Fox Den Brewing - Electric Control Panel Build

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Yep definitely the 5-star ones. Do you know if the wiring enclosure has a ground point to simply screw a ring clamp on to or similar? Don't want to have to drill the pwetty stainless. But keen to not run the keg king ones that came on the rig given the feedback/experiences on here, mine are the original version too, so no improvements incorporated whatsoever. I did consider camco and building an enclosure myself, but figure the extra $30ish to just get 5-star is $30 well spent on bling

Electrician coming over today, fingers crossed I can get the 32A I desire!!!

 

[mofox1]

I'll bung some pics up later, the hlt camco element rusts up regularly, but the one in the kettle doesn't, probably due to the acidic environment of the wort?

Def a stainless base for the hlt if you can manage it.

 

[MastersBrewery]

I'll bung some pics up later, the hlt camco element rusts up regularly, but the one in the kettle doesn't, probably due to the acidic environment of the wort?

Def a stainless base for the hlt if you can manage it.

Brewhardware.com came up with an updated SS version, now I don't know if that's what you have , certainly doesn't sound like it, so only posting so if you consider upgrading/changing due to the rust issues you have another option, they have 5500w wavey ones and others .

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Cheers for info on SS, 5 star it is then!
Got 32A to my shed, didnt even need a new cable it already had a 6mm^2!!!
Will order the elements this week and get a dedicated 15A port for my 3600W elememts put in a few weeks

 

[mofox1]

Some updates on the elements....

As can be seen in pics below, the base of the camco elements can rust up, although it seems less susceptible when in contact with the wort. At around $25 they were a good deal, but require a bit of cleaning if you don't like rust.

I'm not sure it matters that much, but any replacement elements will be a stainless steel base.

Kettle:


HLT:

 

[mofox1]

Numbers all dialed in - calibrated & re-autotuned.

Happy with this - mash tun went from ~55 to 66 in about 10 min, and ends up lagging the HLT coil by only 0.1 to 0.2 degC.

Also found that my house hot water is around the 60 odd degree mark, so I just tip (most) of a cube into the esky, tip the grains in with a bit of stirring, and while that's settling in I add two cubes of hot water into the HLT and hit the lights. Pretty much all sorted from a water temp point of view.

Only started the brew day at 2pm today, and mash is now finished.

Right, back to work....

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Hey Mick, how's the brewventures of late? I'm thinking of going this route (Electric Brewery panel) from scratch. I can't fathom learning Arduino code and building a web interface to use the panel with Arduino Mega that I currently have.

• NEMA twist locks - where from? China ebay? How are they faring now quality wise given you've used this a fair bit since the build?
• Switches/buttons/lights - any quality issues?
• PID's - what type are these? Do you have the full mash steps/times pre-programmed and then just start a mash off where you need it to start for a given beer, or do you just program each mash in for each brew day?
• Safe start interlock - is this simply just to ensure nothing will be turned on when you fire up even if switches are inadvertently in the on position?

 

[mofox1]

Hey deej. Brewventures are good... soon to acquire droids 76L SS Brewtech pot to replace the esky mash tun

The NEMA twist locks were from Amazon/EBay... all american sellers. Dunno if it's still relevant, but these sellers:
eBay – frwoodworking
eBay – thunderduck214
eBay – plourdestoolbox
Amazon (Leviton)

No probs at all with them. They're solid, and the twist lock biz is good.

No real issues with the components... I did break some of the pilot lights during the build, but that was more due to me over tightening. PIDs are Sestos, great units esp for price. Likely identical clones of the Auber PID. Not the ramp/soak (step mash) model, but I haven't found that a problem, it's plenty easy to hit up a few times during a mash when my phone sings at me.

I think the safe start interlock is a good idea... I have accidentally turned the system on before with pump switches on, not elements tho, but I feel a bit better in the sense I can't have a situation where I might dry fire accidentally.

Things I would change:
- Scrap the timer and reset button (I use my phone most times)
- Scrap the alarming (and alarm switches) from the pids, I don't use it. Note - I do use the alarm to sound if I (try to) turn on both elements at once.
- I would add a path for the HLT element control circuit that goes through the water pump switch, whereby the element can only activate if the water pump is on (HLT temp probe is on outlet of HLT, thus need water flow for temp measurement). The opposite path would energise the alarm if the element switch is turned on, and the pump switch is off.
- In terms of overall design a tippy bucket approach for at least the mash and boil would be awesome. Removable plugs into the kettle/hlt would have been great but I couldn't find any solution I was happy with.

Also bigger bench, bigger pots, 3 phase...

Edit - power plug into the control panel is a bit unnecessary and could be scrapped to save at least $50 or more.

 

[takai]

Do you remember the supplier for the 80a 240v relays? I can only find ones with 24v coils, and although i could make that LV, it would be the only thing in the box to be LV and hence seems like a waste.

 

[mofox1]

I got them from eBay seller au.deal, they don't look like they still sell them. But same item everywhere... relay model/type is JQX-62F-2Z, 80A 250VAC, 220VAC Coil.

Search for "JQX-62F-2Z 80A 220V Coil" in ebay/ali comes up with the same units.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/JQX-62F-2Z-DPDT-High-Power-Relay-220V-AC-Coil-80A-250V-AC-30V-DC/1969245256.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.37.IE7MXD&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_2,searchweb201603_1&btsid=9032dac1-5115-4413-9e62-8db3a034e187

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/JQX-62F-2Z-80A-220V-Coil-High-Power-Relay-220V-AC-/290754133193?hash=item43b24bfcc9:g:HZMAAOxyThVTZ0VM

 

[takai]

Thanks for that, no idea why it wasnt coming up earlier with the same search terms. eBay seems to be getting even more finicky.

Much appreciated.