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

[pickupman66]

I did a quick search but could not find the exact same one. I know I ordered it off Amazon. Here is a slightly different model but same principle

Dual RJ45 Ethernet Connector Breakout Board w/ LED Screw terminals https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BAHLWZ8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-WeJBbFQA74PN

I have no issues with you using any of these findings in the instructions. I'm happy to help.

 

[Ranjib]

I did a quick search but could not find the exact same one. I know I ordered it off Amazon. Here is a slightly different model but same principle

Dual RJ45 Ethernet Connector Breakout Board w/ LED Screw terminals https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BAHLWZ8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-WeJBbFQA74PN

I have no issues with you using any of these findings in the instructions. I'm happy to help.

Thank you. I worry that RJ45 connectors are harder to build due to special crimping tool requirement. But they are definitely better than audio connector for temperature sensors.

 

[pickupman66]

Agreed. I happened to have a crimp tool. The little recepticals you can buy like I used in the box come with a little pinch down tool but need solid core wire to work best. I had to strip back the connecting wires to reveal the strands as the insulation was not pierced.


I checked and I'm at ~$165 on my build plus some cost of extra materials and junk I had laying around. Plus some extra junk ordered that I plan to return.


I'm anxious to build a pwm circuit for jebao pump controls and hope to use the 2nd rj-45 for signaling.

 

[Ranjib]

Agreed. I happened to have a crimp tool. The little recepticals you can buy like I used in the box come with a little pinch down tool but need solid core wire to work best. I had to strip back the connecting wires to reveal the strands as the insulation was not pierced.


I checked and I'm at ~$165 on my build plus some cost of extra materials and junk I had laying around. Plus some extra junk ordered that I plan to return.


I'm anxious to build a pwm circuit for jebao pump controls and hope to use the 2nd rj-45 for signaling.

I'm playing with a drok BLDC board to control icecap gyre 1K. I left it halfway, since I got busy with documentation. I dont see the situation changes till almost Christmas (and may be some bugfixing/coding in between).

 

[pickupman66]

I'm good with that. I'm letting the reef-pi run side by side with my Archon. Reef-pi owns the power supplies, archon owns the pulsing and a 50% throttle back at night. Next month I'll add the 2nd srdj8. I have a nifty pinned out uln2803 I'll use and just add the necessary jumpers over.


I'll see if I can break out some cosi for you for wavemaking.

 

[DaveMorris]

I am actually planning on building either two ReefPi's or one slightly modified to use on my dart frog vivarium. Many similarities between what the two systems would need, so it shouldn't require a lot of changes. One question that I do have...for the verbage that gets printed to the screen when looking at the ReefPi, where does that get changed? Or if I want it to say "Dave's Vivarium" on the top of a display screen, where does that type of programming happen? As I said when I hopped into this thread, not only do I need the controller aspect of this build, but I also want to learn from this experience. The information provided here and the help for a beginner to the programming world is phenominal and very much appreciated. I have some extensive knowledge when it comes to controllers and tank automation from years of needing it on my own tanks. I have absolutely no knowledge of programming though. My dad is a self-taught electrical engineer and a lot of that has rubbed off on me. :)

 

[Ranjib]

I am actually planning on building either two ReefPi's or one slightly modified to use on my dart frog vivarium. Many similarities between what the two systems would need, so it shouldn't require a lot of changes. One question that I do have...for the verbage that gets printed to the screen when looking at the ReefPi, where does that get changed? Or if I want it to say "Dave's Vivarium" on the top of a display screen, where does that type of programming happen? As I said when I hopped into this thread, not only do I need the controller aspect of this build, but I also want to learn from this experience. The information provided here and the help for a beginner to the programming world is phenominal and very much appreciated. I have some extensive knowledge when it comes to controllers and tank automation from years of needing it on my own tanks. I have absolutely no knowledge of programming though. My dad is a self-taught electrical engineer and a lot of that has rubbed off on me. :)

When you type the controller name, the UI code is runs on the browser, and that code sits here: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/blob/master/jsx/configuration/settings.jsx . When you press the update button , then it hits backend code , which is the code that runs on the pi and stores it in database (so that it persists across reboots). That code lives here: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/blob/master/controller/settings.go
If you are new to programming, then its a hard place to learn code from, since its fairly complicated code base involving modern backend and frontend technologies (not that the code volume is high, its just everything is pretty sophisticated). Once 2.0 is released, I want to publish a python package, that will be a good place to interact with reef-pi for beginners. You can write your automation scripts using very easy to learn python scripts. That learning can be extended to understand and then develop the actual controller code fairly easily.

