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Thread: Combining hobbies - atmospheric pressure compensating temperature device

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Plymouth, CT
    Posts
    46

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    Quote Originally Posted by darkmachine View Post
    I probably would have purchased all the parts to build a setup but when I went hunting for the barometric sensor and the probe I found them easy enough the problem was every place I looked the screen that I wanted was either out of stock or discontinued. I really wanted to do like a 4 in touch screen in monochrome. The chip that I have is an Arduino clone called a sanguino it has more IO but a standard Arduino probably has more than enough inputs to do a draw off monitor stack temperature and a few other things to boot. I hear you about the screwdriver I think you could use them in just about everything in the sugar Bush for monitoring and do it for a fraction of the cost of what is charged by the big companies. I've been doing some research on Lora radios they seem like a perfect fit for remote pump stations and vacuum pressure monitoring.
    I don't have any need for a remote monitoring setup, but I'm stunned by what they sell for versus what they'd take to make!

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Wardensville, Wv
    Posts
    322

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    Its the premium between kit you may need to tinker with, and an appliance that just works out of the box. There is a market for people who want to assemble their own from online instructions, also a market for those who aren't comfortable with a soldering iron but don't have 100,000 taps to justify the expense, and the operation that is large enough that manpower is more of a cost that some automation control. I know as the number of taps i put in increases, my available time doesn't increase, lol. Adding a few things here and there allows one guy to manage the whole shebang. At just short of 400 taps, i'm at my limit for what i can maintain, collect, boil, and can. In order to buy some time back I have to put an RO on the shopping list...and the drawoff was a life saver this season....just feed the fire and pump sap.

    I'd like to put in two automated 12v pumping stations next season with some LORA radio's that let me know how they are operating, rig a monitoring setup for my main vacuum pump. It would save me hours each day switching on and checking things, time i could be boiling!
    2023 - 38 Gallons - RO broke, Buckets didn't run, rebuilt vacuum pump mid-season, still made good syrup!
    2022 - 52 Gallons - DIY RO, 50% less fuel, no late nights in the shack!
    2021 - 48 Gallons - new pans, new arch, lots of new taps and tubing
    2020 - 32 Gallons
    2019 - 27 Gallons

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
    Location
    Corbeil, Ont
    Posts
    92

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    Certainly not nearly advanced as your idea. But my automation includes smart plugs and an echo dot. I control my 2 pumps from my phone while nice and cozy in the sugar shack. Can also control the pump heater from the phone but have it set to come on at -1C. I have a Wyze cam in there to see the levels and check for major leaks when pumping.
    Saves me a hundred trips up and down the hill to either turn pump on and off or bring it up to the garage to keep it from freezing.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Plymouth, CT
    Posts
    46

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    Quote Originally Posted by 4Walls View Post
    Certainly not nearly advanced as your idea. But my automation includes smart plugs and an echo dot. I control my 2 pumps from my phone while nice and cozy in the sugar shack. Can also control the pump heater from the phone but have it set to come on at -1C. I have a Wyze cam in there to see the levels and check for major leaks when pumping.
    Saves me a hundred trips up and down the hill to either turn pump on and off or bring it up to the garage to keep it from freezing.
    I know a few people that aim a camera at their setup and use smart switches to monitor things while at work. It's a simple way to use ubiquitous technology.

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