Before I move on...

[Sral]

mmmm what do you mean by "PCA9685 does sometimes not react to a change"

Well, the PI sends commands to the PCA9685 over the I2C Bus. If that Bus fails right in the moment that command is sent, the PCA9685 output stays where it was, possibly keeping the connected equipment in the wrong state.

That doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. Currently ReefPi doesn’t check for this or resends the commands. Although it is definitely fixable with software on the ReefPi side.

 

[Hugo_Fish]

tbh that sounds really dangerous especially dosing..

 

[Hugo_Fish]

question .,.. currently still working on my second temp probe.... it seems to not wanting to detect the other one.. when I copy this into the config file and change the pin number


dtoverlay=w1-gpio,gpiopin=4
dtoverlay=w1-gpio,gpiopin=16


Do the 4 and 16 mean the physical pin or the logic pin..

I'm going to bed.. lol have a family gathering at my girlfriend's sister's place..... wish me luck ..

 

[Sral]

tbh that sounds really dangerous especially dosing..

Exactly, that’s why quite a few people opt not to do that using the PCA9685.

You can still use the PWM from the PCA9685 to dimm the individual pumps, but that requires more parts.

question .,.. currently still working on my second temp probe.... it seems to not wanting to detect the other one.. when I copy this into the config file and change the pin number


dtoverlay=w1-gpio,gpiopin=4
dtoverlay=w1-gpio,gpiopin=16


Do the 4 and 16 mean the physical pin or the logic pin..

I'm going to bed.. lol have a family gathering at my girlfriend's sister's place..... wish me luck ..

Best of luck !
I think the 4 and 16 are the logic numbers, look here: pinout.xyz

 

[Hugo_Fish]

Exactly, that’s why quite a few people opt not to do that using the PCA9685.

You can still use the PWM from the PCA9685 to dimm the individual pumps, but that requires more parts.



Best of luck !
I think the 4 and 16 are the logic numbers, look here: pinout.xyz

-.- out of the 5 4.7k resistors I had, only 1 was really 4.7k. at least they are cheap .. picked up 100 off amazon. I'm just mad it took forever to realize that they were bad.

 

[Hugo_Fish]

.. so since I2C is a bus, is it possible to use a MCP23017 (Adafruit sells them already soldered...) to extend the General purpose Pins ? If so, would the software already see it? Trying to find something where I only have to use 1 Pi..

 

[Hugo_Fish]

Hey, are the pins stated in guide hard coded into ReefPi? currently looking at making the dosing pump and trying to use the same Pi as everything else. I can see there are 6 free open Pins left and want to use them. currently having problems with the Pi not seeing the 2nd temp probe and wondering if its software problem.

 

[Hugo_Fish]

mmm, well time to test XD ... I bought the MCP23017 that I linked above and it should be here Monday I believe. I will update once it comes in and played with.

 

[Hugo_Fish]

... I just figured out I can use the PCA9685 pins for the outlets... this would open all the Gen Pins on the Pi... @Sral did you mention this before?

Add support for MCP23017 IC <--- Link to what i found..

 

[Sral]

... I just figured out I can use the PCA9685 pins for the outlets... this would open all the Gen Pins on the Pi... @Sral did you mention this before?

Add support for MCP23017 IC <--- Link to what i found..

Yes, I think I did. Same problem of course: if the I2C network fails on command to the PCA9685 or MCP, it doesn’t change the outlet state and ReefPi isn’t currently rechecking the outlet states.

 

[Hugo_Fish]

Mmmm, looks like that's the way I will go ... Currently waiting for another dosing pump to come in once it does... I'll be changing the design once again lol..

 

[Ranjib]

question .,.. currently still working on my second temp probe.... it seems to not wanting to detect the other one.. when I copy this into the config file and change the pin number


dtoverlay=w1-gpio,gpiopin=4
dtoverlay=w1-gpio,gpiopin=16


Do the 4 and 16 mean the physical pin or the logic pin..

I'm going to bed.. lol have a family gathering at my girlfriend's sister's place..... wish me luck ..

do you really want to use a second pin? one wire is a bus and you can connect multiple probes on the same pin

 

[Hugo_Fish]

I changed my mind on adding a second temp probe. I did find out that I can connect them in parallel but if one loses connection so does the other. I might reconsider adding a second probe when I get a bigger tank. I'm currently in the process of adding and reorganizing my power outlets. I heard if you control using the PCA 9685 there is a chance that the pi will glitch and cases the outlets to never turn off.. as of right now I'm considering adding more outlets using the PCA 9685 and label them as not for the tank sensitive equipment. But that will come later on this year.. have to redesign the whole case and want to make it more modular... Using RJ45 to connect between the mods.

 

[Hugo_Fish]

Don't know why half my text went bold.... Sorry about that ...

 

[Hugo_Fish]

I lied .. i just bought PH probe stuff and should be here next week... @Ranjib just liking my posts got me in the mood to continue working lol

 

[Hugo_Fish]

Pros and Cons of using esp32 over Pi? and visa versa with ReefPi.... tbh i'm unsure the difference what i can see is Pi is more stronger then ESP32 but can I connect more stuff directly to the ESP32 then Pi? ... but if ESP32 is more useful then I would not mind switching ..

 

[Hugo_Fish]

Oh, and one other thing I'm doing ..... I bought a Used MiniPC, going to set up a Telemetry Server! bought a used HP Elite Desk 800 G1 from ebay. Lets see where this takes me...

 

[Sral]

Pros and Cons of using esp32 over Pi? and visa versa with ReefPi.... tbh i'm unsure the difference what i can see is Pi is more stronger then ESP32 but can I connect more stuff directly to the ESP32 then Pi? ... but if ESP32 is more useful then I would not mind switching ..

Pi has a somewhat more stable interface for control, e.g. the GPIO pins etc. However, you need to connect everything (except ESP32 components) with cables.

The ESP32 is always at the mercy of the WiFi, although that can be a boon as well. You can simply put one into a small box next to the lamp and discard all control cables towards the lamp.

 

[Hugo_Fish]

yeah .. ill stick with Pi for now .. will be setting up the server Monday night.

 

[Hugo_Fish]

Well.. had a issue with the EZO board -.- fixed it after figuring out the board was in Uart....ANYWAYS.... now to move on to the Tele server.. tomorrow, after work ...