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

[raketemensch]

What's the cheapest relay to grab these days? The docs show an SRP8, which seems to be either no longer available or pretty schpensy. This guy looks decent:

JBtek 8 Channel DC 5V Relay Module

I've got one of these coming already, it's what I use for my ATO pump right now:

uxcell IEC255 DC 12V Coil 8Pin DPDT Electromagnetic Power Relay w Socket Base

I think I can just connect it to IO21 and GND? Or do I need to supply 12v to the goby hat as well to pass it through?

I'll use that for the moment, but would like something with more outlets.

What's interesting is that building it myself, with a cheap 8-channel 5v relay, the jumper wires, a 4-gang junction box, 4 outlets, the 4-gang outlet cover and the romex wire to wire it all up comes to ~$55. It seems like there might be a pre-built option for around that price, or within $10-15. The Kasa HS300 is only $20 more, but of course it's only 6 outlets, not 8.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Here is how I set it up in the UI. I am confident that I wired it correctly as I have done it before but cant post schematic if everything looks correct up to this point. After clean install I can still see the PWM board on i2c and no errors are popping up in the log.

 

[burningbaal]

anybody have a slick easy and free way to regularly backup the reef-pi.db file? I'm thinking a daily cron on my laptop to scp to it (but have a sudo issue) or some kind of cron on the pi to push the file at adafruit.io or my google drive, maybe somewhere else?

 

[Schreiber]

What's the cheapest relay to grab these days? The docs show an SRP8, which seems to be either no longer available or pretty schpensy. This guy looks decent:

JBtek 8 Channel DC 5V Relay Module
...

...I'll use that for the moment, but would like something with more outlets.

What's interesting is that building it myself, with a cheap 8-channel 5v relay, the jumper wires, a 4-gang junction box, 4 outlets, the 4-gang outlet cover and the romex wire to wire it all up comes to ~$55. It seems like there might be a pre-built option for around that price, or within $10-15. The Kasa HS300 is only $20 more, but of course it's only 6 outlets, not 8.

I've used those 8 channel relay boards before, they're pretty nice & I've never had any issues with them.

The main benefit of building your own setup with relays is the flexibility. Overall, you'll probably save a little money, but once you factor in the time of building & wiring it, it's pretty much a wash. But with pre-built options, you're stuck with their exact physical dimensions, number of outlets, (likely) very cheap components & wiring, etc. If you're like me, having a setup you know is wired correctly with good parts is worth the extra time spent.

 

[Schreiber]

Here is how I set it up in the UI. I am confident that I wired it correctly as I have done it before but cant post schematic if everything looks correct up to this point. After clean install I can still see the PWM board on i2c and no errors are popping up in the log.

Everything looks good to me, are you having issues with it? Only thing that sticks out to me is the fact you have one of your PCA9685 jacks set to active high, while the rest are low. I assume you did that on purpose though.

 

[lmm1967]

Basic questions..... - is there a specific reason why the build tutorials use that stereo jack for the temp sensors? Rather than risk me forgetting about not being able to connect/disconnect temp sensors I'm thinking of going with a 3 prong connector.

And - I'm going to assume I'm fine extending the wires of the temp sensors without too much trouble?

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Everything looks good to me, are you having issues with it? Only thing that sticks out to me is the fact you have one of your PCA9685 jacks set to active high, while the rest are low. I assume you did that on purpose though.

Thanks for checking on that as I wasn't entirely sure I had the jacks setup correctly. The active high was just messing around to see if something was missing/reversed in wiring. Just shooting in the dark.

I broke out the multimeter and tried to find continuity issues and found a missing 5V input on the motor driver (bad solder). Didn't fix the issue. I can try and post a schematic or picture of my wiring tonight. I really hate being stuck on a problem that will likely be something simple and stupid. haha

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Here is my wiring (GF was home and took a picture for me). The terminals go to the dosing pumps and the barrel connection in bottom left goes to the LED strip. 12V input on the right barrel to the bottom rails and the LM2596 which outputs 5.05V to the top rail. The L293D on the left is offset one space to the right. Everything seems to match from what I see...

edit: may have hooked PCA to the wrong voltage input. Not sure why I was able to see the address and communicate with it if that power isn’t used for anything besides servo power

 

[Schreiber]

I've officially got my Reef-Pi board finalized- meet Leviathan!!

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here! I've had a couple of people testing them, including myself, & they've worked great. I got tired of dealing with re-wiring my setup every time I wanted to add a new feature & when asked to build a Reef-Pi setup for a friend, I knew there was no way I was doing it all from scratch again.

I wasn't totally satisfied with any of the pre-existing Reef-Pi boards out there to buy, none I found had the ability to do both dosing & light control. Plus, I didn't need to use the ULN2803, as I wasn't going to be using the ADJ strip.

I'll be selling them soon- if you're interested in signing up for one, or finding out more about Leviathan, check out this link.

 

[burningbaal]

I've used those 8 channel relay boards before, they're pretty nice & I've never had any issues with them.

The main benefit of building your own setup with relays is the flexibility. Overall, you'll probably save a little money, but once you factor in the time of building & wiring it, it's pretty much a wash. But with pre-built options, you're stuck with their exact physical dimensions, number of outlets, (likely) very cheap components & wiring, etc. If you're like me, having a setup you know is wired correctly with good parts is worth the extra time spent.

