe I should have stuck with OSH Park.....

For the temperature probe, while I don't know what fermenter you have, there are two options that I'm aware of. BrewPi has a sensor or two that might work (I originally used one of their first sensors, which is really too short - it only protruded maybe 1/2" into the FastFerment), or you could do what ended up doing. As Bigdaddyale eluded to, what I did is I got some bare DS18B20 sensors from a local electronics shop, and made my own. Soldered and shrink wrapped leads onto the DS18B20 sensors, then I took the brass thermowells from my FastFerments and those sensors I wired up, applied a thin coating of thermal compound (Arctic Silver 5 in my case) to the top of the sensor package, then I stuffed it down the thermowell opening so the top of the sensor was firmly against the end of the thermowell, then I poured two part epoxy down the hole to make it all permanent. So far, no issues with them.
 
Cougar281 said:
You know, I'm in the same boat. I ordered a set of PCBs for a Fermentrack related project on 4/24, and it too is still 'In Fabrication'. Supposed to be 7-10 days to ship. Maybe they are actually coming from China? Maybe I should have stuck with OSH Park.....

For the temperature probe, while I don't know what fermenter you have, there are two options that I'm aware of. BrewPi has a sensor or two that might work (I originally used one of their first sensors, which is really too short - it only protruded maybe 1/2" into the FastFerment), or you could do what ended up doing. As Bigdaddyale eluded to, what I did is I got some bare DS18B20 sensors from a local electronics shop, and made my own. Soldered and shrink wrapped leads onto the DS18B20 sensors, then I took the brass thermowells from my FastFerments and those sensors I wired up, applied a thin coating of thermal compound (Arctic Silver 5 in my case) to the top of the sensor package, then I stuffed it down the thermowell opening so the top of the sensor was firmly against the end of the thermowell, then I poured two part epoxy down the hole to make it all permanent. So far, no issues with them.
Click to expand...

I am tempted to place an order there and just call the PCBS.io a wash. If those ever arrive maybe I can send them to someone else in need. As of right now I haven't received any responses via twitter or email.
I will likely message Thorrak and see if he can add some guidance for what I should be ordering there.

As for the thermowell, I think you have a great idea. I have an SS chronical and I would prefer to not have anything permanently installed in that thermowell. Now I wish I ordered some sensors from Mouser but I will try and find something cheap on amazon/ebay and see how those fit in my fermenter.


Has anyone taken apart a standard ds18b20 waterproof sensor? Would I be able to extract any of the components out of their thermowell?

Sorry for these questions. I was hoping to have parts in hand to see what I was working with to ask some more educated questions.
 
Archy88 said:
As for the thermowell, I think you have a great idea. I have an SS chronical and I would prefer to not have anything permanently installed in that thermowell. Now I wish I ordered some sensors from Mouser but I will try and find something cheap on amazon/ebay and see how those fit in my fermenter.

Has anyone taken apart a standard ds18b20 waterproof sensor? Would I be able to extract any of the components out of their thermowell?

Sorry for these questions. I was hoping to have parts in hand to see what I was working with to ask some more educated questions.
Click to expand...

I've made my own temp probe by using one of the stainless steel tubes from BrewHardware. I don't see them on their website right now, but it was just a piece of stainless 1/4" tubing with a sealed end on one end. I was able to slip a DS18B20 sensor inside of that with some thermal compound. I didn't epoxy it in. I just used some electrical tape to hold the wire on the end and then covered it with some heat shrink tubing.

I have never taken one of the prefab ones apart, but I'm pretty sure they are just filled with epoxy. Probably not much hope of getting it out intact.
 
I also used a (very long) 1/4" thermowell from @Bobby_M's shop to use with my 6.5 gallon carboys and actually was able to run one of my pre-made eBay ds18b20 3 meter probes all the way to the end. Once I realized that could happen I used a small tube to deposit a few milliliters of thermal compound at the tip of the thermowell and stuffed the probe all the way back in. Did not go the epoxy route as I wanted to be able to replace the sensor if needed so I used heat shrink tubing to affix the cable to the thermowell.

