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

[Ranjib]

Yay! I can confirm this solved the issues!!! Thanks to all the people contributing!

Thank you for testing. Thank you @Michael Lane for fixing the bug promptly. Really appreciate it.

 

[robsworld78]

This is probably the third time im writing these steps down :-( , i really need some help to update the adafruit guides

Working on a manual right now, it will be a PDF file that you can post on the GitHub, I'm doing what I understand and will be asking questions soon, going to start a new thread for that.

I think I have the hs300 covered.

EDIT: will be a word document to so it can be edited

 

[Ranjib]

Hey all I'm about to start my controller build(Ill star a thread as soon as the boards i had made get here)but i thought i would post this here so anyone could see it.
I purchased this light for my aquarium Phlizon-Dimmable-Decoration-Saltwater-Freshwater/dp/B074DRJK18/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1PWPDGSW7IQQ2 ( Freshwater at the moment) these are the long thin ones but they have the 16 inch ones as well and disassembled it to see what i would need to control it and low and behold after looking at the driver it uses 3.3 volt pwm to control dimming i also fed 3.3 volt dc into the control wire since they are just using a potentiometer and it works with straight dc as well i went up to 4.5 volts and no harm as far as i can tell.
I have hooked it up straight to the pca outputs and working great.
And it is immaculately constructed as far as wiring goes.
The 12 volt driver is being used for the fans.
The lights will also turn on and of with just the pwm signal they will turn on at 6% on my setup and they turn completely off below that.
u do seem to lose a tiny bit off brightness at the top end just going to 3.3 volt so i may look into trying it up to 5 volts after i find the data sheet on the drivers i have some level converters i may try to get it up a little

This is awesome . Thank you so much for sharing. Welcome to reef2reef. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your build, it will help fellow saltwater/freshwater hobbyists.

 

[Ranjib]

Working on a manual right now, it will be a PDF file that you can post on the GitHub, I'm doing what I understand and will be asking questions soon, going to start a new thread for that.

I think I have the hs300 covered.

Hugs

 

[crusso1993]

welcome to reef2reef and thank you for trying out reef-pi.
Now, onto hs300 setup
- Go to Configuration -> Drivers section and add a new driver with type "hs300" and provide iport as addresss. Port should be 9999. IP you can get from your wifi router.
- Go to connector section and create 6 new outlet and analog inputs. You can name them whatever you want. I prefer to use Plug1 -> Plug6 to reflect Kasa's original naming. Associate them with pin 0 to 5 for plug1 to plug 6.
- After that you can create equipment and associate them with relevant outlets. You can also create fake ph probes and associate them with the corresponding analog input to chart current usage (in Amps)

This is probably the third time im writing these steps down :-( , i really need some help to update the adafruit guides

What are you looking to update on Adafruit?

 

[Ranjib]

Made a wooden stand for my one of my pico tank. Dedicated space for ato container, controller and power strip/wall warts

it’s made of normal Dimensional pine boards from Home Depot with back, bottom and top panels made of ply woods. All miter joints with screws .

and danish oil as finish.

I’m taking this woodworking for mere mortals course by Steve Ramsey and getting used to miter saw , table saw , glue , finish etc etc . Lot of learning , lot of fun.

 

[Ranjib]

What are you looking to update on Adafruit?

All the guides basically. They all have 2.0 specific details which are limited if not inaccurate now. I can share the summary points, backing images/details if you are intereseted. For example for power controller i was thinking of making a really good guide with following details
- Scratch builds (NO/NC configuration, amp ratings, solidstate vs mechanical relays etc), link to build threads etc
- ADJ powerstrip (we already have it)
- Kasa300 powerstrip and 110/103 series smart plugs (probably the very first section, since this is the easiest).
Other than these three types of builds also cover various important ancillary factors such as total current draw (since most powerstrip has 15A max, but some 10 or 12A), form factors (the ones with plugs that fit flush on wall outlet), wall warts that can block other outlets thus limiting thei applicability, DC power adapters with ferrite cores (for getting rid of DC power aberrations) etc.
I think we have learned a lot and added a lot more features since 2.0. If we can take the time to update the adafruit guide that will be some work but it will help tremendously rest of the community (far beyond reef keepers).

I also think if it makes sense, it just fine to develop and maintain the guides here. Since I am blessed with all of your presence here. I (or someone else) can always copy over the content to relevant places. But have them in a place where we can have easy and sustained contribution is key,.

 

[Des Westcott]

Big Trout is right that there is only one hot wire (black) and the other 2 are connected to ground.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding some terminology there, but that post makes no sense to me at all.

AC wiring has 3 x conductors :-
Positive (+) usually Red
Negative (-) usually Black
Earth / Ground usually green and yellow

As I understand it, this convention can change depending on region, but the concept is the same.

The Positive is usually the switched leg, the Negative is usually the "return" leg (completing the circuit) and the Ground / Earth is completly separate and connected to any chassis / conductive material that creates a path back to your Earth Leakage unit. This way if either you Positive or Negative comes in contact with any part of the chassis or any conductive part, the Earth Leakage unit senses that something dangerous has occured and trips your power so that nobody gets electrocuted by touching equipment inadvertently. Connecting "the other 2" to ground will not achieve this. Well at least the way things are done here in SA. I stand to be corrected if it's different in other countries.

