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

[Hugo_Fish]

Hi, which sensor are you using to monitor your sump level? I've tryed the DFRobot SEN0205
but I'm having problems since the probes are not waterproof and when the return pump turn off the sensor will be fully underwater...

Liquid_Level_Sensor-FS-IR02_SKU__SEN0205-DFRobot

wiki:This is a Arduino compatbile photoelectric water liquid level sensor that is operates using optical principles.

wiki.dfrobot.com

When I do water changes my sensor is submerged and I never have a problem... But I would test it out before you actually use it on your tank

 

[Simonv92]

When I do water changes my sensor is submerged and I never have a problem... But I would test it out before you actually use it on your tank

I have already burn out 2 SEN0205 due to underwater... I think that these sensors are not waterproof... Or at least mine aren't...:loudly-crying-face:

 

[Hugo_Fish]

Mmmm I know there is a way to use a float switch... Unsure.. but what you can try to do is use waterproof heat sink

 

[Sral]

Mmmm I know there is a way to use a float switch... Unsure.. but what you can try to do is use waterproof heat sink

I'd also try and make the sensor more water proof, silicone and heatshrink would be my first try.

Another way would be the kind of sensor mentioned in this thread

 

[Ranjib]

this is a wifi drop out issue.. check if your pi is doing power saving tricks. The .local based access from other computer is not reliable as it depends on mDNS (bonjour in Apple and avahi in linux) and can be flaky based on home wifi router, device. Use IP directly to access reef-pi.


for wifi drop out: https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=339699

this is not a reef-pi specific issue

 

[Ranjib]

Hi All,

Looks like all 3 of the issues are fixed. Ill leave the solutions below in case it will help anyone else.

I am now able to access the Reef-Pi using Mixedreef.local after installing Apples mDNS. I used the Bonjour print service to install it. https://support.apple.com/kb/DL999?locale=en_US . So both the IP and the Local name works great.

Turning off my 5Ghz network and just running the 2.4Ghz now lets me access the Reef-Pi from any device. The Wifi's were named different things but i guess it was still causing issues.

The Pi did not lose connection last night for the first time after installing the Watchdog. Hopefully this keeps up. Set up of watchdog below. You can also have the watchdog monitor for Pi lock ups and force reboot. I have not set that up yet.

#Install and configure watchdog.

sudo apt-get install watchdog

# access watchdog conf file.

sudo nano /etc/watchdog.conf

# The below settings will set up Watchdog to monitor the internet for connection and restart the wireless if it detects no connection. These should be all be in the conf file and should just need to be uncommented. But these can be added anywhere.

interface = wlan0 # use interface wlan0 if Wifi and eth0 if lan
ping-count = 3 # how many times you want it to ping. I picked 3
ping = 192.168.***.*** # Pick which IP you want to ping. I picked my router.
interval = 300 # how many second in-between checks. I set mine to 300 which is 5 minutes

Hope this can help if needed.

Yay :-), thank you for sharing the details. Much appreciated

 

[InactiveAcct]

Hi everyone, adding dosing pump to my pi4 with Leviathan 1.0 hat build and having issues getting dosing pump to turn on. Trying to check my ReefPi config without any hardware attached. I feel like I should be measuring 3.3V between ground (Pin 39) and GPIO18 (pin 12) when I calibrate the dosing pump but I’m getting 0. Assuming this is the reason my pump isn’t running. If anyone has suggestions or sees config errors please let me know, thank you!

 

[yury88]

It’s not that the WiFi is unstable itself, it’s more that the code regularly causes memory leaks that we haven’t been able to fix yet.

Every time that happens, the ESP has to reboot, resetting the WiFi connection.

It’s fixable, we just haven’t found the solution yet. There is hope though.

My ESP32 also randomly rebooting almost every day.
It's control power strip with refugium light, so it's easy to see when my refugium light turning on at night.
Main problem that ESP do not save Pin state after reboot.
I'm not a big fun of Arduino, so can't give the solution, but already thinking to rewrite this on Micropython

 

[Sral]

My ESP32 also randomly rebooting almost every day.
It's control power strip with refugium light, so it's easy to see when my refugium light turning on at night.
Main problem that ESP do not save Pin state after reboot.
I'm not a big fun of Arduino, so can't give the solution, but already thinking to rewrite this on Micropython

Good point, I can try an extension that saves the pin state as a preference and resets that on reboot.
Downside is that one then doesn’t have the panic- option of cutting power in emergency, as reboot will reset to a possibly faulty behavior.

 

[biznatch]

Any updates on when 6.1 will be released with the fix for PH? Seems like this project has stalled for quite some time.

 

[Projects with Sam]

Any updates on when 6.1 will be released with the fix for PH? Seems like this project has stalled for quite some time.

I wouldn’t say it’s stalled. There was recently a release.

 

[biznatch]

I wouldn’t say it’s stalled. There was recently a release.

I see the last release was November 2022 on github. Is there a release somewhere else I'm missing because that's almost 1 1/2 years ago.

 

[InactiveAcct]

I see the last release was November 2022 on github. Is there a release somewhere else I'm missing because that's almost 1 1/2 years ago.

Ranjib mentioned in August or so that he’s been having to focus on things besides reefpi lately and would be getting back into it soonish

 

[MikeSpike]

Hi all. I’m running reef pi on a rob tank controller and power bar. Has been running flawless for over a year. Until about 2 weeks ago. The power bar keeps turning off I’m getting the following errors. See attached. Any help appreciated. Thank you

 

[Brett7397]

I would change your sd card. They will corrupt over time with alot of read and writes to it. A year is along time for one.

 

[MikeSpike]

I would change your sd card. They will corrupt over time with alot of read and writes to it. A year is along time for one.

Thanks. I will definitely do that. Too much to lose! Do you think that is the issue or was that just general advice?

 

[Brett7397]

Not sure if it is the issue but it is easy to try. I hope it works out.

 

[biznatch]

Hi all. I’m running reef pi on a rob tank controller and power bar. Has been running flawless for over a year. Until about 2 weeks ago. The power bar keeps turning off I’m getting the following errors. See attached. Any help appreciated. Thank you

That's a network error, and looks like you're using a wifi power bar, not the robotank one. I get that randomly on my small tank setup with the Kasa HS300 bar, and reloading RPi from the admin console fixes it. Unless you have the power strip setup using DHCP, then the IP might have changed.

 

[Brett7397]

DHCP protcol is for automatic IP adress assigning. It might be better to assign a static IP using the power bar MAC address if your router firmware has that option. I use this way for my wifi thermostat and printer.

 

[Brett7397]

That's a network error, and looks like you're using a wifi power bar, not the robotank one. I get that randomly on my small tank setup with the Kasa HS300 bar, and reloading RPi from the admin console fixes it. Unless you have the power strip setup using DHCP, then the IP might have changed.

I just read your post again and I repeated what you said about DHCP. My apologies for not getting it the first time.