[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution

[CaptnDelta]

Hello CaptnDelta

Thank you very much for all of this. I have a few questions.

1. On the relay board does your 5 shut off valves only hook up to them? AND NOT YOUR FLOW METERS

The valve solenoid and flow meters are pretty much completely seperate cicuitry, even tho I'm using the same 6-pin connector per solenoid/flow counter stack. The solenoid relays have noting to do with the flow counters. 3 of the pins on each connector are for flow counters, the 3 remaining pins for the solenoid.

2. What is your brand of Shut off valves that you are using? What reasonably priced solenoids with a larger orifice would you use?

I used those here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-12-Volt...tic-Body-Water-etc-DDT-CS-12VDC-/121437063003
They are ok for me, but I got a long beer line which helps with foaming. Some beers like Pilsener don't do too well, tho. I haven't found anything yet which I'd consider a better replacement, maybe someone here can find something better. I'd recommend to get just one, hook it up to your tap, and just drive it straight with 12V DC. See how your beer pours before committing to them. I also removed the inlet screens on the valves, that helped quite a bit.

3. What about this to go from breadboard to rpi? I am using the rpi 2 with the 40 pin GPIO. If this works then I would call this M13 and would tie everything to this?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NWA2AS0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Yes, I think this should work

4. What is the 9 pin ribbon cable that you used to go from relay to breadboard? (part number) Did you cut a 40 pin ribbon down to 9 pin? Did you use breadboard pins soldered to the breadboard and then underneath (which we cannot see from the pictures) jumper to the underneath post on ULN1?

Yes, thats correct, I just soldered in pins, and then used this cable:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N7XX5WW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

5. What cable did you use for JPI? Is JP1 the three little squares on the alamode next to the SD car slot labled U3? Did you hook it up the same way as number 4 underneath the board?

JP1 just supplies power to the relay board circuitry, to power the relays. I just used leftovers from the JP2 cable above, same type pins soldered into the breadboard. This is not hooked to the alamode below.

6. What is a part number of X1 screw down ports? Do those solder directly to the breadboard?

I used these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H8A8BQ0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
and yes, they're soldered onto the bread board.

7. JP3 looks like it is ports D0 - D7 on the alamode I believe. Am I correct?

Correct. In your case (with the Uno) that would be a bit different, you probably wouldn't have that on your board.

8. Jp4 is the POWER port on the alamode????

Yes, it gets me the 5V from the alamode to power the flow meters. In your case (with the Uno) that would be a bit different, you probably wouldn't have that on your board.

9. From the third picture of your box. What is the white transformer?
10. Can you explain the green, white, and black power that you are using from the wall wart that plugs into the project box? Does your white go to port 1 on X5? What is port 2, and 3 on X5 (12V)

The white box is a step down converter to create 5V form the 12V power supply that I'm using: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A71CMDU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Basically, I have a 12V/10A power supply that plugs into the connector on the project box, the 5 V required for RPi, Alamode and Relay board are from there created via the step down converter.

The different "ports" on X1, X4 and X5 are just there to make it easier to hook all those wires up. For X5, I just use one "port" to bring the 12V power in, then use the "port" next to it to power the relay outputs. It's just there to make wiring easier (basically instead of using wire nuts, etc).

Cheers,
-Th

 

[day_trippr]

Back in this post of mine in the "weigh the keg" sub-thread I posted my tap list with a handful of kegs about to expire.
Here's a shot that shows those four kegs kicked (I waited for the fourth before swapping them all out).



While the Trappist is a bit of an outlier, that's not too shabby considering I set each to 640 ounces when tapped.
While I very rarely end up with less than 5 full gallons in the keg (I think it only happened once) I've often ended up with an extra quart.
So there's plenty of error potential (at least 32 ounces).

I have two batches that have been cold-crashing for over a week waiting for free kegs.
I'll try to actually weigh those, use the calculator, and see just how tight I can dial this in.

Meanwhile, I just cleaned all six beer lines and then swapped out those four kicked kegs.
Feeling good again




Cheers!

