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

[Erica-Renee]

@Erica-Renee is simply awesome :0)

This is what she told me. oops... never mind..

 

[Ranjib]

My 125g tank was setup with RKE controller and several modules. I have been trying to source a new head unit but I was not successful since the company went out of business.

Would it be possible to be a reef-pi controller that would reuse some of the RKE module such PB4 power bar, ALC light control...?

Thank you

No idea. But I think we may be able to hack some of those component at least. The power bar should be reusable

 

[Ranjib]

No go on the old rke equipment. I'd love to as I have 4x of the pc4 and all the other goodies.

Hmm..is there a way to see what sugnal pc4 power bar uses?

 

[pickupman66]

Hmm..is there a way to see what sugnal pc4 power bar uses?

I know there is software that lies within the power bar itself. It's more than just a relayed bar. Through the head units it can be programmed to default a channel on or off if the head u it is removed. These firmwares were periodically updated. It is signaled along a 6 wire rj11 buss. I'm not quite ready to open one of mine up.

 

[theatrus]

Finally got a few cycles to start validating the "pico" original board I had made up almost 6+ months ago. Welp, how time flies with projects. It doesn't even use the new fancy logo :)

There are a few changes already required out of the box:

- The load switch fail-safe turned off the load switch. Instead of on. So its hard to power up the board without any power controller firmware. I simply bypassed it.
- Now I'm debugging the I2C bus which is held low by something. Going to hunt the various controllers on the board to see what is messed up, since a number of devices are attached to the bus (microcontroller, repeater, the isolator for the I2C circuit). This means the hardware RTC doesn't work right now.

Going to work on the other inputs and outputs next!

 

[Nicolas Sabrun]

No idea. But I think we may be able to hack some of those component at least. The power bar should be reusable

That would be great. I can try to disassemble and open up some of the modules if it helps.

 

[Ranjib]

I know there is software that lies within the power bar itself. It's more than just a relayed bar. Through the head units it can be programmed to default a channel on or off if the head u it is removed. These firmwares were periodically updated. It is signaled along a 6 wire rj11 buss. I'm not quite ready to open one of mine up.

Well, if its not being used, then does it make sense to keep the electronics/software parts? If I had something like that, I'll just rip all of it out (fancy electronics/mcu etc), and salvage what I can, like the outlets, relays etc and note down what voltage the relay requires and reuse the connectors to control them directly.

 

[Ranjib]

That would be great. I can try to disassemble and open up some of the modules if it helps.

If you are up for it, do it. I am not an expert, but happy to advice as and when needed

 

[Erica-Renee]

Well, if its not being used, then does it make sense to keep the electronics/software parts? If I had something like that, I'll just rip all of it out (fancy electronics/mcu etc), and salvage what I can, like the outlets, relays etc and note down what voltage the relay requires and reuse the connectors to control them directly.

These things will probably start popping up everywhere for sale in the near future. there are thousands of them out there and apparently the head unit is what dies first .

 

[Ranjib]

Finally got a few cycles to start validating the "pico" original board I had made up almost 6+ months ago. Welp, how time flies with projects. It doesn't even use the new fancy logo :)

There are a few changes already required out of the box:

- The load switch fail-safe turned off the load switch. Instead of on. So its hard to power up the board without any power controller firmware. I simply bypassed it.
- Now I'm debugging the I2C bus which is held low by something. Going to hunt the various controllers on the board to see what is messed up, since a number of devices are attached to the bus (microcontroller, repeater, the isolator for the I2C circuit). This means the hardware RTC doesn't work right now.

Going to work on the other inputs and outputs next!

Whoa, glad to see you back in action with the pico board.
We are also now recommending using the american dj SR - P8 power strip, which uses 12V relays with DB9 connector. (Common 12V+ve, and 8 pins that connect to ULN2803, as sink current(

 

[Nicolas Sabrun]

If you are up for it, do it. I am not an expert, but happy to advice as and when needed

I don't mind opening things up. I am not an expert either and I don't know anything about electronic or programming. I am just trying to salvage what I have.

