iSpindel - digital WiFi hydrometer

[Harry Bloomfield]

I don't have a 3D printer and the PCBs look more efficient to bulk buy so I'd be keen to get in touch with anyone who is geared up to supply one or two.

You do not necessarily need to the use of a 3D printer, not all versions of the hardware layout, need the printed sled. The V4 PCB plus 'big XL' PET doesn't need a sled. That PCB needs to be slightly filed along both long sides, plus the bottom corners to be rounded to fit the bottom of the PET

 

[gingerneil]

You do not necessarily need to the use of a 3D printer, not all versions of the hardware layout, need the printed sled. The V4 PCB plus 'big XL' PET doesn't need a sled. That PCB needs to be slightly filed along both long sides, plus the bottom corners to be rounded to fit the bottom of the PET

I find the XL pet spot on with the the v4 board. It slides in snug with no rattle. I think I've only needed to file one board - a quick rub with sone sandpaper was fine

 

[zeptobrewer]

I agree! What I meant was that in the absence of the 3D printer I would use the V4 PCB. But I wouldn't want to get just a single PCB printed.

 

[gingerneil]

I agree! What I meant was that in the absence of the 3D printer I would use the V4 PCB. But I wouldn't want to get just a single PCB printed.

Yes - 100% if you look at the Chinese companies that will print from the definition file, postage of anything up to 30 of the boards is more than the boards themselves. I ordered 10 a couple of months ago and to save costs chose the economy delivery. They are literally on a train from China, and last time i looked they were just clearing Belarus! I ordered some more as I was getting impatient, and they arrived in 6 days via DHL for only about £5 more!

 

[mancdaz]

Yes - 100% if you look at the Chinese companies that will print from the definition file, postage of anything up to 30 of the boards is more than the boards themselves. I ordered 10 a couple of months ago and to save costs chose the economy delivery. They are literally on a train from China, and last time i looked they were just clearing Belarus! I ordered some more as I was getting impatient, and they arrived in 6 days via DHL for only about £5 more!

I've been looking at 'The Jeffrey' v2.1 PCB. The designer has open sourced the gerber files, and the site he suggests you use (pcbway - he gets a referral fee if you click the link from his site and you get $5 discount on your first order) allows you to upload the gerber files to define the PCB - or you can order directly on their site as it already exists as a product. I am looking at an order that I am about to place ("do I really want to order 10 of these?") and the total for 10, delivered, is $30 (inc my $5 discount). That is for the second cheapest delivery option, which was $3 more but will arrive in about 2 weeks instead of 3 months.

From the (admittedly very little) research I've done, this seems like a nice-to-work-with board, and there are good written and video instructions of exactly what to get and how to build it.

I'm considering ordering 10 and making up little kits with the rest (getting the rest of the components off aliexpress) to cover the cost of my own one. Looked at this way, each PCB only costs $3, or approx £2.40

 

[ChrisT]

@mancdaz I've built with the sled, Cherryphilip and OpenSourceDistilling and for me the OSD one wins:

The assembly is much the same for each, nothing really splits them on this ground, they use the same components after all, only the PCB manufacture differs.

When it comes to calibration, again they're the same, the sled being in a bigger Petling I found slightly more difficult to get an ideal angle.

Balancing the CherryPhilip and OSD were much the same, OSD slightly better.

What splits them for me is the ease of fitting the PCB into the Petling. The OSD PCB has "Ears" which are filled away to get an ideal fit of your PCB into your Petling. I found this more satisfactory than the CherryPhilip. The OSD PCB doesn't move at all in my Petlings.

I've tried different batteries in mine and with a non knock off 18650 battery I find I don't need any additional weights to balance.

I hope that helps your decision?


Chris

 

[mancdaz]

@ChrisT thanks that's really useful info! I was almost convinced, but 'The Jeffrey' is the one for me!

I've sourced pretty much everything now, aside from the 18650 batteries and the Petling tubes (which seem to be surprisingly hard to locate at a decent price). For the tubes I know there's that one Lithuanian ebayer, but given I'm sourcing everything else as cheap as possible from China I'm trying to find a dirt cheap source for these too and can't seem to. These are just plastic bottle preforms so it shouldn't be so difficult!

The batteries are a different matter. So many fakes out there it's difficult to know what's a good deal and what's just garbage.

 

[ChrisT]

@mancdaz I couldn't find another source of the Petlings other than "The Lituanian Ebayer" either. If you do find another source please share that information!

