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

[sjeff35]

You know this is very common , getting stuck , particularly when we are learning all the things . I get stuck all the time, what helped me is to take a break and come back to the problem, and systematically troubleshoot it.
I’ll advice disconnecting the transistor circuit and just test pca9685 output without connecting the transistor circuit in it. If that works we should next look at the transistor circuit. Otherwise we know for sure it’s the pcs9686 . And the. Run specific diagnosis (like check if devmode is enabled etc)

Now that you are running latest release you should be able to check the transistor circuit even without pca9685, using pi pwm directly.
So I’ll say , if pca9585 is not working (we t steps for sure) , then setup pi pwm (enable pwm module in /boot/config.txt and reboot ) then check if pi is (0-3.3v) output with pin 18 when you chang it via reef-pi. Then next move on to the transistor circuit. Let’s make small step , and validate it in each step

Great advice. Thanks!

Now, how to I go about testing the PCA9685 output???

 

[Ranjib]

Multimeter, put one probe pca9685 output (any of the pwm channel, control the same with reef-pi ui) and connect the other probe of the multimeter to ground. when in reef-pi you set 50% , then you should get 2.5v from pca9685.. and so on.,, it scales 0-100% between 0-5V

 

[LionHeart2017]

Great advice. Thanks!

Now, how to I go about testing the PCA9685 output???

Just also check your 12v connection, is it a 2.1x5.5mm as the socket I got had what I thought was 2 grounds, they kinda are but one disconnects once you push the plug in so I didn't get a ground, if that makes sense, does your socket have 3 connections or 2, I got the 3 and as above one ground disconnects when a plug is plugged in[emoji2]

 

[sjeff35]

You know this is very common , getting stuck , particularly when we are learning all the things . I get stuck all the time, what helped me is to take a break and come back to the problem, and systematically troubleshoot it.
I’ll advice disconnecting the transistor circuit and just test pca9685 output without connecting the transistor circuit in it. If that works we should next look at the transistor circuit. Otherwise we know for sure it’s the pcs9686 . And the. Run specific diagnosis (like check if devmode is enabled etc)

Now that you are running latest release you should be able to check the transistor circuit even without pca9685, using pi pwm directly.
So I’ll say , if pca9585 is not working (we t steps for sure) , then setup pi pwm (enable pwm module in /boot/config.txt and reboot ) then check if pi is (0-3.3v) output with pin 18 when you chang it via reef-pi. Then next move on to the transistor circuit. Let’s make small step , and validate it in each step

Ok, I get nothing with the PCA9685, so I'm thinking it's bad. Just ordered 2 more, different brands to try them next week.

I did verify the PI PWM does work, on pin 18 I get from 0 - 3.3 volts on Channel 1. Thanks for that tip!

 

[Ranjib]

Ok, I get nothing with the PCA9685, so I'm thinking it's bad. Just ordered 2 more, different brands to try them next week.

I did verify the PI PWM does work, on pin 18 I get from 0 - 3.3 volts on Channel 1. Thanks for that tip!

You can use the pi pwm directly to drive the npn transistor, I noticed you had only two (for kessil ?) , Pi has two PWM (18 & 19) so, you should be good

 

[sjeff35]

You can use the pi pwm directly to drive the npn transistor, I noticed you had only two (for kessil ?) , Pi has two PWM (18 & 19) so, you should be good

@Ranjib

That works (I think)

What's the maximum voltage I should be seeing here? I'm getting 12 + at 100 % on either channel. If I remember correctly, Kessil is looking for 10, right???

Thanks again so much for all of this!!!

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib

That works (I think)

What's the maximum voltage I should be seeing here? I'm getting 12 + at 100 % on either channel. If I remember correctly, Kessil is looking for 10, right???

Thanks again so much for all of this!!!

Yes, you'll get 100% of whatever the supply voltage is, in this case 12V. You are right kessil expects 10V. I use lm2596 (I buy them in 6 packs, so have always few spare) to convert 12V to 10V. But if you dont have those, you can also use a coule of resistor (like one 1K, and one 5K) to create a voltage divider which will convert the 12V to 10V, and then feed that 10V to npn emitter pin , where you have connected the 12v in right now... and voila... you have a spectral controller :-)
I am happy that you got thw pi pwm going, you know this is a significant futuristic thing :-), earlier this year broadcom (Pi's original CPU chip maker) opened up the pin specification for hardware timer, it took another three months to percolate that information through Raspberry Pi kernel and software stack so that we can use the pwm, and I think sometime in Apirl or May I added the support for Pi pwm.. its fresh from the oven :-). Its a big deal I think, because now one can make a two part doser or a kessil controller just using a pi zero, since we have two pwm.. without the need of pca9685 , this reduced the build cost by at least 12$ and less complexity/wiring/power consumption. One of the original goal of reef-pi is to make reef tank controllers affordable, I wont say we are there yet, but this is a significant milestone, and seeing it working for you (we still have some work to do) makes me very very excited :-)

thanks again for testing it out

 

