HOWTO - Make a BrewPi Fermentation Controller For Cheap

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FuzzeWuzze said:
I'll try and shove one down to make sure it fits...the math says it should, but its also from china so you never know if its really 6mm or not ;)
Click to expand...


Definitely let me know. Insulating the probe and putting it on the side is causing me some wild swings so I've had to tweak the Kp, Kd, and filter settings on BrewPi.

I want to pick up one or two thermowells.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for this write up. I'm currently using an stc-1000, but I like data and electronics so I am doing to ordern an uno and the other few parts to get this going.
 
Good to hear ;)

Theres a few people here who can help get you up and running...im getting married in a few days so will be offline for a few weeks on vacation but the peoples here seem to have a good grasp on how to get it working :0
 
First- Thanks for writing up/ updating this post Fuzze. I've been stalking the thread for a week or two while I was planning my fermentation chamber build. I ordered the Arduino Uno and the relay board earlier in the week to get started on the project and I should have most parts in hand by tomorrow. I got tired of waiting on Home Depot to put the GE 7 Cu Ft freezer on sale, and pulled the trigger on that purchase today. Hoping they make delivery this week so I can possibly brew with the new setup on Sunday.

I've come up with a couple of questions- If anyone can help clarify I'd appreciate it.

1-I'm re-purposing my wife's old Centrino Duo laptop (shes referring to it as stealing) and wiping Vista (really? and I married you?) to install Debian Wheezy to run the Pi-Side functions.

I believe I saw in this thread somewhere (or maybe it was another Ive visited) that a Live disc install for Wheezy should not be used. I'm planning on booting the install image from a 2G flash drive. Does anyone know of specific software package choices I should/should not make during the Wheezy install process with BrewPi as the end goal in mind? Just making sure I don't make life harder for myself down the road to get this up and running.

I'm a linux newbie. The only real experience I have is setting up a Pi to run a tap list with Raspberry Pints for the keezer. I love learning new things so that's 90% of the reason I'm going this route.

2- Is everyone pretty comfortable with the 10A Smart relay handling the load when the compressor initially kicks on? I noticed that the locked rotor amps on the same 7ft GE freezer (which is relatively small) I use for my keezer is rated at 11A.

3- Im planning on powering the Arduino with a dedicated power source so that in the event the laptop dies (ancient) it will continue on its merry way and won't depend on the USB for power. Am I correct in assuming that the Arduino will be smart enough to figure out that its got its own power source and not go wonky if the USB were to disconnect?

4- Maybe I just missed it somewhere, but I just caught the 4.7k resistor req on the awesome MS Paint diagram last night. Suggest you throw that in the parts list somewhere? I ran by radio shack and grabbed one today but I would have been bummed if I was putting everything together at 2AM and realized I didn't have one.

If I've done my math correctly, I'll wind up with less than 50-60 dollars in the BrewPi setup (not counting the freezer.. because, you know, math) by recycling the laptop and I'll have a super DIY project to show off while my friends are sampling my brews. As a stretch goal, since this will be up in my garage nearby to where I drink and brew on the weekends, I'd like to cobble together a brew timer/notebook app to run on the laptop and run Mash/Boil/Hop timings as well as keep logs of gravity readings, etc. (I've been tinkering with Python on a very amateur/hobby basis and thought that might be a simple enough project to teach myself with)

Anyway, got a little wordy there. Thanks again. My favorite part about the hobby has been the build-it-yourself aspect of the community. Hats off to the guys who put together the BrewPi project, and those who have contributed here.

Edit: And Congratulations in advance for the upcoming wedding.
 
1) Hard to say really, i would go minimal as possible and add things on. If you have done a RPints setup your familiar enough, it is a very similar setup, python + apache on Debian.
2) I havent had any problems with mine, if your worried you can always wire in a fuse like people do for some STC1000 builds. In most cases the fridges may momentarily source higher Amperage as they cycle on but quickly drop much lower.
3) I cant see why not, but again i have not tried. You can probably easily figure this out with a quick google search.
4) Oops good catch!
 
If it is the GE FCM7SUWW from HD, I got the same one and have had 0 issues with it. I have been running it for just under a week on the BrewPi and have had no issues.

