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

[Ranjib]

There are 835 pages on this thread. As a newbie looking to add this to my build, is there a beginners guide compressed somewhere? Any suggestions for buying a complete build?

Welcome to r2r. The first page of this thread and the official website has links to beginner friendly guide. This is a DIY project, this is involved process :-). start a thread if you are doing a scratch build or you are new to these things. We can help out each others

 

[Ranjib]

There are 835 pages on this thread. As a newbie looking to add this to my build, is there a beginners guide compressed somewhere? Any suggestions for buying a complete build?

Robo-tank is the only one close to a complete build, there are solutions that fits in the middle (circuit is done , you build the rest), like leviathan and michale lane goby hat. @theatrus is also working on something directly consumable.. but its not in market yet

 

[Ranjib]

Thanks @Mikeneedsahobby I'm in the same boat as @Galiant50 I have a Raspberry Pi sitting around doing nothing, and I thought why not give it a try. I'm in IT but my Linux is weak and barely know what a breadboard is. This looks like something I can get into though.

You can install reef-pi and start controlling kasa hs300 type power bars without any breadboard etc.. and take it from there

 

[StlSalt]

You can install reef-pi and start controlling kasa hs300 type power bars without any breadboard etc.. and take it from there

My first goal is PH and Temp. I looked at the Whitebox Labs stuff and it looks solid, but expensive. I'm building this to be cheaper than an Apex. :). Looking at different builds now to get some more ideas.

 

[Ranjib]

As for what I would do differently, many of my decisions were based on wanting to get this running faster than I have been able due to shipping delays.

I would have used 1/8 trs instead of 1/4" for space reasons. I already had spare 1/4 from when I had a side job making custom audio cables years ago. I was not pleased with the quick availability china 1/8 female plugs. Ordering some quality plugs from a site that would have taken longer to ship would have been better.

Understanding that the EZO chips were only able to function in I2c and arrive in default uart would have made me order the toggler with my original purchase, instead of a week late.

I would have ordered a second housing from the start and used the first as a practice box. You can see that my 1/4 are almost touching, those should be spread out about 1-2 mm. The pi is should be another 2-3 mm to the left. The temp "breadboards" are only using 1 standoff. I drilled the hole for the second, but it was too close to the wall for my driver and went in slightly askew.

I should have soldered the female trs with color coded wires and gone smaller gauge. Had I know it would be a couple week project instead of a 2 day(initial plan), I would have waited for the wires I ordered for the harness.

Amazing ,. so many good lessons learned. I wish we could document these for scratch builder.

 

[Ranjib]

Hey there everyone, I wanted to drop a quick thank you for all the work that folks have put into this project and for Ranjib for making it happen, this platform is fantastic and I'm super happy to be using it!

On thing I've had a lot of trouble with: I have a multistep Macro that I use for auto-water changes, it works great when I run it manually. However It never runs at all when I try to call it from a timer. I'm using 4.0, I'll likely update to 4.1 in the near future now that I know it's available.

Is there a log somewhere that I can take a look at to see why this timer isn't apparently doing anything? I don't mind spending some time to troubleshoot, but I can't seem to find anywhere that will tell me the what the heck is happening.

Thank you for the kind words and sharing the specific issue with the macro. Is the macro reversible?

 

[Ranjib]

I updated from V 3.31 to V 4.1. I lost my PH probe in the update. I was able to fix it by creating a new analog input on the connectors tab and then selecting the newly created input on the PH tab.

I'm running okay again, but wanted to give a heads up to others.

This is not expected. I dont know what is happening, but i can tell you there's nothing in the code that would cause this , that i can think of. And thankyou so much for reporting this. We really appreciate it

 

[Ranjib]

My first goal is PH and Temp. I looked at the Whitebox Labs stuff and it looks solid, but expensive. I'm building this to be cheaper than an Apex. :). Looking at different builds now to get some more ideas.

thats exactly why we invested in ph probe first. The opensource ph board is the only thing i know that can give you an end to end ph monitoring solution at 100$

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

@Ranjib Is it required to use 7 and 10 calibration solutions, or if i use 6.86 and 9.18 solutions and enter those numbers in the boxes during calibration is it expected to have the same end result?

 

[robsworld78]

Im struggling to get my new ph probe to calibrate properly and its very annoying.

I have a Atlas Scientific Mini probe which is the same as their larger one in terms of accuracy just smaller.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KJQ3S1S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have premade solutions @ 6.86 and 9.18. I rinse, shake off, stick in 6.86 and leave for a few mins, then enter 6.86 into the calibration box and press run. I then rinse and shake off, stick in the 9.18 solution wait a minute then enter 9.18 into the second box and press run. Then i press Okay. I take the probe and put it in the 6.86 solution and get around 6.96, then s tick it in the 9.18 solution and get around 9.22, seems reasonable. Then i rinse it and put it back in my tank and its reading 9.14, and continously climbing now up to 9.21. There's no way my tank is at 9.2pH or else i assume everything would be dying or at least not growing as well as it is.

With my old probe from some cheapish chinese Amazon PH/temp it was reading a constant 8.4-8.6 over the last week or so. Even this probe before calibrating was reading 8.5 for several days before i got around to calibrating it.

When i use my API test kit i also read somewhere in the 8.2-8.4 range, no where near 8.8+ which is a crazy dark purple.

I've noticed a ton of errors in the background about strConv when im calibrating but im not sure if they are related or what im doing wrong with my calibration. Please help! I bought this $50 probe to ensure i was getting accurate readings, and it seems worse than the $15 one.

Im using a Robotank board.

*edit* 30 minutes later its now 9.24....

*edit* I think i need new calibration solution or something, i put it back in the 6.86 solution and its reading 7.4 and falling and my tap water is reading 7.8 when i know its around 7 from their water reports(and previous testing when making beer). Can I use 6.86 and 9.18 calibration solutions or do i have to use 7 and 10?

