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

[dmolavi]

Bah, I was wrong. The big '78M05' MOSFET isn't the one driving the pump - it only goes up to 5V. The small SMD above the lowest LED is an International Rectifier power MOSFET, good up to 30V...

 

[sfgabe]

Dosing controller guide is out: https://learn.adafruit.com/reef-pi-guide-5-dosing-controller
btw, there a bug in the dosing controller calibration logic :-/ . I'll cut a release soon with a fix.

Nice write up @Ranjib ! Question - what are the correct settings for getting a dosing pump running off of the PCA9685? If I put in a pin number for "outlets" it seems like it's looking for the pi pin, not the PCA9685 pin.

 

[theatrus]

Bah, I was wrong. The big '78M05' MOSFET isn't the one driving the pump - it only goes up to 5V. The small SMD above the lowest LED is an International Rectifier power MOSFET, good up to 30V...

Is that a relay under the sticker?

(The sticker was supposed to stay on the beeper until after the board was washed. Looks like someone got lazy and just moved it)

And yes you can just detect the motor voltage. Use a resistor divider to drop it from 12V to 3V or lower.

 

[dmolavi]

Is that a relay under the sticker?

(The sticker was supposed to stay on the beeper until after the board was washed. Looks like someone got lazy and just moved it)

And yes you can just detect the motor voltage. Use a resistor divider to drop it from 12V to 3V or lower.

Yes, it's a relay. I'll probably just go the resistor divider route - least invasive on the Osmolator board.

 

[Ranjib]

Nice write up @Ranjib ! Question - what are the correct settings for getting a dosing pump running off of the PCA9685? If I put in a pin number for "outlets" it seems like it's looking for the pi pin, not the PCA9685 pin.

dosing pump pins are always pwm pin or jack. For rpi its either 0 or 1 and for pca9685 it can anything between 0 to 15. The outlets are seperate from doser tab and only used to control the direction of the pump, thats because of l293d chip offering that feature. But reef-pi dosing module is not aware of directional control as such. Its something done out of band using outlet/equipment

 

[Jean-Pierre Renaud]

Hello guys !

i just setup new water level sensors, i have one on GPIO 16 that is set has the LOW LEVEL WARNING,

i want a pump to stop when that sensor is out of water, the pump is on AC4


SO, when i activate AC4, when the water level reaches the sensor, i want the AC4 to turn off.

i can't find how to do this.

Thanks

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

@@ranjib, are you running the dosers directly off the board?

 

[sector9]

I added another Sparkfun temperature probe to my build but I am having issues with some of the readings. As you can see from the temperature graph, I will randomly get erroneous temperature readings of -1000 to -3000 from this new probe.

I know people have reported problems with extending the cable for their sensors but both cables for my temperature sensors are exactly the same length. I am running the latest release of reef-pi 2.0
I occasionally get errors like "temperature sub-system. Failed to read sensor Display. Error:First line of device file does not ends with YES" but not at the times associated with these erroneous readings.

Any ideas on what could be causing the issue?

Another problem has been email alert notifications. I receive the "test" email without problems but I realized that I am not receiving other notification emails. For example, I set this probe to send alerts if temp is below 77 and nothing was sent. There is an error message "535 5.7.8 Username and Password not accepted. Learn more at 5.7.8 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=BadCredentials k18sm21237749ioa.39 - gsmtp" but if there's a problem with the username or password, how come the test email comes through without difficulty?

 

[wykat]

happy new year Australia !

 

[Bigtrout]

I added another Sparkfun temperature probe to my build but I am having issues with some of the readings. As you can see from the temperature graph, I will randomly get erroneous temperature readings of -1000 to -3000 from this new probe.

I know people have reported problems with extending the cable for their sensors but both cables for my temperature sensors are exactly the same length. I am running the latest release of reef-pi 2.0
I occasionally get errors like "temperature sub-system. Failed to read sensor Display. Error:First line of device file does not ends with YES" but not at the times associated with these erroneous readings.

Any ideas on what could be causing the issue?

