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

[pickupman66]

@Ranjib I think I may have made a mistake on my DS18B20. I powered it thru the 5v side and not hte 3.3v side. will this make a difference?

 

[Michael Lane]

@pickupman66 According to the datasheet, the DS18B20 can operate between 3 - 5.5 volts. That means it should not be a problem as long as the DQ pin and Rpi pin are connected to 3v3 through the pull up resistor.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib I think I may have made a mistake on my DS18B20. I powered it thru the 5v side and not hte 3.3v side. will this make a difference?

should be ok. check if its working . If the probe gets hot then you have wired it wrong. else it should be ok. its recommended to wire it against 5v if you have longer wire length between Pi and the ds18b20 probe

 

[pickupman66]

OK. yea it worked good last night on the bench. read 85 degrees in the garage and then went down quickly when we placed the probe in ice water.

 

[DaveMorris]

Ranjib, it looks like I didn't have the SD card formatted correctly. I have it working now thanks to your suggestion of the Adafruit tutorial. Thanks for helping out the new guy!

 

[Ranjib]

Ranjib, it looks like I didn't have the SD card formatted correctly. I have it working now thanks to your suggestion of the Adafruit tutorial. Thanks for helping out the new guy!

You are most welcome. Keep us posted. I also struggled in the beginning, remember I myself learned electronics and many more things on the way :-)

 

[pickupman66]

Pinning out and assigning outlets!

 

[pickupman66]

So, i had to redo my assignments. and I have an outlet that is Ghost locked. GPIO 16 states in-use but i have not assigned it. i may have before then i redid to order them properly according to the power bar and my OCD. now that one is in-use and i cannot assign it. it shows in-use on the config page but is not used in equipment. i get this error {"error":"Failed to create. Error: Outlet is already in use (Equipment ID: 7)"} | HTTP 500

 

[Ranjib]

Pinning out and assigning outlets!

Nice voltage regulator. I bet its bit expensive than the lm2596 modules we recommend now.

 

[pickupman66]

Buck Boost Converter Display, DROK Auto Buck-Boost Board DC 5.5-30V 12v to DC 0.5-30V 5v 24v Adjustable Constant Current Voltage Step UP Down Voltage Regulator 4A 50W Power Supply Module https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0789QVKKF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Z2WIBbBKFMGMQ

About $14 so not bad. It's spot on with my multimeter

 

[Ranjib]

So, i had to redo my assignments. and I have an outlet that is Ghost locked. GPIO 16 states in-use but i have not assigned it. i may have before then i redid to order them properly according to the power bar and my OCD. now that one is in-use and i cannot assign it. it shows in-use on the config page but is not used in equipment. i get this error {"error":"Failed to create. Error: Outlet is already in use (Equipment ID: 7)"} | HTTP 500

I think I know this issue, and cant think of any easy workaround other than recreating that outlet by resetting database

 

[pickupman66]

How is the database reset? Can it be accessed and edited?

 

[Ranjib]

How is the database reset? Can it be accessed and edited?

reef-pi uses boltdb, which is an embedded database in go. You can only open/edit it in go programming language. When I say reset database, i mean delete existing database and recreate things
https://reef-pi.github.io/additional-documentation/troubleshooting/

 

[pickupman66]

Ok. Thank you. I'll probably go ahead and reset.

Got it in an enclosure tonight. I will probably use cat5 cable to go from my closet to the tank for the float switch and the temp probe. I have this nifty breakout from my archon that takes Cat5 and breaks it to screw terminals. This way I can easily hook and unhook in the closet and also in the tank area.

 

[Ranjib]

Ok. Thank you. I'll probably go ahead and reset.

Got it in an enclosure tonight. I will probably use cat5 cable to go from my closet to the tank for the float switch and the temp probe. I have this nifty breakout from my archon that takes Cat5 and breaks it to screw terminals. This way I can easily hook and unhook in the closet and also in the tank area.

Nice. I am curious about the current draw from two set of db9 connector/sr p8 powerstrips. Let us know how it works one you tested it with both powerstrip hooked up.

 

[pickupman66]

Total draw for the system and a single db9 is 0.030 amps according to the display. That is with 7 of the 8 outlets on. I need to reset reef-pi for that 8th outlet.

 

[Ranjib]

Total draw for the system and a single db9 is 0.030 amps according to the display. That is with 7 of the 8 outlets on. I need to reset reef-pi for that 8th outlet.

Thats not too bad. I am trying to understand if a 12v 1A powersupply will be enough to power a pi zero + two set of adj sr p8 power strip.

It will be awesome if it works, it means users can build a 16 outlet power controller within 150$.

 

[Michael Lane]

Thats not too bad. I am trying to understand if a 12v 1A powersupply will be enough to power a pi zero + two set of adj sr p8 power strip.

It will be awesome if it works, it means users can build a 16 outlet power controller within 150$.

1 amp might work, but may not be reliable. The relays used in the sr p8 have a nomimal current of 77 mA. Although it isn't likely to happen, if all 16 relays were to switch at the same time, that would far exceed the power supplies capability. A 2 amp supply would be more reliable, and shouldn't really cost much more. If you already have the 1A supply, you probably won't have a problem, but random pi resets could be a symptom to look out for.

 

[pickupman66]

Tank is now 90% under reef-pi control. Jebao programming and skimmer are the lone holdouts


Just for notes. The SRP8 db9 pinout is as follows

Plug 1 - 6
Plug 2 - 1
Plug 3 - 3
Plug 4 - 2
Plug 5 - 9
Plug 6 - 7
Plug 7 - 8
Plug 8 - 4

Dc is #5

Also did some upgrades. Added a rj-45 jack for coms to the tank for ATO and temps. I have 3 wire left on this. At the tank it connects to a breakout. I am running two probes for now.

 

[Ranjib]

Tank is now 90% under reef-pi control. Jebao programming and skimmer are the lone holdouts


Just for notes. The SRP8 db9 pinout is as follows

Plug 1 - 6
Plug 2 - 1
Plug 3 - 3
Plug 4 - 2
Plug 5 - 9
Plug 6 - 7
Plug 7 - 8
Plug 8 - 4

Dc is #5

Also did some upgrades. Added a rj-45 jack for coms to the tank for ATO and temps. I have 3 wire left on this. At the tank it connects to a breakout. I am running two probes for now.

Very nice. I love the CAT5/RJ45 breakout board. Can you share the link for getting those :0-). I bet others would benefit from the db9 pin mapping. You don't mind I copy it in the official docs? Users can at least have some expectation or cross verify. I'll definitely do the same on my end