iSpindel Digital Hydrometer

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@RRising yep, just sent you a PM.

There hasn't been too much movement with the iSpindel project in the last few months. The major release 6.2.0 almost completes all outstanding items. It is quite a mature project with plenty of online resources and advice for anyone wishing to obtain parts themselves.
 
chesl73 said:
Thanks for the suggestion Rusted.
I took myself off to the Juices section in Coles and there were various options. I settled on a bottle of Cranberry juice and the lid works perfectly. Cheers!
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Good to know! I don’t suppose you remember what brand juice you bought? I’ve not had much luck so far, with ones I’ve picked up having different thread patterns to the petling...

Cheers!
 
I recently bought an iSpindel and haven't been able to get it working properly. Even sitting right next to the router, it sometimes goes days without any data getting sent. I have tried both ubidots and brewspy. Whats the best way to go about debugging this?
 
mynameisrodney said:
Whats the best way to go about debugging this?
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Best bet is to remove the battery and power the larger board (Wemos) via USB from a computer. You'll need a program like Termite (baud 115200) if you are using Windows. This will show you the debug output from the device each time it wakes up, letting you know why it is likely failing.
 
I was having an issue with 1 ispindel not connecting reliably. It would send the first reading, I would chuck it in the fermenter in the fridge and I wouldn't hear from it again until I fished it out and it maybe sent another update or two. I thought it was 'deaf' compared to my other ispindel that works no problem at all.
@bee2gee was great with giving me advise on how to troubleshoot it but real world time became an issue and I put it on the back burner.
Pulled it out again the other day and followed the advice @bee2gee gave me back in about December I think it was.
Hooked up to a linux desktop via usb and monitored with minicom. Noticed it would send one (or a couple if I was lucky) updates and then when it woke up gave an error message and timed out. Something about wifi credentials. Found a few places on the internet that spoke of this error and turns out to be an incommpatabilty with certain APs.
I changed the AP to my NBN modem AP and lo and behold it sent every update!
Now I cant rememeber what my other ispindel is set to (Its in a fermenter ATM) but I thought it was to the same AP I tried with this one originally.
I have an AP running on a DDWRT54G with DDWRT firmware that it will not connect to after the first update or two. I also have a RPI3B+ running fermentrack that I also had set as a wifi AP. I THINK that didnt work either (Will retry that later to confirm)

Long story short, if you have trouble getting reliable updates maybe try a different AP if you can.
 
@Ferment8 I think i might have a similar issue with my iSpindel as what you had, i can get to the default 192.168.1.4 IP when its in config mode but once i put it my wifi details and hooked it up to brewfather, it spat out a local IP, BF sees it and logs it successfully but i cannot connect to the local IP and even weirder my modem router doesn't see it as a connected device.

I also tried using my phones local hotspot and nothing.
 
RRising said:
@Ferment8 I think i might have a similar issue with my iSpindel as what you had, i can get to the default 192.168.1.4 IP when its in config mode but once i put it my wifi details and hooked it up to brewfather, it spat out a local IP, BF sees it and logs it successfully but i cannot connect to the local IP and even weirder my modem router doesn't see it as a connected device.

I also tried using my phones local hotspot and nothing.
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Completely normal behaviour. Once configured, the device runs every 900s only. It’ll connect to your wifi, send stats then go back to sleep. There’s no functional reason to have to reconnect whilst it’s in a brew and it allows the battery to last 4+ weeks. To go into config mode, you need to press the reset button on the Wemos a few times. This will then re-enable the AP and broadcast the iSpindel SSID for your to connect to. This should all be covered in the Github documentation as well.
 
bee2gee said:
Completely normal behaviour. Once configured, the device runs every 900s only. It’ll connect to your wifi, send stats then go back to sleep. There’s no functional reason to have to reconnect whilst it’s in a brew and it allows the battery to last 4+ weeks. To go into config mode, you need to press the reset button on the Wemos a few times. This will then re-enable the AP and broadcast the iSpindel SSID for your to connect to. This should all be covered in the Github documentation as well.
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Ah... thank you, that makes sense. I did re-enable the config mode a few times and it always connected.

Also, i'm guessing it does but still worth asking but does this have proper charge protection? i bought a 18650 battery from Batteryworld it has an integrated protection circuit, having double the fail safes is always good with lithium ion batteries.
 
Has anyone had this problem, i am using mine for the first time today in a brew and even though i have calibrated it correctly (it sat near on perfectly at 25° in clean 20°C water) but when i put it in the fermenter its reading nearly 20 points higher than the hydrometer and refrac reading i took. Hydrometer and refrac read 1.048 and iSpindel is reading 1.065.
 
You need to have a few calibration points. The more the better the calibration. I usually calibrate in filtered water for 1.000 then add a known point. eg if I put it in the fermenter with a wort I measured at 1.048 I would get the angle and add that as the second point. You could then calibrate (I do it in fermentrack) with those 2 points. Wont be exact but close enough. Then every time I put it in another wort I add that as another point. Should be more accurate every time I use it.
 
Ferment8 said:
You need to have a few calibration points. The more the better the calibration. I usually calibrate in filtered water for 1.000 then add a known point. eg if I put it in the fermenter with a wort I measured at 1.048 I would get the angle and add that as the second point. You could then calibrate (I do it in fermentrack) with those 2 points. Wont be exact but close enough. Then every time I put it in another wort I add that as another point. Should be more accurate every time I use it.
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The calibration instructions i got with my iSpindel which i bought from @bee2gee said to put it in 20°C water and adjust the unit until it sits at around 25° which i did right before i put it into my Fermzilla AR.

Brewfather lets you adjust the offset so i put it at 1.048 and now the few hours its been in there, the gravity is rising o_O I'll let the brew do its thing before i go fishing it out.
 
RRising said:
The calibration instructions i got with my iSpindel which i bought from @bee2gee said to put it in 20°C water and adjust the unit until it sits at around 25° which i did right before i put it into my Fermzilla AR.

Brewfather lets you adjust the offset so i put it at 1.048 and now the few hours its been in there, the gravity is rising o_O I'll let the brew do its thing before i go fishing it out.
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Ideally you need to follow the rest of the instructions on GitHub for a multi-point calibration and then configure the polynomial in the iSpindel. If you get it close to 25° in 20° C water, you will still need to do the polynomial. The 25° angle is just the optimal angle to get a more accurate reading throughout the tilt range.
 
I've been following the calibration guide on github, but it asks you to make a new variable in ubidots using a derived value method. Problem is, the educational version of ubidots no longer has this feature. I've done the calibration exercise to record all the different points. I've spent all night trying to find out how to get this calibration sorted in ubidots so I can get a brew going with it. Everything else is working great. I used a kit from @bee2gee, which was high quality and he has been very helpful (and patient). Anyone got similar experience with ubidots?
 
Has anyone else had issues with getting their iSpindel tilt close to 25? I think the PCB board is too wide for the tube I have, so it gets stuck before it sits in the bottom. When I see YouTube videos, the board just slips in and out but mine is jammed in the bottom. Is it possible to get a slightly bigger tube? Any other suggestions?
 
A bit of sandpaper on the edge of the pcb will do the trick. Don't go to far though, you want it reasonably tight so it doesn't move
 
Ferment8 said:
A bit of sandpaper on the edge of the pcb will do the trick. Don't go to far though, you want it reasonably tight so it doesn't move
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Yes, i took too much off mine and had to put a couple of strips of duct tape back on fill it out.

Get a big piece of sandpaper and go two passes on each side and it should only take maybe 2 go's to get it in.
 
A question about calibration? can i use a brew and get readings with a hydrometer for the polynominal formula?
 

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