The IKEA reefpi upgrade build

[Mikeneedsahobby]

How did I miss this thread since June!

great build!

 

[Ranjib]

Looking awesome

 

[b4tn]

I’m in the home stretch! Everything has been assembled and tested! Best part, it all worked first go. Now I will tidy up the software, get some labels made, and work on getting it installed on my tank.

The silver barrel connectors are independent switched DC. You plug the DC power pack in the bottom and run the top to the controlled equipment. The tablet power is hardwired behind the board. The hole in the center is the pass through for pump controllers. I just run the cable through and mount the control module to the board.

 

[b4tn]

Right now I have adafruit.io setup for temp probe quick stats. I can see this being very useful especially for Quick view PH reading in the future. I have my 3 non reefpi controlled pumps hooked mounted. I am going to have to order a longer gyre cable but you all get the idea.

 

[b4tn]

I’m starting to get excited. I am slowly transferring from old to new setup. The new reefpi is currently running sump lights and auto feeder. Tonight I wired up the doser, tested, and set up the schedule. I’m really liking the RJ45 connections. I only had 2 dosers before. Now I have 4 working. I plan to use them to dose alk, calc, mag, and nitrate.

I know it’s overkill but I have had a temp probe burst internally and leak god knows what inside the tank. So I gooped up the new probes and they are going to cure a few days before putting in the tank.

From right to left USB port for the autofeeder, two USB ports for two temp probes (a third probe is wired direct to the board for internal ambient temp), the two barrel connectors are series wired float switches so I have a high and low level break, RJ45 port goes to the doser box, the 8 barrel connectors are DC input and output switched via relays internal

 

[Sailfin11]

Wow, very cool!

 

[b4tn]

I have officially moved my tank over to the new controller. In its final state it has the following features:
- 8 Nomally open AC outlets
- 8 Normally closed AC outlets
- 6 Normaly open DC outlets with independent inputs and grounds.
- 4 dosers
- Relay controlled auto feeder.
- Relay controlled case fan
- 4 temp probes, 1 controls the internal case fan, 1 is for ambient temp, and 2 for controlling the main and backup heaters
- Dual float switches
- The main board consists of two full sized proto breadboard that can easily be slid out for maintenance or upgrades.

I am using a cheap fire tab as the screen and it’s hard wired into the main board for power. On the screen I have reef temp, back up temp and ambient temp. On the right is a temp historical graph and ATO graph. Behind it is a tab with reefpi running for when I need to run macros for water changes or whatever.

There is a hole in the center for pulling cables for non reefpi controlled equipment to be mounted. I still have to buy an extension cable for the right hand side controller.

Over the winter I will probably add PH to it and display that on the adafruit dashboard as well. Other than that I will also be building a shelf over the top of the back/side of the cabinet that will protect electronics from splashes and double as a work space for fragging and what not.

 

[Mikeneedsahobby]

Amazing workmanship!

 

[b4tn]

Finally got around to installing the PH circuit which pretty much finishes up this build. I don’t have a probe yet but I’m crossing my fingers Santa brings me one tomorrow . If not my whole family knows how much I appreciate BRS and Amazon Gift cards. Install was straight forward. I picked up the Robo-Tank PH board from @robsworld78

Robo-Tank Isolated pH Circuit for reef-pi

This is a precise, fully isolated pH circuit constructed using high quality components and is designed to integrate with the Robo-Tank aquarium controller. Don't have or need the controller, thatRobo-Tank Isolated pH Circuit for reef-pi - This is a precis

www.robo-tank.ca

cracked open the case and got started.

I have a PCA9685 in my build. Since it utilizes I2C it can be daisy chained for multiple devices. When I was building I soldered extra headers to the opposite end so I could add to the chain later.

All I did was connect the provided ribbon cable to the PCA9685’s extra headers. VCC for +5v, Ground, SCL, and SDA then connected the other end of the cable to the matching pins on the PH circuit. I drilled a new hole and threaded it in. Turns out my largest drill bit is also my dullest (time for new bits) so I had a bit of a mishap but not a big deal. If I’m bored, one day I may uses some filler and touch up paint but I doubt it.

