Digiboil hacks

[Half-baked]

The Digiboil seems to be an increasingly popular urn option, as a low cost alternative to the Crown or Birko.

Out of the box it’s fine for basic BIAB, but for those of us looking at using the Digiboil with a PID, the control board complicates things.

I recently bought one and will shortly rewire to bypass the control board, and was slightly surprised that there didn’t seem to be a how-to guide anywhere.

I understand that there are a fair few people who have done so, and expect plenty more will do so, so thought it would be good to have a thread dedicated to this and other Digiboil hacks.

As a starter, here are some photos of the internal wiring to serve as a baseline/reference point:

 

[Half-baked]

Hoping to get a few more knowledgeable than me to look over the attached wiring diagram for a control panel bypass.

I’ll be using a Craftbeer Pi, so need it to be able to handle short pulses of electricity.

Still want to select the different elements and have the boil dry protection.

Will get this checked by a sparky before using...

 

[chi-brew]

Hey, did you get anywhere with this? I would also be interested in tinkering with a pie controlled version. More of a developer than an electronics guy but I can offer my assistance on the dev side.

 

[Half-baked]

Hi chi-brew, yes I did this as per the diagram.
It was checked by an electrician, and have been using it for six months now, but before starting my CBPi build I had zero electrical expertise (now I have slightly more than zero). So please don’t take my diagram to be safe - get anything you do checked.
I kind of wish I had wired the Digiboil to enable switching between the CBPi and it’s original board. Maybe I’ll take another look down the track...

 

[Trav82]

Hey I have a question for the group! Does anyone know what type of thermocouple the Digiboil uses?

I’m trying hook my K Type thermocouple to it and it’s reading an error - E2 short circuit.

The purpose is the have it read the temperature at the top of a still column vs. at the bottom of the pot.

Anyone ever done this before??

Thanks!

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Hey I have a question for the group! Does anyone know what type of thermocouple the Digiboil uses?

I’m trying hook my K Type thermocouple to it and it’s reading an error - E2 short circuit.

The purpose is the have it read the temperature at the top of a still column vs. at the bottom of the pot.

Anyone ever done this before??

Thanks!

The Digiboil uses a thermistor not a thermocouple so your k-type will never work in this application.

For distillation I am not sure of the difference between the boiler and the column is the best way to control the power. Would be keen to know more about how this logic works though as I am keen to see how you view this issue.

I am not sure that PID is really required but with that said it's fun to tinker and I enjoy doing this type of stuff too. I just get worried on public forums that when we talk about PID that some new brewers who are getting into the hobby for the first time think they need it because we talk about it. In reality PID for these small systems is totally overkill. So just wanted to make that clear for the record just incase any new home brewers are reading this post.

If we do start getting a lot of requests for Digiboil mods we are also happy to start manufacturing "modification kits" if you guys want us to do that. We do have a steel fabrication business called "FabLand" which we use to prototype new products as well as do outside fabrication jobs. So if you guys needed special covers made to fit CBPi units to a Digiboil we can assess the viability of making this into a kit for you guys if that is what you want us to do.

 

[sp0rk]

For distillation I am not sure of the difference between the boiler and the column is the best way to control the power. Would be keen to know more about how this logic works though as I am keen to see how you view this issue.

Reading at the head of the column to control power is a very bad idea
temps can fluctuate along the column, so this will lead to the boiler coming off boil, your reflux will drop and you'll get horrible smearing through your fractions
You guys already sell the perfect solution, a voltage controller
Set the digiboil to 100c, drop the voltage to the point where you have a slow trickle of product and that's ALL you need
Controlling still via a PID is a fools game and it doesn't work on our scale

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Reading at the head of the column to control power is a very bad idea
temps can fluctuate along the column, so this will lead to the boiler coming off boil, your reflux will drop and you'll get horrible smearing through your fractions
You guys already sell the perfect solution, a voltage controller
Set the digiboil to 100c, drop the voltage to the point where you have a slow trickle of product and that's ALL you need
Controlling still via a PID is a fools game and it doesn't work on our scale

Yes I would tend to agree everything that sp0rk has said here.

 

[cedric]

Hey I have a question for the group! Does anyone know what type of thermocouple the Digiboil uses?

I’m trying hook my K Type thermocouple to it and it’s reading an error - E2 short circuit.

The purpose is the have it read the temperature at the top of a still column vs. at the bottom of the pot.

Anyone ever done this before??

Thanks!

you are aware that you cannot control the temp of a distillation?
you can control the amount of power applied to the boiler, that controls the rate of boil, that in turn controls the rate of output.
any/most systems that cycles power on & off according to temp will result in smearing and also collapse the fractioning/EQ of the column if you are refluxing.