 

[johnmax]

Ok so ive been lurking for like 100 pages of this topic. I love what it does but dont really have the time and only like maybe half the programming chops to put one of these together. Is there any plans to preconfigure these and sell them? Or anyone here willing to sell one of their unused setups? I would pay the extra for a ready to run setup. Have a basement bar with 2 tap faucet. No homebrew (yet) but would still love to show whats on tap and have somewhat notice when im getting low.

Also wondering if there is a possiblilty of outputting the display to a Chromecast? I have a tv right behind my bar with one and that would make the wiring alot easier

[/url][/IMG]

 

[day_trippr]

We have iPad Airs, Kindle Fire HDs, a few 'Droid phones, and the tap list comes up on all of them.
But I've never seen the "Cast" icon show up on anything I've used to display my tap list...

Cheers!

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Plan is to get at least one of the Pis up - I think I can handle that part. Getting Pints installed and the arduino is where I will be checking in here more often.

Getting a Pi set up was easy. I installed the latest [Jessie] but am stumped on the monitor. My old Dell display stays in power saving mode despite having a powered HDMI to VGA converter. I am swapping to a DVI display but need another adapter (grrrr). The one I have for it is oddly a different form factor than the standard HDMI plug so it doesn't fit the Pi HDMI out. There's a reason why I have a whole file cabinet drawer filled with patch cables from years gone by. Oh well, Amazon order placed for the right one. Irritated that the HDMI to VGA connector didn't work - as far as I can tell, the pins should be the same (color guns and signal). No tweaking of the config.txt could bring it up.

 

[CaptnDelta]

Ok so ive been lurking for like 100 pages of this topic. I love what it does but dont really have the time and only like maybe half the programming chops to put one of these together. Is there any plans to preconfigure these and sell them? Or anyone here willing to sell one of their unused setups? I would pay the extra for a ready to run setup. Have a basement bar with 2 tap faucet. No homebrew (yet) but would still love to show whats on tap and have somewhat notice when im getting low.

Also wondering if there is a possiblilty of outputting the display to a Chromecast? I have a tv right behind my bar with one and that would make the wiring alot easier

[/url][/IMG]

Chromecast is a bit of a walled garden, not easy to get a "unapproved" app on there - at least I haven't tried in a few years. If you could get a amazon firetv (stick or box), it's possible to get firefox running there (that's what I'm using, I got a Chromecast too, but didn't get it to work aside from the silly 'cast' thing which needs another computer that actually has the browser).

I can build you a barebones RPints/Alamode combo with my version of RPints installed, you'll still need to do the electrical connections to the flow counters etc, tho . It'll probably take me a couple weeks to get around to it.

2 taps will leave a lot of room on that display...
Cheers,
-Th

 

[johnmax]

Chromecast is a bit of a walled garden, not easy to get a "unapproved" app on there - at least I haven't tried in a few years. If you could get a amazon firetv (stick or box), it's possible to get firefox running there (that's what I'm using, I got a Chromecast too, but didn't get it to work aside from the silly 'cast' thing which needs another computer that actually has the browser).

I can build you a barebones RPints/Alamode combo with my version of RPints installed, you'll still need to do the electrical connections to the flow counters etc, tho . It'll probably take me a couple weeks to get around to it.

2 taps will leave a lot of room on that display...
Cheers,
-Th

I was thinking the Cast option as I thought I saw something about Chrome or Chromium being used on the Pi somewhere in this thread. I could always swap it out for a Fire stick as they are cheap enough now.

Yea maybe you making me a RPints/Alamode combo is the better way for me. Im not a coding guy but I can wire anything so seems better. I may go with the cheaper flow meters at first anyway until I have it running for a while. Let me know what it would cost me or you can send me a PM if you wish. Youve been very helpful with everyone here so Im in no rush

 

[Mafoley29]

Hi Mafoley,

your package arrived yesterday, much thanks for that, I appreciate it. I hope to get around to that in the next few weeks.

Here as said earlier, a few schematics and pictures of the breakout board that I made for hooking my RPints build together.

