NEW StrangeBrew Elsinore Thread

[user 101620]

Safari should now function correctly.

 

[wyzazz]

Out of curiosity, how hard would it be to implement speed control for a dc pump in to Elsinore? I have seen various projects for the Raspberry Pi that do this. The folks at Greatbreweh.com use a voltage based speed control for their pump. Might be something neat to have in the software, it could be used for a mash stirer motor as well.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

The idea is that, you don't want 240v at 30a or 40a running through a switch you're going to activate, that would be a bit dangerous. To circumvent this, you control the main power with a relay, which is essentially a remote switch. To control this remote switch, we use a lower voltage and MUCH lower amperage circuit. When this circuit is completed (with a cheap $3 toggle), the relay closes, powering the panel.

The second toggle is used to ensure that only a single control circuit is completed for the SSRs at a time, which is what controls the elements.

The toggles 3 and 4 are entirely optional. Their inclusion is based on discussion in this thread that people preferred having the option of manual control of certain things, such as pumps. It's easy to put in switches that will manually override any relay that would otherwise only be controlled by SB elsinore. Essentially the switch provides two methods of completing the control circuit for a relay: The first is a circuit to the GPIO on the beaglebone black/raspberry pi, which activates the relay only when the GPIO is in a high state. The second is a circuit that connects directly to 3.3V, so when this circuit is completed, the relay is always active, not controlled by the GPIO state at all. This is what is meant by manual override.

Any chance you could sketch a circuit diagram for the build you listed?

 

[jangevaa]

Any chance you could sketch a circuit diagram for the build you listed?

I don't really have the time right now. There are youtube videos on wiring up the relay module. Use of the DPDT relay is quite basic, you could read theelectricbrewery for a better understanding of that. Wiring for solid state relays and temperature probes is included in Doug's documentation for SB elsinore. If you need help with something particular post about it here and I will see if I can help.

 

[jangevaa]

Out of curiosity, how hard would it be to implement speed control for a dc pump in to Elsinore? I have seen various projects for the Raspberry Pi that do this. The folks at Greatbreweh.com use a voltage based speed control for their pump. Might be something neat to have in the software, it could be used for a mash stirer motor as well.

Software PWM can be pretty computationally intensive. I don't know realistically how short you can set the the duty cycle, but manual mode in SB elsinore is essentially PWM, and I think when utilized with a DC motor such as these pumps you will get the expected outcome as long as the duty cycle was short enough. You would also need a special SSR to control this DC circuit.

I wouldn't expect that expanding "manual mode" to GPIOs which are not linked to temperature probes would be all that difficult. I'm not the programmer though. I'm also not sure if this would give you the performance that you needed anyways.

For some real PWM performance on raspberry pi check out this project: https://github.com/sarfata/pi-blaster/

 

[shingle]

Hello. Just signed up. Love the forum, love this software.

I currently have a simple digital thermostat controlling my dual element BIAB vessel. Each 2200W element is connected to separate circuits in the house as to not overload and therefore separate SSRs. The 2nd element is manually toggled on when bring the vessel up to mash and boiling temperatures.

I understand I can achieve the same thing with Elsinore through defining an aux GPIO to a kettle PID. Can the toggling of this element be automated based on where the current vessel temperature is to the mash profile?

EDIT: Is the preferred option to wire both element SSRs to the single GPIO and amend the PID parameters accordingly?

 

[JayElDubya]

Software PWM can be pretty computationally intensive. I don't know realistically how short you can set the the duty cycle, but manual mode in SB elsinore is essentially PWM, and I think when utilized with a DC motor such as these pumps you will get the expected outcome as long as the duty cycle was short enough.

For what it's worth, most SSRs change states at the zero-crossing of the AC on the load side. This means that without additional circuitry, the shortest duty cycle you can have is 1/120 of a second (in the US) and that's if you could guarantee that the pulses of the control signal were synced to the AC load frequency....which it isn't. Therefore, I'd say 1/60 sec. is your minimum duty cycle.

 

[wyzazz]

Software PWM can be pretty computationally intensive. I don't know realistically how short you can set the the duty cycle, but manual mode in SB elsinore is essentially PWM, and I think when utilized with a DC motor such as these pumps you will get the expected outcome as long as the duty cycle was short enough. You would also need a special SSR to control this DC circuit.

I wouldn't expect that expanding "manual mode" to GPIOs which are not linked to temperature probes would be all that difficult. I'm not the programmer though. I'm also not sure if this would give you the performance that you needed anyways.

For some real PWM performance on raspberry pi check out this project: https://github.com/sarfata/pi-blaster/

Thanks for the link, maybe I'll grab a small DC Motor from a parts box and see how it acts when hooked up to an SSR in Manual Mode. It might be an interesting experiment.

 

[wyzazz]

I understand I can achieve the same thing with Elsinore through defining an aux GPIO to a kettle PID. Can the toggling of this element be automated based on where the current vessel temperature is to the mash profile?

EDIT: Is the preferred option to wire both element SSRs to the single GPIO and amend the PID parameters accordingly?

