HOWTO - Make a BrewPi Fermentation Controller For Cheap

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farmskis said:
[...]I was able to navigate to the data folder and view my brews. When trying to delete the brew folders it asks me to confirm a bunch of write protected Json files. Do I just confirm through all of these to delete the folder? They all have a date associated with them it looks like.
Click to expand...

Sorry, was out of town for a few days.

Yes, wipe out all the files in the specified folder, and the folder itself for good order.
You can also use:
rm -rf mydir

if you want to skip the confirmations...

Cheers!
 
fwiw, all of my ds18b20 probes (well over two dozen of them) have 3 meter long leads. And the ones in my keezer have an additional 5 feet of twisted pairs and ribbon cables between Uno and sensors. Same is true for the five other keezer probes I run on the RPi2B with my temperature logger to track various performance parameters.

Point being you can put a hella bunch of wire on these things and they'll still work reliably, as long as VCC is 5V and you have a 4.7K pull-up to 5V on the data line.

As for noise, if you've seen my "minion" design you know it's a wicked cramped implementation with everything pretty damned close to everything - AC, DC, Bluetooth radio, you name it. No problems there, either...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
fwiw, all of my ds18b20 probes (well over two dozen of them) have 3 meter long leads. And the ones in my keezer have an additional 5 feet of twisted pairs and ribbon cables between Uno and sensors. Same is true for the five other keezer probes I run on the RPi2B with my temperature logger to track various performance parameters.

Point being you can put a hella bunch of wire on these things and they'll still work reliably, as long as VCC is 5V and you have a 4.7K pull-up to 5V on the data line.

As for noise, if you've seen my "minion" design you know it's a wicked cramped implementation with everything pretty damned close to everything - AC, DC, Bluetooth radio, you name it. No problems there, either...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I did notice I am only getting 4.7v to the vcc rail for the DS18B20's. Maybe it's a "lack of power" issue?

I'm going to try replacing all jumpers from the arduino tomorrow. I'm going to be pissed if I find that it's just a flakey cable.
 
I run my sensors at 3.3V with no problems (in the data sheet the range is 3.0 to 5.5V). I have also found that wiring them up doesn't really need a huge amount of care and design.
 
It could be the fluorescent light causing noise. what kind of ballast is in there? magnetic, electronic? is it a t8 or t12? Doesn't really matter as any combination can put noise in a line, hell some of the ballasts out there will even leech voltage back into the lines when they go bad.
 
wbarber69 said:
It could be the fluorescent light causing noise. what kind of ballast is in there? magnetic, electronic? is it a t8 or t12? Doesn't really matter as any combination can put noise in a line, hell some of the ballasts out there will even leech voltage back into the lines when they go bad.
Click to expand...

The cooler I'm using is an old Master-bilt beverage display cooler with glass door. I'm sure it's probably an old magnetic ballast and I believe the bulb is a 15 watt t8 but would have to double check.

It's a long shot but I wonder if just turning off the light will fix the issue.
I've had the light on the entire time using it as a night light for the garage. I'll turn it off and watch the data logs.
 
wbarber69 said:
It could be the fluorescent light causing noise. what kind of ballast is in there? magnetic, electronic? is it a t8 or t12? Doesn't really matter as any combination can put noise in a line, hell some of the ballasts out there will even leech voltage back into the lines when they go bad.
Click to expand...

The cooler I'm using is an old Master-bilt beverage display cooler with glass door. I'm sure it's probably an old magnetic ballast and I believe the bulb is a 15 watt t8 but would have to double check.

It's a long shot but I wonder if just turning off the light will fix the issue.
I've had the light on the entire time using it as a night light for the garage. I'll turn it off and watch the data logs.
 
Has anyone designed an Arduino Shield for this project yet?

I'm working on the PCB right now and it'll have the shift register for the display, hook ups for the outputs and DS18B20's, and input for an encoder.

