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

[lmm1967]

I seem to have broken my Dashboard.

I was fiddling around and installing my chiller and had to connect and disconnect a few things (pH and Temp plugs), then I started seeing strange errors regarding temp sensors that had failed etc etc. Then I lost a few metrics on the Dashboard and when I went to try fix them I noticed the layout for assigning graphs to the Dashboard was different. 3.0 / 3.1 release?

Anyway, I deleted database and tried to reconfigure, and I can't get anything other than Equipment and health to show on the Dashboard - No temp graphs. Everything else I configure works, just not the Dashboard.

I've got the bare bones Of a system working for now. Going to get a new card tomorrow and do a fresh install, get it working and then do a backup / spare card.

If you're on 3.1 there is a UI bug with graphs

 

[lmm1967]

Halide interference? Seems I may be getting some. When my halide switched on reef-pi completely lost my temp sensor until a reboot.

Can any of you smart folks point me to any possible solutions? This would be a show stopper for me.

The pi is roughly 4 feet away from the lights, ballasts, power lines for the halides. Is on the same electrical circuit (I don't want to run a dedicated circuit just for a controller - plus I'm not sure that would fix the interference anyway).

This is the ballast currently running - there will be more eventually. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/400w-metal-halide-ballast-reef-brite.html

 

[Ranjib]

I seem to have broken my Dashboard.

I was fiddling around and installing my chiller and had to connect and disconnect a few things (pH and Temp plugs), then I started seeing strange errors regarding temp sensors that had failed etc etc. Then I lost a few metrics on the Dashboard and when I went to try fix them I noticed the layout for assigning graphs to the Dashboard was different. 3.0 / 3.1 release?

Anyway, I deleted database and tried to reconfigure, and I can't get anything other than Equipment and health to show on the Dashboard - No temp graphs. Everything else I configure works, just not the Dashboard.

I've got the bare bones Of a system working for now. Going to get a new card tomorrow and do a fresh install, get it working and then do a backup / spare card.

its a bug in dashboard config ui, wait till tonight i;ll release a fix

 

[Des Westcott]

If you're on 3.1 there is a UI bug with graphs

Aaah OK Missed that. Been on 3.1 since it was released and this is the first time its reared it's head.

 

[Des Westcott]

its a bug in dashboard config ui, wait till tonight i;ll release a fix

awesome. Thanks.

 

[lmm1967]

Aaah OK Missed that. Been on 3.1 since it was released and this is the first time its reared it's head.

Until you try to change the dashboard it kept working. At least it did for me.

I wound up going back to 3.0 but mainly because I'm still messing with mine quite a bit and didn't want to wait for the patch (even though it's only been a couple days).

 

[MangroveCorals]

Hello all! Was wondering what is a good replacement for the 12v - 5v buck converter I can get from amazon for the power supply project? That is the last part I need to get started in on the power controller! Thank you :)

 

[thaistalyn]

Hello all! Was wondering what is a good replacement for the 12v - 5v buck converter I can get from amazon for the power supply project? That is the last part I need to get started in on the power controller! Thank you :)

I use this one --> QEBIDUL LM2596S DC-DC Buck Converter DIY 4-40V to 1.25-37V Step-down Regulator Power Module Volt Stabilizer with LED Voltmeter Display

Works great, I can see the output voltage and can dial it in.

 

[thaistalyn]

Halide interference? Seems I may be getting some. When my halide switched on reef-pi completely lost my temp sensor until a reboot.

Can any of you smart folks point me to any possible solutions? This would be a show stopper for me.

The pi is roughly 4 feet away from the lights, ballasts, power lines for the halides. Is on the same electrical circuit (I don't want to run a dedicated circuit just for a controller - plus I'm not sure that would fix the interference anyway).

This is the ballast currently running - there will be more eventually. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/400w-metal-halide-ballast-reef-brite.html

I've experienced RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) from my DC pump starting and stopping and made the suggestion for anyone else to use clamp on ferrite cores (on the pump power supply) to reduce the interference.

