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

[tyronbes]

On another note. I have fully 3d printed a rollermat that is now controlled by Pi.

right now I’d like setup it up a timer to activate the motor until I get the float switch fully dialed into position.

Very nice!!!

 

[geologeek]

Can anyone point me to a guide for the syntax on timers?

The best I found was user manuals from robotank who has a load of useful manuals in Google docs....

https://docs.google.com/document/d/...ouid=109774036875388840047&rtpof=true&sd=true
The information you want is in there....

 

[zab34]

The best I found was user manuals from robotank who has a load of useful manuals in Google docs....

https://docs.google.com/document/d/...ouid=109774036875388840047&rtpof=true&sd=true
The information you want is in there....

Tremendously helpful. Thanks!

 

[bishoptf]

On another note. I have fully 3d printed a rollermat that is now controlled by Pi.

right now I’d like setup it up a timer to activate the motor until I get the float switch fully dialed into position.

Id like to make one, have you posted the files on thingiverse or how can I get a hold of the files. Would also love to know about the dimensions, I have a small sump but would love to figure out how to incorporate it into my setup.

Thanks

 

[bishoptf]

On another note, I have a fully modified 165W viparspectra with moon lights that I am selling, have it listed on ebay right now but most are wanting me to put it back on stock timers which is lame, if anyone is interested in more information shoot me a PM. Basically set up to control the 2 main led channels then there is led strips that is also controlled via reef-pi. I went with a larger unit and this one has been sitting around and thought someone else should be getting some use out of it.

 

[zab34]

Id like to make one, have you posted the files on thingiverse or how can I get a hold of the files. Would also love to know about the dimensions, I have a small sump but would love to figure out how to incorporate it into my setup.

Thanks

I have not yet. It has only been on my tank for a few days. The print was also rather large about the size of shoebox once assembled. Most components were printed on my sidewinder x1, as the parts were too large for the prusa.

 

[bishoptf]

I have not yet. It has only been on my tank for a few days. The print was also rather large about the size of shoebox once assembled. Most components were printed on my sidewinder x1, as the parts were too large for the prusa.

Bummer I have a smaller 3d printer but I would still be interested in the files since I would like to try to scale things down for my nano tank, looks like something that would be neat to play with over the winter. Even if I can get the stl files I can chop and slice things up, once you have it fully operational would be nice to see all the details. I would probably just use it on a timer, would be a simple path and probably work most of the time.

 

[eggi55]

Hi All

 

[larrybari]

Sorry to Jest but this error message sort of makes it sound like your ATO bucket is empty. lol Anyways hopefully figure it out.

Haha! I didn't catch the irony of that error message earlier! Nonetheless, I still have not figured this out, which means my graphs can't be reset and I can't really tell the regularity and the length of time the pump is running at a glance...
I was thinking that perhaps there is a way of resetting the logs for the ato other than the button in the ato settings...

 

[tyronbes]

Tremendously helpful. Thanks!

Man!! I'm so dismayed. I was going through the manual, put all my credentials in, hit update. Then reboot and my pi froze, turned off and never turned back on. I just have the red power led come in. Nothing with the activity light. I tried 3 different ad cards, different power cords. I read about the polyfuse, so I'll let it sit for a few days, but man that sucked!

 

[geologeek]

My Eheim went for a swim recently so I popped it open after doing a full wash and dry cycle. Still works.
You’ll want to signal the K1 or K2 buttons, in the picture orientation left to right. The edge of the board is battery ground and the inner button contact should be brought to ground to activate.

Is there any chance you could elaborate on how you are pulling the switch to ground? I have a different feeder I want to use but I need to figure out how to bypass the manual feed button by pulling it to ground via reef-pi.

Thanks in advance......

 

[tyronbes]

You’re welcome ! Those relay boards can be a little tricky, you need to supply them their VCC (for me 5V), GND and the 8 signal pins. The relay actually activates when the Input Pin is connected to GND and can sink around 5mA.That’s why you should use a transistor, be it a n-MOSFET or npn transistor. You actually don’t even need the pull-up resistors I have used there, since the signal is a current, not a voltage.

Thank you, I'll definitely take a look at getting a transistor, unfortunately my pi went down after trying to reboot. I cant get any activity out of it and I've tried 3 different sd cards, all of which I know to work. Kinda at a loss on what happened to it

 

[Simonv92]

Hi all! @Ranjib I'm having trouble reading a SHT31D sensor.
I2C bus works fine because I can send comand to PCA9685 without problem. I've tested SHT31D sensors some days ago with great success and now I have these errors:

free image upload

What can it be? Thank you!