Attached first is the schematic that shows how the level converter is hooked up. It also shows additional circuitry that takes the Alamode inputs to screw terminals. You may not need that part with your Uno.

The second picture is the board layout. Starting on the left and going clockwise:
* JP2 is the connector to the 8 channel relay board I used. There is a ribbon cable going straight across; you'll see that in the picture below. You'll see that only 6 inputs (pin 1-6 of ULN1) of the level converter are connected - that's because I only use 6 of the 8 relays (5 taps + one for the fan). You may need to adjust that to your needs, in total it can drive 8 circuits.
* Next is JP1, which supplies the relay board with 5V for the relay circuitry.
* M13 on the top connects to the GPIO of the RPi. I would up not making direct connections, but using post connectors next to M13 to use short jumper wires to make the connection to the GPIO. This gives a bit more flexibility when changing the GPIO pins used.
* JP3 to the right is the connector to the Alamode that picks up the flow meter inputs and routes them to screw terminals.
* JP4 is for supplying power to the flow meters and goes to the Alamode as well.
* X1, X4 and X5 at the bottom are screw terminals for the power supply, 5V on the right, GND in the middle and 12V on the right (not used on the board, it's for the actual solenoids).

The last 3 pics are just photos of how the whole thing sits in the project box. Basically, the Alamode is stacked on top of the RPi, and the breakout board on top of the Alamode. 5 V power is hooked up to the breakout board, and via a micro usb connector also to the Alamode. The breakout board supplies 5V to the relay board as mentioned (JP1) above.

The connectors to the outside are 6 pin, one for each tap + 1 for the fan. 3 pins on each connector are used for the flow counter for that tap as usual. One pin is solenoid ground, one pin is connected to the switching side of the relay, and one is 12V. This way I can override the RPi logic in the keezer with a 3 way switch for each tap: On, Off, RPi control.

That's about it, let me know if you need further help.

Good luck
-Th

A few more questions if you have time.

Take power out of the loop for the uno and rpi as that is already done and not needed.

I believe the three screw post for x1 go to your flow meters only??? If so I can eliminate this. From x4 is ground running to the flow meters and solenoids?

Can you go deeper from the wall wart to converter, converter to x1, x4 and x5?

Why do you run ground to d6 on the alamode?

2nd relay port goes to gpio 18. I thought we can not use that port?

Jp1 pin 1 (Lower pin) is ground
Middle pin is empty
Pin 3 is 5v
This supplies power to the relay board??????

What is the purpose of grounding out port 8 on the level converter?????

If I am not hooking up flow meters to the bread board and only using this for the solenoids could I just run my ground from gpio to jp1 and uln1 and be done?

Do you have a part number for the dc connection that is hooked up to your project box that the wall wart plugs into?

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Rpi is up and running but I am stumped on Step 6 of the install. The CLI is returning errors when I run the last line "sudo ./setup"

cp: cannot create regular file '/usr/share/arduino/hardware/tools': No such file or directory

There are about 8 lines that are similar to the above. Since I am blindly following directions, I do not know what this means; I understand what it is saying, but I do not know why.

And, I installed Chromium onto Jessie. Simple:
http://conoroneill.net/running-the-latest-chromium-45-on-debian-jessie-on-your-raspberry-pi-2/

 

[day_trippr]

Make sure you've successfully installed the Arduino IDE before moving on to this section.
My guess is you skipped that step hence there are folders missing.

This is the setup script for the Alamode additions to the Arduino IDE:

#!/bin/bash

cp avrdude /usr/bin/avrdude
cp avrdude /usr/share/arduino/hardware/tools
cp avrdude.conf  /usr/share/arduino/hardware/tools
cp boards.txt  /usr/share/arduino/hardware/arduino
sed -i'bk' -e's/console=ttyAMA0,115200.//' -e's/kgdboc=tty.*00.//'  /boot/cmdline.txt
sed -i'bk' -e'/T0.*ttyAMA0.*vt100/s/T0/#T0/' /etc/inittab
rm /etc/inittabbk
cp 80-alamode.rules /etc/udev/rules.d
chown root /usr/bin/avrdude /usr/share/arduino/hardware/tools/avrdude
chgrp root /usr/bin/avrdude /usr/share/arduino/hardware/tools/avrdude
chmod a+s /usr/bin/avrdude /usr/share/arduino/hardware/tools/avrdude

