Control Boxes

[brettprevans]

looks like a power sub station! maybe speak with the blokes knocking off all the copper coil!

seriously it would be an interesting 'side-business' to mack contreol boxes and sell them off to AHB members.

 

[Jono_w]

looks like a power sub station! maybe speak with the blokes knocking off all the copper coil!

seriously it would be an interesting 'side-business' to mack contreol boxes and sell them off to AHB members.

I have often thought about this, amongst other things, I don't think it would stay a "side business" for long, could get very involved..
A nice little box with a HLT and MLT PID controller outlets for each element and temp probe and a pump switch would be quite easy sell i would think.
Not sure on the regulations though..

 

[KGB]

Hi guys, just wondering where the best would be to find a control box like those pictured above? I presume you sparkies have got it sorted, but where should the rest of us go? As always, I'm keen for a bargain...!
Cheers
Dave

I bought most of the bits and pieces off Ebay and all up it's probably cost me $500

Otherwise you could try an electrical wholesaler like John R Turk etc

 

[ArnieW]

Here is another link to ArnieW's page which has a few auto brew machines hes made.

Ahh, interesting thread fellow brew geeks

I haven't done anything for ages with the site you quoted there Sammus, but I have been blogging here, mainly to keep track of my own thoughts, but also in case it is useful for anyone else. HERMAN continues to be a work in progress - so little time and so many beers to brew

cheers.

 

[ArnieW]

The one on the right is hooked up to the outlet temp of the mash tun and switches valves to either run recirculating wort through the Herms coil in the HLT, or bypass it to maintain mash temp.

Nice work Tony. The neatness of your wiring puts me to shame :huh:
What valves are you using - are they off the shelf or home-brew?

 

[bonj]

Here's mine. Pretty basic, but worked well in its maiden brew on Friday. Mashmaster HLT controller, switched so I can monitor the temp with the elements turned off. Another switch for the pump.

 

[alexbrand]

[...]last night i stumbled across a guy who has a PC program , from Germany i think, that even controls his gas burners!!

That one?




It's very simple. It's an old PC running w2k with an attatched relay board and a Dallas DS18S20 temperature sensor. The PC measures via COM-port the temp in the mash tun and in interaction with the reciepe it turns the gas burner via relayboard on or off. So I easily can fly through the mash steps. The software is self written. Also see Zwickel's setup?.

cheers,

Alex

 

[bugwan]

Sorry for the dumb questions guys...some seriously ignorant sparky knowledge here.

Firstly, I'm not going to do any mad wiring myself, but I am interested in learning more... In the image below, what exactly are the pieces I've highlighted with red boxes (Sorry Alex, by the way ).

I presume the simple ones are just like terminal blocks for joining wires, and some are obviously circuit breakers, SSRs, RCDs etc. I'm just trying to work out the flow of things from power into the box, through the various devices and back again. Are there any wiring diagrams floating around of people's control boxes that anyone would be willing to share?

Cheers
Dave

 

[NickB]

Could be well wrong with my limited knowledge, but the middle square looks like SSRs - Solid State Relays. Used to switch power on and off to high aperage devices such as pumps, elements etc.... Correct me if I'm wrong electrically knowledgeable people.... the majority of the others look like they're just conduits to connect cabling...again could be totally wrong!!!

Cheers

Nick (the hopeful, soon to be well informed, (potentially in the very near-future) apprentice Sparky )

 

[Jono_w]

Sorry for the dumb questions guys...some seriously ignorant sparky knowledge here.

Firstly, I'm not going to do any mad wiring myself, but I am interested in learning more... In the image below, what exactly are the pieces I've highlighted with red boxes (Sorry Alex, by the way ).

I presume the simple ones are just like terminal blocks for joining wires, and some are obviously circuit breakers, SSRs, RCDs etc. I'm just trying to work out the flow of things from power into the box, through the various devices and back again. Are there any wiring diagrams floating around of people's control boxes that anyone would be willing to share?

Cheers
Dave

View attachment 19036

A majority of the items you circled are just teminals. Such as the ones on the door with red wire going in and red wired out the bottom, used to join wires are isolated from each other and mount on a DIN rail...

The rest is best explained by Alexbrand..

 

[Zwickel]

I'm just trying to work out the flow of things from power into the box, through the various devices and back again. Are there any wiring diagrams floating around of people's control boxes that anyone would be willing to share?

Hi Dave,

Id like to show you my control box circuit diagram, its similar to Alex one:

Ive forgone all the manual switching devices, I trust my computer program entirely


Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[alexbrand]

Firstly, I'm not going to do any mad wiring myself, but I am interested in learning more... In the image below, what exactly are the pieces I've highlighted with red boxes (Sorry Alex, by the way ).

Hey Dave!

