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

[GaryE]

Not gonna lie, was really excited to get these in the mail today.

 

[-MerlyN-]

Hello all!
I've ordered Micheal Lane's reef-pi goby hat and pH probe module. I still need to order a pH probe. Are there any recommendations which pH probes work best? Or are all the probes basically the same and it doesnt matter?

Also I would like to add an Arduino with TFT display and have it display the temperature and pH values continuously. Is it possible to have the raspberry pi run a simple program in the background that transmits the temp and pH values through I2C to the arduino while reef-pi is running?

Thanks!

 

[Des Westcott]

Hello all!
I've ordered Micheal Lane's reef-pi goby hat and pH probe module. I still need to order a pH probe. Are there any recommendations which pH probes work best? Or are all the probes basically the same and it doesnt matter?

Also I would like to add an Arduino with TFT display and have it display the temperature and pH values continuously. Is it possible to have the raspberry pi run a simple program in the background that transmits the temp and pH values through I2C to the arduino while reef-pi is running?

Thanks!

I asked a similar question about displaying parameters constantly quite a while ago, and there wasn't at that time any way to do it. I would also be interested in figuring a simple way to do that. Like on a 2 or 3 line display, just scroll through a preset list of parameters.

 

[t951]

If you are using the TPLink-Smarthome-API there is a known TCP Timeout error related to the API.

Thanks for the info, how do I know if I am using it? The only thing that I have tried is the reef-pi and HomeSeer. HomeSeer and the native Kasa app worked perfectly.
The time out concern may be related, I get the fail to add message after about 2 seconds when I try and load the driver. The error says failed to dial....l perceive that to mean that it cannot make the call to the device, which is why I think it exists on the reefpi side.

 

[MaddyP]

Thanks for the info, how do I know if I am using it? The only thing that I have tried is the reef-pi and HomeSeer. HomeSeer and the native Kasa app worked perfectly.
The time out concern may be related, I get the fail to add message after about 2 seconds when I try and load the driver. The error says failed to dial....l perceive that to mean that it cannot make the call to the device, which is why I think it exists on the reefpi side.

@Ranjib would be able to answer whether Reef-Pi utilizes the API or not...

 

[Urtoo]

Hello all!
I've ordered Micheal Lane's reef-pi goby hat and pH probe module. I still need to order a pH probe. Are there any recommendations which pH probes work best? Or are all the probes basically the same and it doesnt matter?

Also I would like to add an Arduino with TFT display and have it display the temperature and pH values continuously. Is it possible to have the raspberry pi run a simple program in the background that transmits the temp and pH values through I2C to the arduino while reef-pi is running?

Thanks!

Here is the probe I am currently running on my pi. Works great with the Goby and ML’s ph board
Milwaukee Instruments MA911B/2... Amazon product

 

[t951]

I posted in my thread, it turned out to be that raspberry pi wifi was the issue. After I placed the raspberry on ethernet, it worked perfectly.

 

[Zippyfear]

Another pH question for you all.. I had it working great for 6 months, and after I moved, it was working great, but I moved to another Pi unit as I rebuilt the controller.. when I moved the probe, I can't seem to get it to calibrate properly. I suspected the probe as an issue, so I replaced it, but I see the same behavior on both probes..

When I calibrate it, I don't have any mid range pH calibration, so I am using 4.0 and 9.16 as my 2 calibration points.

The 4.0 reads at about 1100 on the probe give or take
the 9.16 reads -32768

When I put the probe in the tank, it also shows -32768

I know the pH of the tank is 8.0-8.1

When I move the probe back to the 4.0 solution, it gives me an accurate reading.

Both probes are doing this.. Thoughts as what could be wrong?

I suspected instrument electrical interference from something else, but I shut everything down and removed that from the equation.. same result.

Thanks for any guidance.

 

[Zippyfear]

I posted in my thread, it turned out to be that raspberry pi wifi was the issue. After I placed the raspberry on ethernet, it worked perfectly.

Was it a Pi0 or Pi3? My previous Pi3 worked fine, but the current Pi0 isn't.. I may swap back to the Pi3 to try that.

 

[t951]

The Pi0 never worked.
The Pi3B worked on ethernet only so far.

 

[Msujeffery]

I'm struggling to get Reef-Pi to recognize my PWM coming off my Leviathan board.

Raspberry Pi0->Leviathan->Mars Aqua with ML PWM Mars Aqua Converter Board.

When I try to install the lighting jack via PCA9685 I get an "error failed to create, error:remote i/o error http 500"

Also when running i2cdetect it does not pick up anything just blanks for all lines.

I am clueless so may be missing something, one thing that stuck out was I have 10v on each lighting channel coming off the Leviathan board but I believe the ML Board is expecting less voltage to convert.