I believe that is the way it is supposed to behave. Once you reach your desired temp the Aux Element would turn off. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

I also don't see any issues wiring both Element SSR's to the single GPIO. I currently use a Dual SSR in my 240V system and wire them this way. And I've also wired two 120v elements to separate SSR's and driven both by the same output on an Auber PID, same concept.

 

[user 101620]

I believe that is the way it is supposed to behave. Once you reach your desired temp the Aux Element would turn off. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Aux elements are manual on/off control, they are not activated with the main PID control.

I also don't see any issues wiring both Element SSR's to the single GPIO. I currently use a Dual SSR in my 240V system and wire them this way. And I've also wired two 120v elements to separate SSR's and driven both by the same output on an Auber PID, same concept.

This is the better way to do it.

 

[decoleur]

Aux elements are manual on/off control, they are not activated with the main PID control.



This is the better way to do it.

If I wanted to heat strike water in the BK (3 gallons of water) while bringing up the temp in my HLT (8 gallons of water) with an element in each pot, you would put them both on the same GPIO? How would you control the BK independently of the HLT when only one has gotten to the right temp and the other hasn't?

 

[wyzazz]

If I wanted to heat strike water in the BK (3 gallons of water) while bringing up the temp in my HLT (8 gallons of water) with an element in each pot, you would put them both on the same GPIO? How would you control the BK independently of the HLT when only one has gotten to the right temp and the other hasn't?

No, you would use a separate gpio and separate temp probe for the separate vessel. One for the BK and one for the HLT.

 

[jangevaa]

Thanks for the link, maybe I'll grab a small DC Motor from a parts box and see how it acts when hooked up to an SSR in Manual Mode. It might be an interesting experiment.

Right on, report back after. As I mentioned you'll need a DC/DC SSR. Still cheap, but slightly different from the SSR you'd use for your elements.

 

[wyzazz]

Right on, report back after. As I mentioned you'll need a DC/DC SSR. Still cheap, but slightly different from the SSR you'd use for your elements.

I'm sure I can find one kicking around somewhere. Thanks!

 

[decoleur]

No, you would use a separate gpio and separate temp probe for the separate vessel. One for the BK and one for the HLT.

Which GPIO's would you use the raspi only has one PWM.

 

[wyzazz]

Which GPIO's would you use the raspi only has one PWM.

I don't think that's the way it works. (Then again, I could be wrong.) I believe the software does the PWM. You just send the pulses out over a specified GPIO Pin.

 

[user 101620]

Which GPIO's would you use the raspi only has one PWM.

The PWM is not used, it's just switching a GPIO on/off for a percentage of a duty cycle.

 

[512brew-com]

Hi all - apologies to folks asking me to help test their service scripts and/or the ubuntu script from Doug... it's moot now, Doug fixed it. It's working again!

How does one remove a switch? I searched the thread with no success. I've created a switch which is consuming a GPIO I now want to use with a probe. The switch function is blocking the heat/cool controls associated w/ the probe. I can't remove the switch or edit the GPIO to which the switch is assigned.

Thanks for any help in advance -

 

[user 101620]

Edit Mode -> Drag switch away from the switch area until it says "Delete" -> Let go -> Wait for refresh

 

[user 101620]

Improved device naming support (slashes and other characters should now be OK).

 

[512brew-com]

Edit Mode -> Drag switch away from the switch area until it says "Delete" -> Let go -> Wait for refresh

ah! okay, I just posted a bug report to GitHub... I'll go delete it.

 

[512brew-com]

ah! okay, I just posted a bug report to GitHub... I'll go delete it.

well, I ended up leaving my bug report on github because I was also reporting an issue with old probes which are no longer attached to the system. I tried dragging the probe box off-view to delete it, but could not.

 

[user 101620]

No, I hadn't taken into account people deleting probes, I'll add a delete button when in edit mode.

 

[512brew-com]

Hey all -

I have two suggestions to make to us Elsinore users/thread-readers:

1) Let's start an Elsinore Hardware Implementation thread, unless it'll be so similar to other hardware threads it doesn't merit a unique one - we do have a slightly different beast than some of the other threads I've seen, using a Linux box and 1-wire, but then maybe I just haven't seen the right threads. The thread is getting a little long, however, and we're starting to see the hardware questions leak in, which muddies things IMO.

2) Let's all donate a few bucks to Doug Edey - if we find Elsinore useful, let's give some beer money. Whadayall say?

Doug, if you set up a paypal account, I'd be happy to send something your way.

 

[512brew-com]

Hi Doug or anyone,

I'm having some trouble getting output signals to work when they're associated with temp probes. I'm using the latest build as of today.

I created a custom jgpio file and it seems to be working fine in that I created switches (in the web gui) for each of the pins and I can verify the physical pins toggle on/off.

however, I've deleted the gui switches and have now associated their gpios with temp probes, for controlling a cooling circuit and I can't get the gpio to respond. For testing, I set the controls to "Manual", a duty-cycle of 50% and a duty time of 4 secs, such that, if I understand correctly, I'll have a toggle of the output line every 2 seconds.