I also want to be able to expand the system instead of being stucks with discontinued items.

 

[theatrus]

Whoa, glad to see you back in action with the pico board.
We are also now recommending using the american dj SR - P8 power strip, which uses 12V relays with DB9 connector. (Common 12V+ve, and 8 pins that connect to ULN2803, as sink current(

On my list of changes! I’ll validate the basic flows and more complex bits before swapping this out.

 

[Nicolas Sabrun]

For those who are following the thread, I have updated read me with with bill of material of a reef-pi build, specifically targeted for pico reef tanks, the ones I put on display for the maker faire.

Now that I have the BoM, housing concrete, I'll write down an assembly guide tonight.
Meanwhile, on the software side, I am in process of merging the adafruit.io integration, i.e reef-pi will be able to send data (temperature, ph etc) to adafruit.io, where you can build graph. I have a rough draft of PID controller also, hopefully we'll be able to use it to build temperature controller (heater failure is one of the most common reason for tank failure), all of these will go in the next pre-release,

I just started reading thru your great thread and not sure if there is another link for the "bill of material". The one above does not work.

Would you have a link to your build guide?

Thank you

 

[Michael Lane]

I don't mind opening things up. I am not an expert either and I don't know anything about electronic or programming. I am just trying to salvage what I have.

I also want to be able to expand the system instead of being stucks with discontinued items.

I don't think opening it up will help much, but I'd be interested in pictures if you do. What we really need to know is the protocol. Once I fully move my heaters off the RKL, I plan to hook up a logic analyzer to mine.

 

[ScottBrew]

I just started reading thru your great thread and not sure if there is another link for the "bill of material". The one above does not work.

Would you have a link to your build guide?

Thank you

The information is scattered in a number of places and I don't think I found one that had all the info in 1 place. Every build is unique to the builder with regards to the needs of the specific tank setup. Adafruit.com I think is where a good portion of the latest info is. Try https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-installation-and-configuration and look through all the tabs to the left of the page.

 

[Ranjib]

I just started reading thru your great thread and not sure if there is another link for the "bill of material". The one above does not work.

Would you have a link to your build guide?

Thank you

See if these guides help: https://learn.adafruit.com/users/ranjib , follow them in order :-)

 

[Nicolas Sabrun]

I don't think opening it up will help much, but I'd be interested in pictures if you do. What we really need to know is the protocol. Once I fully move my heaters off the RKL, I plan to hook up a logic analyzer to mine.

Here is a pic of my PB 4

 

[pickupman66]

Guys,

I did some digging and talking to some folks in the know, and I was TOTALLY wrong about he WP versions at least of the Jeboa wavemakers. They are not pwm. They use 0-5V analog signal. so I am not sure that the PCA9685 will work for this exact application.
I did find this digging around. Think it may work instead?
https://shop.controleverything.com/products/ad5669-16-bit-8-channel-digital-to-analog-converter

 

[Michael Lane]

Guys,

I did some digging and talking to some folks in the know, and I was TOTALLY wrong about he WP versions at least of the Jeboa wavemakers. They are not pwm. They use 0-5V analog signal. so I am not sure that the PCA9685 will work for this exact application.
I did find this digging around. Think it may work instead?
https://shop.controleverything.com/products/ad5669-16-bit-8-channel-digital-to-analog-converter

This isn't a big deal. You can use a simple RC integrator circuit to turn the pwm into analog (aka low pass filter). Put a resistor on the output with a capacitor to ground. I used this technique to control Mars Aqua lights. I can help with specific values this evening.

 

[hockeyhead019]

@Ranjib I've got a couple comments/questions

1. I'm definitely interested to see what hardware you can salvage from the Digital Aquatics kits that are now obsolete and unsupported

2. Have you done any investigations/studies on the limitations of the various pi models? I'm interested to give this a shot with the Pi Zero W instead of buying a Pi 3 kit strictly because of cost. I just want to make sure I'm not losing any functionality or limiting myself somehow by doing so.

Cheers on an awesome build and project! And your write ups on adafruit are fantastic and easy to follow.