reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

[denierlexiese]

Fritzing

Shoot, that was a little too obvious. I feel dumb.

 

[Ranjib]

Dear Ranjib sorry but am unable to use timer function for equipment.

@binay let’s spend some time on fixing this. If it’s ok with you , pm me your email and I’ll send you an invite for reef-pi slack channel and we can do a 1:1 conversation in real-time there to get to the bottom of this

 

[Ranjib]

Id be interested in printing some of these for people too?

If it’s ok please share the stl files in thingiverse.
All these stuff is making me excited about rebooting my 3d printer again . But I know i don’t have enough time to work on both front due to time constraints. My focus will be reef-pi this 2.0 only till end of this year at least . Till then ...

 

[binay]

@binay let’s spend some time on fixing this. If it’s ok with you , pm me your email and I’ll send you an invite for reef-pi slack channel and we can do a 1:1 conversation in real-time there to get to the bottom of this

Thanks Ranjib finally got it working and I don't know how to thank you for your patience

 

[Ranjib]

Thanks Ranjib finally got it working and I don't know how to thank you for your patience

No worries. You mind sharing what was wrong ?

 

[binay]

No worries. You mind sharing what was wrong ?

I realised if one keeps the webpage open there's a lag in time which caused this issue.

 

[binay]

I realised if one keeps the webpage open there's a lag in time which caused this issue.

I also realised that if power fails and network switches off then also this issue occurs when it restarts

 

[Sam Rowe]

Finally got around to getting a DS18b20 to do temperature monitoring and in future possibly heating control as don't often got warm enough here in the UK to need a chiller would have thought some fans if did get a bit warm would do it.
Is there any way to update the system to do Celsius readouts on the graph etc or maybe in an update have a check box to change graph to suit as not used to Fahrenheit and seeing 78 degrees doesn't register haha.
I'm happy to have a go at the source code and have a play to learn a little but not a coder by a long shot tend to do better at re purposing other code than write from scratch just wondering if its straight forward or better to wait if an update were to be timelined.

 

[Sam Rowe]

If i get a chance in future I would love to have a play with an e paper display and maybe if its possible to pull some info from the reef-pi (Current temp, graph data etc) would be able to add a e paper display to the front of my tank cabinet, not looking for someone to do it as I want to learn to code etc and find it easier to code if its something I would have a use for, been looking at the black, white, red or the black, white, yellow e paper displays.
I know the three colour ones from waveform take up to 31 secs to update if doing a full refresh but can part refresh the display etc.
just thinking it might looks a little cool and different from installing an LCD.
Bit of a learning curve I suppose

 

[Ranjib]

If i get a chance in future I would love to have a play with an e paper display and maybe if its possible to pull some info from the reef-pi (Current temp, graph data etc) would be able to add a e paper display to the front of my tank cabinet, not looking for someone to do it as I want to learn to code etc and find it easier to code if its something I would have a use for, been looking at the black, white, red or the black, white, yellow e paper displays.
I know the three colour ones from waveform take up to 31 secs to update if doing a full refresh but can part refresh the display etc.
just thinking it might looks a little cool and different from installing an LCD.
Bit of a learning curve I suppose

I think it will be easy. I suggest use reef-pi api instead and build the display as separate thing with pi zero or any other WiFi capable microcontroller , and use the programming language you are comfortable with

 

[Ranjib]

Finally got around to getting a DS18b20 to do temperature monitoring and in future possibly heating control as don't often got warm enough here in the UK to need a chiller would have thought some fans if did get a bit warm would do it.
Is there any way to update the system to do Celsius readouts on the graph etc or maybe in an update have a check box to change graph to suit as not used to Fahrenheit and seeing 78 degrees doesn't register haha.
I'm happy to have a go at the source code and have a play to learn a little but not a coder by a long shot tend to do better at re purposing other code than write from scratch just wondering if its straight forward or better to wait if an update were to be timelined.

Should be straight forward . Funny thing is that ds18b20 reports temperature in Celsius, and we convert it to Fahrenheit in reef-pi code.

I think it will be easier to support this, just add a Boolean in temperature config, and if it’s present don’t do the conversion.
Config: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/blob/master/controller/temperature/config.go

Logic: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/blob/master/controller/temperature/sensor.go


Godspeed

 

[Erica-Renee]

Hi all

So i have pi3b+
Pi is powered by a 3 amp usb power supply . Tested and confirmed its output .

My Question.. concern
I Plugged a house hold box fan into relay 3 or 5 v input 120/240 output ... when i click in equipment in reef-pi my hdmi monitor will go out then black on . Is this something that is normal or should i be worried.. I do not know amp pull of fan but its a 18 box fan cheap version...
Better explanation .. I click outlet-1 in off state.. (AT SAME TIME) Fan come on (1) Light on relay comes on and clicks (2) Fan comes on. Monitor is out from time i click button in equipment tab for maybe .24 seconds...

I am asking because I am testing and want to know if this is normal behavior..


