Matho's controller

[pmp3]

Hi, does the PCB attachment "View attachment Birraduino-AIO-2.zip" (page 45 # 884) compatible with "Version 2.8.3-RC"?

Danielxan, MaxN68 and all who contributed to the creation and development of this project, accept my thanks
Regards
Piotr

 

[Meddo]

Hey @zwitter , I've got what appears to be a serious problem with the arduino in my kit build at the moment, which until yesterday had been running well for 18 months. Basically it turned itself off in the middle of a cleaning cycle. Checked all the HV side and no dramas there so pulled the LV side out and hooked it up to the PC via USB power.

So when I plug in the USB and power up the board I get a blue screen for about five seconds, then the area circled in the photo below gets bloody hot and the whole thing shuts down. This only occurs with the shield and display attached (I haven't yet tested it with shield and no display) - if it's only the arduino plugged into the PC it stays cool and powered on indefinitely. I can't tell which specific component is heating up because it only happens when that side of the board is facing the shield.

Do you have any ideas what might be going on, or pointers for further testing to identify the problem?

Thanks,

 

[DTrain123]

That black chip that you've circled is a voltage regulator. I'm guessing that's getting hot because there is too much current being drawn through it.

If it only happens when the shield is attached, then it's probably because something on the shield is drawing too much current. Maybe something has short circuited somewhere.

Edit: That green chip that is marked 5 X 5 where the X is a weird squiggle thing, is actually a resettable fuse. That's supposed to break the circuit when you draw more than 500mA through it. Once it cools down then it reconnects the circuit again. That fuse is probably saving you from having magic smoke come out of the board somewhere else.

 

[Meddo]

That black chip that you've circled is a voltage regulator. I'm guessing that's getting hot because there is too much current being drawn through it.

If it only happens when the shield is attached, then it's probably because something on the shield is drawing too much current. Maybe something has short circuited somewhere.

Edit: That green chip that is marked 5 X 5 where the X is a weird squiggle thing, is actually a resettable fuse. That's supposed to break the circuit when you draw more than 500mA through it. Once it cools down then it reconnects the circuit again. That fuse is probably saving you from having magic smoke come out of the board somewhere else.

Thanks DTrain, that's basically been my thinking re a short-circuit on the shield - that info about the fuse pretty much confirms it. I had a quick look at the shield yesterday and nothing jumped out but I'll take the display panel off this afternoon and go over it properly.

 

[Ferg]

Not sure if this is the right thread or not but here goes:

I've got one of the Lael controllers and have been using it frequently for years now. A few niggles but that's more because I haven't fine tuned it enough (taking a long time to get the last couple of degrees etc.). I was wondering in the passing years if the software had been updated? It would be nice to be able to pre program whirlpool temps and times for some of the big Hoppy neipas. From memory the whirlpool timer only goes up to 10 minutes.

Does anyone know if anything has been updated or if there are any new features?

Cheers, Fergal.

 

[pbezza]

Brewmaniacex is a fork of this controller but runs off an esp8266. It has the same LCD and menu structure and also has a web interface. It has a few extra features and the project is still active. Hit up the developer to add or tweak features. https://github.com/vitotai/BrewManiacEsp8266

 

[nzbrad]

Hey guys,
Just finished my Ardbir box. Thanks to everyone for all the great info. I ordered the PCBs from pcbway, by terragedy ones, cheers for making them available.

When I put power on it works fine, then after around 10 seconds the screen fills with white squares.
If I’m i get to manual mode quick enough, and use the pump and Heat buttons the corresponding ssr works as it should, even though the screen is all whacked. I played around with the contrast pot and if I tone it down it works for longer but will eventually loose parts of characters and become unreadable. Also when I dial the contrast down the top left 3rd of the screen is a lot dimmer than the rest.
I’ve played around with the power supply voltage and it doesn’t seem to change anything...
any ideas? I’m thinking possibly/hopefully just a defective screen. All components bought off Ali express.

