My reef-pi build freshwater style!

Bigtrout

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Been lurking, reading the entire reef pi thread and decided that reef pi would be perfect for controlling my 75g freshwater planted tank.
My plan is to use reef pi to control outlets to my 3 canisters(soon to be a 40 breeder sump), my 2 heaters, and my 2 led fixtures. When I finish and install my sump, I want to use the ATO features as a failsafe for my return pump because this tank is established and I am going with a HOB overflow because I cant drill.

Mrs. Santa was given a list with options if she couldnt find or get something, and Mrs. Santa came through. Heres a list of my starting items:
A raspberry pi zero w with 16gb card and 5v 2.5 a power supply
An 8 channel, 5v relay to switch my outlets.
2-- 3 meter waterproof ds18b20 sensors.
Mike Lane's reef pi hat(which has everything i want to implement prebuilt)
Jst connectors to match the pi hat for my sensors
A bunch of dupont jumpers
A 7"×5"×3" black project case
And last but not least, a new Weller WSC-100 soldering station!

I want to keep the power seperated from the rest of the control, so Im now deciding on the american dj power bar or using the 8 channel relay in a four gang box with the outlets and connecting that with a db9 cable.

My other decision is power supplies. I could use a few walwarts, but my 2 led lights run from 2 seperate 15v 4amp walwarts. I may just get one meanwell 15v 10 amp supply and use lm2596 buck converters to get my 12v and 5 v, or i may use a seperate small meanwell for each voltage. Any opinions there?

Just need some time to boot up the pi and get cracking!
 

Diamond1

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Looks like you got the hook up for Christmas!

I just got a Meanwell PS it's a 5v 3amp model RS 15-5 and I will be hooking it up to my system as soon as I figure out how I want to wire it. My first impression of it is good it has a small form factor, just a touch under the size of a rpi.
So far testing it under stress with 2 8 channel relays and powering a pi there is no power drop off or fluctuations coming from the 5v output of the power supply If space is an issue I would go with 2 small ones. If it's not I don't see why the larger one wouldn't work just as well.
 
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Bigtrout

Bigtrout

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Looks like you got the hook up for Christmas!

I just got a Meanwell PS it's a 5v 3amp model RS 15-5 and I will be hooking it up to my system as soon as I figure out how I want to wire it. My first impression of it is good it has a small form factor, just a touch under the size of a rpi.
So far testing it under stress with 2 8 channel relays and powering a pi there is no power drop off or fluctuations coming from the 5v output of the power supply If space is an issue I would go with 2 small ones. If it's not I don't see why the larger one wouldn't work just as well.

Thats good to know, i like the form factor and they make one in the same form factor in a 12v 1.3 amp if i decide to do the american dj power strip... and keep the light power supplies as stock.

Im still debating a diy 4 gang outlet with the relay I have, or the american dj power strip...
 

Jonathan Troutt

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I used a brand new Lenovo 20v 3.25a laptop power supply and then the buck converters.

I chose this route because the Lenovo power supply was not in use and was taking up space.

Whatever you choose make sure you get a quality power supply. I can say out of all the things I will skimp on a power supply is not one of them.
 

crusso1993

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Been lurking, reading the entire reef pi thread and decided that reef pi would be perfect for controlling my 75g freshwater planted tank.
My plan is to use reef pi to control outlets to my 3 canisters(soon to be a 40 breeder sump), my 2 heaters, and my 2 led fixtures. When I finish and install my sump, I want to use the ATO features as a failsafe for my return pump because this tank is established and I am going with a HOB overflow because I cant drill.

Mrs. Santa was given a list with options if she couldnt find or get something, and Mrs. Santa came through. Heres a list of my starting items:
A raspberry pi zero w with 16gb card and 5v 2.5 a power supply
An 8 channel, 5v relay to switch my outlets.
2-- 3 meter waterproof ds18b20 sensors.
Mike Lane's reef pi hat(which has everything i want to implement prebuilt)
Jst connectors to match the pi hat for my sensors
A bunch of dupont jumpers
A 7"×5"×3" black project case
And last but not least, a new Weller WSC-100 soldering station!

I want to keep the power seperated from the rest of the control, so Im now deciding on the american dj power bar or using the 8 channel relay in a four gang box with the outlets and connecting that with a db9 cable.

My other decision is power supplies. I could use a few walwarts, but my 2 led lights run from 2 seperate 15v 4amp walwarts. I may just get one meanwell 15v 10 amp supply and use lm2596 buck converters to get my 12v and 5 v, or i may use a seperate small meanwell for each voltage. Any opinions there?

Just need some time to boot up the pi and get cracking!

I used a brand new Lenovo 20v 3.25a laptop power supply and then the buck converters.

I chose this route because the Lenovo power supply was not in use and was taking up space.

Whatever you choose make sure you get a quality power supply. I can say out of all the things I will skimp on a power supply is not one of them.

There are trout(t) everywhere lately! LOL!

Following along... (lurking)
 
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Bigtrout

Bigtrout

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Well, I have decided to put my entire build in one enclosure, to eliminate i terconnecting jacks and cables between several small boxes, but I still wanted seperation between 120volt outlets and the dc control voltages.

The answer is to build a small control panel, the problem being most control panels are metal, and wifi and a total metal enclosure dont mix, and plastic control panels are expensive.

Was walking around the Home depot, and spied this on sale...Bingo!!

