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

[LionHeart2017]

Well done Ranjib and crew, you guys deserve the exposure [emoji4]

 

[Ryan115]

@Ranjib I am trying to test out a system with the Adafruit Stepper Motor Hat.
Is there anything special that we would need to be able to interact with reef-pi, or should it function just as a regular PCA9685 board?
I was able to assign pins 0-15 as jacks, but I am unable to assign the jacks in the lighting tab.

But I am unable to assign those pins in the lighting tab, though now that I go back in, I see a light set up in there from before I deleted the DB to reconfigure the system.
When I try to delete it I get a 404 error.
Thoughts?

This is on a pi zero running as a test system on the bench, so no big issues if I need to test/break something.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib I am trying to test out a system with the Adafruit Stepper Motor Hat.
Is there anything special that we would need to be able to interact with reef-pi, or should it function just as a regular PCA9685 board?
I was able to assign pins 0-15 as jacks, but I am unable to assign the jacks in the lighting tab.

But I am unable to assign those pins in the lighting tab, though now that I go back in, I see a light set up in there from before I deleted the DB to reconfigure the system.
When I try to delete it I get a 404 error.
Thoughts?

This is on a pi zero running as a test system on the bench, so no big issues if I need to test/break something.

What error you are getting in the lighting tab? You are not able to see these jacks in drop down menu when you are creating light?

 

[Ryan115]

What error you are getting in the lighting tab? You are not able to see these jacks in drop down menu when you are creating light?

The jacks are all showing up, but it looks like the error stems from the "test" that is already configured.
It will not let me delete it.

If this is left over, then it was configured as pin0 for direct pi PWM

 

[Ranjib]

The jacks are all showing up, but it looks like the error stems from the "test" that is already configured.
It will not let me delete it.

If this is left over, then it was configured as pin0 for direct pi PWM

Delete that light and create a new one

 

[Ryan115]

Delete that light and create a new one

I am unable to delete it.
Is there any way to remove it on the back-end without having to delete the DB?
Not a problem if I need to, since I dont have much. But just wondering so it can help others.

 

[Ranjib]

I am unable to delete it.
Is there any way to remove it on the back-end without having to delete the DB?
Not a problem if I need to, since I dont have much. But just wondering so it can help others.

Let me cross check. Meanwhile, can you create a new light and assign one of the jacks ?

 

[Ryan115]

Let me cross check. Meanwhile, can you create a new light and assign one of the jacks ?

Nope, I get the 404 error every time I try.

 

[Ryan115]

Nope, I get the 404 error every time I try.

@Ranjib looks like running a reload fixed it. It did revert one of the pin settings back to a previous name. But seems better now.
Let me know if you need me to try to recreate anything.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib looks like running a reload fixed it. It did revert one of the pin settings back to a previous name. But seems better now.
Let me know if you need me to try to recreate anything.

Not that something comes to my mind, Im curious about the 404s. I suspect it was a UI issue. The light was deleted on the first go, but UI didn't reflect it, hence when you deleted again you got 404 (which stands for resource not found), since its already gone. I'll check if I can reproduce it,

 

[Ryan115]

@Ranjib
Still trying to get PWM working on this hat.
I am getting a failed to initialize PCA9685 error.
Thoughts on troubleshooting?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib
Still trying to get PWM working on this hat.
I am getting a failed to initialize PCA9685 error.
Thoughts on troubleshooting?

it means pca9685 is not configured . You have i2c enabled? and can you see the pca9685 address when you run

i2cdetect -y 1

 

[Ryan115]

I have gone through raspi-config to enable it, but is there any way to test and make sure?

 

[Ryan115]

Just checked my other pi running a straight PCA9685 board, does raspberry pi make any assumptions about address?
The other one detects i2c @ 40 & 70, this one is 60 & 70.

 

[Ranjib]

I have gone through raspi-config to enable it, but is there any way to test and make sure?

You have pca9685 configured with a different address, here is what mine looks like:

have you changed any addressing jumpers?

