iSpindel Digital Hydrometer

[Truman42]

Ok iv bread and re read the instructions and Im stuck. I found the ispindel in my wifi networks and connected to it no problem. I entered the settings for my wifi network and the token from ubidots. But thats as far as I got. I cant see it anymore at 192.168.4.1.

I also cant find SOURCES anywhere in Ubidots to add the ispindel. Any help much appreciated.

 

[JnR_Mc]

I currently run two ispindels and two ESP8266 BrewPi all through my RaspberryPi Zero W which handles all without missing a beat.

 

[Truman42]

Righto I managed to reset it and connect to it again. It still had my SSID and password in there and the token info so I click on save. It brings up a window saying to try to connect in 10 seconds but then that goes away and nothing else comes up. I cant connect to it at 192.168.4.1. If I look at my router I have a device called ESP-A52F96 with an IP address of 192.168.1.130 but I cant open that address in another browser window.

 

[Truman42]

Well I had no luck trying to get this to connect to Ubidots but I did manage to get it to connect to Fermentrack via a raspberry pi. However the temperature reading is in Fahrenheit instead of celsius. Ive got it set to celsius in Fermentrack?

Edit:- Added a new device again and this time it managed to stay in Celsius.

 

[Ferment8]

Righto I managed to reset it and connect to it again. It still had my SSID and password in there and the token info so I click on save. It brings up a window saying to try to connect in 10 seconds but then that goes away and nothing else comes up. I cant connect to it at 192.168.4.1. If I look at my router I have a device called ESP-A52F96 with an IP address of 192.168.1.130 but I cant open that address in another browser window.

It won't be able to connect on 192.168.4.1 after you do this because it turns its own soft ap off and connects to the network you set up. I never really got it working with ubidots either but worked fine with fermentrack

 

[bee2gee]

@Truman42 I used Ubidots once, their UI is not intuitive, I managed to find what I was looking for however the experience lead me to just using Fermentrack because it was local, easy, used one of my many Pi's sitting around doing nothing and it's pretty

 

[Truman42]

@Truman42 I used Ubidots once, their UI is not intuitive, I managed to find what I was looking for however the experience lead me to just using Fermentrack because it was local, easy, used one of my many Pi's sitting around doing nothing and it's pretty

Yeah your not wrong there. I was going to wait until I got my Pi zero and just use Ubidots to set it up. But it was a PITA and much easier setting it up with my PI anyway. Now Ill just swap the flash card over to the zero when it arrives.

 

[Truman42]

Brought my ispindel from Bee2Gee and received it yesterday. Works great. I got the model with the external antenna and it connects to my wifi router whilst sitting in a stainless fermenter that is inside a fridge. Cant recommend Bee2Gees ISpindels enough, very happy with my purchase.

 

[Truman42]

So I calibrated my Ipsindel as per the instructions in fermentrack and tonight I put it in my first batch and its out by 14 points. The refractometer gives me a reading of 1.055 but Ispindel says its only 1.041. Anyone else have this much error?

 

[bee2gee]

@Truman42 seems like you may not have completed the profile in Fermentrack correctly, you should provide at least two points. This will be under the 'Calibration Points' section of the device configuration. Adding the angle and the gravity for water (1.000) and at least one other point ie: the tilt in your fermenter with a known gravity via refractometer. I definitely recommend letting the unit sit in liquid/wort for at least 15 mins to settle, doing a measurement too quick may result in some undesirable offsets. I have personally never run through the guided calibration.

 

[Truman42]

@Truman42 seems like you may not have completed the profile in Fermentrack correctly, you should provide at least two points. This will be under the 'Calibration Points' section of the device configuration. Adding the angle and the gravity for water (1.000) and at least one other point ie: the tilt in your fermenter with a known gravity via refractometer. I definitely recommend letting the unit sit in liquid/wort for at least 15 mins to settle, doing a measurement too quick may result in some undesirable offsets. I have personally never run through the guided calibration.

I did the guided calibration using sugar and water. But I did not wait 15 minutes between each measurement so maybe thats what the issue was. I have the calibration point for water which was 26 Degrees so should I leave that in and delete all the rest except the current angle and reading of my wort of 1.055?

 

[Truman42]

Im doing it again but this time in plain water it reads 23 degrees instead of 26 degrees like last time.

Edit:- Ive noticed the angle has changed when the ispindel is in the wort. before it was showing as being 52 degrees = 1.055 (Going on a refractometer check)

Now in the wort its changed its angle to 48 degrees. How can it change so much in 30 mins which is how long it took me to do some more calibration steps?

 

[Cstew]

Im doing it again but this time in plain water it reads 23 degrees instead of 26 degrees like last time.

Edit:- Ive noticed the angle has changed when the ispindel is in the wort. before it was showing as being 52 degrees = 1.055 (Going on a refractometer check)

Now in the wort its changed its angle to 48 degrees. How can it change so much in 30 mins which is how long it took me to do some more calibration steps?

