The Bread Maker

[barneey]

Just finished wiring mine + a couple of other extras (a variable supply to the 2nd element & I will add another switch to on/off the dc supply to the ssr)

[Fil]

on/off switch for the ssr control voltage? hope thats for controller independent element power, as it wont impact any live current bleed thru the ssr.

[Andy]

Very nice!

[barneey]

on/off switch for the ssr control voltage? hope thats for controller independent element power, as it wont impact any live current bleed thru the ssr.

At the moment with the build kit, the elements are switched using SSR's.

With my other main build (the big box) I had a set of relays between the SSR & elements, meaning that you had all the benefits of the SSR switching capabilities but with the added you could stop any power leak out via a simple on/ off switch/relay combo.

There isn't very much room in the box for additional items, so at its very lowest form a simple switch could be employed on the low voltage side to prevent the SSR auctioning (this wouldn't solve the leakage problem) the other solution to install high voltage switches to manually open / close the element circuit,.... al the way through to switches & relays as aforementioned.

Any idea what you will do Fil?

Cheers

[Fil]

Any idea what you will do Fil?

Cheers

At the moment ive not had a proper look and its been too long since i watched the build vid. I have plans to get the big magnifying lamp out and clamp it to a little table for a good play and hopefully build over the christmas break. the bleed issue could be solved by simply unplugging any element until needed, if there is no circuit there can be no bleed

[barneey]

Any idea what you will do Fil?

Cheers

At the moment ive not had a proper look and its been too long since i watched the build vid. I have plans to get the big magnifying lamp out and clamp it to a little table for a good play and hopefully build over the christmas break. the bleed issue could be solved by simply unplugging any element until needed, if there is no circuit there can be no bleed

What I would like to know is there another socket that could be used on the Arduino to provide a separate circuit for the 2nd element, at the moment both come off the same Arduino supply & a follow up hack to the software.

[Fil]

Sure, the mega board has something like 54 i/o pins not all are employed and i can be safe with that assertion without looking as ver 1 was based on an arduino uno which has far less i/o capability.

accessing the pins however may be a minor pita as the shield obscures them, but connecting to the back end of pins on the board underside with a steady hand and a solder iron is a very common practice with arduino projects

if the spare pins found are on the single rows on the sides or the outer row on the back end then the pins could simply be bent at their bases after pulling off the black socket bar before replacing the socket bar leaving the pin sticking out for use with a dupont socket terminated wire..

then in the code declare that new pin for output (copy the line declaring the current ssr pin for output substituting the new pin id, and echo all setting high or low of the current ssr pin again copy and paste the command substituting the new pin no. the arduino ide uses standard ctrl+F for find

for example if pin9 = current ssr output pin and pin47 is the new 2nd ssr pin (not arduino code..)

Original code
int Pin9=9;
declare Pin9 as output;

edited code
int Pin9=9;
int Pin47=47;
declare Pin9 as output; ** not arduino syntax just notation
declare Pin47 as output;

and any
set Pin9 LOW or HIGH commands will also need echoing with similar commands for Pin47. (just what search n replace was built for)

If the box is too cramped for any further switches etc intruding, Belter solved that problem with his #2 control solution by adding a daughter box a poormans cable gland (snug hole for the cable and cable tie round the cable on the box inside) should be easy enough to accommodate..

Tbh ive not even downloaded the s/w and had a peek at it yet, but Matho's original draught was very tidy elegant and concise with small easy to digest 'atomic' functions so im not anticipating the nightmare that brewtroller turned into.. (fingers crossed)
EDIT** got a link to the s/w and i will check it..

[ciderhead]

My build is using a traditional pot, not a thermo pot, so cannot comment if the base of the thermo is stable enough for the central shaft.

Having dealt with lots of pots in the past the thermo's are thinner than a standard pot, a couple of large washers however would beef things up.

No idea if a 1 pump system would work with the 50l MT, I decided that I had experimented too much in the past so went for more of a clone unit + having two pumps for me will come in useful with modified MT.

If you are only after a 20/5 l unit just use a 70l standard pot.

Cheers for that

[Andy]

Tbh ive not even downloaded the s/w and had a peek at it yet, but Matho's original draught was very tidy elegant and concise with small easy to digest 'atomic' functions so im not anticipating the nightmare that brewtroller turned into.. (fingers crossed)
EDIT** got a link to the s/w and i will check it..

