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

[crusso1993]

OK . So .

Well i Just ordered stuff to build a pi-3 controller and will put the pi-zero one on the planted Tropical tank. I also ordered this.
After much thought, Advice from on here and Lots of You tube videos .
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9T3H57/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It will all be here Sunday. Guess this can go in the room with my Vinyl cutter, Blue Print plotter . The post above about cost of project boxes is what pushed me to clicking the BIG Button..

@Erica-Renee - are there any specific reasons you went with the Creality Ender 3 instead of the Geeetech A10? If so, would you mind sharing? The reason I ask is because, based on my research, it appears the Geeetech is the better option. I'd really value your input.

 

[Erica-Renee]

@Erica-Renee - are there any specific reasons you went with the Creality Ender 3 instead of the Geeetech A10? If so, would you mind sharing? The reason I ask is because, based on my research, it appears the Geeetech is the better option. I'd really value your input.

To he honest it was a Coin toss decision. The Geeetech has a few new features,But also have a few changes components different from other machines . such as the rollers Some wiring . The Creality Has 10s of thousands of machines in use.They both have the same print Quality it appears... But i am NO Expert ..

 

[crusso1993]

To he honest it was a Coin toss decision. The Geeetech has a few new features,But also have a few changes components different from other machines . such as the rollers Some wiring . The Creality Has 10s of thousands of machines in use.They both have the same print Quality it appears... But i am NO Expert ..

Thank you!

 

[b4tn]

I had planned to start working on the relays and wiring this weekend but realized a slight design flaw on my part. I was originally going to use the DJ power strip so cut the hole and mounted the DB9 connector thinking I would just use it the same way but wire my own relays to the the other side. Well it has 8 gpio pins and one 12 volt line but no ground and I am out of pins. LOL. So I need to order some VGA 16 pin connectors so I can bring 8 gpio, 12v, and ground to my relays in the power strip. How does the DJ power strip get its ground to operate the relays?

Also I was thinking about stability. Micro SD cards where never really designed to run operating systems and read/right operations. I hear about them getting corrupted often. Has anyone ever considered using a thumb drive or external solid state drive for the OS?

 

[theatrus]

I had planned to start working on the relays and wiring this weekend but realized a slight design flaw on my part. I was originally going to use the DJ power strip so cut the hole and mounted the DB9 connector thinking I would just use it the same way but wire my own relays to the the other side. Well it has 8 gpio pins and one 12 volt line but no ground and I am out of pins. LOL. So I need to order some VGA 16 pin connectors so I can bring 8 gpio, 12v, and ground to my relays in the power strip. How does the DJ power strip get its ground to operate the relays?

8 of the pins are the ground return from each relay.

Also I was thinking about stability. Micro SD cards where never really designed to run operating systems and read/right operations. I hear about them getting corrupted often. Has anyone ever considered using a thumb drive or external solid state drive for the OS?

Thumb drives have the same problem. AFAIK the Pi must boot from the SD card (at least the core bootloader, unsure if USB is available that early to try and load the kernel from USB), but then any read/write filesystems could be attached to a USB/M2 or SATA bridge to a real SSD. Lots of wiring but possible.

 

[b4tn]

8 of the pins are the ground return from each relay

That makes sense but Almost all of the 8 channel relay assembly’s I see have a vcc, ground, and then 8 signal pins. Is this because it has built in relay drivers that could be powered directly from the pi without the ULN2803?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LW2GA5Y/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_FaY5BbEDVKRBV

 

[Michael Lane]

I had planned to start working on the relays and wiring this weekend but realized a slight design flaw on my part. I was originally going to use the DJ power strip so cut the hole and mounted the DB9 connector thinking I would just use it the same way but wire my own relays to the the other side. Well it has 8 gpio pins and one 12 volt line but no ground and I am out of pins. LOL. So I need to order some VGA 16 pin connectors so I can bring 8 gpio, 12v, and ground to my relays in the power strip. How does the DJ power strip get its ground to operate the relays?