Pretty straightforward. The key is to start with the tar file in your /home/pi directory, unpack it (the files should then end up in a /home/pi/alamode-setup folder), then cd into that folder and execute the setup shell script as user sudo.

pi@raspberrypi ~ $ tar -xvzf alamode-setup.tar.gz
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ cd alamode-setup
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ sudo ./setup

The script will copy the files to their final locations as shown in the script above, set their access rights, set up some system wide variables, and exit. Should plain work...

Cheers!

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Should plain work...

I hear ya but I'm still stuck. This is a screen shot from the pi:

 

[scoobyd63]

I too am having a problem when running the setup.

 

[day_trippr]

I hear ya but I'm still stuck. This is a screen shot from the pi:

Could you confirm that you installed the Arduino IDE prior?

Cheers!

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Could you confirm that you installed the Arduino IDE prior?

Cheers!

I installed the arduino IDE per the following:

sudo apt-get install arduino

I now get the exact same error as what is posted above from scooby. I rebooted after the IDE install. Note, my error looks like his now and not what I posted in #1651

 

[day_trippr]

I wonder if the Arduino IDE installation has changed.

Could you walk the directory path to see where the expected structure goes missing?

Like, do this:

$ ls -l /user/share/arduino
$ ls -l /user/share/arduino/hardware
$ ls -l /user/share/arduino/hardware/tools
$ ls -l /user/share/arduino/hardware/tools/avrdude

and the other branch:

$ ls -l /user/share/arduino/hardware/arduino

Cheers!

 

[scoobyd63]

I can see the directories from an explorer view but get the follow error in the console. Are the directories supposed to be under the "/root" path?

 

[day_trippr]

I can see the directories from an explorer view but get the follow error in the console. Are the directories supposed to be under the "/root" path?

I just realized #^%@$! autocorrect changed "usr" to "user".

And while you're at it at the console, use sudo so nothing gets in your way:

$ sudo ls -l /usr/share/arduino
$ sudo ls -l /usr/share/arduino/hardware
$ sudo ls -l /usr/share/arduino/hardware/tools
$ sudo ls -l /usr/share/arduino/hardware/tools/avrdude

and 

$ sudo ls -l /usr/share/arduino/hardware/arduino

Cheers!

 

[scoobyd63]

Auto correct is the best! Here are the results below. Thanks again day_trippr! I have to cut out for the night. I will be back at it tomorrow (maybe while I am supposed to be "working").

 

[schmoe]

Just got this up and running on the raspberry pi 7" touchscreen. Had to remove some columns and zoom out but it looks pretty fantastic. Now to get it mounted by the keezer.

 

[dwygrsshpr]

I can confirm exact same results as Scooby. All the list commands are a perfect match to his screen shot.

Edit to add: Putting Wheezy on my second Rpi to see if there is a difference.

Edit to add #2: So far I am past Step 6 on Wheezy....

 

[CaptnDelta]

Jessie did away with SysV init and uses systemd instead, so no more /etc/inittab. That's where the alamode install script croaks on. Use Wheezy.
Wonder if the alamode people gonna fix that...

Cheers,
-Th

 

[dwygrsshpr]

100% install on wheezy. I will type up my process so that there is a clean-sheet install (may reinstall from scratch to get process flow down a little better). I have yet to monkey with the flow-meters and I have decided to switch to the alamode so I don't have USB update issues but I am happy we got this far. Thanks for all the help!

 

[CaptnDelta]

Sorry, was out of town for a bit, didn't have much internet...

A few more questions if you have time.

Take power out of the loop for the uno and rpi as that is already done and not needed.

I believe the three screw post for x1 go to your flow meters only??? If so I can eliminate this.