For the batteries, the important information is that the seller lists the weight of the battery, if they don't list the weight (approx 42g), don't buy from them. Lots of the sellers that do list the weights supply bulk batteries, and many don't have a tip. I haven't had a problem with this, the battery holders I've used hold the battery firmly. Some suppliers will add a tip if requested for a small fee.

Regarding other components, don't skimp on the accelerometer! From other comments here and elsewhere these appear to be the component that is most succeptable to DOA failures, especially when sourced cheaply. Any variety of D1 mini will do the trick and I've only heard of a couple of DS18B20 ever failing.

I'm now using charger modules with USB-C connectors, make sure you source the ones with 6 attachment points whichever USB connector you chose!

 

[mancdaz]

I couldn't find another source of the Petlings other than "The Lituanian Ebayer" either. If you do find another source please share that information!

Bah, was hoping you had a cheap supplier up your sleeve! I'll keep looking, but may end up having to buy from the same source.

For the batteries, the important information is that the seller lists the weight of the battery, if they don't list the weight (approx 42g), don't buy from them

Again, extremely useful tip, thanks!

Regarding other components, don't skimp on the accelerometer!

Noted. Might have to source these from other than 'the cheapest I could find on aliexpress'.

I'm now using charger modules with USB-C connectors, make sure you source the ones with 6 attachment points whichever USB connector you chose!

Yes, getting these as per the shopping list . I did nearly get caught when looking at them initially, but the clear '6 pins' (and closely looking at pictures) steered me right.

 

[gingerneil]

I've bought batteries from 18650.com either direct or via ebay.
With regards the tubes - I was amazed these are so rare, and went Lithuania too!

 

[ChrisT]

@mancdaz Two sites for batteries that people recomend:
18650.com
torchy.co.uk

For the accelerometer look for sites with a large amount of sales of similar items, last batch I purchased was from worldchips, I've purchased various ESP8266 modules and accessories from them without any issues. However, never say never and do your own research!

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

So in summary (as I am living up to the latter half of my user name) are there any of these being made by anyone in the Country and at what cost please ?

There would seem to be a market for these and having a sterilised one floating about telling me the SG at any time I would like to read it would frankly be brilliant.

 

[ChrisT]

@Wherrypuzzled Have a look on ebay, there are a couple of people supplying ready built. @gingerneil had a couple for sale on here, drop him a line see if he has any left.

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

Hi ChrisT thanks for reply and in touch now
Cheers Wo

 

[mancdaz]

If I make a bulk purchase of all the components, I'll be making little kits to sell. Depending on how easy (or not!) it is, I may decide to sell them already assembled/soldered. Probably would be a couple of months before all the components arrive.

From what I could see, kits on eBay are going for around £30. Fully assembled for around £50

 

[gingerneil]

If I make a bulk purchase of all the components, I'll be making little kits to sell. Depending on how easy (or not!) it is, I may decide to sell them already assembled/soldered. Probably would be a couple of months before all the components arrive.

From what I could see, kits on eBay are going for around £30. Fully assembled for around £50

Most ebay sellers of the bits give you the option to pay £1 or £2 more and get delivery in 10 days or so rather than months - definitely worth it if you're as impatient as me! The wemos boards, tubes, battery holders and batteries themselves are the expensive bits.

 

[JT_Brews]

Does anyone use the iSpindle for automation or are most people just looking at the output? I spent yesterday hacking about and set up this simple python server and I'm planning on using the temperature readings to turn on/off some RF controlled plug sockets to control my fridge temp. I looked at BrewPi and CraftBeerPi but I wanted something simple to hack and they seem very geared towards direct hardware control.

 

[zeptobrewer]

I'm not yet, but have everything sorted to do so for my next brew.

Work of warning with the RF sockets - a fridge compressor needs time to cool down / ramp up - you don't want to be switching it off/on too frequently.

 

[Doive]

My ispindel behaves somewhat strangely - works fine when sitting on the side, updates at whatever interval I set it, but as soon as it's dropped into a fermenting bucket right next to that position, it stops updating. Take it out & do a reset, it starts up and updates again. Back in the brew, same behaviour. It then updates at an entirely arbitrary interval ranging from once an hour to once every six hours or so. The wifi signal is good, the battery is over 4V, and I can't make much sense of what's going on.

 

[JT_Brews]

Work of warning with the RF sockets - a fridge compressor needs time to cool down / ramp up - you don't want to be switching it off/on too frequently.

Thanks, good point. I'll be writing the script myself so I'll have complete control.