I wanted to get rid of the rats nest of wiring on mine.
 
atoughram said:
Has anyone designed an Arduino Shield for this project yet?

I'm working on the PCB right now and it'll have the shift register for the display, hook ups for the outputs and DS18B20's, and input for an encoder.

I wanted to get rid of the rats nest of wiring on mine.
Click to expand...


Yep Daytrippr has one search there is a thread on here something like brewpi LCD shield or similar

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=510036

Cadibrewer and a few others have knocked up some PCB you can order if you do a quick scan of past posts
 
LBussy said:
You can beg to differ, but you do so by ignoring the reasoning I gave. My reasoning was not solely based on the relative ease but the number of people who exist with firsthand knowledge of implementation who are willing to help.

I have a small vested interest in people thinking Thorrak's solution is easier and well documented, but that does not change the fact that far more people are here helping with the Arduino version than are helping with the Thorrakian (I've given it a name) version.

Remember also that the "true" Arduino code has been tested for probably hundreds of thousands of hours under all manner of conditions. I think Thorrak would agree his is not so thoroughly tested. This will likely always be the case.

Which one do I use? Both.
Click to expand...

There are still a lot of questions on the Arduino project as well. Questions which indicates it`s a project in progress still. Some questions get good answers and some don`t. The amount of people who will answer questions will grow in the Thorrakian edition in my opinion. This is the first of the brewpi projects where I did not need help, other than correcting the connection chart. A lot of my friends in Norway now use this edition - I have written a Norwegian article and posted on a forum. Guess this is a good project since none of them hase asked me any questions later on (and yes, I did a good job on the Guide. It`s step by step - and it should be almoust impossible to do errors if one follow it. Hence - no questions asked. :) But - hell, I`m impressed with ALL the projects here :) :)
 
waverz said:
The cooler I'm using is an old Master-bilt beverage display cooler with glass door. I'm sure it's probably an old magnetic ballast and I believe the bulb is a 15 watt t8 but would have to double check.

It's a long shot but I wonder if just turning off the light will fix the issue.
I've had the light on the entire time using it as a night light for the garage. I'll turn it off and watch the data logs.
Click to expand...

I turned off the light this morning. I still get an occasional error in the log about a disconnected temp sensor but they are less frequent. The graph now shows consistent readings even when zoomed in. I'm considering disconnecting the power from the ballast to see if it will help with the log errors.
 
waverz said:
The cooler I'm using is an old Master-bilt beverage display cooler with glass door. I'm sure it's probably an old magnetic ballast and I believe the bulb is a 15 watt t8 but would have to double check.

It's a long shot but I wonder if just turning off the light will fix the issue.
I've had the light on the entire time using it as a night light for the garage. I'll turn it off and watch the data logs.
Click to expand...

I turned off the light this morning. I still get an occasional error in the log about a disconnected temp sensor but they are less frequent. The graph now shows consistent readings even when zoomed in. I'm considering disconnecting the power from the ballast to see if it will help with the log errors.
 
atoughram said:
Has anyone designed an Arduino Shield for this project yet?

I'm working on the PCB right now and it'll have the shift register for the display, hook ups for the outputs and DS18B20's, and input for an encoder.

I wanted to get rid of the rats nest of wiring on mine.
Click to expand...

attachment.php


@Cadibrewer laid this out from my schematics and with just a bit of guidance from me. Works great and is hella easier to build than the protoshield version :)

If you post a request for a pcb or two at the end of this thread, you might catch someone holding extras...

Cheers!
 
I may have just ordered three custom PCB's, the parts to populate said PCB's, and LCD displays for the Cadibrewer Brewpi V1.1 board. I may need to part with one or two of these populated and tested circuit boards in the near future.
 
day_trippr said:
attachment.php


@Cadibrewer laid this out from my schematics and with just a bit of guidance from me. Works great and is hella easier to build than the protoshield version :)

If you post a request for a pcb or two at the end of this thread, you might catch someone holding extras...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

too late... ;) Thanks!

ordered from Oshpark and Mouser...
 
waverz said:
I turned off the light this morning. I still get an occasional error in the log about a disconnected temp sensor but they are less frequent. The graph now shows consistent readings even when zoomed in. I'm considering disconnecting the power from the ballast to see if it will help with the log errors.
Click to expand...


