Intro and Gear show-off

[xmanmcgee]

HI all,
Getting to the end of my equipment setup and thought it would be good to share.
This is my second go at a 2V + HERMS. Started with a Cheeky Peak 50lt setup and now moved to this. Mostly brew IPAs ATM, so setup works well for that.
Only 1x hose change for the day. Tried to keep most of the equipment Tri clamp for ease of use and cleaning.

Equipment list.
HLT
70ltr CP with a brewpi HERMs coil.
Riptide pump circulates the HLT and is then used for sparging.
Mash tun
20gal SS Brewtech
spike pump can circulate in tun or between tun/kettle using 2x 3way valves.
Kettle
Gas fired (Mongolian NG 23 burner)
95ltr CP kettle
brewhardware whirlpool fittings
Custom trub guard

extras
CP counter flow heat exchanger
CP 2in inline filter
Custom SS stands
Fermenters are Malt Mechanics 60ltr with a 2in Tri Clamp fitting in the lid for dry hopping with the kegland hop bong.

Electronics
Arduino based controller.
3x PT100 temp sensor
3D designed and printed control box (power in that box is only 5v - High power box located rear/under HLT)
Arduino can control 2x PID outputs (currently only running 1x 2400w for HLT)
Temp controllers can be either PID or Power (via slow form PWM)
Has custom timer/countdown function and controls pumps on/off plus auto pump function (pump on when temp drops below setpoint)

 

[Grok]

Nice brewing rig, but I would be creating ventilation holes and maybe a fan as well in that power box. SSR generate plenty of heat when they are dealing with high currents, and from what I can see, its got nowhere to go inside that sealed box.

 

[xmanmcgee]

yeah i was something i was conscious of during the build. Compromise between venting the box and potential for water ingress during use. The heat sink is bolted to a stainless backing plate, which is bolted to the base (Stainless) of the brew stand.
Ive been monitoring heat and after a few brews now there is no signs internal of heat related problems. I could probably add a thermal cutoff circuit should the heat sink get over heated.

 

[bdkelly.nz]

yeah i was something i was conscious of during the build. Compromise between venting the box and potential for water ingress during use. The heat sink is bolted to a stainless backing plate, which is bolted to the base (Stainless) of the brew stand.
Ive been monitoring heat and after a few brews now there is no signs internal of heat related problems. I could probably add a thermal cutoff circuit should the heat sink get over heated.

Stainless is not a very good heatsink, I would have used a nice thick piece of aluminium.

 

[xmanmcgee]

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[xmanmcgee]

Stainless is not a very good heatsink, I would have used a nice thick piece of ayounme

You mean like the big aluminium heat sink the SSR is connected. I think the point above was the potential for heating the closed/unventilated box regardless of heat sink materal may cause issues with the SSR or other compents. If I'm honest the 5v power supply will likely be the first to pop due overheating. But as I said I am monitoring it and am not concerned.

 

[xmanmcgee]

.

 

[bdkelly.nz]

You mean like the big aluminium heat sink the SSR is connected. I think the point above was the potential for heating the closed/unventilated box regardless of heat sink materal may cause issues with the SSR or other compents. If I'm honest the 5v power supply will likely be the first to pop due overheating. But as I said I am monitoring it and am not concerned.

Sorry didn't mean to criticise, was just a thought. Your system looks great and you seem to have it all under control, I only wish I could figure out that arduino like that.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Very nice build well done mate. As for the SSR cooling, you can cut a hole the size of the SSR in the box and install the heatsink on the outside. Just run a bead of roof and gutter silicone around the outside of the hole between the heatsink and the box and it will keep the IP rating. That's what I did on my control panel with 4x SSR's on the heat sink and the heatsink (quite a large one), hardly gets "hot", only slightly warm so it carries the heat away nicely.

Here is the section on The Electric Brewery where he does the same Control Panel (Part 1)

 

[xmanmcgee]

Sorry didn't mean to criticise, was just a thought. Your system looks great and you seem to have it all under control, I only wish I could figure out that arduino like that.

No issues just didn't want the thread to head down that rabbit hole.
If I can help with the Arduino let me know. I'm not the most efficient code writer but can get the job done. I'm in the process of cleaning up my code.

 

[Grok]

Very nice build well done mate. As for the SSR cooling, you can cut a hole the size of the SSR in the box and install the heatsink on the outside. Just run a bead of roof and gutter silicone around the outside of the hole between the heatsink and the box and it will keep the IP rating. That's what I did on my control panel with 4x SSR's on the heat sink and the heatsink (quite a large one), hardly gets "hot", only slightly warm so it carries the heat away nicely.

Here is the section on The Electric Brewery where he does the same Control Panel (Part 1)

Did the same kinda thing here with an old CPU heatsink. The fan is switched by a small transistor pulled from old pcb parts.
CraftbrewPi4 on RPi3 controls the bias on the transistor directly (3.3v) with temp monitoring via a one wire DS18B20 installed into the base of the heatsink.
By using a fermenter control on the kettles page, it displays SSR temp and switches the fan on and off as needed. The 12v fan is running on 5v from the RPi power supply and needs very little current (hence the small transistor switch) so its very quiet and pushes enough air to keep the heatsink cool. There are 2 x 40A SSR side by side screwed onto the cpu heatsink, this works very well and the heat stays out of the control box.