NEW StrangeBrew Elsinore Thread

[jangevaa]

Also, I noticed in using the startup script for debian, the port is listed as 8088, although it has been listed as 8080 elsewhere (in the configuration files and all of the tutorials) - easy fix, but just FYI.

FYI - that's because it was my personal service script that I contributed to the repository. If using the Beaglebone Black Debian image, 8080 is the default apache port... in order to avoid the port conflict it was just easier for me to specify a different port for SBE in the service script. A message regarding this prints if you load the script with `sudo service elsinore start`, but if its launching SBE on startup you will not have seen that.

 

[jangevaa]

So I did a fresh install and got everything running the way it was before. I still have the following issues with the UI:

1. Modifications to the gauge sizes for the various temp sensors do not save after restarting SB
2. I can add switches, but the buttons do not respond in the browser. They do reappear after restart.
3. The output to the relay for my ferm chamber does not work.
4. "Check for updates" button also does not respond.

Check out this information on reporting bugs: https://www.reddit.com/r/StrangeBrew/wiki/bugs

FWIW, I've had the opposite experience with change gauge sizes. They only update after a restart.

Buttons are working for me in Safari (both OSX and iOS) I wonder if you have some browser-specific issues?

Have you metered your GPIO to ensure you're not having a problem with your relay? I had a number of issues with the cheap sainsmart relays for instance (SSRs have always worked well for me)...

Haven't tried the "checking for updates button" recently. I don't think it does anything if there hasn't been any updates however... Check elsinore.log (see above link for help).

 

[brad2thebone]

Check out this information on reporting bugs: https://www.reddit.com/r/StrangeBrew/wiki/bugs

FWIW, I've had the opposite experience with change gauge sizes. They only update after a restart.

Buttons are working for me in Safari (both OSX and iOS) I wonder if you have some browser-specific issues?

Have you metered your GPIO to ensure you're not having a problem with your relay? I had a number of issues with the cheap sainsmart relays for instance (SSRs have always worked well for me)...

Haven't tried the "checking for updates button" recently. I don't think it does anything if there hasn't been any updates however... Check elsinore.log (see above link for help).

Thanks for your insight.

As for the bug reporting, I will look into it. I guess that the very recent discussions on this board indicated to me that this might be the place to discuss the issues, but I hadn't come across the reddit for SBE.

I was able to fix the switches this morning. I had incorrectly driven the relays.

The gauge sizes are still reverting to large after rebooting.

Cheers!

 

[Bassman2003]

Hello,

I am using SBE with a Hosehead controller and have not updated SB for a little while. I will do this soon but wanted to ask if there was a way to start the server with a mouse click? Right now I am typing the command in a prompt window. I would like to eliminate the keyboard and only have a mouse plugged into the Hosehead.

Thanks for your help.

 

[trnitz]

... a way to start the server with a mouse click?

I don't believe so, but you can run it as a service, so it runs automatically on startup.

https://www.reddit.com/r/StrangeBrew/wiki/service

 

[Bassman2003]

Hey Thanks. The Hosehead runs on Rasberry Pi II. Do you think this service capability would work on that OS?

 

[wyzazz]

Yep, it works on my Pi2.

 

[Bassman2003]

Thank you.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

So i could use some help with my circuit, i thought i was on track but now i am a bit confused.

I was very loosely basing it on this PJ Diagram, for everything except the PID obviously.

Inventory of what i have
3 Way Toggle for HLT or BK
3 120V Coil 240V Contactors
2 40A Relays

I was planning on strictly using SBE to power on/off the pumps rather than have a switch.

Looking at this schematic, again, did i only need one SSR this entire time? If the switch is controlling the coils for both, and the SSR is sending the HOT2 voltage in what is the point of having a second SSR? Im totally confused all of a sudden how a second SSR fits in or what the purpose is when most builds use them?

If you did use two SSR's i assume their inputs are wired to seperate GPIO pins you define in SBE?

Thanks!

*EDIT*

I think i need to be following something more like this?

 

[wyzazz]

Use 1 SSR for your element, and the other for your pump. The first diagram is the way I would go for your elements.

 

[BrunDog]

You don't need an SSR for the pump, but a relay coil can't be powered directly by the GPIO. So it would need to be a transistor triggered relay. So you could use a relay board and have growth for more relays or just use another SSR.

-BD

 

[wyzazz]

You don't need an SSR for the pump, but a relay coil can't be powered directly by the GPIO. So it would need to be a transistor triggered relay. So you could use a relay board and have growth for more relays or just use another SSR.