Or you could repurpose the ballast as a space heater! lol

Btw: when the app says it couldn't post your comment… its lying just hit discard and reload.
 
wbarber69 said:
Or you could repurpose the ballast as a space heater! lol

Btw: when the app says it couldn't post your comment… its lying just hit discard and reload.
Click to expand...

There is definitely an issue with the ballast causing noise on the probes. I turned the light back on for awhile today and started losing graph data.

I still get random errors about the sensors being disconnected but it isn't as bad as when the light is on.

Also, thanks for the tip about the app. It's annoying. It tells me it couldn't post, sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't and the I end up with double posts.
 
Bigdaddyale said:
DCPCB is $25/10 ,you have a choice of soldermask color but takes almost a month for delivery.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I'll keep that in mind - thats quite a bit better deal if a person can wait. Not sure how much OSH would be for 10 boards.
 
Osh only works in groups of 3, so it would be $75 for 9 boards. Another good option is pcbs.io; while I haven't used them yet, there pricing is good. $4/square inch for 4 boards. I'm going to give them a try on my next order.
 
gromitdj said:
Osh only works in groups of 3, so it would be $75 for 9 boards. Another good option is pcbs.io; while I haven't used them yet, there pricing is good. $4/square inch for 4 boards. I'm going to give them a try on my next order.
Click to expand...

now that sucks... They were closer, faster, and cheaper...

Thanks for sharing!
 
I have used dirtyPCBs one time and the result was excellent. If you want the boards quicker you can pay more for faster delivery. It's probably not worth paying for faster manufacture (they turn the boards around in a few days), but standard shipping could take several weeks, so it's worth paying money there.
 
I've ordered recently from both OSH Park and DirtyPCBs. Both took about 3 weeks.

OSH Park was cheaper for very small boards ($5 sq. in. for 3 copies). My order was $3.10, shipping included, for 3 boards about 0.62 sq. in. each. Gold flashed pads, purple solder mask. Board edges were rough (perforated and snapped apart).

DirtyPCBs was cheaper for medium size boards ($25 < 10 x 10 cm, Protopack ±10 copies ). Tin plated pads, red solder mask (default... you can choose other colors) These boards were 3" x nearly 4" (and would have been $69 for 3 boards from OSH Park!) DirtyPCBs shipped 12 boards. Board edges were smoothly milled.

I was very happy with the quality of both orders.

Edit: On the ±10 thing... They say you will almost always get more than 10 boards, but you may get less... short 1 about 3% of the time, short 2 about 0.5% of the time... (If you absolutely have to be guaranteed 10 boards, it will cost more!)
 
Last edited:
One other place I would recommend is http://pcbs.io/

$4/sq. inch (or less) for 4 boards (shipped free globally), with gold flashed pads, black solder mask, etc. I've ordered from them 3 or 4 times now, and each time I've received more than 4 boards, but you're guaranteed at least 4.
 
Does anyone know which power socket I would use in the UK? Looking at the wiring diagrams, I'm not sure what the equivalent socket is (where the hot wire can be wired to the side).

Cheers - almost ready to build!!!
 
Tand said:
Does anyone know which power socket I would use in the UK? Looking at the wiring diagrams, I'm not sure what the equivalent socket is (where the hot wire can be wired to the side).

Cheers - almost ready to build!!!
Click to expand...


I used two single plug sockets and wires them into a box as there isn't a metal tab to cut in the UK down to the way they're wired.

So take the power in and splice it to two sockets and wire each one up separately if that's makes any sense.