In your case, you could do the same, but I think with ballasts in general, the ferrite rings tend to reduce RFI better than the cores. Look into getting Ferrite Ring from Amazon and wrapping the power supply wire a few times around the ring. If you're interested you can do a little technical reading about the use of Ferrite Rings with strong lights here --> Grow Light RFI Kits

 

[MangroveCorals]

I use this one --> QEBIDUL LM2596S DC-DC Buck Converter DIY 4-40V to 1.25-37V Step-down Regulator Power Module Volt Stabilizer with LED Voltmeter Display

Works great, I can see the output voltage and can dial it in.

Thank you! Gonna order it and test it out and lien the output option!

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Late to the party on this, but what smart plugs can we use with 3.0, and how do we integrate them?

 

[Phildago]

Use journcalctl -u reef-pi.service —since startTime —until endTime
Examples are here:

Using journalctl - The Ultimate Guide To Logging

Journalctl is a utility for querying and displaying logs from journald, systemd’s logging service. Since journald stores log data in a binary format instead of a plaintext format, journalctl is the standard way of reading log messages processed by journald. In the…

www.loggly.com

I didn't have time to get that going today. But I'm really upset about what I came home to. I tested my alk and it was 6.5. It's never been that low. Ever. Im not sure how dangerous that could be and if anything will be feeling the effects.

I immediately went to check the dosing pump. Now here's where it got weird. I watched the equipment trigger in the app with no dosing occurring. Then I manually triggered a dose in the app with nothing. Last night when I checked the same way it was time triggered and munually triggered and dosed corectly while I was sitting there. So I rebooted the pi and tried again. After the reboot the pump dosed when triggered.

So now, I'm quite confident that this is the issue at hand. Why in the world would I dose, then stop and need to be rebooted?

If I can figure out how to check the logs I will, but will it give me any data on how much current was used? If not then I'm at a loss. Any ideas?

 

[Phildago]

Use journcalctl -u reef-pi.service —since startTime —until endTime
Examples are here:

Using journalctl - The Ultimate Guide To Logging

Journalctl is a utility for querying and displaying logs from journald, systemd’s logging service. Since journald stores log data in a binary format instead of a plaintext format, journalctl is the standard way of reading log messages processed by journald. In the…

www.loggly.com

Or a what about if I want to look up specific day from a pin?

Like If I want to check the pins are actually being triggered by the software. Is there any data that ai can access about possible MA usage or even as simple as whether the pin received any signal at all/indicating that the circuit was active?

 

[Bigtrout]

Or a what about if I want to look up specific day from a pin?

Like If I want to check the pins are actually being triggered by the software. Is there any data that ai can access about possible MA usage or even as simple as whether the pin received any signal at all/indicating that the circuit was active?

Before getting too upset..
The doser motor has specific requirements...length of pulse, frequency, duty cycle, current?.
You are focusing on the wrong thing. I have no doubts that reef-pi is triggering when its supposed to.

Is the signal correct?
You could have everything perfect but if you are right on the edge of getting the motor the proper signal/ frequency/ current the motor may not.be turning every time correctly. This is where I would look first.

So to troubleshoot, lets look at this area first.
Try a lower frequency or longer pulse and lets see what happens. Dont go overboard but lets see if we can get small improvements to dial this in.

 

[Phildago]

Before getting too upset..
The doser motor has specific requirements...length of pulse, frequency, duty cycle, current?.
You are focusing on the wrong thing. I have no doubts that reef-pi is triggering when its supposed to.

Is the signal correct?
You could have everything perfect but if you are right on the edge of getting the motor the proper signal/ frequency/ current the motor may not.be turning every time correctly. This is where I would look first.

So to troubleshoot, lets look at this area first.
Try a lower frequency or longer pulse and lets see what happens. Dont go overboard but lets see if we can get small improvements to dial this in.

I'm using a goby hat, and from the goby hat I'm controlling my doser as normal 12 v pins. The signal is on or off for these. In reef pi I have timers controlling each motor as equipment. The timer triggers and the motor responds. It works when I'm sitting there. But I've been noticing my alk is dropping since I wet this thing up.

I set it to trigger automatically with the timer and I watch it and it works. Then I trigger manual and it works. I go to bed, go to work, come home and my alk is dropped drastically. This means it hasn't triggered. So I watch the app and I watch the pumps for the next automatic trigger. No response was seen at the motor. I trigger it manually in the app, nothing at the motor. I reboot it, automatic and munual triggers now activate the pump.

