[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution
- Thread starter skemp45
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk:
waynerob11
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2021
- Messages
- 46
- Reaction score
- 12
Up and running thanks to RandR+ install script - what format must the yeast temperature range be - it tells me to enter a valid number but won't accept 12 or 15
Not that it matters, but What is your unit of measure for Temperature?
I ran a local test and found the same results that 12 and 15 didnt work for Fahrenheit but it doesnt make sense because the code isnt checking a range of nubmers just that the text is a number. Will look into more
Ok i found the issue, the script was checking hidden inputs for validation which failed but showed up on the visible input. If you rerun the installer it will have an option to update, run that option and you will get the fix
Hi everyone, thanks for the installation and the others explications all along the thread... I finally installed rpints with flowmeters, temp and RFID, next step I would like to add some valves to finalize the system, I have 3 taps. What is better to do with a raspberry pi and Arduino uno r3 (and the 3 flowmeters also) ? To put some power supply to the uno (9V) for the 3 valves maybe ? And where do I plug the valves exactly? Or Is it better to use electrical relay ? Especially with some 12v valves maybe, I don't have the valves yet, I don't know what kind is the best. And with the hardware do I need to activate some things in Rpints? Or some script to open the valves with RFID and maybe a red/green led, or is it already includes?
I have these
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016MP1HX0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have a 12v power supply for the Pi that I also use for the valves through relays.
The relay triggers are plugged into the Pi, the shield will tell the Pi to turn them on or off. You can connect the relay trigger to the shield directly I dont have enough pins on it though.
You can control the valves through the tap page (turn on or off) or RPints will use your RFID reader will trigger them to open for a configurable amount of time through the tap page
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
Oooooh thanks, I'm really interested with the 12v power supply, I think it is the best way to handle relays and flowmeter and valves... Can I have more details about that, what kind, the connections and others stuffs please, if it is not to much to ask? And i see that the programmation directly in Rpints is easy... Thanks for that by the way...
The power supply description is Culver LED AC 110V-240V To DC 12V 8.3A(100W) Switching Power Supply Regulated Power Transformer Adapter for Industrial Automation, LED Strips,CCTV,Rad
the relay is JBtek DC 5V 8 Channel Relay Module & 40 Pin Female-Female Dupont Cable for Arduino Raspberry Pi DSP AVR PIC ARM
they are no longer on amazon to give you a link.
I use a 12v to 5v converter to power the relay board and my pi (cut usb cable). I connected basic wire from the other set to power the relays.
The positive feeds all the commons of the relays. the negative gets split to the valves using push to connect fittings (instead of wire nuts since I have 8 valves)
The relay board came with pinned ribbon wire that made connecting the pi to the board very easy. I had to connect the ground from the pi to the relay board otherwise the relays would not turn on.
Noice ! Thanks for the details, very interesting and something that I have in mind, I will try to connect all of that when i'll receive my valves 
And i have a question about Rpints, especially for the bottles, I understand that is used for the taps mostly but is there a way to have like several buttons for the same beer (in the same ligne) but for different type of bottles (12oz, 16oz...or more) instead of have to put the same beer with differents bottles, I don't know if it understandable or if I missed something, but I find the "click on the beer" for the bottles very useful to track the remaining bottles once you pick a beer, but if you have 3 or 4 kind of bottles with differents volumes for each beer, there is also 3 or 4 lignes for that... And if you have more beers... I could be a lot of lignes for the bottles...
And i have a question about Rpints, especially for the bottles, I understand that is used for the taps mostly but is there a way to have like several buttons for the same beer (in the same ligne) but for different type of bottles (12oz, 16oz...or more) instead of have to put the same beer with differents bottles, I don't know if it understandable or if I missed something, but I find the "click on the beer" for the bottles very useful to track the remaining bottles once you pick a beer, but if you have 3 or 4 kind of bottles with differents volumes for each beer, there is also 3 or 4 lignes for that... And if you have more beers... I could be a lot of lignes for the bottles...
In understand what you are saying, but it is not possible right now to configure your system for that without coding it up
Hello again, i have more questions everything seems to be working well, but one thing, what is the red cross around the keg ? i assume it's link to the valves, i don't have that icon when i deactivate the valves, but it doesn't change when i open the valves... what does it mean exactly ?
and another thing, in the motion detector configuration, when you put a pin number for the LED, how we need to connect the LED exactly ? only the pin and the gnd with some resistor ? or it need to interact with the PIR ? on the Pi or arduino ?
thanks
everything seems to be working well, but one thing, what is the red cross around the keg ? i assume it's link to the valves, i don't have that icon when i deactivate the valves, but it doesn't change when i open the valves... what does it mean exactly ?
and another thing, in the motion detector configuration, when you put a pin number for the LED, how we need to connect the LED exactly ? only the pin and the gnd with some resistor ? or it need to interact with the PIR ? on the Pi or arduino ?
thanks
Yes that is linked to the valves, Open the valves and refresh the page to see if it changes. it could be that it doesnt see the update from the python to refresh the page when the valves changes.
I dont use the LED so i cant help, but im pretty sure you need a resistor in there.