Now I could not find all of this in one spot. @robsworld78 answered the questions that I did have very quickly and I probably could have asked but I like to try and figure things out on my own, I’m stubborn like that lol. But since I couldn’t find it in one spot I figured I would put the software install steps here.

First, you probably could do this from the GUI or directly on the SD card but I find it to be much easier in the terminal. I run my pi headless anyway and don’t have a GUI so I fired up Putty and connected via SSH. Once at the terminal type the following

CD /boot

sudo nano config.txt

This will open the config file. Scroll to the bottom and insert the following txt

dtparam=i2c_arm_baudrate=10000

hit the CTL key and X key, select Y to save, and close putty.

Open reefpi and under configuration make sure PH is selected. Hit update and reboot reefpi.

Next, under configuration go to the drivers tab. Add a driver, name it, select ph-ezo as a the driver. Unless told differently set the address to 99.

Then navigate over to the connectors under configuration and scroll all the way to the bottom. Under analog inputs name it what you want and select the driver you just created. Save and reboot reefpi.

lastly, you should now see PH under the main menu. Just add a device, name it what you want, and select the analog device you just created. Set the probe to disabled and save. It’s now ready to calibrate. Once I get a probe I will go over the calibration here as well.

 

[robsworld78]

Finally got around to installing the PH circuit which pretty much finishes up this build. I don’t have a probe yet but I’m crossing my fingers Santa brings me one tomorrow . If not my whole family knows how much I appreciate BRS and Amazon Gift cards. Install was straight forward. I picked up the Robo-Tank PH board from @robsworld78

Robo-Tank Isolated pH Circuit for reef-pi

This is a precise, fully isolated pH circuit constructed using high quality components and is designed to integrate with the Robo-Tank aquarium controller. Don't have or need the controller, thatRobo-Tank Isolated pH Circuit for reef-pi - This is a precis

www.robo-tank.ca

cracked open the case and got started.

I have a PCA9685 in my build. Since it utilizes I2C it can be daisy chained for multiple devices. When I was building I soldered extra headers to the opposite end so I could add to the chain later.

All I did was connect the provided ribbon cable to the PCA9685’s extra headers. VCC for +5v, Ground, SCL, and SDA then connected the other end of the cable to the matching pins on the PH circuit. I drilled a new hole and threaded it in. Turns out my largest drill bit is also my dullest (time for new bits) so I had a bit of a mishap but not a big deal. If I’m bored, one day I may uses some filler and touch up paint but I doubt it.

Now I could not find all of this in one spot. @robsworld78 answered the questions that I did have very quickly and I probably could have asked but I like to try and figure things out on my own, I’m stubborn like that lol. But since I couldn’t find it in one spot I figured I would put the software install steps here.

First, you probably could do this from the GUI or directly on the SD card but I find it to be much easier in the terminal. I run my pi headless anyway and don’t have a GUI so I fired up Putty and connected via SSH. Once at the terminal type the following

CD /boot

sudo nano config.txt

This will open the config file. Scroll to the bottom and insert the following txt

dtparam=i2c_arm_baudrate=10000

hit the CTL key and X key, select Y to save, and close putty.

Open reefpi and under configuration make sure PH is selected. Hit update and reboot reefpi.

Next, under configuration go to the drivers tab. Add a driver, name it, select ph-ezo as a the driver. Unless told differently set the address to 99.

Then navigate over to the connectors under configuration and scroll all the way to the bottom. Under analog inputs name it what you want and select the driver you just created. Save and reboot reefpi.

lastly, you should now see PH under the main menu. Just add a device, name it what you want, and select the analog device you just created. Set the probe to disabled and save. It’s now ready to calibrate. Once I get a probe I will go over the calibration here as well.

Nice job, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even think of creating a setup manual for the pH circuit, now I can copy and paste it, thanks!

 

[b4tn]

Nice job, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even think of creating a setup manual for the pH circuit, now I can copy and paste it, thanks!

feel free to use as you need

 

[b4tn]

Santa didn’t bring me a PH probe. But I will take it.