This means that everyday I have had this and think it's working before I go to bed it stops working and then doesn't work until I reboot it. I always like to reboott after changing settings.

But this is a disaster for my tank. My alk can not be sitting at 6.5, and now alothugh I made sure to dose a bit extra tonight these alk swings are going to have implications.

Why would my equipment be triggering in thw app, but not the motor? Then why did it all of a sudden work after the reboot. It makes no sense to me.

Either it should lnt bw triggering in the app, or there should be motor activation. I also have to way of know how many times it trigger and actually worked.

Think of what I'm doing as if you have a relay bowed and are activating the relays to turn on equipment. There's no relay for mine, it's just the motor.

 

[Des Westcott]

Think of what I'm doing as if you have a relay bowed and are activating the relays to turn on equipment. There's no relay for mine, it's just the motor.

I think that might be your problem there. The 12V pins direct from the Hat may not have the current to run your doser pump reliably. The Hat puts out low current 12V for relay switching purposes only, not designed for running equipment.

Try hook it up via a relay and proper 12V power supply and see if you still have the same problem.

Des

 

[Bigtrout]

I think that might be your problem there. The 12V pins direct from the Hat may not have the current to run your doser pump reliably. The Hat puts out low current 12V for relay switching purposes only, not designed for running equipment.

Try hook it up via a relay and proper 12V power supply and see if you still have the same problem.

Des

Good catch. To expand on this. On the goby hat if you are using the 12v section you are using the uln2803 to drive your motor. This isnt really what this chip is for. This chip is meant to drive small coils i.e. a relay board. It has built in diode suppression to prevent reverse current spikes thru a coil. Its not really meant to run motor loads.

A motor draws a large current spike for an instant until it starts moving then its current levels off. Without going into a long explanation on motor theory, depending on where exactly the motor stops, this starting current changes the next time the motor starts. You may be on the edge here where most times the motor starts but maybe not every time.

What are the specs on your doser pump?
Its a 12V pump but how much current does it take to run it reliably?

As @Des Westcott says the best way to do this is to have the hat drive a relay and have the relay switch a suitable 12v supply for the pump.

 

[Phildago]

} 11

Good catch. To expand on this. On the goby hat if you are using the 12v section you are using the uln2803 to drive your motor. This isnt really what this chip is for. This chip is meant to drive small coils i.e. a relay board. It has built in diode suppression to prevent reverse current spikes thru a coil. Its not really meant to run motor loads.

A motor draws a large current spike for an instant until it starts moving then its current levels off. Without going into a long explanation on motor theory, depending on where exactly the motor stops, this starting current changes the next time the motor starts. You may be on the edge here where most times the motor starts but maybe not every time.

What are the specs on your doser pump?
Its a 12V pump but how much current does it take to run it reliably?

As @Des Westcott says the best way to do this is to have the hat drive a relay and have the relay switch a suitable 12v supply for the pump.

Okay, so it may be the issue. I certainly can't say it's not. I can say that it produces enough current to run all three pumps simultaneously though.

So then, is there any advantage to a 12 v relay VS 5 v for this purpose?

 

[Des Westcott]

} 11


Okay, so it may be the issue. I certainly can't say it's not. I can say that it produces enough current to run all three pumps simultaneously though.

So then, is there any advantage to a 12 v relay VS 5 v for this purpose?

@Michael Lane is the person best qualified to comment I guess

I run all 5V relays because that's what I had when I set mine up. I supply the "12V Input" with 5V to run them off that rail. i know @Bigtrout does the same FWIW

 

[Phildago]

@Michael Lane is the person best qualified to comment I guess

I run all 5V relays because that's what I had when I set mine up. I supply the "12V Input" with 5V to run them off that rail. i know @Bigtrout does the same FWIW

Thanks for your input. Michael had actually recommended not using a relay for this purpose, but maybe you're right with the motor getting stuck in an area where it needs relatively high starting current.

I did a quick read and apparently 12 v supply helps relays work more efficiently. Less heat produced.