-BD

IIRC others running the Raspberry Pi/Elsinore combo have had issues using relay boards. Not sure if it's Elsinore, The Pi, the Boards folks are picking up, but the general consensus has been to just use an SSR as it seems to be more reliable in this situation. I have a bunch of SSR's at home so that's what I use for my soft switches.

 

[wbarber69]

So i could use some help with my circuit, i thought i was on track but now i am a bit confused.

I was very loosely basing it on this PJ Diagram, for everything except the PID obviously.

Inventory of what i have
3 Way Toggle for HLT or BK
3 120V Coil 240V Contactors
2 40A Relays

I was planning on strictly using SBE to power on/off the pumps rather than have a switch.

Looking at this schematic, again, did i only need one SSR this entire time? If the switch is controlling the coils for both, and the SSR is sending the HOT2 voltage in what is the point of having a second SSR? Im totally confused all of a sudden how a second SSR fits in or what the purpose is when most builds use them?

If you did use two SSR's i assume their inputs are wired to seperate GPIO pins you define in SBE?

Thanks!

*EDIT*

I think i need to be following something more like this?

A lot of people use 2 SSRs to totally isolated the heater from mains voltage. Because there are 2 live wires going to it. Using one ssr will work but you'll always have live current all the way to the unit on one leg. It's not a problem unless you trip a lot, or are accident prone.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

A lot of people use 2 SSRs to totally isolated the heater from mains voltage. Because there are 2 live wires going to it. Using one ssr will work but you'll always have live current all the way to the unit on one leg. It's not a problem unless you trip a lot, or are accident prone.

Wouldn't the first picture not have this problem though? The other contactors control the power to the elements and those coils are hooked up to the 3 way switch?

 

[wyzazz]

Wouldn't the first picture not have this problem though? The other contactors control the power to the elements and those coils are hooked up to the 3 way switch?

Correct!:rockin:

 

[wyzazz]

Those contactors are like an ON/OFF switch for the elements. High Voltage flows through the contactors/relays that are connected to a low voltage switch on your control panel. I use mine to kill my element after the boil. This way I can keep my control panel energized to monitor temps and utilize my pump.

 

[doug293cz]

A lot of people use 2 SSRs to totally isolated the heater from mains voltage. Because there are 2 live wires going to it. Using one ssr will work but you'll always have live current all the way to the unit on one leg. It's not a problem unless you trip a lot, or are accident prone.

It's better to use a contactor to be sure that the elements are disconnected from power when turned off. SSR's usually fail in the on state, so if you have an SSR failure, at least one side of your element will be hot, unless you have another disconnect in series.

Brew on

 

[wbarber69]

Wouldn't the first picture not have this problem though? The other contactors control the power to the elements and those coils are hooked up to the 3 way switch?

Yes I was just making note as to why you always see so many SSRs in some people diagrams. It's all just a matter of how you want to do it.

 

[wbarber69]

It's better to use a contactor to be sure that the elements are disconnected from power when turned off. SSR's usually fail in the on state, so if you have an SSR failure, at least one side of your element will be hot, unless you have another disconnect in series.



Brew on

I never said that they weren't.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Learned the local homebrew club in my area now where i moved is called StrangeBrew.
And im almost done with my SBE box...

Destiny? I think so.

That is all.

 

[markgm]

What program did you use to make that second diagram, that looks pretty slick!

I use a relay board in my setup, wound up using a Darlington array to power the 6 SSRs and the relay board. Pretty dead simple to do.

 

[stratslinger]

I'm working on getting my pi set up with Elsinore now (thanks to everyone on this thread, and especially to Doug!), and I'm running into what I figure is a self imposed problem, but I can't figure it out for the life of me...

I've got my pi wired up to two channels of a sainsmart relay array - running off of GPIO 24 and 25, inverted the output of the GPIO, everything's working out perfectly there. Elsinore can successfully switch those channels off an on as I'd expect, and the switch config is still there on future boots of the pi.

I wired up a pair of onewire temp probes. Everything worked out up to that point - elsinore sees the probes, I can rename them, and the probes (with their new names) are still there on future reboots of the pi.

But when I try to assign a GPIO to the heating channel of the probe, I can't seem to make it work. I plug in the GPIO (I'm using 22 for probe1 and 23 for probe2), and I can't seem to send a signal to the GPIO at that point. It looks like the probe config updates, but when I attempt to fire up that particular channel on manual (using 100% duty cycle, 10 second cycle time), a multimeter shows no signal ever passes on the designated GPIO. If I try to edit the probe again, the heater entry doesn't list any GPIO, and if I reboot, the probes both go back to having no controls assigned at all (just temperature readouts).