It is based on a database value set by the python so if the python is not running this will not update. you can look at /var/log/rpints.log to see if there are any errors in it. Also if you dont have the value pin set correctly it wont change
yes, oki, the pins are correct and i hear the click and see the led of the relays, and when i have another internet tab with the tap's page, it refresh automatically when i click on "let it flow" or "stop", but i have some errors in the log effectively...:
Just wanted to drop in and say thank you to RandR+, and all the others that are keeping this running. Also, I want to remind everyone to backup their SD cards if they haven't done it recently. I had a scare last weekend where I thought my card was corrupt. Turns out I was just impatient and didn't wait for the PI to fully boot. You better believe that once it came back up that I backed up the card.
Now I've got a question, what weight sensors are people using on their systems? I'm thinking about building/adding a scale to keep track of my CO2 tank. I know I'll need an HX711, but what kind of load sensors are compatible? Do you use one sensor or a group (like 1 under each corner)? Also does the HX711 plug into the PI GPIO pins or does it plug into the Arduino (I'm running a Nano).
Now I've got a question, what weight sensors are people using on their systems? I'm thinking about building/adding a scale to keep track of my CO2 tank. I know I'll need an HX711, but what kind of load sensors are compatible? Do you use one sensor or a group (like 1 under each corner)? Also does the HX711 plug into the PI GPIO pins or does it plug into the Arduino (I'm running a Nano).
Most likely those error are because a screen refreshed and the python is trying to talk to the old connection. I thought i surpressed those errors as they arent a real problem.
You can try checking the database for the value, from the terminal
sudo mysql
use raspberrypints (or your database name)
select valvepinstate from tapconfig;
any tap that returns 0 should be on and that should indicate on the main tap list
while i dont use scales, I do know that the sensor hooks up to the PI GPIO pins as RPints uses python running on the PI to talk to it
when i check my database, i see the correct pin number valvePin, and the valveOn to 0 (it changes to 1 when I click on "let it flow"), but for the valvePinState, i have NULL, and if I change that manually to 0, it changes the red cross to a green check, but not automatically...
just in case, i don't have the valves connected yet, i simulate them with the relays, (if it does change something...) i am just too impatient to try ^^
Are relays connected to the Pi or Shield?
If its the shield i found a bug in the python that would cause this. In python\PintDispatch.py ~line 711
change
str(-1*pin)
to
str(pin)
the python expects the pins to be on the Pi i will have to do something to fix that
to the shield, it is easier for me, but i can try to connect them to the Pi when i have the time, i think i have still some available pins, and in this case, i need to check the case Valvle Pi pin ? and put the gnd between the relay and the Pi (instead of the shield) to have the pin's state loop.
I think if you can make that code change you shouldnt have to change the wiring. its just the update is trying to set the state for a negative pin but you only have positive pins
Im going back on my last post, I realized the shield is the one that makes the decision to turn on or off the valves not the python. So if the valves are on the shield the python does not get an update that they changed.
So yes you can switch the wiring and check the pi pin for each tap or i can code up a new message that will tell the Python to update the database (which i will do eventually now that i know about this).
i tried to change the wires to the Pi, it works, the icon change to green check, but question ? is it possible to change the timing to refresh the web page ? because it refreshes too fast, and the update does not occur at the first automatic update of the database, but if i refresh the page again one second later, i see the change...
and with a RFID card, it opens the relays, change the valves to open, but i need to refresh manually to see the green check ^^ that's weird
and with a RFID card, it opens the relays, change the valves to open, but i need to refresh manually to see the green check ^^ that's weird
Last edited:
I noticed that in my testing to make sure mine changed. I will look into when i get to the update message
I have a new problem with my installation, and i don't really know why, sometimes the valves close right after they open when I scan a RFID card, but not always...like 1 out of 10 maybe... not regular...that's the problem really, I tried to search for similar problem in the thread, and i found that I could be power dumb, but the pins valves are link to the raspberry (with a power only for him, I checked for undervoltage, it is fine), and i have a 12v power for the valves, the uno is link to the raspberry with USB, but it has its own 9v power...and I have only 3 valves.
Maybe in the script, is it possible to add some wait time after switch on relays between the valves? Like 200ms or so between each valves, to avoid that ? I don't know if it could help... Because like I said, it happens not so often.
Maybe in the script, is it possible to add some wait time after switch on relays between the valves? Like 200ms or so between each valves, to avoid that ? I don't know if it could help... Because like I said, it happens not so often.
It would be possible, in the Arduino code function piStatusCheck loops through the valves to turn them on, thats were the delay would need to be added.
Before that i would rather check the logs to see if they are being turned off right after turning on. To do that verify in /python/Config.py
config['flowmon.debug' ] = True
and
config['dispatch.debug' ] = True
if not set them that way and restart the service.
When it does happen, stop and look at /var/log/rpints.log
Towards the end of the file there should be a WP;1;3;<pin1>;<pin2>;<pin3> message then general logging after that, if you see a WP;0;3;<pin1>;<pin2>;<pin3> message after that then the logic is closing the valves and its not a power issue.
When I first started with valves I ran into the same issue and found that the new logic wasnt right so I added a lot of debug log to trace why they were shutting down. If you see the WP;0 message feel free to post the logs between WP;1 and WP;0 message for me to decode
Under the beer styles in the Admin menu, there is an Add a Beer Style button that will bring you to the form to add
Similar threads