 

[pbezza]

Hey guys,
Just finished my Ardbir box. Thanks to everyone for all the great info. I ordered the PCBs from pcbway, by terragedy ones, cheers for making them available.

When I put power on it works fine, then after around 10 seconds the screen fills with white squares.
If I’m i get to manual mode quick enough, and use the pump and Heat buttons the corresponding ssr works as it should, even though the screen is all whacked. I played around with the contrast pot and if I tone it down it works for longer but will eventually loose parts of characters and become unreadable. Also when I dial the contrast down the top left 3rd of the screen is a lot dimmer than the rest.
I’ve played around with the power supply voltage and it doesn’t seem to change anything...
any ideas? I’m thinking possibly/hopefully just a defective screen. All components bought off Ali express.

Is your hand or any other object resting against the LCD pin solder points whilst it is running?

 

[nzbrad]

Hey mate, nope I checked everything and all clear. Also thought it might be due to some interference issue so moved the SSR away.
Anyways, I changed the LCD for a 2x16 one and reloaded the software. Seems to be working fine with that display so im picking the old one was dodgy. I'm a big fan of aliexpress but I think this time I got what I payed for!
Thinking I might stick with the smaller display for now. Now onto finishing my keggle setup.

 

[nzbrad]

Well it was working. But now when i turn on the temp says 0.0c. When I plug the thermometer in it goes straight to 84.3c and doesn't respond at all to temp changes. When I unplug the thermometer it remains at 84.3c.
I've reloaded software, and checked soldering on plug. Any ideas??
I went from super stoked with this thing to starting to feel frustrated, would be awsome to get it going properly.

 

[nzbrad]

Just an update, I followed these instructions https://randomnerdtutorials.com/guide-for-ds18b20-temperature-sensor-with-arduino/ but changed to read from pin D7 on the arduino to test the DS18B20.
Serial monitor works fine and displays the current temperature on my computer monitor.
Anyone think it could be another dodgy display? It works normal apart from the unresponsive and high temp.

 

[real_beer]

Well it was working. But now when i turn on the temp says 0.0c. When I plug the thermometer in it goes straight to 84.3c and doesn't respond at all to temp changes. When I unplug the thermometer it remains at 84.3c.
I've reloaded software, and checked soldering on plug. Any ideas??
I went from super stoked with this thing to starting to feel frustrated, would be awsome to get it going properly.

When your trying to

Just an update, I followed these instructions https://randomnerdtutorials.com/guide-for-ds18b20-temperature-sensor-with-arduino/ but changed to read from pin D7 on the arduino to test the DS18B20.
Serial monitor works fine and displays the current temperature on my computer monitor.
Anyone think it could be another dodgy display? It works normal apart from the unresponsive and high temp.

When you've been doing these tests with the serial monitor that show the probe works okay on your computer, is it with the probe plugged into its socket, or directly connected to the board?
If you've been connecting it directly to the board, go to your audio plug & switch the two wires soldered to the middle & tip of the audio plug around.

I had similar issues with Lael's Controller because I couldn't use his temp probe through the bottom of my pot because the base was to thick for the thread to reach, so I had to make my own. I think Lael's probe was wired differently to other instructions I initially followed on the internet but when I switched the wires around all my problems disappeared. https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/the-brauduino-matho’s-controller-build-advice-question-thread.88675/page-41#post-1523159

With these controllers nearly every question has been answered already, you might have to check 5 or 6 different threads, which I know takes a lot of effort, but the problem you face is that although a lot of people have solved the same problems you have now, unless they've done it very recently they've usually forgotten the path they took to do it

All the new boards and the enhancements they have will probably also be unfamiliar to the majority of builders who have now just been happily using the one they built for a long time now.

There is a post in one of the threads that lists all the various threads about the controllers together in one spot ............. but I can't remember where Hope this helps & good luck. Also, a lot people who used to post most of the information about this topic now seem to have had enough or moved on to other interests.

