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

[crusso1993]

I know what I am asking Santa for this year! ;Smuggrin

@ScottBrew - very cool! Let us know which one "Santa" brings you. You think "he'll" bring a less expensive one like a Geeetech or a more fancy one like a FormLabs, MakerBot or Zortrax?

 

[Ranjib]

I know what I am asking Santa for this year! ;Smuggrin

Same here

 

[Mwdsonny]

Very, very cool! Thanks for the comment @Des Westcott !

Like @LionHeart2017 , I also lack a 3D printer. I am hoping to have one and know how to use it by the time I build out my reef-pi. However, in case I do not have the 3D printer, I'd still be curious as to what @Mwdsonny will be using.

I was planning to look at 3d printing a pump head for a nema 17 motor, but ive also sourced them online as well. heres a cheap one for a nema 17.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Min...lgo_pvid=16ed0bab-deca-45a1-b6b3-ed8d6af11672

 

[LionHeart2017]

I was planning to look at 3d printing a pump head for a nema 17 motor, but ive also sourced them online as well. heres a cheap one for a nema 17.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Min...lgo_pvid=16ed0bab-deca-45a1-b6b3-ed8d6af11672

Some nice options on there for dosing, pity aquarium manufacturers mainly use the white generic ones, I'm not a fan of them

 

[Ryan115]

I am an electrician by trade, but the control/calibrate part I need help with, once I get it working Ill do a writeup and wiring setup for yall. just want to make sure it works correctly with the software. Im currently using my pi to control my 3d printer. but the printer has its own control board, just using the pi as a iot connection instead of connecting it directly to my laptop. Waiting on my 2nd pi 3 (this one will be a 3+ where current is original 3). and ordered a 8 relay station thats 3.3 volt turnon to run directly off gpio pins. to make it easy.

What relay system did you get? Driving the relays directly with the 3.3V may not work out, as you can only source a few mA from each pin.
Most boards I've seen will use a higher (5 or 12VDC) supply and are triggered by the GPIO.

 

[Dave's Reef]

Ok guys another million dollar probably a stupid question but my PWM is working backwards 99% is 0 and 1% is 100 not sure why it worked before

 

[Michael Lane]

Ok guys another million dollar probably a stupid question but my PWM is working backwards 99% is 0 and 1% is 100 not sure why it worked before

That sounds like Active High vs Active Low. You should be able to change the Behavior property to fix this. If you are using 1.x, the field is called Reverse.

 

[Dave's Reef]

That sounds like Active High vs Active Low. You should be able to change the Behavior property to fix this. If you are using 1.x, the field is called Reverse.

Awesome thanks I'll give that a try tomorrow

 

[Ranjib]

Ok guys another million dollar probably a stupid question but my PWM is working backwards 99% is 0 and 1% is 100 not sure why it worked before

Tinker with two settings: Active High/ Active Low, and start value (try setting it to 1)

 

[b4tn]

What would you all consider safe temperature for the raspberry and circuitry? While testing I have one of my probes in the box with the lid off and it’s running about 85 degrees ambient. I don’t have my doser motors out yet so I’m running a 12 volt computer fan on my dosing schedule. Just out of curiosity I put the fan in the box and temps dropped from 85 down to 70 with the fan blowing at 75% every 2 minutes for 10 seconds lol. I’m thinking about getting a ds18b20 in transistor form factor to mount to my hat and use it to control a small box fan.

 

[ScottBrew]

What would you all consider safe temperature for the raspberry and circuitry? While testing I have one of my probes in the box with the lid off and it’s running about 85 degrees ambient. I don’t have my doser motors out yet so I’m running a 12 volt computer fan on my dosing schedule. Just out of curiosity I put the fan in the box and temps dropped from 85 down to 70 with the fan blowing at 75% every 2 minutes for 10 seconds lol. I’m thinking about getting a ds18b20 in transistor form factor to mount to my hat and use it to control a small box fan.

What's the temperature readout in the toolbar of the pi saying? Mine is at 51-52 degrees C.

 

[Ranjib]

Hi all, reef-pi 2.0 is out, here is the release post: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-pi-2-0-release-announcement.508835/
Thank you all for everybit of contribution, from build a reef-pi controller and testing it out to supporting others in this thread.

Happy thanks giving

 

[ScottBrew]

Hi all, reef-pi 2.0 is out, here is the release post: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-pi-2-0-release-announcement.508835/
Thank you all for everybit of contribution, from build a reef-pi controller and testing it out to supporting others in this thread.

Happy thanks giving

Awesome! Thank YOU for all the hard work you do with this project!!! Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy the time with your family.

 

[ScottBrew]

What would you all consider safe temperature for the raspberry and circuitry? While testing I have one of my probes in the box with the lid off and it’s running about 85 degrees ambient. I don’t have my doser motors out yet so I’m running a 12 volt computer fan on my dosing schedule. Just out of curiosity I put the fan in the box and temps dropped from 85 down to 70 with the fan blowing at 75% every 2 minutes for 10 seconds lol. I’m thinking about getting a ds18b20 in transistor form factor to mount to my hat and use it to control a small box fan.

if you are running a pi zero, try the command /opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd measure_temp Here is my result.

 

[b4tn]

if you are running a pi zero, try the command /opt/vc/bin/vcgencmd measure_temp Here is my result.

39.2 degrees with the fan blowing on it. I’m just curious when is temp critical? I am sure once I put a lid on the box temp will go up.

 

[theatrus]

What would you all consider safe temperature for the raspberry and circuitry? While testing I have one of my probes in the box with the lid off and it’s running about 85 degrees ambient. I don’t have my doser motors out yet so I’m running a 12 volt computer fan on my dosing schedule. Just out of curiosity I put the fan in the box and temps dropped from 85 down to 70 with the fan blowing at 75% every 2 minutes for 10 seconds lol. I’m thinking about getting a ds18b20 in transistor form factor to mount to my hat and use it to control a small box fan.

The core CPU temperature shouldn’t go above 80-85C for most purposes.

 

[ScottBrew]

39.2 degrees with the fan blowing on it. I’m just curious when is temp critical? I am sure once I put a lid on the box temp will go up.

Overtemp warnings at 80 C I believe and it throttles back processor usage to preserve itself. You will need some airflow, however passive cooling is probably sufficient with vent holes. The cpu usage is very low and doesn't generate much heat, especially running headless. If noise is a concern and you want a fan, get a 12vdc fan and run it with 5vdc. It will be all but silent.

 

[b4tn]

Thanks, for running headless are you all just running raspbian lite? I have the desktop version installed but have never used it. I did everything via the command line

 

[ScottBrew]

@ScottBrew - very cool! Let us know which one "Santa" brings you. You think "he'll" bring a less expensive one like a Geeetech or a more fancy one like a FormLabs, MakerBot or Zortrax?

Most likely it will be more toward the budget end, the Geeetech or Creality. That is unless Santa wins the lottery between now and then... I can't 3D print the Canon 5Dmk4, can I?

 

[pickupman66]

Starting the build for my jebao pumps to see if I can do it. 24 volts along the bottom. Pulled the wired and power Port off a jebao controller. I tried to get the pump to fire off with a "light" port set to 50% but it didn't work. I could not see any voltage from the pwm driver board. So I have up and started Thanksgiving. Three bacon blankets ready to cover turkeys tomorrow.