[Ranjib]

More on voltage divider: http://www.ohmslawcalculator.com/voltage-divider-calculator

 

[sjeff35]

Yes, you'll get 100% of whatever the supply voltage is, in this case 12V. You are right kessil expects 10V. I use lm2596 (I buy them in 6 packs, so have always few spare) to convert 12V to 10V. But if you dont have those, you can also use a coule of resistor (like one 1K, and one 5K) to create a voltage divider which will convert the 12V to 10V, and then feed that 10V to npn emitter pin , where you have connected the 12v in right now... and voila... you have a spectral controller :)
I am happy that you got thw pi pwm going, you know this is a significant futuristic thing :), earlier this year broadcom (Pi's original CPU chip maker) opened up the pin specification for hardware timer, it took another three months to percolate that information through Raspberry Pi kernel and software stack so that we can use the pwm, and I think sometime in Apirl or May I added the support for Pi pwm.. its fresh from the oven :). Its a big deal I think, because now one can make a two part doser or a kessil controller just using a pi zero, since we have two pwm.. without the need of pca9685 , this reduced the build cost by at least 12$ and less complexity/wiring/power consumption. One of the original goal of reef-pi is to make reef tank controllers affordable, I wont say we are there yet, but this is a significant milestone, and seeing it working for you (we still have some work to do) makes me very very excited :)

thanks again for testing it out

Yeah, you're talking Greek here to me!!! :p

I'm going to need a drawing if you would be so kind!!!

Thanks again


Nevermind I re-read your post. I get it now, I have several of those Lm2596 I can use.

 

[willy1994]

when i check the auto box on my lighting tab i only get little sliders that i cant move

Untitled

• willy1994
• Jul 14, 2018

 

[Ranjib]

when i check the auto box on my lighting tab i only get little sliders that i cant move

Untitled

• willy1994
• Jul 14, 2018

This is likely a browser issue. What browser you are using? Any chance you can give firefox or chrome a shot?

 

[Ranjib]

when i check the auto box on my lighting tab i only get little sliders that i cant move

Untitled

• willy1994
• Jul 14, 2018

Welcome to r2r :-), you'll love it here

 

[willy1994]

im using firefox. and thank you im loving this project so far! ♥

 

[Ranjib]

im using firefox. and thank you im loving this project so far! ♥

Which version of firefox? I am using latest firefox, and its working as expected . What laptop/compute OS you are using?
Here is how it looks on my end (under firefox)

 

[willy1994]

v61.0.1 windows 10. it displays right using chrome but not firefox for me.

 

[Ranjib]

v61.0.1 windows 10. it displays right using chrome but not firefox for me.

Got it. Thanks for reporting this. I dont have a windows machine to test the UI, so rely on pretty much the browser (i test using firefox and chrome). I'll look into it in next release,

Were you able to setup daylight cycle finally ?

 

[willy1994]

yup works fantastic!

 

[Des Westcott]

Ranjib.

I'm still battling with my lighting. I'm reliably getting 0 - 5 volts PWM based on the Reef-pi lighting setting from the PCA9685. It's getting that to the 12 volts to run my lights that's the problem. I've tried that circuit that you gave me with the Mosfet and resistor, but still not getting it.

I'll post a picture of my circuit momentarily.

Des

 

[Des Westcott]

I'm experiencing another strange problem ...........

I was running on 2.0.0 beta5 and all was good. Then suddenly I could not turn the Return Pump ("Relay 5" in connectors) on after feeding one night. I hunted and tried various things, and eventually came to the conclusion that the relay must be faulty. I am upgrading my skimmer at the moment so it isn't in the sump, so I just connected the Return to "Relay 7".

Now today after doing a water change, I could not get the Return to turn on again. I thought it was another relay failure, and I connected the return to my refugium light "Relay 8". I cursed quite a bit and decided I need to get a better set of relays somewhere........ but then I noticed something.....

Under equipment, there are no Connectors associated with them. I also cannot delete the Equipment and reassign. I cannot delete the Connectors either (obviously actually). I then also noticed that my Temp graph had not updated since since the 12/07 2018 03:00.

I then updated to Reef-Pi 2.0.0 beta6, in case I had a bug that was fixed in that release. No difference. I also pulled the GPIO wire on the working "Relay 8" and attached it to 7 and 6 and both activated. So I'm now pretty sure the relays are fine. I've been getting the pink ribbon of annoyance ( LOL ) at the top of the screen and have been ignoring it.

Any ideas?

 

[sjeff35]

@Ranjib

Once again I have to say THANKS for all you do with the project. I'm really loving this thing! I'll get my lighting module done this week. My Kessil is supposed to be here Friday.

So, my next add-on I want to tackle is the PH monitoring. I have read through your posts on your testing and implementation, just wondering if you are writing up a build guide and BOM for the PH part? After the PH, the doser will be next on my list.

Thanks again