So, any idea what I might be doing wrong to generate this sort of result?

EDIT: Wouldn't you know it - no sooner do I post this, than I give it one more try and it works? Is there some kind of hangup or issue if you run Elsinore by adding

sudo /home/pi/BrewServer/launch.sh

to /etc/rc.local? That's the one difference here - I was running it that way, then on a lark I commented it out, rebooted, and manually logged in and kicked off launch.sh...

 

[wbarber69]

I'm working on getting my pi set up with Elsinore now (thanks to everyone on this thread, and especially to Doug!), and I'm running into what I figure is a self imposed problem, but I can't figure it out for the life of me...

I've got my pi wired up to two channels of a sainsmart relay array - running off of GPIO 24 and 25, inverted the output of the GPIO, everything's working out perfectly there. Elsinore can successfully switch those channels off an on as I'd expect, and the switch config is still there on future boots of the pi.

I wired up a pair of onewire temp probes. Everything worked out up to that point - elsinore sees the probes, I can rename them, and the probes (with their new names) are still there on future reboots of the pi.

But when I try to assign a GPIO to the heating channel of the probe, I can't seem to make it work. I plug in the GPIO (I'm using 22 for probe1 and 23 for probe2), and I can't seem to send a signal to the GPIO at that point. It looks like the probe config updates, but when I attempt to fire up that particular channel on manual (using 100% duty cycle, 10 second cycle time), a multimeter shows no signal ever passes on the designated GPIO. If I try to edit the probe again, the heater entry doesn't list any GPIO, and if I reboot, the probes both go back to having no controls assigned at all (just temperature readouts).

So, any idea what I might be doing wrong to generate this sort of result?

EDIT: Wouldn't you know it - no sooner do I post this, than I give it one more try and it works? Is there some kind of hangup or issue if you run Elsinore by adding

sudo /home/pi/BrewServer/launch.sh

to /etc/rc.local? That's the one difference here - I was running it that way, then on a lark I commented it out, rebooted, and manually logged in and kicked off launch.sh...

Did you try rebooting after adding the probes?

 

[DougEdey]

EDIT: Wouldn't you know it - no sooner do I post this, than I give it one more try and it works? Is there some kind of hangup or issue if you run Elsinore by adding

sudo /home/pi/BrewServer/launch.sh

to /etc/rc.local? That's the one difference here - I was running it that way, then on a lark I commented it out, rebooted, and manually logged in and kicked off launch.sh...

When you launch this way I suspect a path isn't being generated correctly, you could try adding debug to it, but I'm not sure if adding scripts that hang around should be done in rc.local, I always use services.

 

[stratslinger]

Thanks Doug - I'll have to dig into setting up services on raspbian...

 

[Borisfa]

I have no sucess to put my SSR to be turned on by RPi. I am using GPIO 24 (GPIO24) and when I try put PID to heat HLT, the algoritm tell me that is heating, but SSR doesnt switch on. May I ue some overlay for GPIO24?

Thanks for any help,

Fabiano da Mata

 

[TechyDork]

I have no sucess to put my SSR to be turned on by RPi. I am using GPIO 24 (GPIO24) and when I try put PID to heat HLT, the algoritm tell me that is heating, but SSR doesnt switch on. May I ue some overlay for GPIO24?

Thanks for any help,

Fabiano da Mata

Have you tried using other GPIOs to fire the SSR?

 

[DougEdey]

I have no sucess to put my SSR to be turned on by RPi. I am using GPIO 24 (GPIO24) and when I try put PID to heat HLT, the algoritm tell me that is heating, but SSR doesnt switch on. May I ue some overlay for GPIO24?

Thanks for any help,

Fabiano da Mata

24 should be fine, are you running as root? Can you show your wiring diagram?

 

[Borisfa]

Have you tried using other GPIOs to fire the SSR?

I tried other GPIOs, with no sucess.

24 should be fine, are you running as root? Can you show your wiring diagram?

I run as Pi user. I will take picture when I come back home.

I used a Debian instalation where I was using Brewpi. Do you agree I have to reformat my microSD again and start a new instalation?

Thanks,

Fabiano

 

[DougEdey]

I run as Pi user. I will take picture when I come back home.

How do you launch Elsinore? Do you use the launch script provided?

I used a Debian instalation where I was using Brewpi. Do you agree I have to reformat my microSD again and start a new instalation?

I've never installed BrewPi, but if it leaves scripts around that hold the pins for itself, you may need to clean install.

 

[Borisfa]

How do you launch Elsinore? Do you use the launch script provided?


I've never installed BrewPi, but if it leaves scripts around that hold the pins for itself, you may need to clean install.

