Mashplan with Spark 3

1

Hi all,
I am a pretty new hobby brewer since 2020. I already implemented Spark 3 into my brewing infrastructure (kettle power and agitator) to switch them on and of. In the next step I want to implement a mashplan like an example

  1. Step. 45°C rest for 30 min.
  2. Step. 62°C for 20 min.
  3. Step. 72°C for 30 min.
  4. Step. 78°C for 0 min. mash off
    During each hesting up period, agitator should be started.
    Does anybody could give me sone tips to realize this process?
    Thanks in advance
    Konni
2

Implementation of an automated mash step block is still on the to-do list (the setpoint profile does not wait until the target temperature is reached).
A workaround is to use a Setpoint profile, and add the time it will take to heat your mash between steps. This means setting the setpoint to 62*C for 20 mins + time required to heat 45*C → 62*C.

For the agitator, the most elegant solution would be to use a Logic Actuator. You can configure this to turn on the agitator whenever the heating PWM is active (output > X%).

3

Thanks for the quick reply. Do you have a rough target date for the setpoint profile?

4

It’s pretty much the first feature after we have dealt with any and all firmware bugs introduced by the Spark 4.

I’m not sure how long that will be. We’re currently chasing a mysterious hangup, so it depends on how soon we manage to reproduce and fix that.

1 Like
5

I know that this might seem unconstructive, but yet I have to give my point of view on this post.

Mash schedule has been just around the corner since I bought my first Spark1. Then I bought Spark 3 with the promise that it really was due in a few months. Atm version 4 has been released and yet no focus on mashing until…? its sucky to have good hardware just laying in the drawer for years with a broken promise. No need for the “its fine for mashing as it is”, because I have tons of messages before and after new hardware releases that tells me step mash etc. is high prio now.

Imo it would have been a more fair/better solution to fulfill the promises made to the early adopters, before adding more time into developing new hardware.

I like your stainless hardware and used it for the last 3 HERMS build that I made for others because it keeps what it promises.

Best regards from an old grumpy man

6

Mash scheduling has been a somewhat unfortunate feature when it comes to implementation.

It’s part of the feature set for the automation service, and was implemented there. It had to go back on the to-do list when we pulled the plug on the automation service itself.

At that point it was decided that mash scheduling would be best implemented as a block on the controller, and not a service-side routine.

We’ll have to respectfully disagree on the relative importance of mash scheduling and Spark hardware.
The Spark as a product was unavailable for a significant time because the global chip shortage meant that a new Spark 3 run would have 18 months lead time.

While the absence of firmware mash scheduling is annoying, installing Brewblox at all is virtually pointless without a Spark.

As a company, we’re exceedingly transparent about what we’re working on. This also means we don’t pretend that everything ends up according to plan.

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7

Is this part of an issue I’m experiencing? Sudden loss of all sensors and/or setpoint profile disapearing (pressing F5 seems to reload everything for some time)

8

The issue is described in this topic: Spark 3 hangs every few hours. If a UI reload brings it back, it’s likely not the same.

That said, could you please run brewblox-ctl log? I’ll take a look at what’s happening.