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

[ReefSpy]

I plan to start to playing with some break outs for jebao pump hook up. Something that marries the 24v power to a pwm signal that then connects right to the jebao connector. Use the jebao power supply.

I use one of these with my Neptune Apex to control 2 Jebao PP-8 wavemakers.

https://www.amazon.com/Neptune-Syst...1538064436&sr=8-1&keywords=jebao+apex+adapter

It allows you to connect two Jebao wavemakers with a single 24V power supply, and has an RJ45 jack to connect 2-channels of 0-10V just like a Kessil. Would something like this work with Reef-pi?

 

[pickupman66]

That was develop because Apex didn't do pwm. We would have to convert the pi pwm to analog and then back to pwm to the jebao

 

[b4tn]

Hmmm, I think I am going to jump on this. I have a 3 year old Reefkeeper lite that has started flashing "error" across the screen. Everything still works but I would hate for it to fail on me and they are no longer in business. Years ago I built a Mega squirt Electronic Fuel Injection controller from the circuit board up for my race car and loved it. This is right up my alley and a heck of a lot cheaper than an Apex.

So I just read through all the guides and its pretty straight forward. I will probably continue to read through the 300 pages of thread. But a couple questions.

Once wifi is enabled can I control/program 100% of the features via the web interface?

For my ATO I use a toms aqualifter pump. If I recall correctly it only works off a mechanical relay. Is that by design of the pump or the reefkeeper power strip? In other words if I wanted to initially start with 8 outlets how many should be mechanical and how many should be solid state or can they all be optocoupler relays?

Are there any major "known" issues/limitations in comparison to a commercial controller?

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Hmmm, I think I am going to jump on this. I have a 3 year old Reefkeeper lite that has started flashing "error" across the screen. Everything still works but I would hate for it to fail on me and they are no longer in business. Years ago I built a Mega squirt Electronic Fuel Injection controller from the circuit board up for my race car and loved it. This is right up my alley and a heck of a lot cheaper than an Apex.

So I just read through all the guides and its pretty straight forward. I will probably continue to read through the 300 pages of thread. But a couple questions.

Once wifi is enabled can I control/program 100% of the features via the web interface?

For my ATO I use a toms aqualifter pump. If I recall correctly it only works off a mechanical relay. Is that by design of the pump or the reefkeeper power strip? In other words if I wanted to initially start with 8 outlets how many should be mechanical and how many should be solid state or can they all be optocoupler relays?

Are there any major "known" issues/limitations in comparison to a commercial controller?

Ranjib has a guide on adafruit that is a lot easier than reading through 300+ pages of chat on here. It's very detailed. I just ordered all the components for the first 3 phases today.

 

[pickupman66]

Once wifi is enabled can I control/program 100% of the features via the web interface?

YES. I do this.

For my ATO I use a toms aqualifter pump. If I recall correctly it only works off a mechanical relay. Is that by design of the pump or the reefkeeper power strip? In other words if I wanted to initially start with 8 outlets how many should be mechanical and how many should be solid state or can they all be optocoupler relays?

So the Aqualifter was a nightmare on the Triac due to its design. I cannot recall the exact technical reason. FWIW, in the build guides we are using a Pre-fab 8 channel relay Power bar much like the PB4 you have. I will have two of these soon.

Are there any major "known" issues/limitations in comparison to a commercial controller?

well, Pump control is not implemented YET. but hopefully soon. PH is in works as I am sure we will work on Salinity and such too.

 

[b4tn]

Awesome, I will look for the adafruit guide.

@pickupman66 I do use the PH probe to shut off my doser if PH goes above 8.6. Will the reef pi at least read a PH probe currently? Or is that int he works as well?

 

[b4tn]

Nevermind. I found the guide. :) https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-installation-and-configuration/introduction

 

[Michael Lane]

So the Aqualifter was a nightmare on the Triac due to its design.

Aqualifter is pretty low power. It proabably doesn't draw enough current the keep above the triac's holding current. Mechanical relays are a good choice for that kind of device.

 

[b4tn]

Speaking of PB4’s. Has anyone opened one up? I would probably figure out a way to re purpose them for the pi controller.

 

[pickupman66]

I would not bother. There's a piece of software that lives on top of a control board in them

 

[Ranjib]

Hmm. i bought my female jacks at home depot in individual baggies. they had a cheapo plastic puncher in them.

