iSpindel

[gingerneil]

Hey gingerneil,
iSpindel arrived safe and sound today. Tracking was perfect. Looks very well made, look fwd to setting it up. Cheers...View attachment 50247View attachment 50248

Great news!

 

[hoppyscotty]

I've pressed my new iSpindel into action for the first time. Its my second iSpindel and I have (or think I have) set it up in the same way as the first, but its behaving strangely.

Firstly its not reporting SG but I suspect I've made an error in the polynomial I entered into the config page,, so will look into that once the fermentation is over.

The second is that the name of the iSpindel is odd.

In the Config screen I named the iSpindel 'iSpindel_orange-[SG].

For some reason the wifi network it creates is called 'iSpindel_iSpindel_Orange' so not sure why its added an additional iSpindel to the WiFi name.

Also I've connected it upto Brewfather by adding the usual path and when I go to Brewfather it shows two iSpindels with different names:-

iSPINDEL-ORANGE and ISPINDEL95ORANG and I cant see anywhere in the iSpindel config where the second of these is and how it could be creating a second or ghost iSpindel. I've obviously Messed up somewhere. I'm pretty sure I've made an error in the polynomial so should sort that out once I review it, but not sure how its created two iSpindels in Brewfather.

Any ideas or suggestions would be welcomed. Thanks.

 

[gingerneil]

Are you using the latest 7+ firmware ?? I've read loads of issues with anything later than 6.5.1 - so you might be better dropping down to that version and trying again.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I updated firmware as the first step. Might drop back then.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Also forgot to mention that I popped the iSpendel in last Saturday when I brewed, and this morning when I turned on my PC it picked up on the iSpindel WiFi signal and I got into the configuration screen. It was available for about 30 minutes. Quite a handy feature to be able to get in while its in the fermenter but something that's not happened on my other iSpindel so maybe another firmware glitch.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Hi all. Come here to ask about iSpindel troubleshooting. My first iSpindel went fine...bought a ready made one off eBay, calibrated and been fine since. Bought a second and calibrated in the same way. However this one is having issues and doesn't report the gravity, though reports temp and battery. I'm connecting it with Brewfather by the way.

I've been trying a few things tonight just to see if I can diagnose the issue. So far I've done the following steps:-
1, copied the polynomial from the first ispindel and it reported gravity on the iSpindel firmware page as it should (before it was stuck on one SG value no matter what angle you moved it to though reported the tilt angle) - conclusion - its not the hardware...its an issue with the polynomial.

2. substituted the first 'term' of the Degree 2 polynomial with the new polynomial, keeping the 2nd and 3rd the same. Result was that the gravity reading was stuck as before but on a different value. (by first term I mean the first set of numbers so the polynomial is [first term]+[second term]*tilt+[third term]*tilt*tilt)

3. reverted to the new polynomial number for the first term and repeated with the second term, so replacing the second term with the one from my first iSpindel. Result: it fired up and worked fine...was reading SG OK and it was changing with angle. Conclusion...seems to be an issue with the second term of the polynomial.

The first and the third term polynomial numbers are the same order of magnitude compared to those on my first iSpindel. However the second term is very different. In my first iSpindel the second term is 0.001733...... but in the polynomial for the new iSpindel it is 0.0000018......

I wonder if this is the issue, that the second polynomial is somehow out of range?

There are the same number of character in the whole polynomial string too.

I hope I've explained this clearly to anyone who's calibrated an iSpindel. Anyone out there able to help with this one?

Thanks.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I have updated my ispindel previously from 6.3 over the weekend and all seems to be working fine. Wi Fi relay i made also helping a lot.

Copying the polynomial should work if you have the same angles as the other one. This I think is unlikely given their variability of build.

When you access the ispindel network ie open it and press reset a couple of times and sign into ispindel network and go to info.

Do you see a temp ? probably yes

Do you see an angle? If you have nan then suggests broken / problem with the gyro.

If you want to use the polynomial from the first one ( assuming giving good readings ) do the maintenance and set the horizontal angle, you want the gyro completely horizontal and it should read near 90 degrees.
Then test in 20 celsius distilled water or tap water and look at the angle it should be near to 25 degrees ( within a couple) .
Adjust this angle by moving the sled up and down until it is the same angle as the other ispindels in the same water.

Don't forget to save.

Then copy the ispindel polynomial across from the other one.

Make sure you include all in quotes but not the quotes.

Then see what happens.