 

[GaryE]

Welcome to Reef2reef.

First off start a build thread as answers in this thread can get lost sometimes.

To keep my tank at 79 with a max temp of 79.2 degrees I set the heater threshold to 79 and hysteresis to .2

On these settings my 75 gallon stays between 78.9 and 79.2 degrees at a room temp of 70 degrees. This is with a 300 watt heater.

You may have to play around with this because of tank size...heater size and room temperature

That did the trick. My tank is holding at about 78.1 right now. Very nice to have this kind of control.


What sort of lighting schedule do you run?

 

[ahnuts72]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding some terminology there, but that post makes no sense to me at all.

AC wiring has 3 x conductors :-
Positive (+) usually Red
Negative (-) usually Black
Earth / Ground usually green and yellow

As I understand it, this convention can change depending on region, but the concept is the same.

The Positive is usually the switched leg, the Negative is usually the "return" leg (completing the circuit) and the Ground / Earth is completly separate and connected to any chassis / conductive material that creates a path back to your Earth Leakage unit. This way if either you Positive or Negative comes in contact with any part of the chassis or any conductive part, the Earth Leakage unit senses that something dangerous has occured and trips your power so that nobody gets electrocuted by touching equipment inadvertently. Connecting "the other 2" to ground will not achieve this. Well at least the way things are done here in SA. I stand to be corrected if it's different in other countries.

Here in the US it is different.
AC wiring doesn't have positive and negative
We run a 60Hz cycle
Black=line or hot if u prefer
white=neutral
green=earth(but not always it could be just a bare wire)
The black is the line coming in to the service panel the neutral is the return path the earth wire is technically not needed for things to operate that is also why alot of our 120 plugs have a larger blade on one side(polarized) especially when no earth terminal is used.

The neutral and earth are usually tied together at the service panel but should never be tied together before.

Just like a gfci outlet will function without a earth connection contrary to how some people believe,they measure the difference between whats coming in vs whats going out of the outlet.

 

[Des Westcott]

Here in the US it is different.
AC wiring doesn't have positive and negative
We run a 60Hz cycle
Black=line or hot if u prefer
white=neutral
green=earth(but not always it could be just a bare wire)
The black is the line coming in to the service panel the neutral is the return path the earth wire is technically not needed for things to operate that is also why alot of our 120 plugs have a larger blade on one side(polarized) especially when no earth terminal is used.

The neutral and earth are usually tied together at the service panel but should never be tied together before.

Just like a gfci outlet will function without a earth connection contrary to how some people believe,they measure the difference between whats coming in vs whats going out of the outlet.

Different, but basically the same. As per my previous post, yes, AC Positive and Negative are switching at the Hz cycle - 60 times a second, so both wires are essentially the same. Hot / Neutral / Positive / Negative = same-same Like I said - different terminology.

Your gfci is used as what we call "Earth Leakage Unit" over here. While I'm not 100% sure exactly how our units work, I was under the impression that they monitored the earth connection and tripped if a value larger than a certain milliamp reading was sensed. Hence the importance of connecting those wires to equipment chassis etc.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Matt Carden]

Here in the US it is different.
AC wiring doesn't have positive and negative
We run a 60Hz cycle
Black=line or hot if u prefer
white=neutral
green=earth(but not always it could be just a bare wire)
The black is the line coming in to the service panel the neutral is the return path the earth wire is technically not needed for things to operate that is also why alot of our 120 plugs have a larger blade on one side(polarized) especially when no earth terminal is used.

The neutral and earth are usually tied together at the service panel but should never be tied together before.

Just like a gfci outlet will function without a earth connection contrary to how some people believe,they measure the difference between whats coming in vs whats going out of the outlet.

This is exactly what I was trying to say but I don't have the gift of knowing how to explain things like this. Thank you for explaining it for us.

 

[Matt Carden]

Double post

 

[Ikk]

welcome to reef2reef and thank you for trying out reef-pi.
Now, onto hs300 setup
- Go to Configuration -> Drivers section and add a new driver with type "hs300" and provide iport as addresss. Port should be 9999. IP you can get from your wifi router.
- Go to connector section and create 6 new outlet and analog inputs. You can name them whatever you want. I prefer to use Plug1 -> Plug6 to reflect Kasa's original naming. Associate them with pin 0 to 5 for plug1 to plug 6.
- After that you can create equipment and associate them with relevant outlets. You can also create fake ph probes and associate them with the corresponding analog input to chart current usage (in Amps)

This is probably the third time im writing these steps down :-( , i really need some help to update the adafruit guides

 

[Ikk]

Thank you so much for your help. Sorry for not finding the prior instructions. I did go through a bunch of different discussions, but didn't find any like the ones you just provided. I ordered a Leviathan board, and will be using it on a Frag Tank I am setting up. If all goes well, I will add one to my main aquarium. Once again thank you for your dedication and help.