X1 supplies 5V power to the relay board. In addition I just use it to have a spot to connect incoming power (from the voltage converter hooked up to the 1st pin on X1) and outgoing leads (to alamode + pi hooked up on 2nd pin of X1).

From x4 is ground running to the flow meters and solenoids?

Correct, also hooks up incoming ground from the power supply

Can you go deeper from the wall wart to converter, converter to x1, x4 and x5?

Incoming 12v goes to input of voltage converter and X5
output of voltage converter (5V) goes to X1
Incoming ground goes to voltage converter ground and X4

Why do you run ground to d6 on the alamode?

D6?

2nd relay port goes to gpio 18. I thought we can not use that port?

Yes, the schematic is the first draft and I never updated it. Guess how I found out?

Jp1 pin 1 (Lower pin) is ground
Middle pin is empty
Pin 3 is 5v
This supplies power to the relay board??????

Yes, once you got that board (if you use the 8 channel), then you'll see how this works. I basically used a 3 pin flat ribbon cable (leftover from P2) from this connector straight to the relay board.

What is the purpose of grounding out port 8 on the level converter?????

You need a ground reference...

If I am not hooking up flow meters to the bread board and only using this for the solenoids could I just run my ground from gpio to jp1 and uln1 and be done?

Yes, should be ok. The extra ground (via X4) isn't really required, I think.

Do you have a part number for the dc connection that is hooked up to your project box that the wall wart plugs into?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HR81YJY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Cheers,
-Th

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Hi Captn,

Having a little trouble with editing the taplist. I got three of the four working but not perfectly. I was editing the third one and got into trouble. It no longer lets me select which keg to use. The drop down doesn't actually 'drop down' for some reason and I can't clear the menu (have to reboot).

Is there a way to edit the menu database outside of the page (actually dive into the code)? Also, everything I am typing ends up with quotations around it. I want those out. Ideas/guidance?

Dropdown error. Notice quotes around "Jack and Coke" I did not type those in. Also, I did not type any of the quotation marks seen on the display.

 

[Mafoley29]

Sorry, was out of town for a bit, didn't have much internet...


X1 supplies 5V power to the relay board. In addition I just use it to have a spot to connect incoming power (from the voltage converter hooked up to the 1st pin on X1) and outgoing leads (to alamode + pi hooked up on 2nd pin of X1).


Correct, also hooks up incoming ground from the power supply



Incoming 12v goes to input of voltage converter and X5
output of voltage converter (5V) goes to X1
Incoming ground goes to voltage converter ground and X4


D6?


Yes, the schematic is the first draft and I never updated it. Guess how I found out?


Yes, once you got that board (if you use the 8 channel), then you'll see how this works. I basically used a 3 pin flat ribbon cable (leftover from P2) from this connector straight to the relay board.


You need a ground reference...

Yes, should be ok. The extra ground (via X4) isn't really required, I think.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HR81YJY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Cheers,
-Th

You answered all of my questions and was able to do the build. Could you explain this for me?

Looking at your schematic for how you hooked up uln1. Port 9 which is the top. If you look at it the left side is getting 5v from the gpio port and the right side of uln1 is hooked up to ground.

Am I reading that correctly?

Thanks again

Matt

 

[CaptnDelta]

You answered all of my questions and was able to do the build. Could you explain this for me?

Looking at your schematic for how you hooked up uln1. Port 9 which is the top. If you look at it the left side is getting 5v from the gpio port and the right side of uln1 is hooked up to ground.

Am I reading that correctly?

Thanks again

Matt

Yes. Here is the data sheet for the 2803:
https://www.adafruit.com/datasheets/ULN2803A.pdf

Cheers,
-Th

 

[CaptnDelta]

Hi Captn,

Having a little trouble with editing the taplist. I got three of the four working but not perfectly. I was editing the third one and got into trouble. It no longer lets me select which keg to use. The drop down doesn't actually 'drop down' for some reason and I can't clear the menu (have to reboot).

Is there a way to edit the menu database outside of the page (actually dive into the code)? Also, everything I am typing ends up with quotations around it. I want those out. Ideas/guidance?

