DIY Alkalinity Monitor

[Bazzo]

Hello friends, how are you?

I would like to know how you are calibrating the probe in version v1.2.
Here the results are very discrepant, I only calibrated several times with solutions of pH 4 and 7 and different brands.

@Borat and @BassamKassem any idea?

Hugs

 

[iLMaRiO]

@Borat which tip do you use at the end of the reagent hose ? I think you are using something that makes drops all equally.

 

[BassamKassem]

Hello friends, how are you?

I would like to know how you are calibrating the probe in version v1.2.
Here the results are very discrepant, I only calibrated several times with solutions of pH 4 and 7 and different brands.

@Borat and @BassamKassem any idea?

Hugs

I used only DFRobot board V1.1 and V2.0 both calibrated as follows

- Put the probe inside the calibration solution PH4 then from the device menu choose Calibrate PH --> PH4 and wait till it finish calibration

Then rinse the probe in distilled water then repeat the same calibration step but for PH7

-

 

[Bazzo]

I used only DFRobot board V1.1 and V2.0 both calibrated as follows

- Put the probe inside the calibration solution PH4 then from the device menu choose Calibrate PH --> PH4 and wait till it finish calibration

Then rinse the probe in distilled water then repeat the same calibration step but for PH7

-

Thanks for the feedback.

That's what I actually did to calibrate. I'm suspecting that my voltage regulator is not supplying the correct voltage.

I'm waiting for a new regulator to arrive (the same as yours).

 

[BassamKassem]

Thanks for the feedback.

That's what I actually did to calibrate. I'm suspecting that my voltage regulator is not supplying the correct voltage.

I'm waiting for a new regulator to arrive (the same as yours).

This is the one am currently using . Its amazing

LM2596

 

[Bazzo]

This is the one am currently using . Its amazing

LM2596

Exactly what I'm hoping to get. just without this display

 

[Bazzo]

Personal talk, calm down.
I changed the voltage regulator, recalibrated the probes (just in case).
However, my tests do not match Aquaforest's tests.
it is always below, around 0.5dkh

Does anyone have an idea what it could be?

 

[Borat]

Personal talk, calm down.
I changed the voltage regulator, recalibrated the probes (just in case).
However, my tests do not match Aquaforest's tests.
it is always below, around 0.5dkh

Does anyone have an idea what it could be?

1. When you say you diluted acid 1:3, what was the acid concentration before dilution and how exactly did you dilute it (1 part acid + 3 parts RO)?
2. Can you post a picture of your build, especially the reaction chamber?
3. What kind of PH probe are you using?
4. Can you insert these lines into your void setup() function and let us know the output?

Serial.println(d1_calibration_turns);
Serial.println(d2_calibration_turns);
Serial.println(d3_calibration_turns);
Serial.println(voltage_4PH);
Serial.println(voltage_7PH);

 

[Bazzo]

1. When you say you diluted acid 1:3, what was the acid concentration before dilution and how exactly did you dilute it (1 part acid + 3 parts RO)?
2. Can you post a picture of your build, especially the reaction chamber?
3. What kind of PH probe are you using?
4. Can you insert these lines into your void setup() function and let us know the output?

Serial.println(d1_calibration_turns);
Serial.println(d2_calibration_turns);
Serial.println(d3_calibration_turns);
Serial.println(voltage_4PH);
Serial.println(voltage_7PH);

Hello,

1) yes, dilute the acid 1:3. before the acid was 0.1N
3) Sensoglass probe, a well-regarded brand in Brazil, used in laboratories and in the aquarium (Brazilian competitor of APEX)

4) I set all the settings to be sent via Telegram when it starts:
They follow:

D1:80.33
D2:81.52
D3:94.15
Speed:2
Refill date: 2022-8-30
Scheduled tests per day: 8
Acid Concentration 0.025
PH Calibration 4 0.962
PH Calibration 7 1.873

 

[Bazzo]

Hey @Borat , I hope this is good.

Perform some tests between now and the page, and obtain the following results:

AlkX: 2023-10-18 / 22:00 DKH: 7.72
STEP : Acid : PH
0 : 0.00 : 8.19
1 : 4.00 : 6.30
2 : 6.00 : 6.08
3 : 8.00 : 5.64
4 : 9.00 : 5.32
5 : 10.00 : 4.96
6 : 10.14 : 4.91
7 : 10.29 : 4.84
8 : 10.36 : 4.86
9 : 10.50 : 4.73
10 : 10.57 : 4.78
11 : 10.64 : 4.72
12 : 10.71 : 4.74
13 : 10.79 : 4.66
14 : 10.86 : 4.58
15 : 10.93 : 4.50
16 : 11.00 : 4.45
17 : 11.07 : 4.33
----------------------------------------------
AlkX: 2023-10-19 / 04:20 DKH: 7.81
STEP : Acid : PH
0 : 0.00 : 8.26
1 : 4.00 : 6.42
2 : 6.00 : 6.02
3 : 8.00 : 5.72
4 : 9.00 : 5.31
5 : 10.00 : 5.05
6 : 11.00 : 4.40
7 : 11.07 : 4.42
8 : 11.14 : 4.41
9 : 11.21 : 4.35
----------------------------------------------
AlkX: 2023-10-19 / 06:20 DKH: 7.86
STEP : Acid : PH
0 : 0.00 : 7.43
1 : 4.00 : 6.49
2 : 6.00 : 6.01
3 : 8.00 : 5.42
4 : 9.00 : 5.27
5 : 10.00 : 5.04
6 : 11.00 : 4.49
7 : 11.07 : 4.49
8 : 11.14 : 4.45
9 : 11.21 : 4.41
10 : 11.29 : 4.32
----------------------------------------------
AlkX: 2023-10-19 / 08:20 DKH: 7.93
STEP : Acid : PH
0 : 0.00 : 8.21
1 : 4.00 : 6.59
2 : 6.00 : 6.17
3 : 8.00 : 5.58
4 : 9.00 : 5.32
5 : 10.00 : 5.07
6 : 11.00 : 4.64
7 : 11.07 : 4.71
8 : 11.14 : 4.60
9 : 11.21 : 4.59
10 : 11.29 : 4.43
11 : 11.36 : 4.39
----------------------------------------------
AlkX: 2023-10-19 / 10:20 DKH: 8.01
STEP : Acid : PH
0 : 0.00 : 8.20
1 : 4.00 : 6.56
2 : 6.00 : 6.02
3 : 8.00 : 5.66
4 : 9.00 : 5.38
5 : 10.00 : 5.09
6 : 11.00 : 4.55
7 : 11.07 : 4.68
8 : 11.14 : 4.72
9 : 11.21 : 4.51
10 : 11.29 : 4.45
11 : 11.36 : 4.55
12 : 11.43 : 4.42
13 : 11.50 : 4.26
----------------------------------------------
AlkX: 2023-10-19 / 12:41 DKH: 7.66
STEP : Acid : PH
0 : 0.00 : 8.29
1 : 4.00 : 6.44
2 : 6.00 : 6.06
3 : 8.00 : 5.66
4 : 9.00 : 5.28
5 : 10.00 : 4.92
6 : 10.14 : 4.87
7 : 10.29 : 4.81
8 : 10.36 : 4.86
9 : 10.50 : 4.70
10 : 10.57 : 4.74
11 : 10.64 : 4.71
12 : 10.71 : 4.63
13 : 10.79 : 4.58
14 : 10.86 : 4.50
15 : 10.93 : 4.42
16 : 11.00 : 4.33


Are these values statistically correct (hehe)?
Is it normal or DKH to increase the nighttime period? I use balling dosed every 1 hour.
I thought it could increase because consumption is not the same within the photoperiod, so it is better to ask.


NOTE: The adaptations that were made to obtain this result were to increase the agitator time between the acid dosages and the pH reading.

Hugs.

 

[Borat]

OK here's one detail that I may not have mentioned: when you calibrate the acid pump (which is the most important pump in terms of test accuracy), ensure that you calibrate it as realistically as possible: by connecting it to the actual hose and to the acid container that you will ultimately use. Do not calibrate it "on your table" using a shorter hose and a glass of water - this will be very inaccurate:
- if your acid hose is thin and/or long - this will have impact on amounts dosed
- if your dosing container is not level with the monitor (mine is placed about 10cm lower than the monitor) - again the amount dosed would differ

Otherwise - if you calibrate in this "realistic setup" calibration is business-as-usual. I may add a feature to account for drop in level in dosing container over time (as acid is being used up - the dosing amount becomes skewed, as back-pressure on dosing hose increases). I need a few days to experiment - have been busy with my new DIY light deployment and other tank maintenance related tasks recently.

 

[Borat]

Hello @Borat , I hope you are well.
can you help me?
I set up your project today, but I can't get any results.

I did the following steps:
I calibrated the dosers
I calibrated the pH probe
dilute the acid 1:3

I have the following results:
AlkX: 2023-10-13 / 22:51 DKH: 0.00
Step# : ACID VOL : PH0 : 0.00 : 0.89
1 : 4.00 : 13.08
2:8.00:13.07
3:12.00:13.07
4:16.00:13.07
5:20.00:13.07
6:24.00:10.30
7 : ovf : 0.00
8 : -1.96 : ovf
9 : ovf : -1.95
10 : ovf : 130120.12
48 : -0.00 : 0.00
49 : -0.00 : 0.03

I don't know what could be wrong.

if you can help me..