 

[pickupman66]

@Ranjib , Here are my inital thoughts and some finds. First off, on the dashboard I get the error : GET API call failure. Details:{"url":"/api/tcs/undefined/usage"}

now my list.

1. On dashboard, It would be nice to see the temp readout above, inside or somewhere without having to use the mouse or a finger on a device
2. Same thing on the Temp page. can you show a device readout without having to hit expand?
3. I like how the ATO graph on the dash board shows when it is on vs off. Can this be done for any other equipment?
4. Temp tab. "Chart Maximun"
5. Equipment Tab. Buttons dont change size with name of channel. Maybe move the name to beside the button? or change to a toggle switch instead?
6. Email alert setup. When hitting update I get : "Please set a valid mail passowrd" this is done before Testing.
7. How accurate is the DS18B20? I read it is +-0.5°C. but does it need to be calibrated? previous equipment did and I have about a 1.5°F difference between them. I question because the house is set to 76 yet the probe I have set beside the tank reads 83°
8. Also on temperature tab, I do not have a chiller selected but the graph does show it when i have the control enabled.
9. My ATO float switch works. I did have to select the GPIO as Reverse which was nice that i could do that there.

I plan to keep playing with the software. I like it. it is very clean and simple. might be cool if a user could change the background.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib , Here are my inital thoughts and some finds. First off, on the dashboard I get the error : GET API call failure. Details:{"url":"/api/tcs/undefined/usage"}

now my list.

1. On dashboard, It would be nice to see the temp readout above, inside or somewhere without having to use the mouse or a finger on a device
2. Same thing on the Temp page. can you show a device readout without having to hit expand?
3. I like how the ATO graph on the dash board shows when it is on vs off. Can this be done for any other equipment?
4. Temp tab. "Chart Maximun"
5. Equipment Tab. Buttons dont change size with name of channel. Maybe move the name to beside the button? or change to a toggle switch instead?
6. Email alert setup. When hitting update I get : "Please set a valid mail passowrd" this is done before Testing.
7. How accurate is the DS18B20? I read it is +-0.5°C. but does it need to be calibrated? previous equipment did and I have about a 1.5°F difference between them. I question because the house is set to 76 yet the probe I have set beside the tank reads 83°
8. Also on temperature tab, I do not have a chiller selected but the graph does show it when i have the control enabled.
9. My ATO float switch works. I did have to select the GPIO as Reverse which was nice that i could do that there.

I plan to keep playing with the software. I like it. it is very clean and simple. might be cool if a user could change the background.

You are likely to have a stale entry in dashboard configuration where one chart refers to non existent temperature usage (tc), update it and the error should go away
Now on the specific asks
1 & 2. Yup.. this is a recurring ask, to show the current temperature in the chart & list view. I have created a ticket to track this. Its not hard to implement, just give us sometime and we'll get this sorted. You can subscribe to this ticket https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/issues/522 to stay updated as and when this is fixed.
3. I am not sure where else equipment usage is relevant. The TC (temperature control) chart already shows similar equipment usage (heater & chiller). I cant think of any other module where similar usage is involved.
4. Will fix it right away: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/pull/523
5. We are making some changes on the equipment UI. There are several other folks (fellow reefers & programmers @Michael Lane is one of them) who are now actively working on UI side, and they are far more competent in fixing these issues (including responsive aka mobile view) . So stay tuned
6. Thats an annoying but bengin bug. I'll get it fixed as well. Tracking ticket: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/issues/524
7. Its mostly accurate (more importantly its fairly precise). We do think it could use a calibration feature, and its planned as well, but I think we'll get to this after 2.0 release. Its a good to have things for us now (if i recall correctly ds18b20 accuracy is 0.5 degree Celsius, not Fahrenheit).
8. Yes. but it should show the usage value of chiller as 0. if thats not the case and you have not configured any equipment as chiller, then its a bug. Can you confirm?
9. I guess it means you have no specific ask around the ato and float switch, right ?

Thank you so much for sharing your articulated feedbacks, stuff like this helps us making reef-pi better..

 

[pickupman66]

Thanks for the reply. I'll help in any way I can.