If you need Linux help let me know I work in Linux day in and day out, so I can probably help you with any issues you have, especially with a Debian system.
 
DirtySouthBrewhouse said:
Does anyone know of specific software package choices I should/should not make during the Wheezy install process with BrewPi as the end goal in mind? Just making sure I don't make life harder for myself down the road to get this up and running.
Click to expand...

BrewPi should install what you need. If it fails you may need to install apache, but I think brewpi will do it for you. If you run in to issues hit me up.

DirtySouthBrewhouse said:
2- Is everyone pretty comfortable with the 10A Smart relay handling the load when the compressor initially kicks on? I noticed that the locked rotor amps on the same 7ft GE freezer (which is relatively small) I use for my keezer is rated at 11A.
Click to expand...

I think we have the same Freezer (I got mine delivered last Saturday) and mine has had 0 problems. When installing the fridge temp probe, make sure it isn't too close and isn't too far away from the walls of the freezer.

DirtySouthBrewhouse said:
As a stretch goal, since this will be up in my garage nearby to where I drink and brew on the weekends, I'd like to cobble together a brew timer/notebook app to run on the laptop and run Mash/Boil/Hop timings as well as keep logs of gravity readings, etc. (I've been tinkering with Python on a very amateur/hobby basis and thought that might be a simple enough project to teach myself with)
Click to expand...
If you need any help, I code in Python professionally and can help you if you need, however I suggest checking out BeerSmith, it has all those features built in, plus tons more.
 
OK, I just ordered all the stuff I needed from amazon/ebay/brewers hardware, I'm excited to get this going!

I have a windows 7 machine in the garage I was hoping to use for brewpi, but it doesn't seem like brewpi runs too well on windows so I'm going to see if I can get it working on the raspberry pi I have in the garage runing openelec(xbmc), otherwise I'll have to install raspbmc which runs debian.

One question I have at the moment is how do you guys use this when fermenting more than one brew at a time? Let's say I brew this weekend and have the brewpi monitoring it, no problem. Then next week I brew again, should I place the thermowell/sensor in the new brew to maintain temps or keep it in the first one?
 
Always keep the thermowell and sensor in whatever is brewing, they are stainless and are pretty easy to clean if you just wipe them off immediately with warm water...its a much harder time to clean the krausen off if you leave it to harden on ...you have to let it soak to get off..ask me how i know :)
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
Good to hear ;)

...im getting married in a few days so will be offline for a few weeks on vacation :0
Click to expand...

Dead man walking!

Thanks for all the work so far. I finally got around to soldering up my electronics this weekend. Everything worked from the get go. Now, I have to scrounge the parts for the chamber, etc.

I dare you to suggest brewing beer as a honeymoon activity.

Todd
 
wapitiscat said:
Dead man walking!

Thanks for all the work so far. I finally got around to soldering up my electronics this weekend. Everything worked from the get go. Now, I have to scrounge the parts for the chamber, etc.

I dare you to suggest brewing beer as a honeymoon activity.

Todd
Click to expand...

Honestly im a bit brewed out, ive been cramming back to back batches each week a month or two ago so that we have four 5 gallon kegs ready for the wedding ;)

Shes the one who wanted me to get into the hobby, so there's no complaints from her about it ...

Besides we're headed to the Maldives i dont think i can get malted grains ;)
 
vince805 said:
I have a windows 7 machine in the garage I was hoping to use for brewpi, but it doesn't seem like brewpi runs too well on windows so I'm going to see if I can get it working on the raspberry pi I have in the garage runing openelec(xbmc), otherwise I'll have to install raspbmc which runs debian.
Click to expand...

You could always dual boot Windows 7 and Debian Wheezy.

vince805 said:
One question I have at the moment is how do you guys use this when fermenting more than one brew at a time? Let's say I brew this weekend and have the brewpi monitoring it, no problem. Then next week I brew again, should I place the thermowell/sensor in the new brew to maintain temps or keep it in the first one?
Click to expand...

My plan is to have a 2 week pipe. Every two weeks I'll be brewing. So when one is done fermenting, I'll brew another and put the thermowell into the new brew. A finished fermentation isn't going to be affected by the small swings in temp that might happen with a newly fermenting brew.