Dropdown error. Notice quotes around "Jack and Coke" I did not type those in. Also, I did not type any of the quotation marks seen on the display.

I think you may have 2 problems here:
(1) for the inability to select a keg, are you sure you have at least one keg configured which is in the correct state to be eligible for selection? If you do, then the fix below may help here as well.

(2) As for the quotes, I may have left a bug in an earlier version of the release, which I've fixed since. Check admin/includes/functions.php to see if there is a
"function encode($string)"
and that it looks like:

function encode($string){
	$string = str_replace(array("\n", "\r"), '', $string);
	$string = htmlentities ($string, ENT_QUOTES);
	return $string;
	}

You'll have to re-edit your beers to get rid of the quotes.

Cheers,
-Th

 

[user 208089]

100% install on wheezy. I will type up my process so that there is a clean-sheet install (may reinstall from scratch to get process flow down a little better). I have yet to monkey with the flow-meters and I have decided to switch to the alamode so I don't have USB update issues but I am happy we got this far. Thanks for all the help!

Looking forward to this. I'm stuck and tried other fixes in previous post, just not grasping as I'm computer dumb!

Validating Entries...Success!
Checking DB connectivity...Success!
Checking config folder permissions...Success!

Cannot write the configuration files. Please check the /includes/ folder permissions. See the RPints Installation page on www.raspberrypints.com.
Cannot write the configuration files. Please check the /admin/includes/ folder permissions. See the RPints Installation page on www.raspberrypints.com.

Please press the back button on your browser to fix these errors

 

[CaptnDelta]

Looking forward to this. I'm stuck and tried other fixes in previous post, just not grasping as I'm computer dumb!

Validating Entries...Success!
Checking DB connectivity...Success!
Checking config folder permissions...Success!

Cannot write the configuration files. Please check the /includes/ folder permissions. See the RPints Installation page on www.raspberrypints.com.
Cannot write the configuration files. Please check the /admin/includes/ folder permissions. See the RPints Installation page on www.raspberrypints.com.

Please press the back button on your browser to fix these errors

sudo chmod -R +rw /var/www/*

Cheers,
-Th

 

[user 208089]

sudo chmod -R +rw /var/www/*

Cheers,
-Th

Thanks for the help. I tried that about 4-5 times and in different directories and finally got it to work.

 

[scoobyd63]

100% install on wheezy. I will type up my process so that there is a clean-sheet install (may reinstall from scratch to get process flow down a little better). I have yet to monkey with the flow-meters and I have decided to switch to the alamode so I don't have USB update issues but I am happy we got this far. Thanks for all the help!

Forgive my ignorance, but how did you install wheezy instead of Jessie? I downloaded the Wheezy image and pushed it to the SD card. However, when I boot up I have no video display. I can ssh via putty from my pc to the rpi and execute commands , but no video shows up on my monitor.

 

[Mafoley29]

Yes. Here is the data sheet for the 2803:
https://www.adafruit.com/datasheets/ULN2803A.pdf

Cheers,
-Th

Ok.... I am getting closer. Breadboard is built, hooked up to relay module and works fine.

My x4
Port 1 - goes to solenoids
Port 2 - goes to power supply
Port 3 - goes to voltage converter

My x5 which is 12v
Port 1 - goes to solenoids
Port 2 - power in from power supply
Port 3 - red wire on power converter

I do have the 8 port relay module

Two wires that come out of the relay. 1 equals on status. The other off status.

I have searched the inner web and cannot figure how to make the connection to the solenoid. I have the ehcotech DDT-cs-12vdc solenoids.

Two connections exist on the solenoid.

Do I hook 12 volt up to one side?
Both wires from the relay module up to the other side? Which will turn it on and off...
Then ground to one of the four screw post that attach to the middle of the solenoid???


Thanks for the support

Matt

 

[CaptnDelta]

Ok.... I am getting closer. Breadboard is built, hooked up to relay module and works fine.