@Ranjib Is it required to use 7 and 10 calibration solutions, or if i use 6.86 and 9.18 solutions and enter those numbers in the boxes during calibration is it expected to have the same end result?

Hi, I'm wondering if this is happening because of some calibration data stuck in the pH circuit, I've seen something similar and this was the issue. I've read the first point buffer should always be as close to 7.0 as possible as that's 0 mv but I don't believe it's that's important, definitely shouldn't cause what you're experiencing and I don't think reef-pi cares what you use. For example if you enter 5.0 for point 1 and closed you should get 5.0 so it'll be the same with 6.86.

Can you try the following steps.

Try the following commands in the Pi terminal window.

This downloads a python script
sudo wget -c https://robo-tank.ca/Robo-Tank_pH_Script.zip

This unzips the file
sudo unzip Robo-Tank_pH_Script.zip

This runs the script
python Robo-Tank_pH_Script.py

After the last command it’ll say Enter Command: Then type in the following, must be a capital letter.

R

It should then print out a pH value, if it does you’re connected to the circuit.

Now type in the following command, must be a capital letter. This restores the defaults on the pH circuit and disables the calibration.

D

It’ll say query failed but it will have worked.

Now power down the controller and power back up.

Then in reef-pi delete the pH from pH tab and add it back. This will erase calibration data in the reef-pi database.

Now there should be no calibration happening anywhere and should get valid readings during and after calibrating.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib Is it required to use 7 and 10 calibration solutions, or if i use 6.86 and 9.18 solutions and enter those numbers in the boxes during calibration is it expected to have the same end result?

Nope. the calibration logic is mathematical and it does not depend on exact value. Their range (further apart) might have some implications, due to ph calibration curve

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Hi, I'm wondering if this is happening because of some calibration data stuck in the pH circuit, I've seen something similar and this was the issue. I've read the first point buffer should always be as close to 7.0 as possible as that's 0 mv but I don't believe it's that's important, definitely shouldn't cause what you're experiencing and I don't think reef-pi cares what you use. For example if you enter 5.0 for point 1 and closed you should get 5.0 so it'll be the same with 6.86.

Can you try the following steps.

Try the following commands in the Pi terminal window.

This downloads a python script
sudo wget -c https://robo-tank.ca/Robo-Tank_pH_Script.zip

This unzips the file
sudo unzip Robo-Tank_pH_Script.zip

This runs the script
python Robo-Tank_pH_Script.py

After the last command it’ll say Enter Command: Then type in the following, must be a capital letter.

R

It should then print out a pH value, if it does you’re connected to the circuit.

Now type in the following command, must be a capital letter. This restores the defaults on the pH circuit and disables the calibration.

D

It’ll say query failed but it will have worked.

Now power down the controller and power back up.

Then in reef-pi delete the pH from pH tab and add it back. This will erase calibration data in the reef-pi database.

Now there should be no calibration happening anywhere and should get valid readings during and after calibrating.

Thanks i went through the process and this seems to have fixed the issue, im back at 8.4ph, and typically drop down to 8.2ish at the low so ill check tommorrow once its been through a full lights off cycle to see what it measures.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Hey smart electrical people. I have a question about transistors.

The background. I have found that the jebao dp4s doser is not strong enough for my ato and awc needs. (Water storage in basement half the house away from the tank). I am planning to switch to a kamoer khs 12v dosing head. The dp4 pulls about 0.15a at 12v The kamoer pulls 0.8a at 12v. I currently have a @Michael Lane dosing adapter that uses a uln2803a transistor.

I believe the uln2803a is rated for 0.5a output per channel. Can I tie two channels in parallel on input and output sides two get 1.0a? Is this enough for a motor with 0.8a requirement? Or should I tie three channels together?

if none of this will work can you suggest a transistor to use with the kamoer pump?

thanks.

 

[Pny]

if none of this will work can you suggest a transistor to use with the kamoer pump?

Maybe a TIP120? Look at the motor example at this page:

Lab: Using a Transistor to Control High Current Loads with an Arduino – ITP Physical Computing

 

[Mono]

Glorious :D

Anyone have any idea what an acceptable value for the Char Unit would be?

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Where do actually set the parameters? Sorry for being a bit dense....

On the temperature tab under edit.

 

[Mono]

On the temperature tab under edit.

Yes, Thanks. I had to clear the cache to see the new UI. Just getting started...

 

[robsworld78]

Hey smart electrical people. I have a question about transistors.

The background. I have found that the jebao dp4s doser is not strong enough for my ato and awc needs. (Water storage in basement half the house away from the tank). I am planning to switch to a kamoer khs 12v dosing head. The dp4 pulls about 0.15a at 12v The kamoer pulls 0.8a at 12v. I currently have a @Michael Lane dosing adapter that uses a uln2803a transistor.

I believe the uln2803a is rated for 0.5a output per channel. Can I tie two channels in parallel on input and output sides two get 1.0a? Is this enough for a motor with 0.8a requirement? Or should I tie three channels together?

if none of this will work can you suggest a transistor to use with the kamoer pump?

thanks.

You are correct, 0.5a per channel and you can put input and output in parallel for more. If you go to page 10 you can see an example.

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/uln2803a.pdf?ts=1610560922600&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F

If you have 3 available that would be better but if it's only running short periods 2 is likely fine.

 

[Ranjib]

Anyone have any idea what an acceptable value for the Char Unit would be?

You can leave it blank. It’s there for different sensors, for example tds sensors use mg/l.
pH is a logarithmic value and does not have unit

 

[Ranjib]

using reef-pi for couple of non reef tank related use case :-)

anyone into model railroad ??