Enough room for the entire build!
I plan on mounting the receptacles in the lid and wall mounting this on a side wall under my stand. So the lid will be like a cabinet door. With a little ingenuity, I will use a large part bin to seperate power from the rest and be left with alot of room for the rest of the build. And this is built nice and sturdy!
It measures 18" x 11.5 x 3.75 deep

Oh and it was $9.97 so not too bad on the wallet.

20181227_192955.jpg
20181227_193018.jpg
20181227_192955.jpg
20181227_193018.jpg
20181227_193041.jpg


Will post pics once I start cutting and mounting things!
 
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Bigtrout

Bigtrout

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Nice idea for the enclosure! Looking forward to seeing it come together.
Yes, a 3d printer isnt in the cards, but this is sturdy, semi waterproof and has enough room, even if I expand plus i can hack apart some of the parts bins to use as seperators for high voltage vs low voltage.
 
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Bigtrout

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Heres some pics of how im progressing: cut outs for receptacles
20181228_173641.jpg


Test fit
20181228_175653.jpg


I cut out some of the parts bins to use as partitions. All 120v will be in the partitions when the lid is closed
20181228_183453.jpg

20181228_183458.jpg


Next up soldering the headers onto my pi zero w, loading software and testing and configuring the hat designed and made by Mike Lane!
 

Ranjib

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Heres some pics of how im progressing: cut outs for receptacles
20181228_173641.jpg


Test fit
20181228_175653.jpg


I cut out some of the parts bins to use as partitions. All 120v will be in the partitions when the lid is closed
20181228_183453.jpg

20181228_183458.jpg


Next up soldering the headers onto my pi zero w, loading software and testing and configuring the hat designed and made by Mike Lane!
Can’t wait to see how this enclosure looks :)
 
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Bigtrout

Bigtrout

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Debating a layout issue in my enclosure, so in the meantime, lets get the raspberry pi ready to load software and test.

If you get a pi zero w, it needs to have the 40 pin header soldered on. I wont go into alot on this, because you can find a good youtube on how to solder it on, but I will give one soldering tip to anyone new to soldering. The best solder to work with for a newby is either 63 percent tin and 37 percent lead...or 63/37, or a little more expensive is 62/36/2 which has 2 percent silver. Both these solders do not have a "plastic" phase as they cool. This means they go right from liquid to solid. Cheaper 60/40 solder has an in between plastic phase where its not fully solid, and if parts move in this time, it results in a bad or 'cold' solder joint. The 63/37 is easier to work with and its easier for someone new to solder to make a good solder joint with.

That said here is my pi zero with the header soldered on and a heatsink attached.
20181229_101406.jpg


I bought a premade hat from Mike Lane that has everything I need on my build on one board. You can read about his hat here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-reef-pi-build-log.458088
Or here
https://github.com/Ranthalion/reef-piHat
20181229_101423.jpg


Heres my pi with its hat on...ready for software and testing:
20181229_101512.jpg

Next steps: software, testing and configuration on the pi and more enclosure work once I decide on how I want to power everything in my enclosure. I want to make it clean with one incoming plug from the wall. In the spirit of reef pi, I want to repupose stuff I have. So why buy power supplies when I have a ton of samsung phone wall warts laying around. They do 5V at 2 or 3 amps depending. I need one to supply the Pi and hat and another for my 5v 8 channel relay board. So Im thinking of adding an outlet inside my enclosure, that will still keep the 120v power seperated from the low voltage side and let me plug in a few wall wart power supplies if I want to use them.
 
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Bigtrout

Bigtrout

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Love it. That hat must have saved good chunk of soldering work
Yes it did, and saved money. I love building this type of thing but a perma proto, uln2803 and a pca board cost more than this hat, and its all in one. If i need something more I can always put a perma proto with a stackable header to break out more things if needed, but being freshwater the only thing i may fool around with is a ph probe, mainly for monitoring
 

crusso1993

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I like the look with that hat and the fact it's an "all-in-one" solution is very appealing. Oh, and thanks for the soldering pointers too!

Hey - BTW - I cannot recall if you posted pics of your FW tanks. Do you think you can post a couple? (I'm curious if you're running planted or not.) I presently have a 55g semi-planted tank for my wife. I am running some cheaper 48" Zetlight marine lights on it but am thinking of swapping out the middle fixture for a "plant" fixture and am looking for ideas other than just hopping on the web and looking.
 
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Bigtrout

Bigtrout

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Heres some wiring and mounting progress...
20181229_213024.jpg

I have to finish the power wiring.

I need to figure out what kind of connectors for the temp sensors
I dont like the audio connectors...i do have all the stuff to crimp connectors and punch keystones, I may just use ethernet connectors.
 
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Bigtrout

Bigtrout

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I like the look with that hat and the fact it's an "all-in-one" solution is very appealing. Oh, and thanks for the soldering pointers too!

Hey - BTW - I cannot recall if you posted pics of your FW tanks. Do you think you can post a couple? (I'm curious if you're running planted or not.) I presently have a 55g semi-planted tank for my wife. I am running some cheaper 48" Zetlight marine lights on it but am thinking of swapping out the middle fixture for a "plant" fixture and am looking for ideas other than just hopping on the web and looking.

I did post some but ill post again here.
I have a 75 gallon and I use DA Fspec 48 inch lights. Most freshwater lights look too yellow at 5 to 6.5k, these run about 8k, grow plants like crazy, and with the extra red and green leds, make the fish pop. I run 2 for the spread on an 18 inch wide tank, for a 55gallon you may get away with just one. They are not too terrible on the wallet, about $65 on amazon.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw2pnTh30pVLy1YlqrJKALs_
 

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