I've thought of wiring this into my tripp-lite. I've got these 8 manual switches that I basically don't use anymore since I got my reef-pi running. I was thinking I'd like to add some normally-on outlets (since the adj is normally off) to put a few mission-critical things on like heaters (I'm in the PNW and it's in the basement), the return and at least on powerhead. Anyways, I also figured, especially for a normally-on relay, I'd like to have a manual switch. Has anyone broke open something like mine and hacked a relay set into it?

existing switched outlets

Idea for relay set from @raketemensch (to run alongside the existing 12V ADJ relays)

 

[thaistalyn]

What's the cheapest relay to grab these days? The docs show an SRP8, which seems to be either no longer available or pretty schpensy. This guy looks decent:

JBtek 8 Channel DC 5V Relay Module

I've got one of these coming already, it's what I use for my ATO pump right now:

uxcell IEC255 DC 12V Coil 8Pin DPDT Electromagnetic Power Relay w Socket Base

I think I can just connect it to IO21 and GND? Or do I need to supply 12v to the goby hat as well to pass it through?

I'll use that for the moment, but would like something with more outlets.

What's interesting is that building it myself, with a cheap 8-channel 5v relay, the jumper wires, a 4-gang junction box, 4 outlets, the 4-gang outlet cover and the romex wire to wire it all up comes to ~$55. It seems like there might be a pre-built option for around that price, or within $10-15. The Kasa HS300 is only $20 more, but of course it's only 6 outlets, not 8.

I put together a fairly nice power box for about $45 total, but used a nice box from amazon. You could probably spend less on the enclosure and save even more. I also have wire and just cut up an old power supply cord to use as the box feed. I'm going to put up my build later with part links - just waiting for the wife to print me some stickers with her "cricket"

Bud Industries CU-3285 – 18.10
HiLetgo 12V 8 Channel Relay Module - 9.39
Anmbest 2PC DB9 - 7.99 (you only need 1)
GLE2016 10 PCs Black US 3 Pin Power – 8.99

TOTAL = $44.47

 

[Ranjib]

We (family ) are in vacation , Maui , Hawaii. Here are some pics from the public aquarium .

It’s amazing to see how big some of these fish gets in their natural habitat, compared to aquariums

Moorish idol , if I ever get a bigger tank , may be I’ll have this . They are pretty hard to keep from what I understand

Their water filtration system

Scorpion fish ?

Junior is having a blast

 

[Phildago]

exactly…. if you want to get fancy you can also use the PCA 9685 PWM control with

Dual H Bridge DC Stepper Motor Drive Controller Board Module L298N For Arduino | eBay

L298N as main chip, ST corporation production. Low heat,outstanding anti-interference performance. Chip: L298N (ST NEW). Can drive one 2-phase stepper motor, one 4-phase stepper motor or two DC motors.

www.ebay.com

motors will go directly to the l298N.

here is a good article to get familiar with how to use it.

Controlling DC Motors with Arduino | Arduino L298N Tutorial

In this tutorial, you are going to learn about Arduino L298N Motor driver module interfacing. The L298N module has a very famous L298 Motor driver IC.

electronicshobbyists.com

you will need to use PWM from the PCA9685 and few GPIO pins to control direction. Same concepts as for Arduino but you would use I/O from Rasp-PI instead.

I'm going to go ahead and put a doser together using those controllers. Thanks for the idea.

Do you know if I'd need to use all 3 pins if I just wanted to control speed in one direction? I'd like to run my pumps forward at 50% or so, but I don't care about reverse.

 

[Phildago]

We (family ) are in vacation , Maui , Hawaii. Here are some pics from the public aquarium .

It’s amazing to see how big some of these fish gets in their natural habitat, compared to aquariums

Moorish idol , if I ever get a bigger tank , may be I’ll have this . They are pretty hard to keep from what I understand

Their water filtration system

Scorpion fish ?

Junior is having a blast

Wow, that is so incredible. I wish the water by my house was clean enough to be trusted in my tank. I'd have to build one of those of my own lol.

Such a beautiful display. Hawaii is amazing. Enjoy!

 

[Zippyfear]

Guess who got a 3d printer for christmas?!? and this is my first useful print.. many more to come..

 

[Ranjib]

Guess who got a 3d printer for christmas?!? and this is my first useful print.. many more to come..

Awesome . Which one you got ? I have uploaded a bunch of enclosure models in thingiverse .

 

[Ranjib]

Here is one of my latest build, involving a pi zero, a temperature sensor and a float switch. It’s powered by 5v 2.4A micro USB adapter directly. Tiny and feature rich when combined with smart plugs , I am using it to benchmark various power banks for backup /emergency use cases.
3D models: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4077533

Here is how it looks in real life

Internals

 

[burningbaal]

Here is one of my latest build, involving a pi zero, a temperature sensor and a float switch. It’s powered by 5v 2.4A micro USB adapter directly. Tiny and feature rich when combined with smart plugs , I am using it to benchmark various power banks for backup /emergency use cases.
3D models: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4077533

Here is how it looks in real life

Internals

Dang... That right there has a real market... Someone should look into the legality/feasibility of selling that

 

[burningbaal]

K..weird question. I just bought a galaxy s9+, running android 9. On my s7 edge, I could load my reefpi browser page fine. I never have an issue on my MacBook, nor on my windows laptop I occasionally have home from work.
But on my s9+, it only loads a blank screen. No 404 nor 500, just a white screen...

Ideas? Somewhere in the logs to search? I can sah or teamviewer into the pi to find anything that's helpful

 

[Ranjib]

K..weird question. I just bought a galaxy s9+, running android 9. On my s7 edge, I could load my reefpi browser page fine. I never have an issue on my MacBook, nor on my windows laptop I occasionally have home from work.
But on my s9+, it only loads a blank screen. No 404 nor 500, just a white screen...

Ideas? Somewhere in the logs to search? I can sah or teamviewer into the pi to find anything that's helpful

Can you try with the option “Request desktop website”? Which browser you are using ? I thinks it’s an ui /JavaScript issue and won’t manifest in logs