Further I would post on this thread / forum as it's a huge ispindel resource

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/ispindle-diy-electronic-hydrometer.598187/

 

[hoppyscotty]

Yep, see temp in both the info page on the iSpindel network and in Brewfather. Same with battery condition. And the tilt angle moved but SG was static and on brew father.

Did all the calibration stuff before I did the ten point calibration. Might just use the second term from the polynomial of my first ispindel and test it In sugar solution water at a couple of gravities to see if its close enough. I mainly use the ispendel to track the progress of fermentation rather than taking the gravity value, though it's pretty good on the first ispindel, so less concerned if its reading gravity 100% accurately.
Will keep an eye out for the other iSpindel thread in future. Thanks.

 

[gingerneil]

I'm not 100% sure, but the formula may need to be under a certain length. Try simplifying it a little to reduce the number of characters.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Thanks for that, but I already shortened the polynimial of the newer device to match the same length as that for the first one. Cant understand why it doesn't seem to like the second term of the polynomial. the only thing I can think of is there are some limits and the number has to be within those limits and for some reason the polynomial has exceeded it.

 

[gingerneil]

are you still back on 6.5.1 firmware ? I've never heard anyone else with your issue!

 

[ChrisT]

There was a limit on the length off the polynomial which I think was increased but can't remember which firmware version this happened. I think it was 120(?) characters but was increased to 250(?).

You could try and reduce the size of the string by removing the leading zeros, i.e. changing the 0.0000001 to 0.1E-6?

 

[hoppyscotty]

I was on v6.3.1 initially and last night upgraded to 6.5.1 (or whatever the latest and greatest is). Hope I've not stuffed up the calibration...can do without having to do that again! I might do a offset calibration again and check the 25 degree in water just to be sure there isn't an issue there but seems odd that the gravity number doesn't change with tilt angle even if all that were not bob on.

The only difference between the first calibration is that I made sure the gravity for each of the ten points was bob on the gravity (so 1.080, 1.070, 1.060 etc....) but this time I was a bit more relaxed and as I diluted the solution working my way down I got it to within say 5 points. Cant think how that would cause this issue, should have not made any significant impact.

Think I'll either simplify or round the second term in the polynomial or even just copy and paste the second term from the first ispindel polynomial and check accuracy in some sugar solution to see how far off it is. If its within a couple of gravity points that will be fine for me. Missed the tracking in my last brew and despise loosing the few hundred ml of beer over the few hydrometer readings I took!!

 

[ChrisT]

In your calibration string you don't really need anything more than 4 significant digits, at least to test and prove it's the string?

 

[hoppyscotty]

Thanks. Iteresting that 4dp's is good enough...or should be. I think I've proven its the string by taking the 2nd term from the string from my first iSpindel and substituting it and it appeared to work fine so seems to be something with that second term of the calibration string. Just not sure why.

 

[ChrisT]

Just to clarify, that 4 significant digits AFTER the leading zeros are removed. For example, 0.00000123456789 would be 1.234E-6, or even 0.1234E-5. You can do the same for the big numbers, 123456789 could be 1.234E+8.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Latest firmware is 7.1.2 Releases · universam1/iSpindel

I loaded this at weekend.

Note you lose all configuration if you flash this.

So record your polynomial before you flash and any other settings.

Has been working fine for 3 days so far since flashing.

 

[gingerneil]

I might have to start looking at v7.x - I've been sticking with 6.5.1 after reading a few issues with the new releases. Good to hear it working for you tho! I'll have to read through the change log to see what's been updated.

 

[jayk34]

Yep, see temp in both the info page on the iSpindel network and in Brewfather. Same with battery condition. And the tilt angle moved but SG was static and on brew father.

Did all the calibration stuff before I did the ten point calibration. Might just use the second term from the polynomial of my first ispindel and test it In sugar solution water at a couple of gravities to see if its close enough. I mainly use the ispendel to track the progress of fermentation rather than taking the gravity value, though it's pretty good on the first ispindel, so less concerned if its reading gravity 100% accurately.
Will keep an eye out for the other iSpindel thread in future. Thanks.

I moved from using brewspy which worked flawlessly to brewfather. I'm getting the same issue as you. The temperature and battery is being recorded on the graph and the angle is showing but not being converted.

On reading the docs, I think my issue is that I have to use the plato polynomial in the configuration of the iSpindel and brewfather will convert to specific gravity. Worth a try

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I might have to start looking at v7.x - I've been sticking with 6.5.1 after reading a few issues with the new releases. Good to hear it working for you tho! I'll have to read through the change log to see what's been updated.

I've read through the change log and await your translation to meaningful with interest.