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

paphater · Nov 9, 2018

Erica-Renee said:
Awesome the more people the more fun.. Just be aware i am Blonde and type to much . But on the good side some of it its Useful..

I'll appreciate it! This type of stuff will be a whole new realm for me...

ScottBrew · Nov 9, 2018

b4tn said:
That’s perfect! Thanks.

I used a Dremel but I'm sure there is a better way, or maybe a different cutting bit that would work better. But it was only $11! I have pictures on my reef-pi thread. Spacing between the Decora outlets was 3/8" to fit all 4 in the box properly vs 1/2" for a standard outlet cover.

Erica-Renee · Nov 9, 2018

OK . So .

Well i Just ordered stuff to build a pi-3 controller and will put the pi-zero one on the planted Tropical tank. I also ordered this.
After much thought, Advice from on here and Lots of You tube videos .
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9T3H57/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It will all be here Sunday. Guess this can go in the room with my Vinyl cutter, Blue Print plotter . The post above about cost of project boxes is what pushed me to clicking the BIG Button..

MaccaPopEye · Nov 10, 2018

Erica-Renee said:
OK . So .

Well i Just ordered stuff to build a pi-3 controller and will put the pi-zero one on the planted Tropical tank. I also ordered this.
After much thought, Advice from on here and Lots of You tube videos .
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9T3H57/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It will all be here Sunday. Guess this can go in the room with my Vinyl cutter, Blue Print plotter . The post above about cost of project boxes is what pushed me to clicking the BIG Button..

Yes! I hope it goes well for you :D

Time to download fusion 360 and get to modeling :D

wykat · Nov 10, 2018

My new Raspberry PI 3 has arrived and Reef-PI_HAT and (modified v0.2) PWM modules are now running for almost 24 hours without problems :)

It looks like I fried my old Raspberry PI with a solder ball on the silicon plate I use for soldering. I found one on the place where I tested the PI/HAT/PWM combination before.

There appeared to be a problem with the I2C bus on an old HAT module (missing GND) but the files on Github are ok, so only designs before Aug 2018 are affected (don't think anybody has one, nevertheless check GND on pin 6 of the HAT if I2C doesn't work)

The modification to the PWM module v0.2 seem to work, new PCB boards and final components are on their way and should arrive latest by Wednesday :) I think everything will then be ok and I can upload the PWM files to Github as well.:D Still need to make some photo's for the documentation to make it clear to everybody.

That Crusso Kid · Nov 10, 2018

Erica-Renee said:
OK . So .

Well i Just ordered stuff to build a pi-3 controller and will put the pi-zero one on the planted Tropical tank. I also ordered this.
After much thought, Advice from on here and Lots of You tube videos .
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9T3H57/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It will all be here Sunday. Guess this can go in the room with my Vinyl cutter, Blue Print plotter . The post above about cost of project boxes is what pushed me to clicking the BIG Button..

@Erica-Renee - are there any specific reasons you went with the Creality Ender 3 instead of the Geeetech A10? If so, would you mind sharing? The reason I ask is because, based on my research, it appears the Geeetech is the better option. I'd really value your input.

Erica-Renee · Nov 10, 2018

crusso1993 said:
@Erica-Renee - are there any specific reasons you went with the Creality Ender 3 instead of the Geeetech A10? If so, would you mind sharing? The reason I ask is because, based on my research, it appears the Geeetech is the better option. I'd really value your input.

To he honest it was a Coin toss decision. The Geeetech has a few new features,But also have a few changes components different from other machines . such as the rollers Some wiring . The Creality Has 10s of thousands of machines in use.They both have the same print Quality it appears... But i am NO Expert ..

That Crusso Kid · Nov 10, 2018

Erica-Renee said:
To he honest it was a Coin toss decision. The Geeetech has a few new features,But also have a few changes components different from other machines . such as the rollers Some wiring . The Creality Has 10s of thousands of machines in use.They both have the same print Quality it appears... But i am NO Expert ..