The earth and neutral, you wire directly to the plug sockets. And then the live comes separately from the SSRs or relays.
 
Mikmonken said:
I used two single plug sockets and wires them into a box as there isn't a metal tab to cut in the UK down to the way they're wired.

So take the power in and splice it to two sockets and wire each one up separately if that's makes any sense.

The earth and neutral, you wire directly to the plug sockets. And then the live comes separately from the SSRs or relays.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to get a picture/diagram of that wiring? Is there a UK specific tutorial? I don't quite understand how you'd get the power to the two sockets, or wire then separately.
 
Tand said:
Is it possible to get a picture/diagram of that wiring? Is there a UK specific tutorial? I don't quite understand how you'd get the power to the two sockets, or wire then separately.
Click to expand...


I'll take a pic of how I set mine up tomorrow. Or draw one at least it's very similar to the original drawing (and has worked for well over a year now) but I might not be the simplest method.
 
Tand said:
Is it possible to get a picture/diagram of that wiring? Is there a UK specific tutorial? I don't quite understand how you'd get the power to the two sockets, or wire then separately.
Click to expand...


View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1483136313.625296.jpgthe Uk version is very very similar.

The only difference being is that if you use two separate plugs (I suggest you do) is that you need to create the earth and neutral tab you seen in the attached picture.

You can do this by wiring.the earth and neutral to one plug, and then taking a spur from both the earth and neutral over to the second socket.

This isn't how I set mine up i used a Euro style connected to take feeds from the earth neutral and live and split them apart and thinking about it now i wouldn't do it this way.

But as mentioned I will take a photo of mine and post it tomorrow (it's not pretty but it works)
 
Really sorry about my crude drawings and photos Was in a rush and only had felt tips to use.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1483188628.974069.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1483188652.011454.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1483188709.107367.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1483188722.619580.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1483188761.498020.jpg

Plug A and Plug B are the plug sockets and not plugs themselves.

I would get two single sockets and a double back panel B&Q is a good place to see the various options available I went cheap.

The power element is a computer power lead with the opposite end of the plug cut off. The longer the better for me anyway.

It's fairly straight forward and hopefully you can follow my diagrams. I'm not an electrician but I think the final drawing will work well.

There is also an option to completely avoid the need of the Euro style connector by running the live direct to the relay and then join the two middle relays pins.

In which case you'd ignore the brown lines in the picture below and use the pink one instead.

This should work and would mean that you could never accidentally heat and cool at the same time.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1483189149.367880.jpg

Let me know if you need any further explanation or a better diagram and I'll try again.
 
Mikmonken said:
Really sorry about my crude drawings and photos Was in a rush and only had felt tips to use.

View attachment 382577
View attachment 382578
View attachment 382579
View attachment 382580
View attachment 382581

Plug A and Plug B are the plug sockets and not plugs themselves.

I would get two single sockets and a double back panel B&Q is a good place to see the various options available I went cheap.

The power element is a computer power lead with the opposite end of the plug cut off. The longer the better for me anyway.

It's fairly straight forward and hopefully you can follow my diagrams. I'm not an electrician but I think the final drawing will work well.

There is also an option to completely avoid the need of the Euro style connector by running the live direct to the relay and then join the two middle relays pins.

In which case you'd ignore the brown lines in the picture below and use the pink one instead.

This should work and would mean that you could never accidentally heat and cool at the same time.

View attachment 382582

Let me know if you need any further explanation or a better diagram and I'll try again.
Click to expand...

I think that's exactly what I need - thank you so much. I'll see how I get on with it - your diagrams have made it much clearer.

Cheers!
 
Thorrak said:
One other place I would recommend is http://pcbs.io/

$4/sq. inch (or less) for 4 boards (shipped free globally), with gold flashed pads, black solder mask, etc. I've ordered from them 3 or 4 times now, and each time I've received more than 4 boards, but you're guaranteed at least 4.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that link! Looks good for small boards and/or fast turnarounds!
 
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