[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution

SSBrew - 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
winovino said:
rebooting produced no changes. i'm 90% sure this is a bad piece of hardware. I've contacted the seller, now i just wait on a response for his return/exchange policy...
Click to expand...

If its the same guy I bought mine from he's pretty understanding.

Also, check the connections on the flow meter thats reading bad, if there is *any* air in the line it will give weird readings and phantom pours like that.

I went through and refitted all of my barbs and haven't had any issues in a while until I get close to emptying a keg.
 
raysmithtx said:
CadiBrewer

I bought a variety pack on Amazon. Male to male, female to female and male to female. I did not have any Arduino experience and didn't really know what I was going to need.

As it turned out I only needed the male to male jumpers.
Here's the Amazon link. I don't know if Radio Shack sells them or not.

Probably not as elegant a solution as some will build but effective, none the less.
Click to expand...

Thanks a ton. That's the way I'm going.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
raysmithtx said:
CadiBrewer


I started out using a breakout board and then decided that it was not necessary. I just connected the wires directly to the flowmeter pins.

The first pic shows how I connected (soldered) six wires, one for each meter) to both the Vin wire and the Ground wire. If you look close you can see they are all connected to the various meter plugs. Ground to the end with the red stripped wire and Voltage in to the other end of the plug.

The second pic shows the same thing but I have used a ty wrap as a strain relief. The entire bundle will go inside a plastic double duplex receptacle box from Lowes (with a plastic lid). That way it will look nice and clean and the wires cannot be bumped and disconnected.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Can you post a pic of your connections to the pins on the board? Thanks. I'm going to try your soldering idea.
 
Looking for a fresh audio track to play when my motion sensor wakes up the tap list display.

Think this is over the top...a little bit?

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh_1imYc47k[/ame]

Cheers! :D
 
WinoVino
You could switch the weird acting meter to a alamode pin you know is working. If the problem moves to the new pin it's definitely the meter.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
WinoVino
You can find any headers you want on polulu.com. You can also buy snap in pins, both male and female for the headers too.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
day_trippr said:
If anyone happens to get a flow meter working on digital IO 4, let me know please. I'm seeing non-compliant behavior on that pin on two different AlaMode boards. I had planned on using pins 4->9 for my six taps but had to avoid pin 4 to get all six to work. When I stick a DVM on that pin I'm not seeing a 5V pull-up in effect on either board...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

It does appear that pin 4 is in use for something else....

If I put my FM on 5 - 8 I get four good tap readings. 4 - 7, only the last three register.
 
muhteeus said:
So, question. When I click "Tap a Keg" and select a beer and a keg, click save, then I am sent back to the taplist. Only the taplist did NOT update. The keg shows "serving" but nothing happens...

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

This issue has been fixed and will be released shortly in a hotfix.
 
raysmithtx said:
WinoVino
You can find any headers you want on polulu.com. You can also buy snap in pins, both male and female for the headers too.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll be placing an order soon.

A new issue has popped up for me.
Last night i poured a couple pints and waited for the page to update, it didnt.
As i was already a few beers in i decided no good could come of playing with it last night so i put it off till today.

This morning when i walked by the monitor came on (pir sensor, thanks day_tripper!) and it showed the same as last night, still not registering the pour, then about an hour later i walked by and it had updated....

I think its just an issue with my pints page refreshing.
Any insight into this from someone who knows more than me?
 
glacious said:
A couple of issues/implementation questions:


  • When tapping a new keg and you enter a Starting Value < Keg Size, it shows the keg as full (ie. starting value is 2.5 gal, in a 5 gal corny keg it should show 50% full).
Click to expand...

This issue has been fixed and will be released as part of a hotfix shortly.
 
winovino said:
So, 3 of my four taps read correctly, however the fourth seems to be psycho....
Click to expand...

Apparently your system infected my system. Last night I went to bed with all 6 taps showing 0 poured. They were all new taps so that was correct.

This morning 2 of my taps are completely wonky. One showing 499 oz. poured and -201 left and another tape showing 471 oz. poured and 92 oz. left.

The taps are pins 10 and 11.

Anybody elses taps going crazy like WinoVino and mine?

WinoVino, did you ever figure anything out on yours?
 
I've had this case for a year or two, I use it for when I'm tinkering with the Pi or developing something. It splits in half, and each half can hold a Pi (when in half, it's like two Pi "holders", put together it forms a case for 1 Pi).

I stuck the Alamode on top of the Pi, and stuck it into this case. It's a tight squeeze and it closes ~90% of the way, but since pegs that keep it closed use friction to stay closed, it works well. Cheap solution to protect the electronics with plenty of airflow, then stick it behind your kegerator or monitor. If you want something fancy looking that'll be out on your counter or on top of the kegerator for all to see, look elsewhere.

