Temperature logging & control seizure.. but web interface looks fine on DIY Arduino build

[avocado]

I noticed today that my brewpi web interface was saying “cooling” but I could not hear the fridge compressor. So I did some digging.

Before I reset arduino: everything LOOKS ok (apart from the previous time this issue happened where you can see the gap) - you wouldn’t be able to notice anything was wrong until you hovered to see the last time data was logged noticing a gap in data:

Picture of board before reset:

LCD corruption as an added bonus:

After hard-resetting arduino:

noticeable “gap” in logging, with Beer and Fridge now showing actual temp

LCD after reset, corruption resolved:

Logs dont tell me too much - except there was a wifi failure right around the time it quit logging. Maybe my cheap-o wifi adapter is the issue? I thought that once you hit “run script” the web interface was not needed to feed data to the arduino…

Dec 15 2016 09:43:04 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 17: Positive peak detected: 77.0, estimated: 74.3. Previous heat estimator: 63.998, New heat estimator: 63.998.
Dec 15 2016 09:45:39 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.43
Dec 15 2016 09:49:29 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.44
Dec 15 2016 09:53:19 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.45
Dec 15 2016 09:57:10 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.46
Dec 15 2016 10:01:00 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.47
Dec 15 2016 10:04:50 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.48
Dec 15 2016 10:08:41 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.49
Dec 15 2016 10:12:31 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.5
Dec 15 2016 10:16:22 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.51
Dec 15 2016 10:17:49 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 18: Negative peak detected: 35.1, estimated: 33.3. Previous cool estimator: 3.385, New cool estimator: 2.709.
Dec 15 2016 10:20:12 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.52
Dec 15 2016 10:24:03 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.53
Dec 15 2016 10:27:53 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.54
Dec 15 2016 10:31:43 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.55
Dec 15 2016 10:35:34 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.56
Dec 15 2016 10:39:24 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.57
Dec 15 2016 10:43:14 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.58
Dec 15 2016 10:47:05 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 49.59
BrewPi: wifiChecker: Attempt 1 to reach 192.168.0.1 failed (Thu Dec 15 14:50:12 MST 2016)
Dec 16 2016 00:00:00 Notification: New day, creating new JSON file.
Dec 16 2016 11:48:13 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 53.49
Dec 16 2016 11:48:31 controller debug message: INFO MESSAGE 12: Received new setting: beerSet = 53.5

Any thoughts on where I can start troubleshooting?

Thank you all for any help or direction - this community (and web forum) has been an indispensable resource for me and my tinkering allies

Avo

[Elco]

This is a hardware issue. Low power or interference.

If you are using mechanical relays, replace them with SSRs, they can cause this when they switch. SSRs switch on a zero crossing and cause much less interference and spikes.

[rpt]

I use mechanical relays with no issues. I suspect your problem is the PSU for the Raspberry Pi. The Wifi adapter needs quite a lot of power and if you are not using a powered hub it may be too much for the power supply.

[Raptor]

I would also suspect the PSU - I was recently getting probe disconnect issues and hanging wifi - after checking out my wiring (all OK) - I looked at the PSU that I got with the Pi. Turns out it wasn’t supplying enough power so I swapped it for another and no more issues.

[avocado]

Thank you! I got a replacement adapter and wifi dongle to see if that helps… will report back with results. Cheers !

[avocado]

Thanks for the reply! Can you tell me what you mean by powered hub? The only power i have is going into the raspberry pi - the arduino is powered by usb cable that is connected to pi

[rpt]

I mean a powered USB hub. If you plug a device, such as a Wifi dongle, into one of the Raspberry Pi’s USB ports then it draws its power from the same PSU as the Pi. It’s possible that the total current drawn is too much for the PSU to cope with. If you plug a powered USB hub into the Pi and then plug the Wifi dongle into the hub, then the dongle is powered by the hub’s PSU, reducing the load on the Pi’s power supply.

[avocado]

I purchased a new 2.5A adapter and a different Wifi dongle and my issues have gone away. My method wasn’t necessarily scientific (replacing two things at once) so I don’t know exactly what was wrong - but at least I can now brew up my Czech Pilsner with peace of mind. Thanks again all - Prost!

Avo