Automating A Brewery

[Doogiechap]

A question for all you automation gear-head types... can someone pls give me some advice on whether this unit would be suitable?

I'm looking for a couple of solenoid valves, in the first instance I'm wanting one to run a HERMS unit, where a low temp reading in the mash tun will trigger the solenoid valve to be opened and recirculate through the HERMS unit. To my simple mind, this unit is s/s, it's 1/2" like the rest of the system, it's normally closed and is temp rated to 80C - a safe temp margin more than I will be running from the mash tun. :huh:

few
Ant, they look a little bit like the solenoid valve that I replaced in my gas oven a months ago. It had a plunger with a rubber foot that sealed the input chamber from the output duct. If the design of this unit is anything similar I would think that you could have sealing problems with bits of husk etc. You could always contact the seller to see if they have engineering specs for these
Cheers
Doug

 

[ArnieW]

few
Ant, they look a little bit like the solenoid valve that I replaced in my gas oven a months ago. It had a plunger with a rubber foot that sealed the input chamber from the output duct. If the design of this unit is anything similar I would think that you could have sealing problems with bits of husk etc. You could always contact the seller to see if they have engineering specs for these
Cheers
Doug

I'd echo Doug's comments - the cheaper units have a very small opening which is vulnerable in a brewing environment. The larger opening valves usually have some kind of motor that will rotate the valve stem rather than push a plunger.

 

[ant]

Good advice gents, thanks. Thought I might be on a winner there, but not to be - as you both rightly pointed out; they have a rubber "NBR" seal.

Back to scouring sites and reading up on what I want...


EDIT: if the key downside of these valves would be the potential to get grain husk etc stuck - wouldn't an inline filter like this do the job? I'm guessing that if the wort is coming out from below the false bottom, there shouldn't be too much large material. This just seems like a more affordable (ie several hundred $) alternative than some of the other valves...

 

[Zizzle]

Has anyone run their brewery with gate valves?

Arnie, I know you were experimenting with them.

1/4 turn ball vales need much more torque to turn than the 4 turn gate valve.

 

[ArnieW]

Has anyone run their brewery with gate valves?

Arnie, I know you were experimenting with them.

1/4 turn ball vales need much more torque to turn than the 4 turn gate valve.

My brewery is running with them, but not yet automated. I've chosen them because they don't have nasty cavities inside a ball valve to get festy. They should also be easier to automate because as you say they require less torque, and with the config I've got should be a simple direct drive.

 

[Zizzle]

Excellent.

Just looking at the gate valve, it looks pretty easy to pull out the gate and clean.

But I've been looking at other peoples' brew rigs and haven't seen many (any?) gate valves in use.

One good thing about ball valves I would miss though, is being able to tell if the valve is open or closed at a glance.

 

[Jye]

Im trying to resist this thread but am slowly being sucked in

Is there some way of freeing the gate and allowing it to slide up and down? If this is the case can you then use an actuator to open and close it?

I dont have one at home to play with so Im putting it out there for you guys.

 

[twenty]

i appologise for dragging an oldish thread up but this one is cool and it saves me starting another.

Im heading down this path as well, but jaycar dont supply the 1n5818 schottky diode required. They do sell the 1n5819 schottky diode. are these interchangeable?

 

[Zizzle]

If you mean for the DS1820 serial port circuit then yes, pretty much any schottky diode will do.

 

[twenty]

thansk zizzle much appreciated

 

[balls]

[


ArnieW, unfortunatly gate valves will have traces of product hidden in the housing once shut. The only valve that will have the least amount of contact surface hidden is a butterfly valve. I don't know if these are made smaller that 1/2inch s/s. The most important thing is that you can clean it properly without pulling it all to bits! Cheers

 

[beerbrewer76543]

Hey all,

Im thinking about automating my HERMS unit (when I get around to building it)

I'm wondering if this would be suitable
Temp Relay Controller

Also, I was hoping to find some solenoid valves that would be suitable, perhaps like these:Blackwoods 1/2 inch solenoid valve

Any advise?

Cheers

 

[mxd]

I've gone for K190 - 4 Channel Temperature Monitor & Controller from http://www.ozitronics.com/, bought a few SSR's, same ds1820's now just need to build it and write same code

Probably move to a PID

 

[Banshee]

I've gone for K190 - 4 Channel Temperature Monitor & Controller from http://www.ozitronics.com/, bought a few SSR's, same ds1820's now just need to build it and write same code

Probably move to a PID

Looks good.
How do you do temp. steps?
How do you program it so it turns on at 7am to 50c then when target is reached hold for 20mins then up to 66c and hold for 60 mins then to MO temp and hold for 10 mins then sound an alarm so that i can then manualy rediect the wort to my kettle and get my sparge arm in place to rock'n'roll.

Do you need to write a new program or can you edit the existing software that comes with it and add the commands I want? I'm not a programer but am clue-E. How hard is it to make a new GUI?

 

[Doogiechap]

Hey all,

Im thinking about automating my HERMS unit (when I get around to building it)

I'm wondering if this would be suitable
Temp Relay Controller

Also, I was hoping to find some solenoid valves that would be suitable, perhaps like these:Blackwoods 1/2 inch solenoid valve

Any advise?

Cheers

Bloke you will find a few users of the BCS-460 on this forum. A search will bring a couple of opinions.
As far as the solenoids valves are concerned they will be fine for your HLT water, you may find that the valves will struggle to seal/ seat properly with any fine particles in the liquid.
Good luck with your project bloke !
Cheers
Doug

 

[schooey]

As far as the solenoids valves are concerned they will be fine for your HLT water, you may find that the valves will struggle to seal/ seat properly with any fine particles in the liquid.

I use pilot operated solenoid valves in my brewery. If you are using a standard domed false bottom, just cut a circle of termimesh about 20mm bigger in diameter than the FB and put it under the FB in your mash tun. This is what I did, and now I can still have a pretty fine crack and I get a normal mash bed with a fine layer between the FB and the termimesh. Consequently, my clarity of wort to the kettle has improved along with a couple of extra points of efficiency and no issues with the solenoid valves.

Just don't forget to put the FB in, because that doesn't end in a fairy tale I can assure you first hand