Case link
 
mcangeli said:
It does appear that pin 4 is in use for something else....

If I put my FM on 5 - 8 I get four good tap readings. 4 - 7, only the last three register.
Click to expand...

Thanks for confirming, I appreciate it. I 'scoped both of my AlaModes burned with the 'Pints AVR code and if I enable pin PD4 neither board indicates the presence of a pull-up.

Which is weird, because other than the digital IO header pin, it only goes to the GPX_RX pin on P7 (which likely nobody actually installs). AND I'm using the same digital IO PD4 on a pair of Unos for One-Wire support of the temperature probes.

Ahh...come to think of it, I have a discrete pull-up on those Unos for digital IO PD4. That may be redundant (I'll have to check if BrewPi declared pull-ups on that pin or not).

So looking at the spec, PD4 can indeed have a pull-up declared.
And these are the alternate functions for that pin:

XCK (USART External Clock Input/Output)
T0 (Timer/Counter 0 External Counter Input)
PCINT20 (Pin Change Interrupt 20)

Unless the 'Pints AVR code is using PCINT20 I don't see why PD4 doesn't work correctly. A mystery to be solved...

Cheers!
 
And on the first try, too! Well, mostly :) All 4 meters work. I originally tried to use the servo pins for power. It worked on one, but not the other three. Odd. Luckily, I had a bread board. I just plugged in to the vin to the board, and then ran all the power off of that, and success!

Now my only problem is I ordered the barbs just a bit big. Even hot water and a heat gun won't loosen it up enough to get the barbs in all the way. Guess I need to order some more of those.

Thanks to everyone on the design team and everyone that helped out with advice on here! I'm so happy to know how much beer I have left in a keg now. I kicked two last week unexpectedly. That will never happen again :) And now that this is up an running, it's time to get filling those two kegs.
 
Just a side question....what exactly is the Vin pin? I had mistakenly thought we'd be using ground and 5v so was just interested in what VIN exactly was. Thanks! (Edit: arduino control pin?)

Also, since pin 4 doesn't seem to play nice with the meters, and I have 8 of em, can I use 2-10, skipping 4?
 
calebstringer said:
Just a side question....what exactly is the Vin pin? I had mistakenly thought we'd be using ground and 5v so was just interested in what VIN exactly was. Thanks! (Edit: arduino control pin?)
Click to expand...

V_IN is a schottky diode away from the P10 barrel style input power socket - that isn't installed on the AlaMode. Normally V_IN would be at least two diode drops above 5V - so somewhere around 7V or higher - because V_IN then feeds a fixed 5V regulator to supply 5V to the AlaMode. As none of those components are installed, there's a jumper bypassing the regulator, so the "V_IN" net actually is connected to the 5V provided by the micro USB receptacle.

Not sure why using the V_IN was necessary when there are so many 5V pin positions on the AlaMode, but...

Also, since pin 4 doesn't seem to play nice with the meters, and I have 8 of em, can I use 2-10, skipping 4?
Click to expand...

I can verify that 2,5,6,7,8 & 9 work, and I know others have used 8,9,10 & 11. Stick with those and you're gold, 3, 12 and 13 need to be verified [edit] - and 4 may need fixing (though it's possible it's lost to the pin interrupt function requirements, not unusual for fpga-type devices)...

Cheers!
 
calebstringer said:
Just a side question....what exactly is the Vin pin? I had mistakenly thought we'd be using ground and 5v so was just interested in what VIN exactly was. Thanks! (Edit: arduino control pin?)

Also, since pin 4 doesn't seem to play nice with the meters, and I have 8 of em, can I use 2-10, skipping 4?
Click to expand...

The VIN is another power (9v I believe). The flow meters only need 5v, you can run them on either 5v or the VIN but not the 3v.

I'm working on figuring out the pin issue. I'm also working on getting the centipede with the alamode and the meters.
 
For all of you out there who have already installed flowmeters, how long is your beer tubing, and whereabouts are you installing the meter in the line? I'm using 10ft 3/16's lines, serving at about 35 degrees and never had a first-pour problem. I installed the meters about a foot from the tap(Before the instructions were updated and told me not to). That didn't work, massive foaming and flat-tasting beer. I chalked it up to extra turbulence in the line thanks to the meter. Then I moved the meters to the halfway point at about 5 feet. And guess what? Massive foaming and flat-tasting beer. The foam problem is unacceptable to the point where if I can't get this resolved I'm going to remove the meters and say screw it. What are the rest of you guys doing and are you having the same issues?
 
Here's an overview of my keezer setup from early in this thread. Still pouring nicely.

What's the dispensing system configuration: keezer, kegerator, tower, collar?
Do you have an air-mover to prevent stratification?

Cheers!
 