I am looking into building the pump circuit. I am getting a PCA9685 breakout board. I dont know much about this. Can I run the 24V supply power thru this board using the large screw connector at the top to supply Power to the pumps thru the + &- located next to the PWM output? Unfortunately I dont believe that cat5E will be able to handle the Amperage for these pumps so what I plan to do is use the PCA9685 to drive signaling into the Cat5e connection and then run that over to the tank. once there I will break it out and Marry the PWM and its ground to a 24V power source and then push that into a female end to connect the Jebao pumps to.

Do you think I need Transistors and or resistors?

granted this will not be in working order until the Pump coding can be done which I am not skilled in.

Sounds ok to me. There are PoE( power over ethernet) standards, so you should be able to run 15 watts (24v at 625mA) or higher (PoE+) through cat5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet

 

[Ranjib]

Hmmm, I think I am going to jump on this. I have a 3 year old Reefkeeper lite that has started flashing "error" across the screen. Everything still works but I would hate for it to fail on me and they are no longer in business. Years ago I built a Mega squirt Electronic Fuel Injection controller from the circuit board up for my race car and loved it. This is right up my alley and a heck of a lot cheaper than an Apex.

So I just read through all the guides and its pretty straight forward. I will probably continue to read through the 300 pages of thread. But a couple questions.

Once wifi is enabled can I control/program 100% of the features via the web interface?

For my ATO I use a toms aqualifter pump. If I recall correctly it only works off a mechanical relay. Is that by design of the pump or the reefkeeper power strip? In other words if I wanted to initially start with 8 outlets how many should be mechanical and how many should be solid state or can they all be optocoupler relays?

Are there any major "known" issues/limitations in comparison to a commercial controller?

Thank you for your interest in reef-pi. I have never used a commercial controller (the only two commercial controller I have is kessil , that I don't use anymore and Smart ATO micro), hence can't comment whats missing in reef-pi. I would assume a lot, and above anything the fact that you have use abundant elbow grease (i.e. you'll spend a decent amount of time building it), although I think this can be fun. Also, we don't have any cloud-based portal, your data and everything stays in the pi, you can send your data to adafruit, but can't control your controller from there. As a workaround, it is possible to set up port forwarding and access your reef-pi UI from outside home... I do that when I am on vacation.
Let us know if you have any question,

 

[Ranjib]

Awesome, I will look for the adafruit guide.

@pickupman66 I do use the PH probe to shut off my doser if PH goes above 8.6. Will the reef pi at least read a PH probe currently? Or is that int he works as well?

reef-pi can do pH monitoring and alert based on it. We don't have equipment control yet (i.e. turn on/off equipment based on pH value), this is something that will come after 2.0 release (sometime after Halloween, probably early next year).
pH module was developed relatively recently, and there is no official documentation other than few posts /circuit images of my own build. I'll publish the adafruit guide directly on pH monitoring using reef-pi sometime around mid-october. I am going through individual guides, and theres 5 more to go. ...

 

[Ranjib]

Speaking of PB4’s. Has anyone opened one up? I would probably figure out a way to re purpose them for the pi controller.

I need some details on which voltage it works, if you have an old unit and a multimeter, check the voltage readings in the rj45/cat5 connector, I am pretty sure we can reuse it with reef-pi

 

[cunninghamT1]

Awesome, could i use a dc fan and fan speed is controlled by temp? current one is noisy :(
sorry, too many posts here, hard to read them all at once.

 

[Soulreefer]

The best tread in diy section 318 page.. Why this tread not sticky.

 

[Ranjib]

Awesome, could i use a dc fan and fan speed is controlled by temp? current one is noisy :(
sorry, too many posts here, hard to read them all at once.

The temperature controller is only aware of on/off type control, so you can only start a dc fan on or off. You can create a virtual light with manual profile and use that to control the fan speed (since both light and dc fan uses the same pwm logic for speed/intensity control)

 

[Ranjib]

The best tread in diy section 318 page.. Why this tread not sticky.

Welcome to reef2reef, thank you for the kind words :-)

 

[rroselavy]

One idea: A waterproof cable gland and a terminal adapter could be used instead. Not flush like a jack, but the BNC's are going to stick out anyway. Temp probes aren't changed out often enough for it to matter.

Similar to this project:

Build KnowFlow: automatic water monitor

 

[rroselavy]

Actually, this provides no advantage over a mini jack. lol.