Ispindel improvement s?

[Rwilts]

As per usual ( and lot of supporting comments previously by other members) Mondays brew seems to have bottomed out at 1.022. Even though it's still actively fermenting.

I love my ispindel and see it as a valuable tool.BUT given our experience of Krausen build up on the cap causing it to stop being accurate is there anything that can be done to change this behaviour, influence future revisions.

 

[MrJay83]

Probably a cap without all the grip ridges. I'm pretty sure most of the others have smooth caps.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I wondered about grinding down the lip on the pretzel below the cap. I suppose you could file down the grip ridges but you're still going to get Krause sticking to the lip under the cap and the screw threads. Ideally it needs a new design of pretzel, a smooth sided one like the keg landpill or something.

What I think would be handy is a secondary calibration method, so you carry out the initial calibration as normal, then over the next few brews you can take hydrometer readings and enter those into the software and it can 'adjust' or 'correct' the initial idealised calibration based upon actual real life conditions in the fermenter with Krausen. Ultimately you're never going to be accurate with a floating hydrometer but can probably dial it in a bit better.

Ideally what you want if you want to be super accurate is a kind of Anton Par device that takes physical samples occasionally, pushes it through a filter and takes a sample reading and returns it to the fermenter.

 

[MrJay83]

To be honest I'm not bothered about it being accurate. I'd be happy with a cheap as chips device that just gives me a graph to see how the fermentation is going. I wouldn't even want numbers.
Make it like a kinder egg. Small, smooth and cheap!

 

[hoppyscotty]

Well that is what you have with the spinal isn't it? Mine reads gravity incorrectly but the trend is accurate enough.

Though going back to the original question if the ispindel appears to be showing completion of fermentation then how are you deducing that fermentation is still ongoing? I always leave things for a good few days of flat reading before declaring fermentation is finished...and even then I'll ramp up a degree or so and sometimes eek out an additional point or so, so based upon the screen shots above I think the OP is being a bit premature in thinking the ispindel readout is suggesting fermentation is complete. I think the line will get flatter and I would wait a few days of a flat line.

 

[Rwilts]

Well that is what you have with the spinal isn't it? Mine reads gravity incorrectly but the trend is accurate enough.

Though going back to the original question if the ispindel appears to be showing completion of fermentation then how are you deducing that fermentation is still ongoing? I always leave things for a good few days of flat reading before declaring fermentation is finished...and even then I'll ramp up a degree or so and sometimes eek out an additional point or so, so based upon the screen shots above I think the OP is being a bit premature in thinking the ispindel readout is suggesting fermentation is complete. I think the line will get flatter and I would wait a few days of a flat line.

Not sure if I wasn't clear or your misunderstanding me but I know it's still fermenting and will be leaving it a full two weeks, it's just that once it gets to 1.022 ish it stops (every time) . Ideally I would like it to continue to track progress

 

[hoppyscotty]

Strange. No reason for it to stop unless the battery fails, but then it wouldn't be transmitting any data points. Did you calibrate it? Maybe iff there is an issue with the calibration and no calibration data below 1.022 it doesn't have any data to determine the gravity below that gravity.

 

[Rwilts]

Good thoughts hoppyscotty , did a basic calibration when I initially had it but maybe a more detailed one is required

 

[hoppyscotty]

I did a 10 point calibration when I got my first ispindel from 1.080 down to 1.0. After that I’ve only bought ready calibrated units!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Strange. No reason for it to stop unless the battery fails, but then it wouldn't be transmitting any data points. Did you calibrate it? Maybe iff there is an issue with the calibration and no calibration data below 1.022 it doesn't have any data to determine the gravity below that gravity.

It would still be able to guess a reading and should be measuring temperature regardless.
Calibration only makes it "accurate" provided it's in the 25 degree range in water and you have it calibrated to 90 horizontal and there's a formula reading will occur.
Shutting down suggests battery issue, this can be due to rapid drain, occurred for me with faulty angle sensor which was very hot.
Other common cause is poor signal to your router, have a look at the signal strength bigger numbers are worse.
I highly recommend gravitymon as alternative software, you can adjust on the fly with this to some extent.
One ispindel still working in a dessert wine in secondary since October last year every half hour. Now down to 3.42V so will die soon. But I will be bottling it anyway.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I wondered about grinding down the lip on the pretzel below the cap. I suppose you could file down the grip ridges but you're still going to get Krause sticking to the lip under the cap and the screw threads. Ideally it needs a new design of pretzel, a smooth sided one like the keg landpill or something.

What I think would be handy is a secondary calibration method, so you carry out the initial calibration as normal, then over the next few brews you can take hydrometer readings and enter those into the software and it can 'adjust' or 'correct' the initial idealised calibration based upon actual real life conditions in the fermenter with Krausen. Ultimately you're never going to be accurate with a floating hydrometer but can probably dial it in a bit better.

Ideally what you want if you want to be super accurate is a kind of Anton Par device that takes physical samples occasionally, pushes it through a filter and takes a sample reading and returns it to the fermenter.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/ispindel.94773/post-1177043Here's the software you ask for

https://agentgonzo.github.io/ispindel-adjustment-tool/

 

[hoppyscotty]

It would still be able to guess a reading and should be measuring temperature regardless.
Calibration only makes it "accurate" provided it's in the 25 degree range in water and you have it calibrated to 90 horizontal and there's a formula reading will occur.
Shutting down suggests battery issue, this can be due to rapid drain, occurred for me with faulty angle sensor which was very hot.
Other common cause is poor signal to your router, have a look at the signal strength bigger numbers are worse.
I highly recommend gravitymon as alternative software, you can adjust on the fly with this to some extent.
One ispindel still working in a dessert wine in secondary since October last year every half hour. Now down to 3.42V so will die soon. But I will be bottling it anyway.

yeah I wasn't sure if the software is clever enough to extrapolate the calibration curve beyond the min and max points you've calibrated it at, but you're right if it does then it will just extend the calibration curve ad infinitim.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I wondered about grinding down the lip on the pretzel below the cap. I suppose you could file down the grip ridges

I think this would probably make it worse. The ridges get stuff stuck to them, yes. But are relatively smooth. If you file them down, you'll end up with a bunch of small rough scratches, no matter how fine your file is. That'll allow Krausen to stick probably better to the cap. Also a place for nasties to hide in

 

[hoppyscotty]

Yes I think you're right and ultimately you're trying to fix and issue that doesn't really exist. By far the biggest benefit of these floating hydrometers is the ability to track the progress of fermentation. Taking a sample at the end for a hydrometer reading is hardly a significant PITA.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

. Taking a sample at the end for a hydrometer reading is hardly a significant PITA.

You just need a tall thin first glass rather than a pipette for a refractometer

 

[LeeH]

I’ve tried a few variants, pill is the only one I’ve been happy with long term

Not helping this issue I know, but if anybody is going to pony up for a device the pill is the way to go

 

[hoppyscotty]

I like the look of the Pill but I also like the integration into Brewfather you get with the iSpindel, don't know if you can do that with any other option out there. Ultimately you can calibrate the iSpindel to work In any vessel, so not sure if the circuit board fits in the Pill shell, no doubt you can source the Pill shell separately from somewhere.