When I do a lager I will have a double brew day or maybe a partigyle brew so that my fermentation schedule will be the same for both brews.
 
I may be mistaken, but the linked page seems to be referring to installing an x86 emulator under a native Debian system. That's pretty much the opposite of what I was wondering about...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
I may be mistaken, but the linked page seems to be referring to installing an x86 emulator under a native Debian system. That's pretty much the opposite of what I was wondering about...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Apologies, I didn't actually look at it too thoroughly. The first part of my post still stands. You should be able to grab VBox and install wheezy on it, in fact any flavor of linux would do, but there are guides for BrewPi on Wheezy.

Let me see if I can do it, I'll post my results.
 
Alright, you can do it, it just takes a few more steps.

First download and install the latest Debian Wheezy ISO from here: https://www.debian.org/releases/wheezy/debian-installer/

Note: Do not set the initial username as 'brewpi' use something else.

You can install a Debian desktop if you wish, I didn't and it still worked.

Once you are in at the Debian command line you need to do a few things to prep.

In VirtualBox go to the new VM and make sure the network adapter is set to NAT. There should be a port forwarding box somewhere (I'm on a Mac so it may be a button or a tab on windows), add a port forwarding rule. Add your Windows box's IP and the port you want to forward (I used 8888), then get your guest box's IP by typing 'ip add' on the command line of the guest box. Add it to the port forwarding rule, followed by the guest port destination (80).

Now when you set everything up, typing your Windows IP followed by :8888 will forward to the guest box's port 80. Example: My Host IP is 192.168.1.27 and my guest IP is 10.0.2.15, so I type 192.168.1.27:8888 and it will forward me to 10.0.2.15:80.

Then do this to make the setup of brewpi easier:

  1. Type 'su', enter the root password
  2. Type 'apt-get install sudo'
  3. Type 'adduser <your_username> sudo'
  4. Type 'exit'
  5. You should be back on the user command line, but now can use sudo commands

Now follow each step here: http://docs.brewpi.com/manual-brewpi-install/manual-brewpi-install.html


If you need more help let me know.
 
I believe I've read all the posts in this thread and haven't seen a answer to my problem. I built a brewpi about a month ago, using all the components in this thread. Everything works flawlessly, with the exception of the WiFi dongle. It's a edimax and the issue is upon reboot it isn't coming back up every time. Usually if I unplug and replug it a couple times it'll initialize, I can tell by the led flashing on the dongle. Anyway just wondering if you have any tips for me.
 
eyebinker said:
I believe I've read all the posts in this thread and haven't seen a answer to my problem. I built a brewpi about a month ago, using all the components in this thread. Everything works flawlessly, with the exception of the WiFi dongle. It's a edimax and the issue is upon reboot it isn't coming back up every time. Usually if I unplug and replug it a couple times it'll initialize, I can tell by the led flashing on the dongle. Anyway just wondering if you have any tips for me.
Click to expand...

I had this same problem. I think its a power issue. Try putting the Arduino cord in the top USB slot and the Wifi dongle in the bottom slot. That worked for me. I reinstalled Raspbian 3 times before I figured that out.
 
Okay, I'm sure your sick of this question. This project looks awesome. Do you think being completely inexperienced in this type of thing I should attempt it? It looks like a good way to learn but I don't want to invest if I'm not going to be able to complete it.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
So a little about me:

I know computers, I code software for a living. So that part wasn't hard for me (it really isn't hard for anyone), but I know ****-all about wiring or soldering or programming an Arduino.

This really isn't hard. I have no soldered parts, I made my own jumper wires. This build is super easy thanks to FuzzeWuzze.
 
Chupidacabra said:
Okay, I'm sure your sick of this question. This project looks awesome. Do you think being completely inexperienced in this type of thing I should attempt it? It looks like a good way to learn but I don't want to invest if I'm not going to be able to complete it.
Click to expand...

With the resources here and at the BrewPi site I don't think you'd have any problem completing it. If you haven't tinkered with computers and/or soldering the project could seem intimidating. I probably fall somewhere midway between 0 and BrewerJack with respect to the computer end of things and maybe in the advanced hobbyist category when it comes to electronics, soldering, etc. My first project along these lines was setting up the STC-1000 to manage a split receptacle for heating and cooling (only used the heating side so far).