Works a treat - surprisingly responsive. And, again, repairable...

Cheers!
 
Thorrak said:
Huh - Does the thermal compound help all that much? I'm doing the same thing at the moment (using one of @Bobby_M 's thermowells with a Flex+) but sans the thermal compound.
Click to expand...
Don’t know. I had it so I used it.

I would imagine it is only going to matter for response time. Eventually the temp of the whole tube is going to be about the same as the beer. Response time isn’t very critical in a fermenter application.
 
Bigdaddyale said:
Has anybody used JB Weld to seal up the wet end of a DIY thermowell? Google says JB Weld is food safe when cured.
Click to expand...

If one digs around this place they'd come across JB Weld used in all kinds of hot- and even some cold-side applications, though I can't specifically recall it being used to turn a piece of metal tubing into a thermowell...

Cheers!
 
NeoBrew said:
I've made my own temp probe by using one of the stainless steel tubes from BrewHardware. I don't see them on their website right now, but it was just a piece of stainless 1/4" tubing with a sealed end on one end. I was able to slip a DS18B20 sensor inside of that with some thermal compound. I didn't epoxy it in. I just used some electrical tape to hold the wire on the end and then covered it with some heat shrink tubing.

I have never taken one of the prefab ones apart, but I'm pretty sure they are just filled with epoxy. Probably not much hope of getting it out intact.
Click to expand...
day_trippr said:
I also used a (very long) 1/4" thermowell from @Bobby_M's shop to use with my 6.5 gallon carboys and actually was able to run one of my pre-made eBay ds18b20 3 meter probes all the way to the end. Once I realized that could happen I used a small tube to deposit a few milliliters of thermal compound at the tip of the thermowell and stuffed the probe all the way back in. Did not go the epoxy route as I wanted to be able to replace the sensor if needed so I used heat shrink tubing to affix the cable to the thermowell.

Works a treat - surprisingly responsive. And, again, repairable...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

This is a really solid approach. I have been amazed at how helpful Bobby is when I've called the shop and I'm sure he can help here if needed too.

Here is a 1/4 thermowell from them: Thermowell - TW6-S-Bare
Which will be used inside this fermenter thermowell: Thermowell | 100mm Weldless Threaded

The fermenter thermowell has an ID of 6.5 mm and the bare tube is 1/4" which is 6.35mm. It will be tight, but hopefully it will work.


Now to source some DS18B20's and buy WAY more than I need from BrewHardware to justify the shipping costs ;)
 
Sawaya_brewing said:
Hi guys, really loving my Fermentrack to control my fermenter in a chest freezer. I want to add a tilt bridge esp board that will communicate with the Fermentrack dashboard as well as display my gravity with it's own screen. Anyone know if the M5 stack will work? Thanks in advance! https://www.amazon.com/MakerFocus-D...hild=1&keywords=M5Stack&qid=1590067182&sr=8-1
Click to expand...

Short answer: Maybe!

Long answer: If the schematic on this page is correct, it looks like the M5 stack and D32 Pro have the same chipset & pinouts for the TFT screen. You don't have a touch screen so the "wifi reset" functionality won't work, but I could always add support for one of the M5's buttons. If you are willing to take a risk with the M5 and the screen/bluetooth work, let me know and I'll add it to the documentation!
 

Similar threads

T
Sold Free* BrewPi-ESP8266 Temperature Controller
Replies
3
Views
1K
Thorrak
T
rkhanso
For Sale Completed/tested BrewPiLess-32 Controllers for sale. $40, shipping included
Replies
9
Views
2K
rkhanso
rkhanso
J
ESP Brew Engine
Replies
30
Views
2K
wd16261
wd16261
D
Controlling a glycol chiller
Replies
19
Views
2K
Dland
Dland
LBussy
BrewPi Remix – What’s Old is New Again
22 23 24
Replies
920
Views
59K
day_trippr
day_trippr
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top