Thank you!

b4tn · Nov 10, 2018

I had planned to start working on the relays and wiring this weekend but realized a slight design flaw on my part. I was originally going to use the DJ power strip so cut the hole and mounted the DB9 connector thinking I would just use it the same way but wire my own relays to the the other side. Well it has 8 gpio pins and one 12 volt line but no ground and I am out of pins. LOL. So I need to order some VGA 16 pin connectors so I can bring 8 gpio, 12v, and ground to my relays in the power strip. How does the DJ power strip get its ground to operate the relays?

Also I was thinking about stability. Micro SD cards where never really designed to run operating systems and read/right operations. I hear about them getting corrupted often. Has anyone ever considered using a thumb drive or external solid state drive for the OS?

theatrus · Nov 10, 2018

b4tn said:
I had planned to start working on the relays and wiring this weekend but realized a slight design flaw on my part. I was originally going to use the DJ power strip so cut the hole and mounted the DB9 connector thinking I would just use it the same way but wire my own relays to the the other side. Well it has 8 gpio pins and one 12 volt line but no ground and I am out of pins. LOL. So I need to order some VGA 16 pin connectors so I can bring 8 gpio, 12v, and ground to my relays in the power strip. How does the DJ power strip get its ground to operate the relays?

8 of the pins are the ground return from each relay.

b4tn said:
Also I was thinking about stability. Micro SD cards where never really designed to run operating systems and read/right operations. I hear about them getting corrupted often. Has anyone ever considered using a thumb drive or external solid state drive for the OS?

Thumb drives have the same problem. AFAIK the Pi must boot from the SD card (at least the core bootloader, unsure if USB is available that early to try and load the kernel from USB), but then any read/write filesystems could be attached to a USB/M2 or SATA bridge to a real SSD. Lots of wiring but possible.

b4tn · Nov 10, 2018

theatrus said:
8 of the pins are the ground return from each relay

That makes sense but Almost all of the 8 channel relay assembly’s I see have a vcc, ground, and then 8 signal pins. Is this because it has built in relay drivers that could be powered directly from the pi without the ULN2803?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LW2GA5Y/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_FaY5BbEDVKRBV

Michael Lane · Nov 10, 2018

b4tn said:
I had planned to start working on the relays and wiring this weekend but realized a slight design flaw on my part. I was originally going to use the DJ power strip so cut the hole and mounted the DB9 connector thinking I would just use it the same way but wire my own relays to the the other side. Well it has 8 gpio pins and one 12 volt line but no ground and I am out of pins. LOL. So I need to order some VGA 16 pin connectors so I can bring 8 gpio, 12v, and ground to my relays in the power strip. How does the DJ power strip get its ground to operate the relays?

Also I was thinking about stability. Micro SD cards where never really designed to run operating systems and read/right operations. I hear about them getting corrupted often. Has anyone ever considered using a thumb drive or external solid state drive for the OS?

I've had an rpi based controller system running since 2014. The only issue I've had with the SD cards was running out of storage space due to excessive logging. I think the stability concerns are probably exaggerated as long as a quality SD card is used and the power doesn't frequently get interrupted. I usually lose power probably a dozen times a year...

Diamond1 · Nov 10, 2018

I used the db9 connectors in my power module and just ran a ground from the fused power switch, to the relay ground and then back to the pi. This way I was able to make the ground common on everything and use only one power supply to run the rpi and the relays.

I believe the ADJ power strip uses it's own power supply to power the relays.

theatrus · Nov 10, 2018

b4tn said:
That makes sense but Almost all of the 8 channel relay assembly’s I see have a vcc, ground, and then 8 signal pins. Is this because it has built in relay drivers that could be powered directly from the pi without the ULN2803?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LW2GA5Y/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_FaY5BbEDVKRBV

Yup. The ADJ power strip has just relays in it. The other relay boards add other complications such as optoisolators and the switching transistors on board, which need a common supply to drive those.