 

[Ranjib]

Different, but basically the same. As per my previous post, yes, AC Positive and Negative are switching at the Hz cycle - 60 times a second, so both wires are essentially the same. Hot / Neutral / Positive / Negative = same-same Like I said - different terminology.

Your gfci is used as what we call "Earth Leakage Unit" over here. While I'm not 100% sure exactly how our units work, I was under the impression that they monitored the earth connection and tripped if a value larger than a certain milliamp reading was sensed. Hence the importance of connecting those wires to equipment chassis etc.

Thank you for the clarification.

GFCI detects sudden surge in usage (amp) and break the circuit if needed. It can be used in cases where Ground or earth is not available.
There are subtle difference between the neutral and live wire. Though they both carry current, neutral will read 0 volt compared to ground, while live/hot wire will read 120V compared to ground. Most equipment will not be impacted by this difference, but some will. Its a very common question and you'll find plenty of stack threads and quora questions on this exact topic.

 

[Zippyfear]

The ATO is running well and consistently for the last few days, but I was doing a water change the other day and it ran a lot, didn't alert or shut off as expected.. Is the alert # in seconds for any given hour? It ran 2 hours straight with no alert or shutoff. I also noticed someone asked about that the other day and I didn't see if there was a reply or anyone verified that it wasn't a bug in 3.3

 

[Bigtrout]

GFCI detects sudden surge in usage (amp) and break the circuit if needed. It can be used in cases where Ground or earth is not available.
There are subtle difference between the neutral and live wire. Though they both carry current, neutral will read 0 volt compared to ground, while live/hot wire will read 120V compared to ground. Most equipment will not be impacted by this difference, but some will. Its a very common question and you'll find plenty of stack threads and quora questions on this exact topic.

As an electrician I will chime in here to hopefully clear a few things up. This is for the US and only applies to residential electric services. Commercial and industrial stuff can be much different.

The transformer feeding your house has a 240V secondary winding. It is center tapped giving you 120V between one leg and the center tap and 120 volt between the other leg and the center tap. This center tap is grounded and is called your NEUTRAL wire. The legs are your HOT wires. The reason it is grounded is to keep the voltage between each leg and ground at 120v to ground. If the neutral was not grounded with differing current loads on each leg, one leg could go to 180v to ground while the other dipped to 60v. It also gives a low impedance path to ground that allows breakers to trip at their current rating.
The Hot wires are the black wire on an outlet. The neutral wire is the white wire.

You also have another wire. The green wire which is the equipment ground. The GROUND wire is bonded to the NEUTRAL wire at the service entrance panel and both are grounded there. They are not connected at any other place other than at the service panel. The equipment ground is for safety and gives a dedicated low impedance path for electricity to go to ground safely(instead of thru you or other things). In most equipment this connects to the metal frame of the equipment being used.

GFCI breakers and outlets work like this:
Both the HOT and the NEUTRAL wire have a current transformer to sense the amount of current that flows thru each. These currents should be equal. If 1.3 amps flows on the HOT wire then 1.3 amps should flow on the NEUTRAL wire. If these currents are NOT EQUAL it means current must be flowing to ground somewhere else, which is unsafe because it could be flowing thru a person or some othet unwanted path that a person could come in contact with.

If the current sensed on the HOT wire differs from the current on the NEUTRAL wire by greatet than 5 milliamps. Then the GFCI trips. Why the 5 milliamp threshold? Because more than 5 milliamps flowing thru your heart can stop or damage it.

You may have another special breaker called an AFCI or an arc fault circuit breaker which works as @Ranjib described. If it senses a large current flowing very quickly it trips. This means something is arcing which causes a large current spike in a short amount of time. These can trip sometimes when high current motor starts which sometimes have a high enough current spike to cause nuisance trips.

Hope this clears things up a bit

 

[Matevz Savarin]

Would it be difficult to add reset button for charts?lets say my ato doses 10; but when I am out of water it d0ses 3600, so this number stays and I cant see 10 s graphs anymore.. if there would be reset it would be great. Now I have to delete it and make another..its same with other graphs..it takes a lot of work and if I delete it in diffrent order, i get something error and then I need to import settings and do it again..
Really annoying..

 

[Ranjib]

The ATO is running well and consistently for the last few days, but I was doing a water change the other day and it ran a lot, didn't alert or shut off as expected.. Is the alert # in seconds for any given hour? It ran 2 hours straight with no alert or shutoff. I also noticed someone asked about that the other day and I didn't see if there was a reply or anyone verified that it wasn't a bug in 3.3

I just tested this with slightly different values (5 second poll and 100s disable threshold) . This is the third time we have encountered this, if i recall correctly. The limit values are enforced at an hour level.
I am running some more tests with exactly your setting to see if i can reproduce. The ato alert and all other settings were exactly same on 13th and 16th March (those peak utilization days)?

In my case I could see the ato being disabled and the ato usage chart is also not visible (since we dont show it for disabled ato's in reef-pi).