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

[FuzzeWuzze]

So I'm interested in Reef-Pi, specifically the PWM 10V to be able to control my 2 Icecap Gyre pumps independently without having to buy an Apex or some other expensive equipment.

Reading through the documentation it seems like because I only need 2 channels, i can use the PWM pins on the RPI and dont need to use the PCA9685 board?

Im struggling a bit to understand what the circuit will look like to get 2 channel's of 0-10V i can put a connector on and plug into my Icecap controller. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[stefanm]

I also get that temperature sensor error, though I believe it maybe the sdcard maybe corrupted, I'm not sure if you can fix errors like you can in Windows, the problem exists in android and also windows for me. My error seems to have occurred during a power cut a couple of weeks ago when my battery backup ran out of juice.

I checked again on the laptop, works perfectly without errors, on the android I've checked using Google, chrome and Firefox browsers and the error appears on all 3. I'm going to set up a single feed macro and test it via the laptop with two pumps and a temperature sensor disabled which doesn't work via the phone. Will update later on.

 

[stefanm]

I didn't use the heater at all last winter, got caught out last night, normally the cool nights happen only from mid December to mid January, this winter La Niña is going to make it a cold one, at least my chiller can take a rest...

 

[Ranjib]

So I'm interested in Reef-Pi, specifically the PWM 10V to be able to control my 2 Icecap Gyre pumps independently without having to buy an Apex or some other expensive equipment.

Reading through the documentation it seems like because I only need 2 channels, i can use the PWM pins on the RPI and dont need to use the PCA9685 board?

Im struggling a bit to understand what the circuit will look like to get 2 channel's of 0-10V i can put a connector on and plug into my Icecap controller. Any help would be appreciated.

Does the adafruit lighting controller guide help? it walks through 10v pwm circuit. I have no experience with icecap gyre. Didnt know they support external control

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Does the adafruit lighting controller guide help? it walks through 10v pwm circuit. I have no experience with icecap gyre. Didnt know they support external control

A bit, but the first sentence is a bit wrong unless im missing something on the parts page.

For one part of the build, we'll extend our previous reef-pi build to control Kessil lights (A360, A80 or A160), Kessil allows controlling the spectrum and intensity of the light using 10V pulse width modulation (PWM). We'll use Raspberry Pi's hardware timers as a 3.3V PWM source which will be then converted to a 10v PWM using an NPN transistor. We'll use a couple of LM2596 modules to generate 5V (for Raspberry Pi) and 10V (for NPN transistor source) power source from a single 12V power source.

Nowhere does it talk about this that im seeing, the schematic is only for using the PCA9685? I dont know much about PWM, but it seems like the Pi Zero W has two independent PWM channels? GPIO 12/18 on Channel 0 and 13/19 for Channel 1? Does Reefpi let you use those or only the SDA/SCL? Since i only need 2 can i just cut the PCA9685 out of the circuit and wire the PWM pins directly into the NPN where the PWM signal came in from the PCA9685?

 

[Mandelstam]

A bit, but the first sentence is a bit wrong unless im missing something on the parts page.


Nowhere does it talk about this that im seeing, the schematic is only for using the PCA9685? I dont know much about PWM, but it seems like the Pi Zero W has two independent PWM channels? GPIO 12/18 on Channel 0 and 13/19 for Channel 1? Does Reefpi let you use those or only the SDA/SCL? Since i only need 2 can i just cut the PCA9685 out of the circuit and wire the PWM pins directly into the NPN where the PWM signal came in from the PCA9685?

Yes you can use those for your PWM signals. I'm doing it for my lights where I had trouble getting them to work properly with the lower frequency PWM from the PCA9685.

 

[b4tn]

So I'm interested in Reef-Pi, specifically the PWM 10V to be able to control my 2 Icecap Gyre pumps independently without having to buy an Apex or some other expensive equipment.

Reading through the documentation it seems like because I only need 2 channels, i can use the PWM pins on the RPI and dont need to use the PCA9685 board?

Im struggling a bit to understand what the circuit will look like to get 2 channel's of 0-10V i can put a connector on and plug into my Icecap controller. Any help would be appreciated.

I used the hardware PWM also. With no issue. I believe it’s pins 18 and 19 if I recall. When you create the jacks in reefpi software you just select reefpi as the driver.

I have a pair of gyres also and always wanted to control them with reefpi but didn’t want to buy the interface module at $124 each x 2. The only issue you may run into is that the modules input is 0-10 volt which is different than 10 volt PWM. I don’t know enough about the modules to know if they need a true 0-10 volt signal or if a PWM signal works. Many have converted the reefpi PWM into 0-10 volts though for lighting control so it is possible.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I used the hardware PWM also. With no issue. I believe it’s pins 18 and 19 if I recall. When you create the jacks in reefpi software you just select reefpi as the driver.