I'll take pictures of it tomorrow, I'm simply too exhausted right now but It's a coffin-style keezer located in my basement (Man cave) where ambient temp is always cooler than outside. Holds 4 ball lock kegs total plus a beer gas cylinder, which is what I have my Johnson A419 temp probe hooked to. Co2 sits outside the keezer. The beer lines are 3/16's ID, approx 10 feet long give or take a few inches. The coffin is 2 feet wide, about 6 inches deep and about 16 inches tall, which is throughly insulated with 2 inch foam insulation. There is a channel inside the coffin that comes up from the keezer, travels across the taps and lines, and back down into the keezer to allow cold air to circulate across the lines, which is pushed by two computer fans. One pushing air, one pulling. Stagnant airflow isn't a problem at all. This setup led to absolutely no first-pour problems ever. The flow meters I've installed are approx. 4 1/2-5 feet from the tap, relocated to the keezer itself. Seriously, I have had no issues until the flowmeters were added. My first thought was that maybe this job took me longer than I thought and the kegs warmed up enough to where foaming was an issue but I really can't see them warming up THAT much in the span of about an hour and a half. I'll see if that theory is correct tomorrow after work. In the meantime, I'm kinda stumped...
 
See above.

I've knocked my serving pressure from 12 psi down to about 6 and I'm getting perfect pours. I'm also thinking that the meters should be closer to the keg, but it really does not seem to matter.
 
Have had this up and running for a couple days now. Just dont have anything to pour, but currently its open wires and a breadboard so decided that in preparation for my keezer upgrade (coming next year when I return from deployment) Im making a nice box for this. So ordered some of the mini xlr connectors and going to have this integrated with a temp controller and add a temp probe all in one enclosure. Plan is to have raspberry pints and brewpi on the pi, brewpi to control and monitor the temp. For those that have already integrated the two, if one of you could write a how-to that would be great so I dont have to reinvent the wheel (Also maybe get it added to the add-ons page on raspberry pints).

The other option instead of BrewPi that im looking into is just to wire up and STC-1000 in the box as well. I have a couple of those already in my gadget drawers so would be cheaper
 
mcangeli said:
See above.

I've knocked my serving pressure from 12 psi down to about 6 and I'm getting perfect pours. I'm also thinking that the meters should be closer to the keg, but it really does not seem to matter.
Click to expand...

Same here. Dropped the serving pressure from 12-13 to about 9 and the pours are great. Installed the meters about 2 feet from the kegs.
 
beinert said:
Same here. Dropped the serving pressure from 12-13 to about 9 and the pours are great. Installed the meters about 2 feet from the kegs.
Click to expand...

It also seems to have gotten rid of the Phantom pours I was seeing.
 
My Co2 serving pressure is 12psi, 25 with my beer gas/stout tap. That's what I've always kept them at. It would make sense to me to keep the meters closer to the keg to allow more time for the beer to "settle down" in the line before it reaches the tap but I'm going to try it again tonight with them at the halfway point of my 10 foot lines and see what that does for me. Will post results later.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Given the mass of the sensor body, couplers and adapter inserts, and that all of that is likely residing up near the top of a dispensing system, if there is any significant temperature stratification the meters will probably amplify the effect. They surely will take longer to cool down when beer runs through than an equal length piece of tubing...

Cheers!
 
That's true, didn't really think about the thermal mass of the sensors themselves. Thanks to your temp logger setup, I've found that my compressor cycles about every 80 minutes. The coffin is reading about 8 degrees warmer right before the compressor kicks back on, and it's pretty consistent for timing and degrees of variance. That explains why my first setup was a failure.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
For those asking about flow meter placement:

I've had my meters in place for about a year now, on both 7ft(beer) and 20ft(soda) lines. Each meter is around 12 inches from the Ball Lock connector. This gives enough hose coming off the keg to flex in whatever direction it needs to, and the meter is hanging safely from there, suspended off any surface.

No issues with foaming, I clean my taps per usual (BLC or similar cycle every couple kegs) and have had no problems with clogging / sensor accuracy etc.
 

Similar threads

Tobor_8thMan
[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution - Tobor-8thMan Version
Replies
6
Views
4K
day_trippr
day_trippr
Fred S
RaspberryPints - Latest HW / SW as of Dec 2017 (PRi 3 B; Raspian Oct 2017)
Replies
21
Views
3K
day_trippr
day_trippr
OkieNotFromMuskogee
A Brewpi Remix Build
2
Replies
52
Views
10K
bloombrews
bloombrews
garzlok
My Fermentrack Build
2
Replies
56
Views
17K
garzlok
garzlok
B
DIY 5KW Induction Heater
Replies
2
Views
6K
Spivey24
S
wps-hbt2

Latest posts

Back
Top