Have you got yourself sorted? I think the more recent version of code correctly loops to the number of steps: this loop goes to 50 steps (past error in my code). Any help - shout out.

 

[Borat]

checked right now and voltage is stable near 3v3
(also, I had the same exact issues with the dfrobot analog board, not only with the Atlas)

Read my latest post about calibration of acid pump...

 

[Borat]

OK here's one detail that I may not have mentioned: when you calibrate the acid pump (which is the most important pump in terms of test accuracy), ensure that you calibrate it as realistically as possible: by connecting it to the actual hose and to the acid container that you will ultimately use. Do not calibrate it "on your table" using a shorter hose and a glass of water - this will be very inaccurate:
- if your acid hose is thin and/or long - this will have impact on amounts dosed
- if your dosing container is not level with the monitor (mine is placed about 10cm lower than the monitor) - again the amount dosed would differ

Otherwise - if you calibrate in this "realistic setup" calibration is business-as-usual. I may add a feature to account for drop in level in dosing container over time (as acid is being used up - the dosing amount becomes skewed, as back-pressure on dosing hose increases). I need a few days to experiment - have been busy with my new DIY light deployment and other tank maintenance related tasks recently.

Additional improvement I have done - which is really useful is I cut out a piece of 2mm glass and placed it at the bottom of the reaction chamber. The rotation of stirrer bit increased signiicantly and I am getting a much more pronounced vortex. The noise of stirrer bit spinning has gone away.

Where to find a piece of glass? Look for some unused torch lying around - they usually have a 2mm flat glass cover that you can just take (hopefully it's about the right size).

 

[Bazzo]

Have you got yourself sorted? I think the more recent version of code correctly loops to the number of steps: this loop goes to 50 steps (past error in my code). Any help - shout out.

Hello my friend, can you post your latest Arduino code? apparently the last one is on page 28. and it doesn't seem to be corrected.
My Arduino is constantly crashing.

 

[Bazzo]

Hi friends, my Arduino was constantly crashing, I investigated a lot and saw that it was related to the LCD, because when I removed the positive from the LCD and turned it on again, the Arduino started running again (but without writing to the LCD). until I saw that there is a command "lcd.display();". In the library documentation it says to only put it in Setup().

Once this change was made, the system has been running for 3 days without the Arduino crashing.

I hope it helps someone

 

[Bazzo]

hey guys,
unfortunately the arduino crashed after 4 days.
Removing the positive from the LCD and returning it, the Arduino unlocked but no longer wrote to the LCD. Only after rebooting the Arduino did it come back.

@Borat or @BassamKassem do you have any idea what it could be?

I already pulled the positive directly from the voltage reducer. lm2596.

I don't know what else to try heheh

if you can help.

 

[BassamKassem]

hey guys,
unfortunately the arduino crashed after 4 days.
Removing the positive from the LCD and returning it, the Arduino unlocked but no longer wrote to the LCD. Only after rebooting the Arduino did it come back.

@Borat or @BassamKassem do you have any idea what it could be?

I already pulled the positive directly from the voltage reducer. lm2596.

I don't know what else to try heheh

if you can help.

Hello . If i understood you correctly by crashing you mean keeps restarting . If yes then the solution is to check all messages being displayed on the lcd you must have a string that cause this . It happened to me before and this was the solution i think the problem was adding too many strings "\n Something" in which it forces the display to write "Something = the displayed string" in line 2 . So you need to debug the strings being displayed .

 

[Bazzo]

Hello . If i understood you correctly by crashing you mean keeps restarting . If yes then the solution is to check all messages being displayed on the lcd you must have a string that cause this . It happened to me before and this was the solution i think the problem was adding too many strings "\n Something" in which it forces the display to write "Something = the displayed string" in line 2 . So you need to debug the strings being displayed .

It doesn't restart, it simply stops. Then if I disconnect and connect just the LCD, the Arduino continues where it left off, for example.
I think the i2c module must have a problem

 

[Borat]

It doesn't restart, it simply stops. Then if I disconnect and connect just the LCD, the Arduino continues where it left off, for example.
I think the i2c module must have a problem

Yes, I agree with @BassamKassem - the most likely reason is Arduino running out of memory. Could you upload/post:
- the code that you are using (only part related to arduino Mega)
- the picture of your PCB
- the picture of your device

Apologies I was quite busy - have been struggling with my tank a bit and that kept me busy, corals are growing way too fast (aka grow like weeds)!

Thanks,

B.