Place it horizontal as per diagram (Maintenance menu -> calibration offset) and then vertical and see what angle it is reading (should be 90*,0* respectively). If not you have the same issue as me. There is a problem with the "calibration offset" not saving after a power cycle. Workaround is you perform a "calibration offset" procedure each time you turn it on.

https://github.com/universam1/iSpindel/issues/275#issuecomment-502721257

 

[Truman42]

Place it horizontal as per diagram (Maintenance menu -> calibration offset) and then vertical and see what angle it is reading (should be 90*,0* respectively). If not you have the same issue as me. There is a problem with the "calibration offset" not saving after a power cycle. Workaround is you perform a "calibration offset" procedure each time you turn it on.

https://github.com/universam1/iSpindel/issues/275#issuecomment-502721257

I tried running the calibration offset procedure again after I had turned it on and found it wasnt working properly. But then hit reset 4 times to change the poll times to 20 seconds so I could check it. Does doing this reset power cycle the unit? If so then after I check the calibration again Im going to have to wait an hour to check that it is reading 90 degrees becasue if I change it to 20 seconds it will need to stay on 20 seconds?

Thanks for the tip.

 

[Cstew]

I tried running the calibration offset procedure again after I had turned it on and found it wasnt working properly. But then hit reset 4 times to change the poll times to 20 seconds so I could check it. Does doing this reset power cycle the unit? If so I will set it to an hour poll, then run the calibration offset again and just have to wait an hour to see what it reads.

Thanks for the tip.

It is not clear what is not working from your reply. You need to be in configuration mode to access the maintenance menu (press reset button just after you switch it on)

 

[Truman42]

It is not clear what is not working from your reply. You need to be in configuration mode to access the maintenance menu (press reset button just after you switch it on)

Ok so the calibration offset procedure is where you access it from your wifi list through a phone or tablet etc? Then lie it flat and press on calibration? I thought you meant add the gravity and angle readings in fermentrack itself.

So basically I turn it on, hit reset 4 times, connect to it via wifi, lie it on a flat surface and click on calibrate. Chnage the poll time to 20 seconds, and then see if it reads 0 and 90 degrees when vertical and horizontal?

Assuming it does read 0 and 90 I then have to re do my sugar and water calibrations to enter my calibration points. BUT....I have to hit reset 4 times to change it back to a poll time of 20 seconds to do this.
So will hitting reset 4 times power cycle the device causing the 90 degree calibration to be wiped again???

 

[Cstew]

Ok so the calibration offset procedure is where you access it from your wifi list through a phone or tablet etc? Then lie it flat and press on calibration? I thought you meant add the gravity and angle readings in fermentrack itself.

Correct.

So basically I turn it on, hit reset 4 times, connect to it via wifi, lie it on a flat surface and click on calibrate. Chnage the poll time to 20 seconds, and then see if it reads 0 and 90 degrees when vertical and horizontal?

Change poll time first, then calibrate.

Assuming it does read 0 and 90 I then have to re do my sugar and water calibrations to enter my calibration points. BUT....I have to hit reset 4 times to change it back to a poll time of 20 seconds to do this.
So will hitting reset 4 times power cycle the device causing the 90 degree calibration to be wiped again???

It will automatically reset to which ever config you had it set to prior to entering configuration access mode. Basically with this workaround the last thing you do before dropping it in wort is hit calibrate offset, let it finish then auto reset, then drop it in wort.

However, if you already get ~0 and ~90 after a power cycle then you don't need this workaround.

 

[Truman42]

It will automatically reset to which ever config you had it set to prior to entering configuration access mode. Basically with this workaround the last thing you do before dropping it in wort is hit calibrate offset, let it finish then auto reset, then drop it in wort.

Ok Im a bit confused.
Wouldnt the first thing I do is hit calibrate offset to make sure its at 0 and 90 degrees first?
Then run the sg calibration tests and enter the data and update it in fermentrack.
Then hit reset and go back into config mode and change the poll back to 1 hour and save before throwing it in my wort?

 

[Cstew]

Ok Im a bit confused.
Wouldnt the first thing I do is hit calibrate offset to make sure its at 0 and 90 degrees first?
Then run the sg calibration tests and enter the data and update it in fermentrack.
Then hit reset and go back into config mode and change the poll back to 1 hour and save before throwing it in my wort?

I think you are possibly confusing the "calibration process" with "calibrate offset"

1. check what you are currently getting horizontal and vertical (should be 90, 0)
2. If you don't get 90 and 0 then you need to use the workaround in following steps.
3. setup you configuration settings (update interval, service type etc) then hit save
4. go back to configuration mode (by hitting reset while it is booting)
5. Place iSpindel horizontal as pictured
6. go to maintenance menu then click 'calibrate offset', it will automatically reset after it finishes and use whatever settings you set in step 3
7. drop in wort. (you need to repeat steps 4-6 every time you switch iSpindel off then on again) If you have not yet done the sg calibration process then you start it at step 7 also after completing previous steps.

 

[Truman42]

If you have not yet done the sg calibration process then you start it at step 7 also after completing previous steps.

Awesome thanks for that. Makes sense now. But I thought that even if I had done the sg calibration already I would need to do it again as it woudnt be accurate if my offset calibration of 90 degrees was out when I did it???
EDIT:- I turned off the Ispindel after doing the offset calibration as I did the sg calibration the next day. Mine has the latest firnware so Im assuming the offset didnt save making the sg calibrations out to.