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

[attiland]

This disaster of jumpers has been working quite well for over a year now.. I'll eventually get it all replaced, but I found a bit of lazy that I've been working on lately.

This reminds me to to this

 

[Carlo Rios]

Ranjid I have been wondering for a while me should make a post where we can share our Reef-Pi. What do you think.

 

[Alaa]

Hi, hope everyone is fine
Regarding the dosing pump malfunction which is a serious issue, I was wondering what you are doing to safeguard against it. Do you run your dosing pump on timer to turn on just before the schedule then turn off again, is there a way to check the status and even better the duration that the dosing pump has been running and setting alarm if passed.

In a non related issue my pH graph shows spikes related to the dosing pump function, i tried to change the wire path but with no luck, also it shows wrong reading if i turn off my return pump mostly related to high water level in the sump during that time. is there a way to automatically adjust for those anomalies like setting upper and lower limit in the graph function to accept values with x % of mean
Regards

 

[attiland]

Hi, hope everyone is fine
Regarding the dosing pump malfunction which is a serious issue, I was wondering what you are doing to safeguard against it. Do you run your dosing pump on timer to turn on just before the schedule then turn off again, is there a way to check the status and even better the duration that the dosing pump has been running and setting alarm if passed.

In a non related issue my pH graph shows spikes related to the dosing pump function, i tried to change the wire path but with no luck, also it shows wrong reading if i turn off my return pump mostly related to high water level in the sump during that time. is there a way to automatically adjust for those anomalies like setting upper and lower limit in the graph function to accept values with x % of mean
Regards

I am working on a little different approach. I want to put dosing to a microcontroller. This will most likely an Arduino since I have most experience with that. Reef pi would only send a command via serial to dose so much with pump x. The reason for this if power resets the pump would not stuck in on position or any failure on communication could result in an emergency stop.
in the program I would keep checking scheduler status and get PI to send heartbeat and microcontroller to do the same. If either of them lost I would reset the microcontroller either via power on a relay or program on the microcontroller.
I am hoping from the above an extra safety layer.

 

[dmolavi]

What the frickity frank happened to my temp probes? Nothing changed, the system has been humming along for a couple of years and now the probes are off the charts....any ideas or do I need to get new ones?

 

[dmolavi]

Hmm this may lend a clue...low battery on the RTC. I am using the pico board. Could it be time to change the cell on it?

Log is full of failure to read probe messages.

 

[dmolavi]

More breadcrumbs...both sensors went south at the same time, and now pi can't detect them. They are connected to the pico board...could it be the problem with the low battery? I'm replacing that today to see if that resolves it...

 

[dmolavi]

Yeah def a probe issue but strange they would both tank at the same time. I'm hoping my pico didn't take a dump. Waiting on the stores to open to get a battery...

 

[Ranjib]

i dont know if its a probe issue. could be rtc battery related. does a single probe works without rtc? i'll be very surprised if the pico board goes bad, i dont see any reason for that

 

[attiland]

i dont know if its a probe issue. could be rtc battery related. does a single probe works without rtc? i'll be very surprised if the pico board goes bad, i dont see any reason for that

Without really knowing the reason I would bet to your power supply. Bad ones can cause strange behaviour.

 

[dmolavi]

Without really knowing the reason I would bet to your power supply. Bad ones can cause strange behaviour.

Everything else is working fine...I can dig up another power supply..

 

[Mwdsonny]

Everything else is working fine...I can dig up another power supply..

low voltage affects different circuits differently.

 

[Prince12r]

Can you share the details of your settings, and circuit/equipment used? any possibility that its a hardware issue and not software.
true love story in hindi

 

[dmolavi]

I have a build thread. This has been running for nearly 2 years. I will be debugging the pico board later this week, as well as checking the sensors. Since it's one wire and they share a connector, if one sensor craps out, its possible it can corrupt the reading on the other.

 

[dmolavi]

I think I found the problem. A quick exchange with @theatrus had me thinking...If one of the probes shorted out, the way I have them connected, it would cause both to have bad readings. I unplugged my probe that is in my tank and the reading for the ambient air probe returned to normal. My guess is the probe finally gave up the ghost, and since I don't have any kind of protection for shorts on my daughtercard I use to connect them to the 1-wire interface, it is causing bad readings on the other probe. I'll be replacing the probe, and plopping a diode or two on the daughtercard, shortly.

 

[Stephen2]

Is there somewhere detials one how the OneShot works or what it does?

 

[Ranjib]

Is there somewhere detials one how the OneShot works or what it does?

its somewhere in r2r threads, and not in official documentation (any help welcome).
A onshot controller run once and strops, after the triggering condition. It is useful in macros, auto water changer etc, for steps like.. run this pump till the water hits float switch level and then stops.

 

[Ranjib]

In reef-pi code, the reef-pi central controller aka daemon runs individual subsystems (also called as modules). Each subsystem hold similar types of entities, also called as controller. Each controller implements an execute look which can be Run (perpetually, based on a sensor value and control equipment etc), or oneshot, i.e. the controller will execute only once.
reef-pi (daemon)
- Subsystem[ATO]
- Subsystem[DisplayTank ATO]
- Subsystem[FragTank ATO]
- Subsystem[WC Fill ATO]
- Execute
- Check for triggering condition after every check interval
- Control equipment or other reef-pi features while honoring hysteresis or any alerting rules
- Module[Temperature]
- Module[pH]

The macro subsystem, allows sequntial execution of individual controllers (run on one-shot) and subsystems. The sensor check part is delegated at controller level. reef-pi allows reusing sensors and equipment across controllers. Collectively this model should allow us doing complex workflows, without scripting requirements, but we have to test these things and think through the consequences. Like power tools, there is always a chance of mishaps.

 

[dmolavi]

I think I found the problem. A quick exchange with @theatrus had me thinking...If one of the probes shorted out, the way I have them connected, it would cause both to have bad readings. I unplugged my probe that is in my tank and the reading for the ambient air probe returned to normal. My guess is the probe finally gave up the ghost, and since I don't have any kind of protection for shorts on my daughtercard I use to connect them to the 1-wire interface, it is causing bad readings on the other probe. I'll be replacing the probe, and plopping a diode or two on the daughtercard, shortly.

Went home last night and checked the probe. Instead of ~0.5/0.6V across the leads to ground, one is open, and the other is 0.5V. I'm going to open up the jacketing tonight where I soldered it to my connector and make sure nothing has broken, but I have new probes coming just in case.

 

[dmolavi]

Found the problem with the probe haha. Where can I get heat shrink tubing that is thermally conductive? (For my new probes)