[Help needed] Electronics/PCB: Building a cheaper / diy BrewPi

[pob]

Definitely agree on the USB cables, was using one of the short blue ones you get with the cheap Arduinos, caused all sorts of display issues. Changed cables a lot more stable.
A RaspberryPi might be a lot easier to set up & let run compared to laptop. Neater & smaller footprint than old PC sitting beside your FV.

[neoanto]

I have a few STC 1000s. Originally I wanted to do the STC 1000+ but soon realised that it was almost impossible to get the correct STC version so then I went with this.

I still use the STC for getting my water to the right temp for mashing and sparging though.

Pob, as you said getting the real brewpi hardware would be easier to setup.
But if you're looking to save money and enjoy building stuff its worth a go.
I built a fermenation chamber and the laptop and box with brewpi bits just sit on top.

[pob]

But if you're looking to save money and enjoy building stuff its worth a go.

B+ model, £28 on Amazon includes SD card = €39 (crappy exchange rate doesnt help), get a case for <€5 from eBay. I got the older B model, with card, case & power supply shipped for less than that 6 months ago.

Stick it with the Arduino & shield in a lunchbox with it, you won't get much neater.

[cruiscinlan]

Pob, how did you get on with your own plan to build these?  And possibly make some for other brewers?

[pob]

Pob, how did you get on with your own plan to build these?  And possibly make some for other brewers?

Abandoned the display only version, complete PITA to put together on a board manually - real fiddly wiring between board & display.

Made one for one of the GCBrewers (Ed, it'll be with you soon ), but after Elco, BrewPi.com mentioned the Spark version there was no point trying to develop the board.

Going down the board manufacture route, it was potentially too expensive; even though you can get boards made up for less then €10 each, the setup costs were the killer ($50-60 plus $4-5 each, board only no components), as they'rd only ever be 8-10 guys needing them.


I've kept with the shield only version myself, much easier to build (until I get a Spark version).

Connected to Raspberry Pi & an old router in shed, accessable via PC, iPad & iPhone (remotely outside of house network, if need be). You don't need a shield, but it's more secure in holding the wiring in place rather than header pins or wires just stuck in the Arduino's sockets.

[cruiscinlan]

Sounds cool.  Can you provide some pointers to a fella who has never soldered/programmed anything in his life before?  Where would you recommend reading about how to out one of these together?

[pob]

Sounds cool.  Can you provide some pointers to a fella who has never soldered/programmed anything in his life before?  Where would you recommend reading about how to out one of these together?

You need to get a RaspberryPi (with SD card & 2A power supply), an Arduino, some (x3) DS18b20 temp sensors (either just the chip or wired probe version), a couple of 10A/25A SSRs & a heating tube.

You can get all the bits from Amazon or eBay, depending on budget, how long you can wait, etc.

Building the Ardiuino with (cheap electrical) project boxes costs approx €60, with another €60 on the RaspberryPi and heating tube.

When assembled, it's relatively easy to follow the instructions on BrewPi.com.

If your heading to BrewCon, give me a shout & I can go through some of the bits and how to put it together.

[ubermick]

Why do you need the LCD display? Sounds silly but, if you are using the Raspberry Pi, it might just be handier using your phone/laptop to monitor it (just browse to the BrewPi's location, e.g. 192.168.1.22 and the RaspberryPi's webpage pops up).

If not, you just need a very basic shield (see BrewWiki).

LEDs not necessary, just to indicate when heating (red) or cooling (blue), to make sure SSR's are enabled correctly.

The pi is great for sure, but the LCD and rotary encoder are handy for when in the brewery and just need to check in, or make a quick tweak without having to go and arse about with the computer or phone. Don't get me wrong, will use the web interface most of the time, but still nice to have. Also, I dunno if mine is par for the course or not, but it LOVES dropping it's connection every now and again. Set up a cronjob to ping apple.com every night to see if that helps keep it up (and seems to have done the job) but still nice to have the backup option.

I ended up building it out following instructions on homebrewtalk, as someone else mentioned, and it's working grand. But like you mentioned yourself, it's a bit rats nesty, and a nice premade shield (as the fella who first made this produced) would cut down on that a lot. Just be a nice thing for other brewers to have access to, given that making the fully functional shield (and like you said, the LCD and other stuff isn't VITAL, but nice to have) is a massive challenge for people without the right gear or experience. I mean, I know my way around a soldering station, and as mentioned I was about to lose my rag. But, sure since it's done and looking all pretty, might as well show it off:



And the arse, showing the kettle lead connections heading to a socket box that the freezer and heater is wired to. Ended up getting a dual output buck converter jobbie from China via ebay that outputs 5v as 12v. So if the Pi does go for a flyer for some reason (fries, shuts down, some random thing), then there's still power to the Arduino, keeping everything running.