 

[Ranjib]

Just checked my other pi running a straight PCA9685 board, does raspberry pi make any assumptions about address?
The other one detects i2c @ 40 & 70, this one is 60 & 70.

yes it does :0-/

 

[Jean-Pierre Renaud]

Hey Ranjib !

it's been a really long time since i check this place, i have been running Reef-PI for a very long time with 0 issues
i just updated to latest version and WOW it looks better now lol
i see the Macro tab, so i have a plan now...

i want to do an automatic Water change macro,

the top level sensor is my current ATO sensor, i just bought 2 more and 2 other 12V pump DC

my plan is :

When i use my macro, i need to disable ATO ( that part is easy)
then the punp in my sump activate and it emptys tank water into a bucket until the LOW level sensor gets activated, that stops the tank pump
then fresh saltwater is pump back into the sump until it reaches the TOP level sensor that stops the pump.

Then ATO is turned back on.

Question, can i use only one sensor for ATO and TOP level for auto water change or this will give me trouble and i should use a third sensor ?

 

[Ranjib]

Hey Ranjib !

it's been a really long time since i check this place, i have been running Reef-PI for a very long time with 0 issues
i just updated to latest version and WOW it looks better now lol
i see the Macro tab, so i have a plan now...

i want to do an automatic Water change macro,

the top level sensor is my current ATO sensor, i just bought 2 more and 2 other 12V pump DC

my plan is :

When i use my macro, i need to disable ATO ( that part is easy)
then the punp in my sump activate and it emptys tank water into a bucket until the LOW level sensor gets activated, that stops the tank pump
then fresh saltwater is pump back into the sump until it reaches the TOP level sensor that stops the pump.

Then ATO is turned back on.

Question, can i use only one sensor for ATO and TOP level for auto water change or this will give me trouble and i should use a third sensor ?

I think it’s ok. I don’t see anything wrong with this. Remember macro are new in 2.0 so test your setup. You should be able to use the same inlet in two different ato configured with different equipment and use the macro to selectively turn on/off individual ato (one of which is auto water change )

 

[Ranjib]

The new ui is the great work done by @Michael Lane and @Zekth

 

[rushbattle]

Hey Ranjib !

it's been a really long time since i check this place, i have been running Reef-PI for a very long time with 0 issues
i just updated to latest version and WOW it looks better now lol
i see the Macro tab, so i have a plan now...

i want to do an automatic Water change macro,

the top level sensor is my current ATO sensor, i just bought 2 more and 2 other 12V pump DC

my plan is :

When i use my macro, i need to disable ATO ( that part is easy)
then the punp in my sump activate and it emptys tank water into a bucket until the LOW level sensor gets activated, that stops the tank pump
then fresh saltwater is pump back into the sump until it reaches the TOP level sensor that stops the pump.

Then ATO is turned back on.

Question, can i use only one sensor for ATO and TOP level for auto water change or this will give me trouble and i should use a third sensor ?

My concern with the above would be with using sensors that are completely submerged for level control impacting salinity. If you clean them often it wouldn't be much of a worry, but I would be afraid I would forget to clean it and then it would pump my sump dry. I don't know about how reef-pi handles it, but I wouldn't be much concerned with using the ATO and TOP level sensor as the same. I would implement a backup in both cases though!

I was thinking of trying a setup where two peristaltic pumps run simultaneously. One is pumping new water into the return pump section, while the other removes water from the section just before the return pump. If you ran for 5 minutes or less that would almost eliminate crossover between water added and water removed unless you had very high turnover through the sump. One could do that multiple times a day. I thought getting peristaltics with steppers calibrated would be easier and more reliable than level sensors that sit completely submerged would be over the long run.

Or you could do a hybrid:
Turn off ATO system.
Pull water from sump with calibrated peristaltic pump if care how much water gets changed. Or another for a set period of time if you don't care that much and have room in the return pump chamber for a little bit of variation in the amount removed.
Run any kind of preferred pump to fill sump back up with makeup water.
Once the ATO hybrid sensor sees water, then switch back to ATO behavior.

Any of that make any sense at all?