I have a pair of gyres also and always wanted to control them with reefpi but didn’t want to buy the interface module at $124 each x 2. The only issue you may run into is that the modules input is 0-10 volt which is different than 10 volt PWM. I don’t know enough about the modules to know if they need a true 0-10 volt signal or if a PWM signal works. Many have converted the reefpi PWM into 0-10 volts though for lighting control so it is possible.

Ah, very good point i hadnt thought about that. If anyone that has done a 0-10V steady output with a reefpi i'd be interested. I've found DAC boards like this https://aptinex.com/product/aptinex-dac-module-da1c010bi-digital-to-analog-0-10v-mcp4725-i2c/ but they appear to use I2C SDA/SCL, of which RPI's only have 1 as far as i know so i couldnt control two devices.

 

[b4tn]

Actually I2C can support multiple device. But... I’m pretty sure reefpi has to have a driver associated with it but I could be wrong. Try searching this thread for 0-10 volt converters. Someone has done it.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Seems like what i need is basically this circuit posted by @robsworld78 using the LM358D? I'd just hardwire it to the config i'd want for 10V out, put 3.3V PWM from the RPI in and get 0-10V analog out to feed into my gyre controller?

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

Hi, so I wanted to introduce myself to everyone, I’m Rob and I love aquarium controllers. :) About 5 years ago I started building a controller of my own Robo-Tank, it’s pretty cool but expensive for a few reasons, limited web access and the display ran on an Arduino so it was slow to load like...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Had anyone had an issue with frying optical sensors? I swear I have checked my wiring several times and check continuity between connectors but cant get it to work... Do these short out and break easily?

 

[Ranjib]

Had anyone had an issue with frying optical sensors? I swear I have checked my wiring several times and check continuity between connectors but cant get it to work... Do these short out and break easily?

Not frying, but I experienced them to be less reliable compared to floatswitch.

 

[Mandelstam]

I have a timer issue with a HS-100 smart plug (Kasa).

It works fine manually switching it on and off. But when I set up a timer (turn on for 15 seconds every 4th hour) it does what it's supposed to for the 15 seconds but then gets stuck switching the plug on for like a 1/10 second every second.

I'm not sure if it's a Reef-Pi thing or not but it feels like it. Anyone had similar issues?

Here's the timer I set up (currently disabled)

@Ranjib, is this something you have seen before?
For a driver I used the HS110, not HS103. Could this be it?

 

[stefanm]

@Ranjib, is this something you have seen before?
For a driver I used the HS110, not HS103. Could this be it?

Try it by inputting the actual time, ie: 0,4,8,12,16,20

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib, is this something you have seen before?
For a driver I used the HS110, not HS103. Could this be it?

* in cron job stands for every. Since you have set that for minute/hour,,, reef-pi is switching every second with your spec. change the minute and second to 1.

 

[Mandelstam]

* in cron job stands for every. Since you have set that for minute/hour,,, reef-pi is switching every second with your spec. change the minute and second to 1.

Thank you Ranjib! <3

 

[speedstar]

Any chance anyone has a reef-pi image? I am not infront of my system away from home. My wife just told me the tank lights did not come on today. It appears the memory card has failed, starts to boot and then crashes. There is no way I will be able to walk her through a normal installation, but possibly image a card. Tank temp is down to 72, I had her move the heater over but I would really like to get this controller back running for ATO, lights etc. Thanks for direction

 

[cnidus]

I just tried to calibrate my PH probe and the ‘calibrate’ button doesn’t do anything. Tried from phone and a Mac chrome browser.

running 3.4.

any ideas?

 

[Ranjib]

Any chance anyone has a reef-pi image? I am not infront of my system away from home. My wife just told me the tank lights did not come on today. It appears the memory card has failed, starts to boot and then crashes. There is no way I will be able to walk her through a normal installation, but possibly image a card. Tank temp is down to 72, I had her move the heater over but I would really like to get this controller back running for ATO, lights etc. Thanks for direction

Your reef-pi database is what you need to restore your reef-pi installation. github has reef-pi packages, but those are for fresh install only. I doubt other's reef-pi image will work for you, since they have specifics like temperature sensor , pin number etc that will be different from setup to setup. It is better to prepare for manual control (return, heater ) and do periodic top off till you are back.

in 4.0 release will have export/import feature to make things like this easier to deal with. But you still have to use those and prepare a backup sd card (basically a card with everything install and configured, including wifi etc) ready to go for dealing with such cases.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

I just tried to calibrate my PH probe and the ‘calibrate’ button doesn’t do anything. Tried from phone and a Mac chrome browser.

running 3.4.

any ideas?

first you need to disable the probe.


Edit ph.
disable probe.
save
Calibrate
Rinse probe in rodi
Place in 7 calibration fluid
Wait for readings to stabilize
Set cal value to 7
Push run
Rinse probe
Put in 10 calibration fluid
Set cal value to 10
Run
Edit ph
Enable probe
Save
Rinse probe and check both 7 and 10 and make sure it’s close.