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

[speedstar]

How to I set the relays to low level trigger?

Also reef-pi has an invert feature built in when setting up outlets

 

[buddy.]

Do you have a link or a pic of the relays? Mine had jumpers

8 Channels 5V Relay Module Australia - Little Bird
https://www.littlebird.com.au/8-channels-5v-relay-module

 

[wykat]

I posted this in my build thread but I am just going to post it here for more visibility.

I am testing out my 8 channel 5v relay boards.

First I tested with just the raspberry pi by connecting up the 5v, ground and an outlet GPIO and it worked as expected.

Next I tried with the pi-HAT but it is not activating the relay. The input of the ULN2803 is receiving 3.25v. The ULN2803 is outputting only 0.6v to the relay board.
I tried a different GPIO on the second ULN2803 on the pi-HAT with the exact same result.

The VCC light is on when I connect the relay board to the 5v and GND on the 10pin connector on the pi-HAT.

The ULN inputs have continuity with the GPIO outlets. The ULN outlets also have continuity with the 10pin connector.
The ULN's are also grounded on their number 9 pin and have 5v on their number 10 pin. Measuring the voltage on pin 9 and 10 gives 5v.

Can anyone help me figure out why the ULN2803 output is so low and not activating the relay?

Don't have your relay board, but will try to help.

Yes all components on the picture look ok (direction) and yes, no 12V is required for the relay output.

First I tested with just the raspberry pi by connecting up the 5v, ground and an outlet GPIO and it worked as expected

This is good to know. In order to replicate, can you share which GPIO port you used? What were the values of the GPIO port switching ON/OFF?

Next I tried with the pi-HAT but it is not activating the relay. The input of the ULN2803 is receiving 3.25v. The ULN2803 is outputting only 0.6v to the relay board.
I tried a different GPIO on the second ULN2803 on the pi-HAT with the exact same result.

In order for me to replicate (without relay board), can you share which pins (relay ports) you measured? Is the behavior the same with and without relay board? (Power consumption?)

The ULN inputs have continuity with the GPIO outlets. The ULN outlets also have continuity with the 10pin connector.
The ULN's are also grounded on their number 9 pin and have 5v on their number 10 pin. Measuring the voltage on pin 9 and 10 gives 5v.

If I understand correctly, wiring between GPIO/ULN/10 pin connector and power to the ULN chips are all ok. Just to be sure (don't measure voltage, measure ohm), is there a connection between pin 6 of the I2C interface on the Reef-PI_HAT and GND (pin 39 on GPIO)? This has been a failure in the initial design but should be ok on your board. [Edit]should be ok as you're measuring +5V on the ULN power pins[/Edit]

 

[Ranjib]

The american DJ board power strip may use 12v relays instead of 5V

Yes I was referring to that

 

[Ranjib]

In other news , we got some coverage in raspberry pi official blog
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/reef-pi-raspberry-pi-fish-tank-management-system/

 

[LionHeart2017]

Well done Ranjib and crew, you guys deserve the exposure [emoji4]

 

[Ryan115]

@Ranjib I am trying to test out a system with the Adafruit Stepper Motor Hat.
Is there anything special that we would need to be able to interact with reef-pi, or should it function just as a regular PCA9685 board?
I was able to assign pins 0-15 as jacks, but I am unable to assign the jacks in the lighting tab.

But I am unable to assign those pins in the lighting tab, though now that I go back in, I see a light set up in there from before I deleted the DB to reconfigure the system.
When I try to delete it I get a 404 error.
Thoughts?

This is on a pi zero running as a test system on the bench, so no big issues if I need to test/break something.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib I am trying to test out a system with the Adafruit Stepper Motor Hat.
Is there anything special that we would need to be able to interact with reef-pi, or should it function just as a regular PCA9685 board?
I was able to assign pins 0-15 as jacks, but I am unable to assign the jacks in the lighting tab.

But I am unable to assign those pins in the lighting tab, though now that I go back in, I see a light set up in there from before I deleted the DB to reconfigure the system.
When I try to delete it I get a 404 error.
Thoughts?

This is on a pi zero running as a test system on the bench, so no big issues if I need to test/break something.

What error you are getting in the lighting tab? You are not able to see these jacks in drop down menu when you are creating light?

 

[Ryan115]

What error you are getting in the lighting tab? You are not able to see these jacks in drop down menu when you are creating light?

The jacks are all showing up, but it looks like the error stems from the "test" that is already configured.
It will not let me delete it.

If this is left over, then it was configured as pin0 for direct pi PWM

 

[Ranjib]

The jacks are all showing up, but it looks like the error stems from the "test" that is already configured.
It will not let me delete it.

If this is left over, then it was configured as pin0 for direct pi PWM

Delete that light and create a new one

 

[Ryan115]

Delete that light and create a new one

I am unable to delete it.
Is there any way to remove it on the back-end without having to delete the DB?
Not a problem if I need to, since I dont have much. But just wondering so it can help others.

 

[Ranjib]

I am unable to delete it.
Is there any way to remove it on the back-end without having to delete the DB?
Not a problem if I need to, since I dont have much. But just wondering so it can help others.

Let me cross check. Meanwhile, can you create a new light and assign one of the jacks ?

 

[Ryan115]

Let me cross check. Meanwhile, can you create a new light and assign one of the jacks ?

Nope, I get the 404 error every time I try.

 

[Ryan115]

Nope, I get the 404 error every time I try.

@Ranjib looks like running a reload fixed it. It did revert one of the pin settings back to a previous name. But seems better now.
Let me know if you need me to try to recreate anything.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib looks like running a reload fixed it. It did revert one of the pin settings back to a previous name. But seems better now.
Let me know if you need me to try to recreate anything.

Not that something comes to my mind, Im curious about the 404s. I suspect it was a UI issue. The light was deleted on the first go, but UI didn't reflect it, hence when you deleted again you got 404 (which stands for resource not found), since its already gone. I'll check if I can reproduce it,

 

[Ryan115]

@Ranjib
Still trying to get PWM working on this hat.
I am getting a failed to initialize PCA9685 error.
Thoughts on troubleshooting?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib
Still trying to get PWM working on this hat.
I am getting a failed to initialize PCA9685 error.
Thoughts on troubleshooting?

it means pca9685 is not configured . You have i2c enabled? and can you see the pca9685 address when you run

i2cdetect -y 1

 

[Ryan115]

I have gone through raspi-config to enable it, but is there any way to test and make sure?

 

[Ryan115]

Just checked my other pi running a straight PCA9685 board, does raspberry pi make any assumptions about address?
The other one detects i2c @ 40 & 70, this one is 60 & 70.

 

[Ranjib]

I have gone through raspi-config to enable it, but is there any way to test and make sure?

You have pca9685 configured with a different address, here is what mine looks like:

have you changed any addressing jumpers?