iSpindel

[sifty]

Calibrated mine yesterday and have it running via Brewfather. It's actually going well inside a sealed s/s fermenter, inside a brew fridge. Surprised but happy at that. Only a test run, should have a brew going some time this week...

 

[Marcale]

Hi,

I have an iSpindel which, I built from a kit, I have now used it for four brews. I have set up a dashboard on Ubidots, see example of brew attached image, and I am happy with that.

I do have a problem however, in that the angle at which it tilts is 13° considerably lower than 25°. I glued a nut to the top of the tube but that only got me to 20° and I really was not happy with this arrangement, but continued to use it. I have now removed the nut and have attempted to glue strips of lead into the top of the tube on the battery side. I can only get the tilt up to 17°, any more lead and it sinks. The board will not go any higher in the tube.

I don’t think that the lack of tilt is due to poor soldering, it is pretty neat. Maybe the battery is too heavy.

Also readings are a bit erratic when fermentation is vigorous krausen seems to deposit on it, and no doubt bubbles also affect it.

Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[gingerneil]

What battery are you using, and what PCB design? The Cherry Philips that I use need a battery as closed to 44g as possible.

 

[sifty]

I meant to update my experience with my one (sourced from @gingerneil) Been working perfectly over a couple of brews. So good being able to keep an eye on things when out of town. The value doesn't match measured exactly so may have to have another go at calibrating, but perfectly usable atm.

 

[sifty]

Above temp looks a bit wonky but have since taped sensor to fermenter under a foam pad and control is much better. (I also changed SP a few times, and had just started cold crash when I took that screenshot)...

 

[Marcale]

What battery are you using, and what PCB design? The Cherry Philips that I use need a battery as closed to 44g as possible.

Hi,
Thanks for such a quick reply.
- Battery NCR18650B, no brand, light green and black, made in Japan, 48g
- Board Cherryphilip v 4.0.

 

[Marcale]

What battery are you using, and what PCB design? The Cherry Philips that I use need a battery as closed to 44g as possible.

48g when fully charged so it may be less when empty.

 

[gingerneil]

- Battery NCR18650B, no brand, light green and black, made in Japan, 48g

Thats probably your issue - that's pretty heavy.

I meant to update my experience with my one (sourced from @gingerneil)

Excellent!

 

[Marcale]

I have ordered a 42g battery, I will report back once received. Gingerneil, Thanks for your advice.

 

[gingerneil]

You have to be REALLHY careful with these batteries - so many dodgy fakes about. I get mine from Fogstar or 18650.uk

 

[Marcale]

Limited for choice here in Philippines. I will see what I get. What are the problems with “dodgy fakes”?

 

[Marcale]

….and what brand would you recommend.

 

[gingerneil]

Just have a google for 18650 fakes... I would use LG, Samsung, Molicel. However, the source you buy them from is probably more important as you're more likely to get a genuine battery.
https://www.fogstar.co.uk/blogs/fogstar-blog/how-to-identify-a-fake-battery

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Hi,

I have an iSpindel which, I built from a kit, I have now used it for four brews. I have set up a dashboard on Ubidots, see example of brew attached image, and I am happy with that.

I do have a problem however, in that the angle at which it tilts is 13° considerably lower than 25°. I glued a nut to the top of the tube but that only got me to 20° and I really was not happy with this arrangement, but continued to use it. I have now removed the nut and have attempted to glue strips of lead into the top of the tube on the battery side. I can only get the tilt up to 17°, any more lead and it sinks. The board will not go any higher in the tube.

I don’t think that the lack of tilt is due to poor soldering, it is pretty neat. Maybe the battery is too heavy.

Also readings are a bit erratic when fermentation is vigorous krausen seems to deposit on it, and no doubt bubbles also affect it.

Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

You need to increase the buoyancy, I now see you are using a cherry philip 4.0
Can you slide the whole unit up in the petling so it's nearer the top? Often not enough clearance for this.
If not move the battery up towards the lid a bit if it's held by a cable tie if not might need to desolder and resolder the battery holder. It won't need to move far. It's easier to add a bit of weight in the base to correct it if it's at 35 degrees after you move the battery than adjust the top end with weights.
I don't bother to weigh any of the batteries that I've used and they have all balanced with some needing more fiddling than others.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I meant to update my experience with my one (sourced from @gingerneil) Been working perfectly over a couple of brews. So good being able to keep an eye on things when out of town. The value doesn't match measured exactly so may have to have another go at calibrating, but perfectly usable atm. View attachment 52473

I find that when calibrated accurately and used in something that doesn't top ferment and isn't under pressure ( such as a wine ) it's super accurate.
But as soon as krausen pressure come into play all bets are off and it will just show the trend and the temp is always accurate.
I like brewspy because you can put in the real hydrometer reading at the start and it makes two graphs.