My x4
Port 1 - goes to solenoids
Port 2 - goes to power supply
Port 3 - goes to voltage converter

My x5 which is 12v
Port 1 - goes to solenoids
Port 2 - power in from power supply
Port 3 - red wire on power converter

I do have the 8 port relay module

Two wires that come out of the relay. 1 equals on status. The other off status.

I have searched the inner web and cannot figure how to make the connection to the solenoid. I have the ehcotech DDT-cs-12vdc solenoids.

Two connections exist on the solenoid.

Do I hook 12 volt up to one side?
Both wires from the relay module up to the other side? Which will turn it on and off...
Then ground to one of the four screw post that attach to the middle of the solenoid???


Thanks for the support

Matt

each relay has 3 contacts on the output side: The normally-open (NO) contact, the normally-closed (NC) contact and the movable contact that switches between the two. If you look from the top on each relay, NC is left, NO is right, and movable in the middle.

You go from your 12V supply (X5) to the movable, and from NO to one contact of the solenoid. The other side of the solenoid goes to ground (X4).

Also, one thing I did not mention (but which is standard practice for anything that switches a inductive load) is to add a flyback diode across the two solenoid contacts - otherwise, when opening the relay contacts the coil in the solenoid acts like the ignition coil in your car and creates a large voltage spike. The flyback diode limits that. Attached is a small diagram for illustration, but google helps too. You can get 100 of them for 2 bucks, need one for each solenoid:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LUJFFAU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Make sure the polarity is correct.


Cheers,
-Th

EDIT: make sure that the solenoids work for your beer lines before you wire all this up. Connect the beer lines to your solenoids and flow counter, use the 12 power supply to open the solenoid, and make sure the beer pours to your liking. Hate to see you go thru all this and then it only creates foam...

 

[dwygrsshpr]

Forgive my ignorance, but how did you install wheezy instead of Jessie? I downloaded the Wheezy image and pushed it to the SD card. However, when I boot up I have no video display. I can ssh via putty from my pc to the rpi and execute commands , but no video shows up on my monitor.

I went through my own monitor hell before I even got started. Some information required: what kind of monitor, what kind of connection, and have you made any adjustments to the /boot/config.txt file?

If no to the last, the very first thing you should uncomment is

hdmi_force_hotplug=1

 

[dwygrsshpr]

I think you may have 2 problems here:
(1) for the inability to select a keg, are you sure you have at least one keg configured which is in the correct state to be eligible for selection? If you do, then the fix below may help here as well.

(2) As for the quotes, I may have left a bug in an earlier version of the release, which I've fixed since. Check admin/includes/functions.php to see if there is a
"function encode($string)"
and that it looks like:

function encode($string){
	$string = str_replace(array("\n", "\r"), '', $string);
	$string = htmlentities ($string, ENT_QUOTES);
	return $string;
	}

You'll have to re-edit your beers to get rid of the quotes.

Cheers,
-Th

How do I check/edit "admin/includes/functions.php"?

I am not very familiar with coding anything (nano or leafpad are not the right choice?). I have a very fresh install that got all the way through with no problems but I have not edited anything. FWIW, I backed up my image after step 8 of pints install so I am solid for making changes without losing anything. My alamode board just arrived so I will be soldering headers tomorrow so I can play all weekend during our East Coast blizzard!

 

[CaptnDelta]

How do I check/edit "admin/includes/functions.php"?

I am not very familiar with coding anything (nano or leafpad are not the right choice?). I have a very fresh install that got all the way through with no problems but I have not edited anything. FWIW, I backed up my image after step 8 of pints install so I am solid for making changes without losing anything. My alamode board just arrived so I will be soldering headers tomorrow so I can play all weekend during our East Coast blizzard!

sudo nano /var/www/admin/includes/functions.php

make sure that the function 'encode($string)' is as indicated in the last message. If you make changes, ctrl-o to save; ctrl-x to exit.

There was a bug in the original version of RPints; when any of your beer descriptions had a 'return' character, it would no longer let you tap a beer. While trying to fix that, I inadvertently created a bug that added those quotes. The above should fix that.

Cheers,
-Th

 

[scoobyd63]

I went through my own monitor hell before I even got started. Some information required: what kind of monitor, what kind of connection, and have you made any adjustments to the /boot/config.txt file?

