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.