If you like the geeking around side of home brewing I think this is a solid entry level project as all the components, software, and logic are already laid out. All I did was follow instructions. There was a bit of savviness involved with the Debian laptop part of my project but nothing unmanageable. I did this and don't even have the fermentation chamber yet (unless you count my crawl space as a ferm chamber). If consistency is one of your goals, I believe that fermentation temperature control should be a priority for home brewers. Too often it seems to be an afterthought. This is one of several ways to go about it.

I readily admit to sniffing airlocks and am mesmerized by watching active fermentation in a carboy. I think that watching your fermentation temperature profile on a webpage is an extension of that connection with the process. Anyway, the fact that you're poking around this thread would indicate that you have the curiosity and wherewithal to handle this project if it's something you want to incorporate into your brewing.

Todd
 
Chupidacabra said:
Okay, I'm sure your sick of this question. This project looks awesome. Do you think being completely inexperienced in this type of thing I should attempt it? It looks like a good way to learn but I don't want to invest if I'm not going to be able to complete it.


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

Like Brewjack and wapitiscat said, it's pretty simple if you follow the directions. I had never assembled anything like this before but following the instructions and reading all of the posts here I was able to have mine up and running in a matter of hours. I installed Debian on a spare computer and ran the BrewPi installer, it did most of the setup for me.

I decided to venture into the world of soldering for mine, although it probably would have been easier and looked nicer if I hadn't, as I had never soldered before. But it came out OK for my first time. I did use the quick connect pins on the boards though, it was much easier.

So go for it and remember, if you run into any problems don't be afraid to ask! The guys here are awesome!!!

:mug:
 
Okay I'm convinced. I'm gonna go ahead and give it a go. So be ready for questions haha.

In my defense though I have wired my stc1000 and have messed around with virtual box a little so not completely useless on either end I guess.

Next question is, with out having an old PC around what's the best route to go?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Chupidacabra said:
Okay I'm convinced. I'm gonna go ahead and give it a go. So be ready for questions haha.

In my defense though I have wired my stc1000 and have messed around with virtual box a little so not completely useless on either end I guess.

Next question is, with out having an old PC around what's the best route to go?


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

Use a RaspberryPi like I did. It's awesome.
 
Yep. The RPi would have been the route had I not had a laptop to press into service. I may have to knuckle to my younger daughters request for her own computer though so a RPi solution may still be in the works.

I was thinking of repurposing the LCD monitor of a truly defunct laptop into a touch screen for this setup. Is that just crazy talk or just crazy enough that it might work?

Todd
 
I have encountered one issue that I can't seem to figure out. I can't view my BrewPi in IE8. It loads but with errors, says the script isn't running, and doesn't show any graphs. I can open it in FireFox and it works perfectly.

Doesn't really bother me as I don't use IE anyways, just use it for testing things like this.

Dave
 
IE8 is probably too old...if your against the latest IE i'd bet IE9 would work..

Then again upgrading IE can sometimes totally screw up your entire system..so unless you really want to use it i'd stick with Firefox and Chrome ;)
 
Chupidacabra said:
Okay I'm convinced. I'm gonna go ahead and give it a go. So be ready for questions haha.

In my defense though I have wired my stc1000 and have messed around with virtual box a little so not completely useless on either end I guess.

Next question is, with out having an old PC around what's the best route to go?


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

If you have wired a STC1000 then you have already wired 75% of this before..except instead of wiring it to the STC you wire it to the Relay board, then the relay board to the arduino, add a few sensors to the arduino and your done with the hardware side. The software is pretty straight forward, the BrewPi guys really made a good software installer that does most everything for you.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
IE8 is probably too old...if your against the latest IE i'd bet IE9 would work..

Then again upgrading IE can sometimes totally screw up your entire system..so unless you really want to use it i'd stick with Firefox and Chrome ;)
Click to expand...

I work for a government entity and their current "Approved" IE browser version is IE8. And forget about using Chrome here, you need top level approval and that ain't gonna happen. I could go against their wishes and install something newer but why bother. Like I said, I don't use IE anyways, am quite happy with my Firefox even though we are 3 versions behind on that also. Gotta love the government.
 