My thinking... Being new to relays and Pi gpio

1. Fan is to powerful for relay (yes i use this fan in my sump room )
2. Normal operation
3. power output on power supply to pi board is a issue
4. fan is to much for gpio and i need regulation between them
5. Erica is Totally lost and might burn her house down .. (please do not pick this one)



my setup.
pi3b+
latest rasbien
latest reef-pi (THANK YOU)
Relay tongen 3/5 amp input .. 120 /240 output
verified 3 amp usb pi power supply
16 gb class 10 xd card
running on 10/100/1000 cat 6 cable connected to home network
monitor is a hdmi insignia 19 inch tv 16x9

sorry for such a long And Questionable first post.... My plan is to use reef-pi for some of my aquarium stuff and testing to Home Automation


RELAY IS SET TO 5V.... My thinking is power relay externally not thru pi .

 

[Ranjib]

Hi all

So i have pi3b+
Pi is powered by a 3 amp usb power supply . Tested and confirmed its output .

My Question.. concern
I Plugged a house hold box fan into relay 3 or 5 v input 120/240 output ... when i click in equipment in reef-pi my hdmi monitor will go out then black on . Is this something that is normal or should i be worried.. I do not know amp pull of fan but its a 18 box fan cheap version...
Better explanation .. I click outlet-1 in off state.. (AT SAME TIME) Fan come on (1) Light on relay comes on and clicks (2) Fan comes on. Monitor is out from time i click button in equipment tab for maybe .24 seconds...

I am asking because I am testing and want to know if this is normal behavior..


My thinking... Being new to relays and Pi gpio

1. Fan is to powerful for relay (yes i use this fan in my sump room )
2. Normal operation
3. power output on power supply to pi board is a issue
4. fan is to much for gpio and i need regulation between them
5. Erica is Totally lost and might burn her house down .. (please do not pick this one)



my setup.
pi3b+
latest rasbien
latest reef-pi (THANK YOU)
Relay tongen 3/5 amp input .. 120 /240 output
verified 3 amp usb pi power supply
16 gb class 10 xd card
running on 10/100/1000 cat 6 cable connected to home network
monitor is a hdmi insignia 19 inch tv 16x9

sorry for such a long And Questionable first post.... My plan is to use reef-pi for some of my aquarium stuff and testing to Home Automation


RELAY IS SET TO 5V.... My thinking is power relay externally not thru pi .

Don’t worry about the length of the question. It’s all good
If the monitor is going blank momentarily then that’s not expected . I doubt any of the listed possibilities are reason. Relay isolates two different power source and let us control high power ac current with low power (voltage wise ) dc current, so pi gpio is not really powwring fan, it’s just switching on and off the ac power for fan. At no circumstances this should lead to momentary power loss of any other device.

Can you share the details of your build, like how the ac power is connected to relay, how many equipment are connected , what relay you are using etc. an image of the relay wiring will be awesome .
Lastly , 3a is plenty of current for pi and the relay , and it should be ok(that is power is unlikely the cause)

 

[MaccaPopEye]

Are both the relay AND monitor being powered off of the Pi? It sounds to me like something is sucking too much current, i.e your power supply only has enough juice to run either the Pi + screen OR the Pi + relay at any one time.

So while during normal operation the Pi + screen are running when you switch the relay on it draws enough current while it is switching states that the screen doesn't get enough for a split second.

But I am by no means an expert as I am learning all this myself still

As Ranjib said post up lots of pics as that should help.

 

[Erica-Renee]

i will post image of my (testing tomorrow)

I took the fan off the outlet ..
I have
Outlet 1.. led lights driving by a 120 v power supply
outlet 2 (was fan connected ) connected to a normal lamp with CF BULB 40W.. .. 13w led equiv ( so label says not verified)
the monitor does not blink....

as you said the switch side of the relay should not effect the power side..... . Common equip ( everything is plugged into a GFCI . HIGH END Power strip..

i will test more tomorrow ..
Thank you for such quick response...

Erica Renee

 

[Erica-Renee]

Are both the relay AND monitor being powered off of the Pi? It sounds to me like something is sucking too much current, i.e your power supply only has enough juice to run either the Pi + screen OR the Pi + relay at any one time.

So while during normal operation the Pi + screen are running when you switch the relay on it draws enough current while it is switching states that the screen doesn't get enough for a split second.

But I am by no means an expert as I am learning all this myself still

As Ranjib said post up lots of pics as that should help.

display has its own power

 

[Ranjib]

display has its own power

Pi itself is not rebooting or restarting right ? Only the monitor was going on/off. If pi is going on/off , then that will be bad, it can easily dry the sd card,

I think the fan is doing something, check if changing the relay has any effect (i.e. try another channel that you know works alright, like the one thats controlling light right now). If you can isolate the problem, it will be easier to fix.

 

[Ranjib]

@Erica-Renee https://www.quora.com/Why-does-my-monitor-flicker-when-I-turn-on-one-of-my-small-desk-fans

 

[Erica-Renee]

Pi itself is not rebooting or restarting right ? Only the monitor was going on/off. If pi is going on/off , then that will be bad, it can easily dry the sd card,

I think the fan is doing something, check if changing the relay has any effect (i.e. try another channel that you know works alright, like the one thats controlling light right now). If you can isolate the problem, it will be easier to fix.

Going to do a bit more testing to find the exact problem... It might be as simple as i do not have the relay grounded to the power source YET

My thinking is its the cheap relay.. I bought a cheap one for testing.. My Production version i will use High end single relays .

 

[cheeseclock]

My stab in the dark at this is the relay coil inrush is sagging the rail. Check the voltage and current requirement of the relay. You may need a simple circuit to drive it.

https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.c...solation-between-raspberry-pi-and-relay-board