 

[nzbrad]

Real_Beer, thanks for that really helpful post. When I ran the test with the serial monitor it was with the probe plugged into its socket. Tomorrow I will try switching the two wires around for the temp probe. Fingers crossed!
I have a suspicion that maybe something is going on with my circuit causing the LCD to go crazy, considering the 20x4 display shat itself, and the current 16x2 one seemed to be working normally for the first half our or so.

And failing that I will have a real good look through all the boards and see if i can find someone with the same problem.
I'm thinking I might just hook up a STC until I can get this sorted.. Or I could just keep using my inlaws grainfather... But it's way more fun making beer on a home made setup .

 

[real_beer]

Real_Beer, thanks for that really helpful post. When I ran the test with the serial monitor it was with the probe plugged into its socket. Tomorrow I will try switching the two wires around for the temp probe. Fingers crossed!
I have a suspicion that maybe something is going on with my circuit causing the LCD to go crazy, considering the 20x4 display shat itself, and the current 16x2 one seemed to be working normally for the first half our or so.

And failing that I will have a real good look through all the boards and see if i can find someone with the same problem.
I'm thinking I might just hook up a STC until I can get this sorted.. Or I could just keep using my inlaws grainfather... But it's way more fun making beer on a home made setup .

nzbrad, I think by what you just said you've probably got the probe wired up properly already. I see the BrewManiacEx can cater for monitoring multiple temperature probes so maybe there's a software setting that needs setting differently, but I'm just guessing. The problem with 99% of these problems is they're usually really quick fixes but can take weeks to track down even when the answers out on the internet.

I'm only competent with Matho's early controller & Lael's final one so I'm limited in helping you. A few pics of the system & wiring would help. If the LCD wasn't working at all I'd think it might be a dud, but to me it seems like your wiring or a problem on the board is the most likely cause. Try to keep your wires running DC as much as possible to one side of the box, and wires running AC to the other. I used to get screen scramble raise its head fairly frequently, even with all the wiring mods and extra resistor additions, until I saw it explained as above. I'd cast the widest net as possible on as many brewing forums around the world until you hit one in a country that the members are starting to embrace DIY automation using BrewManiacEx. It's probably getting harder as the Grainfather & Bewzilla style machines are such great value for money now. To all intents and purposes this thread & topic seems to have run its course here and is virtually dead. It sure was exciting and great fun to be part of when it was alive and leading the world on the topic.

 

[zwitter]

Hi Nzbrad

As one of the designers for the Lael controller I can help you. But you did things *** about. Boards from pcbway!
Why did you not just buy one from Lael?

There were changes made along the way.

Including a resistor inline with the temp sensor to stop it blowing up when plugged and unplugged when the unit was switched on.

Photos may be a starting point.
What software are you running?
Did you edit the software to set the display, language, board type etc before compiling and loading?

James
Zwitter

 

[buckerooni]

after 50+ brews with my trusty Brauduino, was doing a test run with my new Coolossus counterflow chiller and some PBW ramping to 80c and looked around and instead of seeing a blue backlight I saw an orange flame! shiiiiiite! switched off the 2 x 20amp plugs. Checked the temp of the top of the unit after 3 mins, was sitting at 60c. Gonna wait till it cools down before taking a look inside. Upside is I didn't have 18kg of grain in there at the time I guess....

 

[zwitter]

Bugger!

 

[buckerooni]

blue wire from the power input, got a sparky mate who will look into this for me, hopefully the rest of the unit is still OK.

 

[MaxN68]

Hi everyone, it's been a long time since I started working for ArdBir, and after the break-up of the working group I never even craft beer. Are there any news? What firmware version are you using?

 

[djar007]

Hi Max, I am not aware of any updates to the firmware since the last ardbir one. I am still using the last one of those quite successfully. I think since the guys went to the smartpid unit this project finished as far as I know. And buckerooni, I posted on the merri mashers page in response to you. I can help if you like but I am no sparkie.

edit:Looks like there has been a little progress I didnt see.