iSpindel Digital Hydrometer

[Muzzaguzza]

Try upgrading to the latest firmware. There was a bug with an earlier version which sounded exactly like your problem. Let us know how you go.

Hey there.

I fixed it by doing a factory reset. It works now but isn't reporting back to Ubidots and i have the reporting time set at 15 seconds. It's also not displaying the battery voltage for some reason being displayed at .02v.

Cheers

 

[Ballaratguy]

Hey would anyone have an ISpindel for sale? Or would make me one?
Or would also take a tilt (if not yellow or red as I already have these)

 

[bee2gee]

It's also not displaying the battery voltage for some reason being displayed at .02v

From the last post it seemed you were having ubidots issues as well, they don’t seem fixed either? Does the initial go through however no subsequent sets of data or none at all?

Battery voltage doesn’t seem right, afaik this comes off the wemos itself. How did you factory reset?

 

[bee2gee]

Hey would anyone have an ISpindel for sale? Or would make me one?

Sent you a quick PM. I’m making some for people if they need.

 

[Muzzaguzza]

From the last post it seemed you were having ubidots issues as well, they don’t seem fixed either? Does the initial go through however no subsequent sets of data or none at all?

Battery voltage doesn’t seem right, afaik this comes off the wemos itself. How did you factory reset?

Hi bee2gee

You can do a factory reset when you are in the Maintenance section of iSpindel. I should have clarified a little better. I can reach Ubidots but only when i jump out of the config mode of the iSpindel and only everytime i manually press the Wemos reset button. I have Putty connected to see exactly what is going on and everything is working as it should but just not reporting. Doesn't matter what figure i put in the timings.

I think my Wemos may be at fault somehow.

 

[Gkire]

Hi bee2gee

You can do a factory reset when you are in the Maintenance section of iSpindel. I should have clarified a little better. I can reach Ubidots but only when i jump out of the config mode of the iSpindel and only everytime i manually press the Wemos reset button. I have Putty connected to see exactly what is going on and everything is working as it should but just not reporting. Doesn't matter what figure i put in the timings.

I think my Wemos may be at fault somehow.

Perhaps your bat43 diode is misplaced. I had this. It would send data once and then not wake up any more from deep sleep. Make sure the black ring is positioned right.

 

[Mattrox]

I am tweaking the tilt angle in tap water. I'm using M8 nuts. This is what I have now.

Do I need to drop another 5 degrees or is this going to work?

 

[Bourkie]

Hey Guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I saw Cherry Philip's new PCB and spoke with him to make some tweaks and integrate a battery holder so we're not longer having to solder batteries. These also fit in the XL Petlings instead of the XXL which you needed with the 3D printed sleds. My local brew club was keen on getting in on the action so I've bought enough bits and pieces for 50 of these units. I'm keen to help people in Aus buy from a local supplier at a reasonable cost and get their units within the week no matter where they are in Au, I'll have an online store finished in the next few weeks. I'm looking at selling the first few at $55 including shipping and assembly. If anyone is interested in the mean time you can PM me, In the mean time I'll use a PayPal invoice so you get full buyer protection and no risk, after all buying from some forum random can be daunting! I do have an ABN [34 395 323 405] which will be used for the online store .

Hey @bee2gee, couldn't figure out how to PM you. You still making these for people who are interested?

 

[bee2gee]

Hey @bee2gee, couldn't figure out how to PM you. You still making these for people who are interested?

You're only fresh so can't PM yet, I've posted on your profile instead

The DOA failure rate of the gyro and chargers are a bit higher than I thought, has anyone else found this? I've ended up testing each component prior to soldering them in, by the time you fsck around with de-soldering you end up throwing a board away and just starting again! Build time has gone from 30-45 mins to 45-60mins I'd say.

Some new ones I made up this weekend.

 

[guitarsnbeer]

You're only fresh so can't PM yet, I've posted on your profile instead

The DOA failure rate of the gyro and chargers are a bit higher than I thought, has anyone else found this? I've ended up testing each component prior to soldering them in, by the time you fsck around with de-soldering you end up throwing a board away and just starting again! Build time has gone from 30-45 mins to 45-60mins I'd say.

Some new ones I made up this weekend.

Hey mate, looking good! Just stumbled across this thread as I was looking at a Tilt or 2. Am capable of building my own but it's pretty attractive for a turn key solution!

I'm interested in 3 of these I reckon, just signed up so prob can't pm just yet...

What's the difference in the battery holders?

Cheers!

 

[bee2gee]

Do I need to drop another 5 degrees or is this going to work?

I'd probably try and keep it +/- 2-3 degrees off 25. Either way, if you can use a 10L tub and 1kg of sugar you should get 1.040, take your initial reading then start tipping out then adding water to try and get 1.030 and re-measure. I use a refractometer so I don't waste to much sugar water in the process. The more graduations you have the better calibration you generally get. Depends on how exact you want to get or if you're happy to have these 1 or 3 points off but still use them to provide you with a nice graph of fermentation and evidence of terminal gravity.

One thing I noticed, 6.0.0 can be temperamental, try going to 6.0.1.

 

[bee2gee]

Hey mate, looking good! Just stumbled across this thread as I was looking at a Tilt or 2. Am capable of building my own but it's pretty attractive for a turn key solution!
I'm interested in 3 of these I reckon, just signed up so prob can't pm just yet...
What's the difference in the battery holders?
Cheers!