If no to the last, the very first thing you should uncomment is

hdmi_force_hotplug=1

Standard 19" 16:9 monitor HDMI

I cannot edit the config.txt I am getting permission errors.

 

[dwygrsshpr]

sudo nano /var/www/admin/includes/functions.php

make sure that the function 'encode($string)' is as indicated in the last message. If you make changes, ctrl-o to save; ctrl-x to exit.

There was a bug in the original version of RPints; when any of your beer descriptions had a 'return' character, it would no longer let you tap a beer. While trying to fix that, I inadvertently created a bug that added those quotes. The above should fix that.

Cheers,
-Th

Definitely the problem. The below is what my functions.php file looked like. Is it possible for you to upload that change in your github repository or did I download the wrong zip? I am not yet familiar with how github works - it feels a little ADD to me but I blame that on said unfamiliarity.

Next question: I am looking at my alamode board and the header meant to the interface with the pi is only 26 pins compared to the 40 on the pi. I assume this is correct and why I have to pay attention to the pinout on the pi (searching pi GPIO pinout was most enlightening). I was going to go ahead and solder all the headers that came with the alamode but we only need the ones at the GPIO from the pi correct? Any arguments for or against all the headers?

Standard 19" 16:9 monitor HDMI

I cannot edit the config.txt I am getting permission errors.

How did you get thru the wheezy install without a monitor? ie, how can you ssh in without finishing the set-up? Did you format the card before dropping the wheezy img? Getting good power to the board? Is this the same board that had Jessie?

sudo leafpad /boot/config.txt

or nano in place of leafpad if you like that better.

 

[scoobyd63]

How did you get thru the wheezy install without a monitor? ie, how can you ssh in without finishing the set-up? Did you format the card before dropping the wheezy img? Getting good power to the board? Is this the same board that had Jessie?

sudo leafpad /boot/config.txt

or nano in place of leafpad if you like that better.

I reformatted the SD card with the format tool, then just pushed the image to the card via the win32diskimager. This is the same board that had "Jessie" loaded. I guess I am not clear on the wheezy image. I didn't install noobs because as I understand that just interfaced to load Raspian "Jessie". So I just followed instructions for the install and just pushed the image to the card. I put the card in, powered up, no hdmi video. However, I was able to ssh to it (after finding the ip that it grabbed from DHCP. I could also connect with Win SCP and had the whole file structure there. I am a windows server admin with a little bit of CLI knowledge, but has been many years since I touched linux. Actually I have another pi running brewpi on my ferm chamber. I figured this wouldn't be too much different....except the Raspian version is different. Anyways, I really appreciate your expert tutelage, so thanks!

 

[dwygrsshpr]

I reformatted the SD card with the format tool, then just pushed the image to the card via the win32diskimager. This is the same board that had "Jessie" loaded. I guess I am not clear on the wheezy image. I didn't install noobs because as I understand that just interfaced to load Raspian "Jessie". So I just followed instructions for the install and just pushed the image to the card. I put the card in, powered up, no hdmi video. However, I was able to ssh to it (after finding the ip that it grabbed from DHCP. I could also connect with Win SCP and had the whole file structure there. I am a windows server admin with a little bit of CLI knowledge, but has been many years since I touched linux. Actually I have another pi running brewpi on my ferm chamber. I figured this wouldn't be too much different....except the Raspian version is different. Anyways, I really appreciate your expert tutelage, so thanks!

Not an expert at all, just following the steps given here and muddling my own way through. I wasn't kidding when I called Captn and daytripper demigods. My original monitor hell was due to trying to use a VGA monitor. I got that sorted by using a spare HDMI port on a flatscreen TV to at least get the Pi up and running to edit the config file. I have since moved to a DVI monitor and it was instantly recognized. Have any luck with accessing that yet? There are a lot of resources on how to edit for the display and get the monitor to 'wake-up'. HDMI requires a handshake IIRC which is why uncommenting the 'HDMI hot' line in the config.txt is key.