Also I was thinking about stability. Micro SD cards where never really designed to run operating systems and read/right operations. I hear about them getting corrupted often. Has anyone ever considered using a thumb drive or external solid state drive for the OS?

I've had an rpi based controller system running since 2014. The only issue I've had with the SD cards was running out of storage space due to excessive logging. I think the stability concerns are probably exaggerated as long as a quality SD card is used and the power doesn't frequently get interrupted. I usually lose power probably a dozen times a year...

 

[Diamond1]

I used the db9 connectors in my power module and just ran a ground from the fused power switch, to the relay ground and then back to the pi. This way I was able to make the ground common on everything and use only one power supply to run the rpi and the relays.

I believe the ADJ power strip uses it's own power supply to power the relays.

 

[theatrus]

That makes sense but Almost all of the 8 channel relay assembly’s I see have a vcc, ground, and then 8 signal pins. Is this because it has built in relay drivers that could be powered directly from the pi without the ULN2803?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LW2GA5Y/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_FaY5BbEDVKRBV

Yup. The ADJ power strip has just relays in it. The other relay boards add other complications such as optoisolators and the switching transistors on board, which need a common supply to drive those.

 

[Brad Cox]

Can someone point me to the ato circuit?

Im using a float switch but dont know how to wire the resistor.

 

[Ranjib]

Can someone point me to the ato circuit?

Im using a float switch but dont know how to wire the resistor.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/r...-on-raspberry-pi.289256/page-356#post-5312272

 

[b4tn]

Can someone point me to the ato circuit?

Im using a float switch but dont know how to wire the resistor.

That’s the one thing in this ginormous thread that makes me feel smart lol

 

[Diamond1]

Can someone point me to the ato circuit?

Im using a float switch but dont know how to wire the resistor.

Here ya go

 

[Diamond1]

That’s the one thing in this ginormous thread that makes me feel smart lol

oops didn't refresh my page before I saw your post

 

[Brad Cox]

Awesome!! I couldnt find it on the reefpi site under the build guides.

This is for my christmas tree

 

[pshootr]

Looks like a very interesting and fun projects. Although quite a bit of thought and time involved it looks like, so I'm not sure I would actually do it myself. Having said that I'm really glad you guys are having fun with it, and I really do like the idea. I am curious though in the end of things about how much are you guys spending to complete this?

 

[b4tn]

I have a little over $100 put in so far for the reef-pi power controller, temperature, and ATO using my existing pump and float switch. The PH circuit is almost $100 on its own not including a probe and dosing control will be determined on how much you want to spend on pumps. I did not build the light control circuit so I can’t say how much it is.

 

[Ranjib]

Looks like a very interesting and fun projects. Although quite a bit of thought and time involved it looks like, so I'm not sure I would actually do it myself. Having said that I'm really glad you guys are having fun with it, and I really do like the idea. I am curious though in the end of things about how much are you guys spending to complete this?

Anywhere between 150-550$ depending upon what all modules you are building (power + light + temperature + ato + pH + doser etc). Here is a tentative list of parts: http://a.co/eUOGWkE , to get an idea

 

[Ranjib]

Awesome!! I couldnt find it on the reefpi site under the build guides.

This is for my christmas tree

I used reef-pi during last Christmas as well. Now I have one installed in each room for temperature sensing and controlling all the equipment. The one in hallroom also uses timer to turn on/off TV/Xfinity that my son uses to watch cartoon , I find it easier to let reef-pi switch off the TV instead of us, that way he is not so angry on us LOL

 

[pshootr]

Anywhere between 150-550$ depending upon what all modules you are building (power + light + temperature + ato + pH + doser etc). Here is a tentative list of parts: http://a.co/eUOGWkE , to get an idea

I see, that makes sense. Thank you very much [emoji106]