 

[Simonv92]

I've done some more test; the problem seems to be the cable (even if during my test on breadboard with double lenght cable everything works fine) I'm now using PCA9507 to expand my I2C line, what IC can I use to improve the cable run?

 

[InactiveAcct]

I noticed these Neptune liquid level sensors have a familiar connector. How difficult would they be to add to reef-pi ATO?

 

[Sral]

I've done some more test; the problem seems to be the cable (even if during my test on breadboard with double lenght cable everything works fine) I'm now using PCA9507 to expand my I2C line, what IC can I use to improve the cable run?

Nice IC, if I had known the PCA9507 before I would have used it instead of my current solution.

I'm using an Adafruit ISO1540 to isolate my Pi's 3.3V against the I2C's 5V. Currently that's slightly stupid, because both are fed by the same 5V DC/DC converter :grinning-face-with-sweat:
Afterwards I hook up my SDA/SCL lines to a USB socket and latch an Adafruit LTC4311 I2C extender onto it. It basically does what your PCA9507 does a swell, it is a dynamic pull-up which shorts the lines to VCC, exactly what the PCA9507 has on the A-side. Everything is connected using header pins and header cables, as you can see in my build thread.

So the PCA9507 should be fine, if you have a good connection and cables. Personally I'm using shielded USB-A cables. Not the cheapest option, but it seems to work. I can get a seemingly stable I2C connection to my SCD30 over 1m distance.

I would suggest to check shielded cables, like a Ethernet cable and to try placing the PCA9507's A-side onto the side of the cable leading to the sensor.

 

[Simonv92]

Nice IC, if I had known the PCA9507 before I would have used it instead of my current solution.

I'm using an Adafruit ISO1540 to isolate my Pi's 3.3V against the I2C's 5V. Currently that's slightly stupid, because both are fed by the same 5V DC/DC converter :grinning-face-with-sweat:
Afterwards I hook up my SDA/SCL lines to a USB socket and latch an Adafruit LTC4311 I2C extender onto it. It basically does what your PCA9507 does a swell, it is a dynamic pull-up which shorts the lines to VCC, exactly what the PCA9507 has on the A-side. Everything is connected using header pins and header cables, as you can see in my build thread.

So the PCA9507 should be fine, if you have a good connection and cables. Personally I'm using shielded USB-A cables. Not the cheapest option, but it seems to work. I can get a seemingly stable I2C connection to my SCD30 over 1m distance.

I would suggest to check shielded cables, like a Ethernet cable and to try placing the PCA9507's A-side onto the side of the cable leading to the sensor.

Thank you for your answer, I'll try LTC4311 and shielded cable :)

 

[robsworld78]

Is there any chance you could elaborate on how you are pulling the switch to ground? I have a different feeder I want to use but I need to figure out how to bypass the manual feed button by pulling it to ground via reef-pi.

Thanks in advance......

Maybe start a new thread and if possible post some pictures of the internals and we can maybe point out some things to test it. I can explain how to pull it to ground but we need to figure out how the feeder works and where you would make the connections.

 

[robsworld78]

I noticed these Neptune liquid level sensors have a familiar connector. How difficult would they be to add to reef-pi ATO?

Wow I can't believe that's priced how it should be. Based on the ruler my guess is it's analog, unfortunately the Pi doesn't have any analog pins so if you wanted to know the actual water level you would need to add a ADS1015 ADC to your system, reef-pi has a driver for it. Of course you would need to figure out the wiring, if someone hasn't done it before on a forum it could be difficult getting it right. If you were successful you would get an analog value from the ADS1015 which you would use as a reference. If it is analog you could still connect it to a digital pin on the Pi and it would either read on or off but anyone's guess as to where that might be on the ruler.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1083

 

[Sral]

I noticed these Neptune liquid level sensors have a familiar connector. How difficult would they be to add to reef-pi ATO?

As @robsworld78 mentioned it’s not straight forward if you don’t know the internals. E.G. what contact is ground, VCC and data lines. Next, what kind of data is used, e.g. is it a digital interface like I2C or SPI, is it semi-digital giving a PWM signal or an analog voltage.

Both PWM and analog are easy to read into reef-Pi, e.g. using the ADC circuit (ADS1015) that rob mentioned. If it’s digital it’s a lot more difficult if you don’t know the protocol.

that’s also what I’m worried about, since the Connector has 4 contacts … typically you would only need 3 (VCC, signal and GND) for either PWM or analog signal. 4 contacts looks more like a digital interface like I2C.

depending on the price you could simply buy and open it up to see if the connections on the cable give you some info.