 

[Des Westcott]

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

I think this is the same issue I've had a couple of times. I'm having it again today. All of a sudden I can't control my return pump. I can't re-assign or delete anything to do with the affected relay.

 

[pickupman66]

No cooler set.

Takes from my tablet

 

[Ranjib]

No cooler set.

Takes from my tablet

Bug. I’ll fix it before the next release
https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/issues/527

 

[pickupman66]

Thank you. I worry that RJ45 connectors are harder to build due to special crimping tool requirement. But they are definitely better than audio connector for temperature sensors.

I did some thinking about the RJ45 connections. you can run a standard ethernet cable with these. I wired each end of the cable with 568B protocols. if you got two of them (one for the box and one for the tank stand) it would be super simple to connect and run. ZERO special tools required. BUT i have my equipment in a closet behind my tank so I needed at least 5 feet to do this.

 

[wykat]

My first order was also via Mouser and went ok as well.
For the PWM (my boards are in Austria since Tuesday but have not arrived yet)

The stencil from JLCPCB has arrived yesterday after 7 days transit in Austria , but no PCB's yet :mad:. DK gave me a Credit Note for a "next order" but no refund :mad::mad:, that's resolved, I have a refund via my bank/credit card :). the reflow oven is under reconstruction and awaiting some fresh PCB's after Capton tape arrived finally today.:cool:
I think this belongs to learning not to react too rapidly to unexpected events in a Reef ;). It's not my strength to await, "take things in my own hands" to rapidly, but as above, so far it worked :D

 

[Ranjib]

We got a handful of UI fixes and enhancements lined up for the next alpha release. I'll see how many bugs I can squash before this weekend, and then I'll cut a release. Currently, I am totally focused on the adafruit guides, I believe it will be of tremendous value to have peer-reviewed build guides for all 2.0 modules.
I am also excited to see first major code contribution from the community @Michael Lane , lighting UI is a much more crisp, mobile friendly now.

Mobile

Still long way to go. But I am so happy with the new shiny ui :-) , I thought I’ll share

 

[Soulreefer]

Wow.. Nice job..

 

[Des Westcott]

Ranjib

While I feel guilty asking for issues to be sorted out, as it is clear that everyone is working so hard in their spare time as it is, please could you try sort out the issue of Reef-Pi losing the allocation of relays and not being able to edit or delete the equipment associated with them. My Reef-Pi has just forgotten the relay associated with my return pump when I fed this evening. I will have to delete the database and start again. Again.

Maybe there is a way that I can backup the database file when it is working properly and then just replace the faulty one when it breaks with the backup? Is this even possible?

Keep up the good work.

*** EDIT - I just discovered that if I go to the equipment page and edit the equipment that has lost it's association, and allocate it a different relay, then save, it accepts it. I can then go and reallocate the relay that wouldn't work previously and it works. No need to delete the entire database!! YAY ***

Des

 

[Ranjib]

Ranjib

While I feel guilty asking for issues to be sorted out, as it is clear that everyone is working so hard in their spare time as it is, please could you try sort out the issue of Reef-Pi losing the allocation of relays and not being able to edit or delete the equipment associated with them. My Reef-Pi has just forgotten the relay associated with my return pump when I fed this evening. I will have to delete the database and start again. Again.

Maybe there is a way that I can backup the database file when it is working properly and then just replace the faulty one when it breaks with the backup? Is this even possible?

Keep up the good work.

*** EDIT - I just discovered that if I go to the equipment page and edit the equipment that has lost it's association, and allocate it a different relay, then save, it accepts it. I can then go and reallocate the relay that wouldn't work previously and it works. No need to delete the entire database!! YAY ***

Des

I was just going to say the exact thing.
1) As you noted we have captured this in issue: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/issues/500 . We'll certainly nail it before hitting the final 2.0 release,
2) There's an ugly workaround, which is to edit an existing equipment and associate the outlet which is in limbo. You already figured out that.
This problem is more pronounced beta versions as we aggressively change the equipment API/database names during these releases.
Let me know if you need any help with your current build issues, I think we'll nail down the outlet/equipment association issue by end of September. I am currently focused documentation/guides 100%.

 

[Cookiethief1983]

Hello all, sorry to resurrect this one, I cannot connect to UI from my pi3. "connection refused", The correct version was downloaded and installed, the service is active and running without errors reported.. HTTP://LOCALHOST:8080

Any help would be appreciated, NOOB.