Another problem has been email alert notifications. I receive the "test" email without problems but I realized that I am not receiving other notification emails. For example, I set this probe to send alerts if temp is below 77 and nothing was sent. There is an error message "535 5.7.8 Username and Password not accepted. Learn more at 5.7.8 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=BadCredentials k18sm21237749ioa.39 - gsmtp" but if there's a problem with the username or password, how come the test email comes through without difficulty?

Have you tried each sensor seperately?
Maybe the new sensor has a problem.
Try each seperately and see if theres a problem with a sensor first, then go from there

 

[OllieNZ]

After a few failed attempts to set up my ZeroW using the headless technique I gave in, dug out an old monitor and had it set up in a matter of minutes :rolleyes:. I can now use it via SSH and VNC to keep things tidy. The Reef-pi software setup on the other hand was dead simple and without any issues. Got a few bits of hardware still on the way but can't wait to really get stuck in.

How have people been finding those stainless tipped temp sensors? I've got half a dozen laying about and would rather use those than buy something new.

 

[rushbattle]

After a few failed attempts to set up my ZeroW using the headless technique I gave in, dug out an old monitor and had it set up in a matter of minutes :rolleyes:. I can now use it via SSH and VNC to keep things tidy. The Reef-pi software setup on the other hand was dead simple and without any issues. Got a few bits of hardware still on the way but can't wait to really get stuck in.

How have people been finding those stainless tipped temp sensors? I've got half a dozen laying about and would rather use those than buy something new.

I managed to do this eventually but it took a bit of messing around to get there. I should have written it all in this thread so everyone else would know. I’ll see if I can remember.

 

[OllieNZ]

I managed to do this eventually but it took a bit of messing around to get there. I should have written it all in this thread so everyone else would know. I’ll see if I can remember.

I was using this guide: https://learn.adafruit.com/raspberry-pi-zero-creation
It seems to be suggested elsewhere that there can be issues using the this command "ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev" with complex WiFi passwords. The biggest issue is if you mess it up or want to try something different you have to reflash the OS each time. I got a tad frustrated after half a dozen attempts ;Rage

 

[That Crusso Kid]

happy new year Australia !

Happy New Year to all you Downunder!

 

[That Crusso Kid]

After a few failed attempts to set up my ZeroW using the headless technique I gave in, dug out an old monitor and had it set up in a matter of minutes :rolleyes:. I can now use it via SSH and VNC to keep things tidy. The Reef-pi software setup on the other hand was dead simple and without any issues. Got a few bits of hardware still on the way but can't wait to really get stuck in.

How have people been finding those stainless tipped temp sensors? I've got half a dozen laying about and would rather use those than buy something new.

@OllieNZ - there are mixed reviews on the SS temp probes. Some people have had good results and some have had bad results i.e. - large variance in temp from one probe to another, early sensor failure, tough time figuring out a good way to coat the SS, etc.
@theatrus was going to be conducting some different materials/methods for coating the SS. Perhaps he'll chime in here too.

 

[theatrus]

@OllieNZ - there are mixed reviews on the SS temp probes. Some people have had good results and some have had bad results i.e. - large variance in temp from one probe to another, early sensor failure, tough time figuring out a good way to coat the SS, etc.
@theatrus was going to be conducting some different materials/methods for coating the SS. Perhaps he'll chime in here too.

I’m convinced most of the “S”S probes use a cloned sensor part, hence the super low cost and marginal performance in some cases.

So far an acrylic or polyurethane coating is doing really well.

 

[b4tn]

I’m convinced most of the “S”S probes use a cloned sensor part, hence the super low cost and marginal performance in some cases.

So far an acrylic or polyurethane coating is doing really well.

I have coated mine in silicone. From what I can tell it has little to no affect on the readings and if there is it is very marginal.

On the other hand @theatrus I am curious what products you used for coating yours? The silicone is horribly ugly lol and takes several days to cure. It would be nice to get something you can just dip and let drip dry then repeat a few times.

 

[dmolavi]

Is the BOM linked here still accurate, or are there changes to it? I'm going to start a build shortly (probably can't use the Reef-Pi base boards since I'm trying to incorporate my existing power, thermocouple, etc)...

 

[dmolavi]

How customizable is the UI for reef-pi? Is it basic javascript/JSON or something similar?

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Is anyone running their 5v dosing pumps directly off the reef-pi?