I used startup launch. And I dont believe Brewpi uses this gpio, because it doesnt use GPIO. Brewpi use Arduino to control. RPi is used only as webserver and setpoint loader.

I will do a clean installation.

So, look at the picture attached.

Thanks,

Fabiano

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I used startup launch. And I dont believe Brewpi uses this gpio, because it doesnt use GPIO. Brewpi use Arduino to control. RPi is used only as webserver and setpoint loader.

I will do a clean installation.

So, look at the picture attached.

Thanks,

Fabiano

Theres no real reason to reinstall, BrewPi doesnt do anything but setup an Apache server, install python, and create some files...
As you noted, BrewPi only uses the RPI as a web server, all GPIO control is done via the Arduino over USB/TTY using JSON.

Looking at your picture its hard to see where things are plugged in.

It looks like from the picture you have ground and GPIO11 wired backwards. GPIO11(9 pins up from the bottom left from what i can see) is wired to the negative terminal of the SSR and ground is wired to the positive. You are most definately not using GPIO24, or even pin 24 for that matter so im a bit confused why you keep saying that...?

Also i will note it looks like you are just clamping down the SSR input on a header pin coming out of that jumper wire..please dont do this it is dangerous and it is not sturdy and will come off. Get some proper ring terminals for 22AWG wire, cut the header end off and crimp on the terminal.

 

[wbarber69]

Also try adding the ssr then rebooting I had a similar issue when I started up and that was what did it for me

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

So a question about a bug I've seen that I'd like some insight on how to prevent.

Basically things work great, my element it's firing at full and I'm getting the temp ramp per minute the math says I should.

Then I fiddle with changing it to manual mode or screw with the ui sizing, or something is causing it. The issue is that sbe starts only firing my pid maybe half a second per duty cycle period even if it's forced to 100 in auto or manual. If I set my duty time to 5, it turns it on 1 second and off 4 fit example, if I set it to 10 it's on for 1 second and off 9.

It will continue doing this no matter how I try to force it to 100%.

The only way to fix it is to restart sbe, and in my first instance of this I had to reclone and start from scratch to fix it.

It's very annoying and worrying me it will happen during a real brew, so far just water tests.

 

[ArmOnFire]

What is up with the "WARNING: Failed to find URI: /reorder probes"
when I try to move the temp sensors and their controls for the web layout?

I move them around to match my physical layout and on a refresh it puts them back in the original messed up order.

Also get a "Cannot run program "lshw": error=2, No such file in directory
No definitions file found, assuming direct mapping

I haven't brewed in a while but had three successful brews in the spring. Using a RPi.

 

[DougEdey]

What is up with the "WARNING: Failed to find URI: /reorder probes"
when I try to move the temp sensors and their controls for the web layout?

I move them around to match my physical layout and on a refresh it puts them back in the original messed up order.

This is a bug and will be fixed in the future, I currently have a lot going on and i'm not able to do any real work on Elsinore right now.

Also get a "Cannot run program "lshw": error=2, No such file in directory
No definitions file found, assuming direct mapping

I haven't brewed in a while but had three successful brews in the spring. Using a RPi.

You can ignore this warning, again, I need to fix the warning, it's a bit of code that is trying to autodetect your platform to cope with some changes that came in, but it's not really needed right now.

 

[kleczewj]

You can get past this message by installing lshw:

sudo apt-get install lshw

As Doug says, it is a harmless message...

Also get a "Cannot run program "lshw": error=2, No such file in directory
No definitions file found, assuming direct mapping

 

[ArmOnFire]

You can get past this message by installing lshw:

sudo apt-get install lshw

As Doug says, it is a harmless message...

I ended up doing just that, brewed a batch with no issues on SBE.

 

[ArmOnFire]

This is a bug and will be fixed in the future, I currently have a lot going on and i'm not able to do any real work on Elsinore right now.



You can ignore this warning, again, I need to fix the warning, it's a bit of code that is trying to autodetect your platform to cope with some changes that came in, but it's not really needed right now.

Thanks Doug, no worries. The base of the SBE process/system works, and it is just aesthetics.

 

[DougEdey]

Then I fiddle with changing it to manual mode or screw with the ui sizing, or something is causing it. The issue is that sbe starts only firing my pid maybe half a second per duty cycle period even if it's forced to 100 in auto or manual. If I set my duty time to 5, it turns it on 1 second and off 4 fit example, if I set it to 10 it's on for 1 second and off 9.

If you can find a way to reproduce this, please let me know, I bet there's an exception happening in the logs somewhere and it's causing the logic control to break