BrewerJack said:
Alright, you can do it, it just takes a few more steps.

First download and install the latest Debian Wheezy ISO from here: https://www.debian.org/releases/wheezy/debian-installer/

Note: Do not set the initial username as 'brewpi' use something else.

You can install a Debian desktop if you wish, I didn't and it still worked.

Once you are in at the Debian command line you need to do a few things to prep.

In VirtualBox go to the new VM and make sure the network adapter is set to NAT. There should be a port forwarding box somewhere (I'm on a Mac so it may be a button or a tab on windows), add a port forwarding rule. Add your Windows box's IP and the port you want to forward (I used 8888), then get your guest box's IP by typing 'ip add' on the command line of the guest box. Add it to the port forwarding rule, followed by the guest port destination (80).

Now when you set everything up, typing your Windows IP followed by :8888 will forward to the guest box's port 80. Example: My Host IP is 192.168.1.27 and my guest IP is 10.0.2.15, so I type 192.168.1.27:8888 and it will forward me to 10.0.2.15:80.

Then do this to make the setup of brewpi easier:

  1. Type 'su', enter the root password
  2. Type 'apt-get install sudo'
  3. Type 'adduser <your_username> sudo'
  4. Type 'exit'
  5. You should be back on the user command line, but now can use sudo commands

Now follow each step here: http://docs.brewpi.com/manual-brewpi-install/manual-brewpi-install.html


If you need more help let me know.
Click to expand...

This. F'Awesome. Post. Period.

I've gotten Wheezy/BrewPi running in VMWare VM on Win7/64 but have not done any hardware interface yet to see if there are issues.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
If you have wired a STC1000 then you have already wired 75% of this before..except instead of wiring it to the STC you wire it to the Relay board, then the relay board to the arduino, add a few sensors to the arduino and your done with the hardware side. The software is pretty straight forward, the BrewPi guys really made a good software installer that does most everything for you.
Click to expand...

Get the hell out of here and go get married. :mug:
 
I'm very interested in this project haven't read all the posts as of yet. Any suggestions on how to house all these components the arduino, 2 channel relay, power receptacle, and raspberry pi? Have two little ones at home don't want to have to worry about them touching something they shouldn't. Maybe this was answered already as well what thermowell were you suggesting I see a few at Brewers hardware that were 12 dollars?
 
Djxtc said:
I'm very interested in this project haven't read all the posts as of yet. Any suggestions on how to house all these components the arduino, 2 channel relay, power receptacle, and raspberry pi? Have two little ones at home don't want to have to worry about them touching something they shouldn't. Maybe this was answered already as well what thermowell were you suggesting I see a few at Brewers hardware that were 12 dollars?
Click to expand...


So I picked up a project box from Radio Shack, however instead of stuffing everything in it, I bought the $65 Raspberry Pi package and it came with a case. So I used velcro to attach that to the side. I drilled a hole near the lid of the project box and cut it to the top in a U shape to cradle the RPi to Arduino cord. The Arduino, Actuator, and outlet are all held in the project box. If you look at my signature you can see the project box mounted on the fridge with the top off.

Also, if you get the premade temp probes, you can use the $12 thermowell with the ID of .305" from BH and apparently it fits (I had FuzzeWuzze test this and his worked, I don't get mine until tomorrow).
 
BrewerJack thanks for the info I've used the same project boxes for my stc1000 builds.

What is the wattage of the 4.7K resistor? Almost picked one up at Radio Shack earlier in the week but was thrown off by this.
 
Djxtc said:
BrewerJack thanks for the info I've used the same project boxes for my stc1000 builds.

What is the wattage of the 4.7K resistor? Almost picked one up at Radio Shack earlier in the week but was thrown off by this.
Click to expand...

That is a good question. I just grabbed some at Frys, I honestly have no idea. I just grabbed the ones at Fry's near the breadboards.

EDIT: Just went and check: 4.7k 2% 1W
 
The wattage shouldnt matter really we arent pushing much power, i just went for a larger resistor from radio shack so it was easier to solder ;)
 
I ordered some on eBay and just checked, they are 1/4w 5%. I haven't received them yet. Will they be OK to use?
 
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