 

[Ranjib]

Thanks for the info, how do I know if I am using it? The only thing that I have tried is the reef-pi and HomeSeer. HomeSeer and the native Kasa app worked perfectly.
The time out concern may be related, I get the fail to add message after about 2 seconds when I try and load the driver. The error says failed to dial....l perceive that to mean that it cannot make the call to the device, which is why I think it exists on the reefpi side.

we are not using that API. All reef-pi drivers are written in go, and from scratch, without any external dependency. We do have 2 second timeout for kasa drivers: https://github.com/reef-pi/drivers/blob/master/tplink/connection.go#L13

But I am not sure if that's the issue here, since even ping is not working from pi to hs300 unit. I can release a patch with higher timeout if we know that's the cause (i.e ping works and it just slow connection).
If the home network is so bad that devices have more than 2s latency (it should be less than millisecond , normally), we'll have a much bigger issue with wifi based drivers, i think

 

[Ranjib]

Another pH question for you all.. I had it working great for 6 months, and after I moved, it was working great, but I moved to another Pi unit as I rebuilt the controller.. when I moved the probe, I can't seem to get it to calibrate properly. I suspected the probe as an issue, so I replaced it, but I see the same behavior on both probes..

When I calibrate it, I don't have any mid range pH calibration, so I am using 4.0 and 9.16 as my 2 calibration points.

The 4.0 reads at about 1100 on the probe give or take
the 9.16 reads -32768

When I put the probe in the tank, it also shows -32768

I know the pH of the tank is 8.0-8.1

When I move the probe back to the 4.0 solution, it gives me an accurate reading.

Both probes are doing this.. Thoughts as what could be wrong?

I suspected instrument electrical interference from something else, but I shut everything down and removed that from the equation.. same result.

Thanks for any guidance.

9.6 reading is not correct I think . What the board reads without any probe ?

 

[Ranjib]

I'm struggling to get Reef-Pi to recognize my PWM coming off my Leviathan board.

Raspberry Pi0->Leviathan->Mars Aqua with ML PWM Mars Aqua Converter Board.

When I try to install the lighting jack via PCA9685 I get an "error failed to create, error:remote i/o error http 500"

Also when running i2cdetect it does not pick up anything just blanks for all lines.

I am clueless so may be missing something, one thing that stuck out was I have 10v on each lighting channel coming off the Leviathan board but I believe the ML Board is expecting less voltage to convert.

If i2c detect is not showing any address then it means it’s a hardware or circuit issue. Reef-pi error is expected in that case. Check if @Schreiber can help diagnosing the problem

 

[Ranjib]

The Pi0 never worked.
The Pi3B worked on ethernet only so far.

Are they on different WiFi band (2.4 vs 5 ghz)?

 

[Des Westcott]

What's the most valuable feature of a controller?

My opinion is temperature monitoring/alerts and control. What’s yours?

www.reef2reef.com

I see this thread is becoming popular and a few guys seems to talk about "Heartbeat" which I know is an Apex term / feature.

Does reef-pi have plans to implement something like this? Can it even be done easily?

 

[robsworld78]

What's the most valuable feature of a controller?

My opinion is temperature monitoring/alerts and control. What’s yours?

www.reef2reef.com

I see this thread is becoming popular and a few guys seems to talk about "Heartbeat" which I know is an Apex term / feature.

Does reef-pi have plans to implement something like this? Can it even be done easily?

Excellent, I was thinking of starting a similar thread. Thanks for sharing.

 

[b4tn]

Question regarding motor drivers. I’m using the mosfet TB6612. It works like all the others, has 2 GPIO inputs and a PWM input. If I don’t need bi-directional motor control and want to conserve GPIO pins can I put one of the inputs direct to ground?

 

[trustychords]

Another pH question for you all.. I had it working great for 6 months, and after I moved, it was working great, but I moved to another Pi unit as I rebuilt the controller.. when I moved the probe, I can't seem to get it to calibrate properly. I suspected the probe as an issue, so I replaced it, but I see the same behavior on both probes..

When I calibrate it, I don't have any mid range pH calibration, so I am using 4.0 and 9.16 as my 2 calibration points.

The 4.0 reads at about 1100 on the probe give or take
the 9.16 reads -32768

When I put the probe in the tank, it also shows -32768

I know the pH of the tank is 8.0-8.1

When I move the probe back to the 4.0 solution, it gives me an accurate reading.

Both probes are doing this.. Thoughts as what could be wrong?

I suspected instrument electrical interference from something else, but I shut everything down and removed that from the equation.. same result.

Thanks for any guidance.

Try lightly pushing or otherwise wiggling the pH BNC male connector into the pH board's female connector. Sometimes the issue you describe is due to a poor connection between the two. If you notice that the raw pH calibration number changes considerably (and closer to where it should be), then it is likely a connection issue.

 

[Zippyfear]

Try lightly pushing or otherwise wiggling the pH BNC male connector into the pH board's female connector. Sometimes the issue you describe is due to a poor connection between the two. If you notice that the raw pH calibration number changes considerably (and closer to where it should be), then it is likely a connection issue.

ok, after messing with it for like 3 hours, I loaded a Pi3 from scratch, loaded Reef-Pi, and connected the pH probe.. it appears to be super accurate now. so.. idk.. guess it was something about the Pi0? or maybe specific to that one Goby Hat board.. because I used my second one for this..