Just posted on your wall. The PCB is available for anyone to purchase if you've got the parts already handy from other designs. I'm happy to just send you parts if you needed as well.
https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/New_iSpindel_PCB_2_1__new_TP4056_module_.html

The only main difference with these is the battery holder and battery charging module. I have been playing around iwth the flap top and button holder, the button tops work just fine in the flat top holders so that's moot now.
Keystone 1043 holder (can be found elsewhere, not just Element 14):
https://au.element14.com/keystone/1043/battery-holder-18650-th/dp/2673611
Charging module:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10P...dicator-Automatic-Protection/32842874590.html

 

[guitarsnbeer]

Just posted on your wall. The PCB is available for anyone to purchase if you've got the parts already handy from other designs. I'm happy to just send you parts if you needed as well.
https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/New_iSpindel_PCB_2_1__new_TP4056_module_.html

The only main difference with these is the battery holder and battery charging module. I have been playing around iwth the flap top and button holder, the button tops work just fine in the flat top holders so that's moot now.
Keystone 1043 holder (can be found elsewhere, not just Element 14):
https://au.element14.com/keystone/1043/battery-holder-18650-th/dp/2673611
Charging module:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10P...dicator-Automatic-Protection/32842874590.html

Haven't gone down the rabbit hole of electronics projects just yet (I've done a bunch of soldering though, on guitars etc) so prob just go turn key for now.

Which WEMOS module did you end up going? I've got a SS fermy in an upright freezer, do you reckon there'll be any issues with Wi-Fi reception? It's not the best reception where the brewhouse is but I can always install a repeater (or move the AP)

Also wouldn't mind integrating wireless charging, rather than opening up the container everytime for a charge. I assume that would be pretty easy, just solder on the module to the battery lugs...?

Thanks again!

 

[Aydos]

@bee2gee how much would you price up a parts list to me make these at home for?
Cheers

Aydos

 

[misenko]

Hi Guys,

I've just build up one of these and have couple of questions. What is your average WiFi strength ? If I place it next to the router I have -30 RSSI, 3m from the router -50 RSSI, in a room 5m from the router with a thin wall -60 RSSI and if I put it into a plastic bucket with water in the same room it drop to -75 RSSI. I've noticed that at this strength not every record is transmitted over the wifi into ubidost. Therefore the question - what is the lowest wifi strength where the device still works reliable and what's your numbers ?

Another question is for battery. When I charge the battery it shows 4.25V which I guess is the maximum. Do you know what is the lowest value when the device shut down and stops transmitting ?

Thank you!

 

[bee2gee]

Which WEMOS module did you end up going? I've got a SS fermy in an upright freezer, do you reckon there'll be any issues with Wi-Fi reception? It's not the best reception where the brewhouse is but I can always install a repeater (or move the AP)
Also wouldn't mind integrating wireless charging, rather than opening up the container everytime for a charge. I assume that would be pretty easy, just solder on the module to the battery lugs...?

I've gone with the WeMos D1 Mini Pro, it has an external antenna connection which you do need to do a small mod to use, basically the link needs to be moved from the ceramic antenna to the connector
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/WeM...enna-Contor-ESP8266-WIFI-IOT/32863297827.html

You should be able to use one of the mico USB charge pads which will connect straight into the charger module, no need to solder or anything. I haven't gone that far just yet, I know there have been others who have posted and used them in this thread.

 

[bee2gee]

what is the lowest wifi strength where the device still works reliable and what's your numbers ?

I guess that really comes down to if the device can reliably negotiate at the time. I've been playing around with a small router which lets me select frequency and throughput ie: if you only allow that SSID to use 802.11g/n with 2.4ghz and 1mbit or so frequency profiles. This way you're using the lower bands in the frequency, in turn speed which doesn't matter when sending a few lines of text. These "should" naturally have the highest quality as there will be less loss. It also means things like initial negotiation and renegotiation should be very limited as well. If you don't have that option you can always try a repeater sitting next to your fermenters.

When I charge the battery it shows 4.25V which I guess is the maximum. Do you know what is the lowest value when the device shut down and stops transmitting ?

I think you'd have to go through the source code, maybe it's even part of the wemos themselves. There is one Github issue thread with someone having problems at 2.94v.
https://github.com/universam1/iSpindel/issues/185

 

[guitarsnbeer]

I've gone with the WeMos D1 Mini Pro, it has an external antenna connection which you do need to do a small mod to use, basically the link needs to be moved from the ceramic antenna to the connector
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/WeM...enna-Contor-ESP8266-WIFI-IOT/32863297827.html

You should be able to use one of the mico USB charge pads which will connect straight into the charger module, no need to solder or anything. I haven't gone that far just yet, I know there have been others who have posted and used them in this thread.

Awesome, thanks man. Totally in for 3, I'll respond to your wall post

 

[Thomas Wood]

I've just build up one of these and have couple of questions. What is your average WiFi strength ? If I place it next to the router I have -30 RSSI, 3m from the router -50 RSSI, in a room 5m from the router with a thin wall -60 RSSI and if I put it into a plastic bucket with water in the same room it drop to -75 RSSI. I've noticed that at this strength not every record is transmitted over the wifi into ubidost. Therefore the question - what is the lowest wifi strength where the device still works reliable and what's your numbers ?

There's some information here about what the numbers mean: https://www.metageek.com/training/resources/understanding-rssi.html
But basically anything below 70 you should be fine.

Mine is around 40-50 and that is going from Router1 -> Entire House -> Closed Garage in backyard -> Router2 in the garage -> Back of the garage -> Fermentation Fridge -> Sealed iSpindel. The routers are both
ASUS RT-AC68U set up as a mesh network, which I can't recommend enough.

 

[chesl73]

Question for the guys who have one of these... Are you using it regularly when you brew and is it meeting your expectations?