REEF PI HELP!

[BADHABITS123]

Ok. so lets start from here since this needs to work first. Can you disconnect the transistor circuit from pca9685 and measure it in isolation. When you change light value in reef-pi it should result in pca9685 pin voltage changes. You should also see that value being applied in reef-pi log. If you see any error there, please share a screenshot of that. Also ,can you share the output of this command

i2cdetect -y 1

im not exactly sure about the quest here but as my research has shown an oscilloscope was needed beyond this point and i dont own one of those guys. but im drained today. im thinking i will build one more board as every part i ordered was in multiples! if you have a better sight to look at that would be useful. i will challenge this bear again tomorro

 

[Ranjib]

im not exactly sure about the quest here but as my research has shown an oscilloscope was needed beyond this point and i dont own one of those guys. but im drained today. im thinking i will build one more board as every part i ordered was in multiples! if you have a better sight to look at that would be useful. i will challenge this bear again tomorro

you dont need any oscilloscope. A multimeter is more than enough. Lets continue tomorrow... or whenever you have time. if i2c address is visible and reef-pi is not giving error, it means the pca9685 is just fine (and we should see the voltage when we change light intensity), and likely the transistor circuit is botched. we can systematically figure it out with voltage reading and continuity checks.

 

[BADHABITS123]

Oh ok great thanks. I thought it was square wave voltages for running servos. Well thanks again for the wealth of knowledge that I'm getting from this experience. I will try a few more tests when I get off work.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Glad you joined us !!!

 

[BADHABITS123]

ok so im at the conclusion that the pca9685 is being seen but with no voltage output i'm going to start there i think. i ordered two more and will be delivered tomorrow. so i just got home from work and will disconnect everything behind it so it is only attached to the pi then meter for voltage. then from that point i will move forward. i really am very thankful that we have a place to come and get the knowledge to get things like this to take place. thanks again @Ranjib and everyone else here that are so very welcoming!!!!!!

 

[BADHABITS123]

@Ranjib i am absolutely embarrassed!!!!!! i can not believe i over looked my problem as it was way simpler than i was looking in to deep. i started to meter my pca9685 and after removing the pwm outputs (not really looking at it closely due to the fact that i was going to trace wires to reinstall). i said wait a minute! jeremy are you metering where they were plugged into or the pwm's? then it hit me as to what a fool i was! after building a new board and ordering new parts i felt like an idiot!!!!! lol thank you very much @Ranjib for pushing me to figure it out myself and give the knowledge to do so!!!!!!! so one question i do still have and it will work just fine but it bothers me because i now it can be corrected. that is that 0 is on full and 99 is off. but i'm thinking that if i were to unplug and reconnect the pins to the female jack to the kessil control cord. that would solve that problem but not knowing what i could damage in the kessil is holding me back. lol thanks again for everything!!!!!!!

 

[BADHABITS123]

one more thing i have added to my new board is a ambient temp probe circuit on another gpio on rpi but as i try to add it its only seeing the tank temp probe circuit. im sure this is another simple answer for you. lol

 

[Ranjib]

ok so im at the conclusion that the pca9685 is being seen but with no voltage output i'm going to start there i think. i ordered two more and will be delivered tomorrow. so i just got home from work and will disconnect everything behind it so it is only attached to the pi then meter for voltage. then from that point i will move forward. i really am very thankful that we have a place to come and get the knowledge to get things like this to take place. thanks again @Ranjib and everyone else here that are so very welcoming!!!!!!

the pca9685 board has the power light on? does it blink when you set the pwm values through ui? This is highly unusal. ...I am probably heard this only once before :-/ . Kessil works with PWM(square wave) just fine. At least my lights (a360) runs ok. you can throw in a simple RC circuit to make it triangular (or opamp ) if you want, but its not required.

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib i am absolutely embarrassed!!!!!! i can not believe i over looked my problem as it was way simpler than i was looking in to deep. i started to meter my pca9685 and after removing the pwm outputs (not really looking at it closely due to the fact that i was going to trace wires to reinstall). i said wait a minute! jeremy are you metering where they were plugged into or the pwm's? then it hit me as to what a fool i was! after building a new board and ordering new parts i felt like an idiot!!!!! lol thank you very much @Ranjib for pushing me to figure it out myself and give the knowledge to do so!!!!!!! so one question i do still have and it will work just fine but it bothers me because i now it can be corrected. that is that 0 is on full and 99 is off. but i'm thinking that if i were to unplug and reconnect the pins to the female jack to the kessil control cord. that would solve that problem but not knowing what i could damage in the kessil is holding me back. lol thanks again for everything!!!!!!!

Dont be :hugs: . the 0-99 thin is a bug in the software that we have fixed in 2.4. If you update it should be fixed.

 

[Ranjib]

one more thing i have added to my new board is a ambient temp probe circuit on another gpio on rpi but as i try to add it its only seeing the tank temp probe circuit. im sure this is another simple answer for you. lol

All temp circuit uses same wire, its a bus. (called one wire). google for how to wire multiple ds18b20 with pi

 

[BADHABITS123]

your the best brother where should i go for update? also now all is working ph is on my next page i see it on another pi will this parallel sda and sci pins?

 

[4FordFamily]

I’m just here to say welcome home, you will love it here!

 

[BADHABITS123]

I’m just here to say welcome home, you will love it here!

my friend ive found a new home lol thank you

 

[BADHABITS123]

gotcha texas 1 wire i assumed it needed another circuit and gpio. hints assuming!! lol you sir are one heck of a knowledge of info and a great person for putting your time into fools like me lol i'm sure this isn't your first go round with an idiot!

 

[BADHABITS123]

dallas sorry so close to texas thats all that suck in my head lol! ( will this parallel sda and sci pins?)12c is what i meant. i was looking at pin layout

 

[BADHABITS123]

@Ranjib lol i'm so excited after 6 hours watching my kessils doing what i asked them to do made my month!!!!

 

[BADHABITS123]

I’m just here to say welcome home, you will love it here!

@4FordFamily jesus 850gallons of work thats amazing i was a big saltwater tank guy my biggest was 200 several 150s a 175 multiple 50s but way before help with internet. lol these are my first go round with reef/coral tanks. 23 gallon the kids made me dig out and now im a fool once again! life revolves around it now lol

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib lol i'm so excited after 6 hours watching my kessils doing what i asked them to do made my month!!!!

Yes , that joy of making something from scratch is priceless. I was totally stoked to see to my kessil controller working for the first time. The whole DIY thing chimes well with our hobby..

ph should work fine with the standard sda/scl pins, like one wire its a bus. Theres atlas scientific ph circuit, that i have mentioned in the adafruit guide, and theres also now opensource ph board from @Michael Lane and another fellow reefer here , thats half the price.

 

[BADHABITS123]

unbelievable this finding reef2reef and reef pi sure is a blessing!!!!! total hats off to you @Ranjib for all you do for fellow reefers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Reefing Madness]