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

[theatrus]

What would you all consider safe temperature for the raspberry and circuitry? While testing I have one of my probes in the box with the lid off and it’s running about 85 degrees ambient. I don’t have my doser motors out yet so I’m running a 12 volt computer fan on my dosing schedule. Just out of curiosity I put the fan in the box and temps dropped from 85 down to 70 with the fan blowing at 75% every 2 minutes for 10 seconds lol. I’m thinking about getting a ds18b20 in transistor form factor to mount to my hat and use it to control a small box fan.

The core CPU temperature shouldn’t go above 80-85C for most purposes.

 

[ScottBrew]

39.2 degrees with the fan blowing on it. I’m just curious when is temp critical? I am sure once I put a lid on the box temp will go up.

Overtemp warnings at 80 C I believe and it throttles back processor usage to preserve itself. You will need some airflow, however passive cooling is probably sufficient with vent holes. The cpu usage is very low and doesn't generate much heat, especially running headless. If noise is a concern and you want a fan, get a 12vdc fan and run it with 5vdc. It will be all but silent.

 

[b4tn]

Thanks, for running headless are you all just running raspbian lite? I have the desktop version installed but have never used it. I did everything via the command line

 

[ScottBrew]

@ScottBrew - very cool! Let us know which one "Santa" brings you. You think "he'll" bring a less expensive one like a Geeetech or a more fancy one like a FormLabs, MakerBot or Zortrax?

Most likely it will be more toward the budget end, the Geeetech or Creality. That is unless Santa wins the lottery between now and then... I can't 3D print the Canon 5Dmk4, can I? o_O

 

[pickupman66]

Starting the build for my jebao pumps to see if I can do it. 24 volts along the bottom. Pulled the wired and power Port off a jebao controller. I tried to get the pump to fire off with a "light" port set to 50% but it didn't work. I could not see any voltage from the pwm driver board. So I have up and started Thanksgiving. Three bacon blankets ready to cover turkeys tomorrow.

 

[Mwdsonny]

What relay system did you get? Driving the relays directly with the 3.3V may not work out, as you can only source a few mA from each pin.
Most boards I've seen will use a higher (5 or 12VDC) supply and are triggered by the GPIO.

thought I read that the gpio pins were 3.3 volts. I havent tested them with my meter, but going off what I read. I guess i better pull out my meter before ordering the board on black friday. But here is the link to the board I decided I was gonna use.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1PC...pm=a2g0s.13010208.99999999.266.3eef3c00H3N9qR

 

[Des Westcott]

That's good on the black boxes, I'm using them myself, looking for different ways to power each panel myself, I have some mean wells myself to mess with when I can.

On the PWM side, there analog, digital, 0-10v, 1-10v, plus more, something to think about with what you have and what you know was working is just double check what you doing/using.

I only just realised the other day about 0-10v and 1-10v, never even noticed they was different

Lionheart

I get what you are saying about the different PWM signals...... It was something I battled to get my head around for a while.

What's doing me head in at the moment is that I can get the same light with the same drivers and power supply to dim from the Pi PWM, but not from the PCA9685. I'm determined to figure out why that is.

Des

 

[Ranjib]

Lionheart

I get what you are saying about the different PWM signals...... It was something I battled to get my head around for a while.

What's doing me head in at the moment is that I can get the same light with the same drivers and power supply to dim from the Pi PWM, but not from the PCA9685. I'm determined to figure out why that is.

Des

Pwm frequency ?

 

[Des Westcott]

Hmmmm. Interesting.

And what should that frequency be in an ideal world?

Logic says I should try figure out what frequency is working from the Pi PWM and use that on the PCA9685.

 

[Ranjib]

Hmmmm. Interesting.

And what should that frequency be in an ideal world?

Logic says I should try figure out what frequency is working from the Pi PWM and use that on the PCA9685.

try lowering the pca9685 pwm frequency from the configuration. You have to reload reef-pi , every time you do this. I would recommend start with sometime like 80 and check for 120, 300, 500 etc.

 

[pdisner]

Hello everyone. I’ve been workin hard trying to balance tending to over 500 Striped Blenny larvae and running to get whatever supplies I could locally and some misc things that I needed related I my build. I’ve been loosin on sleep and need to get rest now, but I wanted to tell you guys and especially you #Ranjiib. Please take a look and see if this pH probe will work. I found in a nondescript electronic supply house.

 

[pdisner]

Oops!! See, I forgot to include the link to it. It’s only 25$. I’m sure you must have seen already. I wonder if this will work for me?
https://www.dx.com/p/liquid-ph-value-detection-detect-sensor-module-monitoring-control-436283

If you have tied it, let me know why you didn’t like it.

 

[Ryan115]

thought I read that the gpio pins were 3.3 volts. I havent tested them with my meter, but going off what I read. I guess i better pull out my meter before ordering the board on black friday. But here is the link to the board I decided I was gonna use.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1PC...pm=a2g0s.13010208.99999999.266.3eef3c00H3N9qR

Those relays will trigger from 3.3V (you are correct, that is what the Pi GPIO pins are), but they will still need a power source to activate the coils.
My concern is with the amount of power needed to do that.
Looking at the spec sheet it say 0.36W/0.45W which at 3V is 120-150mA for each relay. This is already more than you can source from a GPIO pin, and you will quickly surpass the 3.3 rail limit from the Pi.
So either way you will need a separate supply to the relay board. Best bet would be to get a LM2596 and step it down from your other 5V or 12V source.

 

[Dave's Reef]

With these few day off I plan of finishing up my reef-pi. So how do you guy protect your temp probes? Liquid electrical tape or silicone?

 

[Ryan115]

With these few day off I plan of finishing up my reef-pi. So how do you guy protect your temp probes? Liquid electrical tape or silicone?

I used silicone, it has worked well.

 

[b4tn]

I used silicone as well

 

[pdisner]

Oops!! See, I forgot to include the link to it. It’s only 25$. I’m sure you must have seen already. I wonder if this will work for me?
https://www.dx.com/p/liquid-ph-value-detection-detect-sensor-module-monitoring-control-436283

If you have tied it, let me know why you didn’t like it.

Anyone??

 

[Diamond1]

Hi all, reef-pi 2.0 is out, here is the release post: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-pi-2-0-release-announcement.508835/
Thank you all for everybit of contribution, from build a reef-pi controller and testing it out to supporting others in this thread.

Happy thanks giving

Once again you have gone above and beyond thank you Ranjib.
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[janos]

Happy thanksgiving to all American members,from Canada

 

[Ranjib]

Starting the build for my jebao pumps to see if I can do it. 24 volts along the bottom. Pulled the wired and power Port off a jebao controller. I tried to get the pump to fire off with a "light" port set to 50% but it didn't work. I could not see any voltage from the pwm driver board. So I have up and started Thanksgiving. Three bacon blankets ready to cover turkeys tomorrow.

Oooh .. thats a cool trick. I didn't know you can bacon wrap a turkey. I always brush/baster the turkey, every hour. I bet this is better, :-) , Thanks for sharing,