 

[Marcale]

You need to increase the buoyancy, what board are you using?
Can you slide the whole unit up in the petling so it's nearer the top? Often not enough clearance for this.
If not move the battery up towards the lid a bit if it's held by a cable tie ( for some boards or if on 3d sled ) if not might need to desolder and resolder the battery holder. It won't need to move far. It's easier to add a bit of weight in the base to correct it being at 35 degrees than adjust the top end.
If on 3d print sled you can drill the sled to reduce the weight and change the balance. Again don't worry if goes more than 25 degrees as you can add weight easily to fine tune.

Hi,
Thanks for your thoughts.
- Cherryphilip v 4.0;
- It is as far up in the pelting as it will go;
- There is only about 2mm between the battery sled and the bottom resistor, so there is little scope for moving the battery;
- There maybe some scope for removing some plastic from the sled. I am not sure how much can be removed or whether this would be enough. I will think about this before leaping into action.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

okay I've had a look at the video here iSpindel Assembly - Cherry Philip | Open Source Distilling
for making your board and can see that the resistor could be an issue. Assume you have a surface mount battery holder or modded as per this video?

You should be ablet to drill some holes in the battery holder to lighten it. You wont lose a lot of weight with this but some. Make sure it has end to end strength and that the bits that clip the battery in are strong enough. But this might help.
Looks like the component the holder would catch on is the BAT 42 diode. Not sure if you can trim anything off the bit of the battery holder that would butt up against the diode to give you scope for moving it up.
A photo would help perhaps.
I've only built the breadboard and 3d sled ispindels and then moved to the opensource distilling pcb which was miles better than the original design I built.

We can work it out though.

 

[Marcale]

okay I've had a look at the video here iSpindel Assembly - Cherry Philip | Open Source Distilling
for making your board and can see that the resistor could be an issue. Assume you have a surface mount battery holder or modded as per this video?

You should be ablet to drill some holes in the battery holder to lighten it. You wont lose a lot of weight with this but some. Make sure it has end to end strength and that the bits that clip the battery in are strong enough. But this might help.
Looks like the component the holder would catch on is the BAT 42 diode. Not sure if you can trim anything off the bit of the battery holder that would butt up against the diode to give you scope for moving it up.
A photo would help perhaps.
I've only built the breadboard and 3d sled ispindels and then moved to the opensource distilling pcb which was miles better than the original design I built.

We can work it out though.

Hi,
Thanks again for you input.
See attached photo. I use the piece of fishing line at the top for extracting the board from the pelting.
Your comments have activated my turnip. I plan to remove the sled weigh it and then see just how much of it I can remove, particularly at the bottom, without affecting its primary function. Also thinking about removing all plastic and using small cable ties to hold battery in place.
May not be today though as it’s SWMBO’s birthday and I promised her Butter Chicken with all the trimmings.
I will report on how it goes.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Hope you have a good cook session and a happy birthday ensues.

Photo is good, looks like scope to move the battery holder up a mm or so which will make a surprising difference.

But given that there is a spring to make the contact at each end of the battery if you can pack the bit between the negative spring end and the holder you would actually move the battery up a mm or so, I'd try that first. Perhaps a bit of plastic or lolly stick might do it.

Let us know how it goes when you have had a play.

 

[Marcale]

Hope you have a good cook session and a happy birthday ensues.

Photo is good, looks like scope to move the battery holder up a mm or so which will make a surprising difference.

But given that there is a spring to make the contact at each end of the battery if you can pack the bit between the negative spring end and the holder you would actually move the battery up a mm or so, I'd try that first. Perhaps a bit of plastic or lolly stick might do it.

Let us know how it goes when you have had a play.

Hi All,
Thanks to you all (and Heath Robinson) I have found a solution, not elegant but robust and workable.
Removed the battery sled and played around with drilling holes in it, and gave up when another idea popped into mind. Took the metal contact inserts out of the sled and soldered them back into place. I then reinforced them with some hot glue and trimmed it when dry to make it neater. Next, I cut a couple of grooves in each side of the board to facilitate the use of cable ties to hold the battery in place. This worked but the connection to the battery was a little bit shaky, so I added a cable tie that pulled the contacts into place. See images attached.
I now know that a tiny vertical movement makes a significant change to tilt angle. (I didn’t have this option with “heavy” original.j
I have jockeyed around with the up and down travel to get close to 25°. I then put a blob of hot glue at between the top of the board and the tube to anchor it. Next step to calibrate (tomorrow) and make naan bread (curry done).
Busy morning with a good result thanks to all your help.
I need a beer!