I've tried multiple gpios which had previously been associated with switches and which had worked fine in that context. Also, I've been able to make gpios associated with a probe work before, in a previous build of elsinore.

I then removed the gpio from the temp probe (in the web gui) and re-assigned it to a new switch, and I was able to manually turn the i/o on and off, as before.

is there something in the background, related to the switch, which is preventing the temp probe function to operate correctly, even though the switch has been deleted from the gui?

 

[wyzazz]

Hey all -

I have two suggestions to make to us Elsinore users/thread-readers:

1) Let's start an Elsinore Hardware Implementation thread, unless it'll be so similar to other hardware threads it doesn't merit a unique one - we do have a slightly different beast than some of the other threads I've seen, using a Linux box and 1-wire, but then maybe I just haven't seen the right threads. The thread is getting a little long, however, and we're starting to see the hardware questions leak in, which muddies things IMO.

2) Let's all donate a few bucks to Doug Edey - if we find Elsinore useful, let's give some beer money. Whadayall say?

Doug, if you set up a paypal account, I'd be happy to send something your way.

1) I think the hardware implementation is very similar to a BrewPI, BCS, Brewtroller, or even a PID driven control panel. I'm not opposed to creating or contributing a separate thread (I'm starting my build here shortly.), the real difference is how your might interface to the GPIO Pins on the Pi/Beaglebone. Much like jangevaa, I'm using CAT5 wire and Keystone Jacks/Punch Panels to interface with my RPi2, I just happen have the stuff laying around since I'm a Network Admin.

2) If Doug sets up a Paypal Account for Donations I'd be happy to donate. I think this software is great as is & has a ton of expandability potential as well. Maybe put a link in your forum signature and on the GitHub Page. Or maybe you're in need of some hardware for your own build or for testing new functionality? Who knows, some of us might have some stuff kicking around to ship to you.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

1) I think the hardware implementation is very similar to a BrewPI, BCS, Brewtroller, or even a PID driven control panel. I'm not opposed to creating or contributing a separate thread (I'm starting my build here shortly.), the real difference is how your might interface to the GPIO Pins on the Pi/Beaglebone. Much like jangevaa, I'm using CAT5 wire and Keystone Jacks/Punch Panels to interface with my RPi2, I just happen have the stuff laying around since I'm a Network Admin.

2) If Doug sets up a Paypal Account for Donations I'd be happy to donate. I think this software is great as is & has a ton of expandability potential as well. Maybe put a link in your forum signature and on the GitHub Page. Or maybe you're in need of some hardware for your own build or for testing new functionality? Who knows, some of us might have some stuff kicking around to ship to you.

If no one does it by the time i get around to building mine in the next month or two i plan to do a HOWTO build for my Elsinore like i have for the BrewPi because there isnt really any circuit diagrams or parts lists short of what Jange's blog lists, but turning what he posted into an actual end product i think a lot(most) people need more guidance. Im just in the middle of moving out of my house and waiting to move into my new house so no time for big projects.

While the circuit is similar, there is a lot more safety you need to be concerned about for 240V, and things like wire/connector selection/etc make a much big difference when your dealing with 20+ Amps..

A BrewPi is easy because no fridge is going to pull over 10A really and if it does its only for a microsecond as it switches on. On the other hand this is running 20A+ when your Duty cycle is 100% bringing water up to a boil or mash temp for tens of minutes puts a lot more stress on the components and requires building things properly or you can burn your house down.

 

[user 101620]

Hi Doug or anyone,

I'm having some trouble getting output signals to work when they're associated with temp probes. I'm using the latest build as of today.

I created a custom jgpio file and it seems to be working fine in that I created switches (in the web gui) for each of the pins and I can verify the physical pins toggle on/off.

however, I've deleted the gui switches and have now associated their gpios with temp probes, for controlling a cooling circuit and I can't get the gpio to respond. For testing, I set the controls to "Manual", a duty-cycle of 50% and a duty time of 4 secs, such that, if I understand correctly, I'll have a toggle of the output line every 2 seconds.

I've tried multiple gpios which had previously been associated with switches and which had worked fine in that context. Also, I've been able to make gpios associated with a probe work before, in a previous build of elsinore.

I then removed the gpio from the temp probe (in the web gui) and re-assigned it to a new switch, and I was able to manually turn the i/o on and off, as before.

is there something in the background, related to the switch, which is preventing the temp probe function to operate correctly, even though the switch has been deleted from the gui?

Do you have any errors in the Elsinore console log?

 

[user 101620]

Fixed editing of temp/PID probes after yesterdays changes
PIDs/Temps can now be deleted when dragging by dragging them until they change to "Delete"

 

[castreixanas]

Hello.

It is possible these two implementations?

1 - trigger for a alarm with this Active Buzzer Module:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...&_nkw=active+buzzer+module+raspberry&_sacat=0

2 - implement a button to shut down Elsinore and Power off raspberry Pi.

Greetings.