The Ardbir* fork is a 'mare I'm afraid. Crazy stuff going on and very difficult to read. Duplicated functions in language (i.e. English, Spanish etc) specific include files rather than just the data structures holding the display text which needs to change per language. Not modular, needs rewriting.


* Assuming that's what you're talking about as it's what's running on the controller pictured above.

[Fil]

OOOOER Andy?? i was under the impression that Laels system is based on Matho's code with only a few tweaks??

Tho i am only basing that on an Ardbir*'s Champions slating of the Lael controller in here or a similar site.

i had better head off to the aussie brewer site and wade through the posts for the s/w link

After a quick browse of the AHB site:

To be clear – this is all possible because of forum member - matho – who did an amazing job creating a brilliant brewing controller. Anyone who has one will tell you it is their best bit of brewing kit. The code has been further extended by MaxN68, to enable saving of recipes, cool timing features, iodine tests etc. If you get a chance – send a message of thanks to them!

still not got to a code link tho..
90 odd pages to wade thru..

[barneey]

I have fitted the switches I wanted, tight fit but everything misses each other in the box itself, just need to make the minor wiring alteration inside to connect the switches & its power up time again.

[dean_wales]

Nice work!

Could you just recap on exactly what you have added/changed and the reasons why?

There does seem to be some almighty infighting over the code etc.

Dean.

[Andy]

OOOOER Andy?? i was under the impression that Laels system is based on Matho's code with only a few tweaks??

Tho i am only basing that on an Ardbir*'s Champions slating of the Lael controller in here or a similar site.

i had better head off to the aussie brewer site and wade through the posts for the s/w link

After a quick browse of the AHB site:

To be clear – this is all possible because of forum member - matho – who did an amazing job creating a brilliant brewing controller. Anyone who has one will tell you it is their best bit of brewing kit. The code has been further extended by MaxN68, to enable saving of recipes, cool timing features, iodine tests etc. If you get a chance – send a message of thanks to them!

still not got to a code link tho..
90 odd pages to wade thru..

MaxN68 is the Ardbir s/w guy I believe. Look at the screenshot of the powered controller Barneey posted above, it's showing Open Ardbir 2.8.3 which is the latest version from their github repo https://github.com/ArdBir/Open-ArdBir

The s/w obviously works and works well. It's just that the code has become a mess which makes supporting/modifying/extending it much harder.

[barneey]

Nice work!

Could you just recap on exactly what you have added/changed and the reasons why?

There does seem to be some almighty infighting over the code etc.

Dean.

I'll try....

1) there is only one output from the shield for an element (low voltage)
2) the build has two ssr & two sockets for two elements.
3) there is talk of power leakage across SSR's

This means that when the controller sends the signal for heat BOTH SSR's will fire up.

I don't necessarily want both elements on all the time.

Solution = Either unplug an element (sockets are not designed to be connected or disconnected under load (to the best of my knowledge)) certainly the "actual" neutrik ones are not, so if its on a heat cycle how would connect / disconnect.

Adding two switches allows for complete control over the elements (any combination) also cuts power to the SSR, so essentially gives me more control over the system, as I want to run it.

The variable control is for the 2nd element to again give extra control over the power output.

As for the software..... I'm not the right person to ask on this topic.... but...

The mega board is capable of switching numerous SSR's so another hack would be to add another couple of pins to the board to allow separate element switching (wouldnt solve any possible SSR leakage). There was also take of adding a board to allow Wifi access to the board, which I believe requires another wiring & software hack.

Final Note:-

The actual Lael build / box and all the bits is a great project / kit in its own right and will certainly do the job it was intended, I only made the alterations to suit my build / preference. I now have to finish the build & get a brew on to see how it all works.

EDIT, only reason why I swapped the two connectors over was a) I had them b) they are TRUE1's which although rated lower in terms of Amps are fully load connect / disconnect-able.

& if you are wondering why the switch is now a SPST (bits cut off) it was to make it fit around things inside.

[barneey]

What is also nice is as over 100 odd units were sold there is bound to be further mods / alterations/ hacks in the future whether software or hardware.