No problem! Actually, I don't have any wiring digram. I just had an idea what the machine should do after wiring...lol...



To your questions:

1, 2 and 4: This are all terminal blocks. I just put them in groups together to make the circuits visible to me.

3: the black box is the contacting unit for the black switch in the front paneel. It allows to choose between manual and PC controlled gas burner ignition. The grey box next to it is the contacting unit for the emergency switch (mains).

4: the very right thing (blue) just collects the neutral wires within the case, it's a big contact block. left from the blue block is the main fuse.left from the fuse again some terminals

5: the blue one is just a socket for a relay. This relay was not inserted at the moment the picture was taken. It allows me to sound a remote door bell (together with the black above therelay board) and a local mounted buzzer. This is used by the PC programme to alert the brewmaster in case of something.

Feel free to ask more.

A majority of the items you circled are just teminals. Such as the ones on the door with red wire going in and red wired out the bottom, used to join wires are isolated from each other and mount on a DIN rail...

Exactly!

Alex

 

[rh1an5]

simply wow, some of these are like miniature space stations. im surprised they dont also make eggs, and sms when teh bear is ready to drink

i love the idea of a mini computer, basicly because i can get code written for me, and owing a pc store for the last 5 years i have a lot of left over junk i need to do something with.

I am still waiting on my 'sample' temp probes to arrive and then will see what else i can get going.

the PID's seem like a great way to do things without teh need for software, does anyone know if teh PID's can also interface with a PC? for temp monitoring and logging etc?

ideally i suppose would be to create a system that does real time monitoring, logging, and temp control, that allows future expansion for controlling ball valves and flow

it would be awesome thought if someone wanted to start making these, im sure most members here would accept teh associated risks

ohh and thanks for teh wiring diagram Zwickel i can sort of understand how the whole pc card thing works a lot better now.

 

[bonj]

i love the idea of a mini computer, basicly because i can get code written for me, and owing a pc store for the last 5 years i have a lot of left over junk i need to do something with.

You're lucky there. I can write the code, but don't have access to the junk <_<

Not that I'd trust junk with my beer. A new mini itx board would be the way to go, imo. But then again, I prefer the hands on approach. I find it therapeutic.

 

[bugwan]

Excellent! Thanks very much for the responses guys, especially Alex, Jonathon and Zwickel (thanks to everyone else too of course ) - good to get some info from the guys who know best.

It looks like all my suspicions were confirmed with the numerous terminal blocks being my main query. The whole thing looks a bit daunting, but once you start tracing wires back, things are making sense. The contact block for neutral threw me, but makes a lot of sense when you think about it! Guess I've just got a curious mind. If I stop posting for more than a month though, it's probably because I've badly-wired my own control box and fried myself.

Will continue to be inspired, thanks again gents.

Dave.

 

[alexbrand]

i love the idea of a mini computer, basicly because i can get code written for me, and owing a pc store for the last 5 years i have a lot of left over junk i need to do something with.

You're lucky there. I can write the code, but don't have access to the junk <_<

Well, guys, get on soldering the brew machines...

But don't invent the wheel again. The Software Zwickel uses is called Bierbrauanlage, it is multilingual and released as freeware. It's written by Thomas, a mate of us in/from Brazil. And If someone wants to use mine - it shouldn't be a problem. It's not 100% perfect, yet. But it works.

Download Bierbrauanlage.


Cheers,

Alex

 

[rh1an5]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Switchboard_W0QQite...1QQcmdZViewItem

now thats a control panel

 

[Zwickel]

400Amp......

hmmm...reckoning 3 phases 400V.....scratch my head.....could be 160KW each phase...or at 240V it would be 96KW......could produce a bland climate in your house in winter time :lol:

 

[Tony]

Ahhhhhh its only a weeee little one! Ive built panels with $10 000 worth of terminal strip in them alone.

Add PLC's Soft starters, contactors and overloads and it gets very expensive very fast.

Building panels would be a good side buisness for brew geeks but i think there are too many variables between peoples breweries. They are like us.......... individuals, hence why its so rewarding to build your own. You couls dell them but people still need a sparkie to hook them up, and most household "light and powerpoint" sparkies will shit them selves and run at the mere sight of a SSR or Temperature controller.

As for the solenoids i use on my HERMS, they are Stainless Steel, 1/2" solenoids for fluid flow. They were "booked out to a job" a while back at one of my previous places of employment.

h34r:

I think they were about $400 each.

Raise bogus work order for repair of plant......... book out parts for repair........ close work order.

So i cant really help you with where to get them..... sorry

cheers

 

[pokolbinguy]

I think they were about $400 each.

Raise bogus work order for repair of plant......... book out parts for repair........ close work order.

That made me laugh so hard. Priceless!!!

Pok