I've Lost My Mind

[raven19]

dryers are 240V/30A, or 7200W load. Since my brew rig is going in our laundry/furnace/freezer room, I'm just going to power it from the the dryer's outlet

NG - a number of brewers here in Oz will confirm various you should have plenty of power there with 30A.

I use simple immersion elements, and for a 45L preboil I can get up to the boil no worries with a 2400W/10A and a 3600W/15A immersion element, then I switch one off once the boil is rolling.

My (seldom used now) larger kettle uses 2 x 2400W/10A elements, and can get 100L up to the boil also, just takes a little while longer.

 

[Bizier]

Ahem, you should come around and brew with me, there is plenty of stuff here that needs building could also potentially annoy you. h34r:

I also look forward to seeing some build pics.

 

[dogforpm]

Just a reminder for Oz users, 240V/30A here = blown fuse / tripped breaker if you are lucky; goodbye meter box / house / insurance if you are not. Dryers here plug into 240V/10A.

 

[newguy]

Quick update. Finally hit upon a main screen layout I like. This is a sample screen shot with everything on/active to help me plan the layout/look. Still have to plan the submenus/subscreens that will appear when a pump is touched or the lauter tun is touched, etc but that shouldn't take long as they won't be as "artistic" as this is.

I did want to use actual photos of tanks for the screen but in practice the touch screen's display of a full photo is a bit too slow for my liking.

 

[newguy]

I finally have an update. I have the guts of the control unit almost done. This is a shot of the face, minus the touch screen.



It's pretty standard for electronic enclosures to come prefinished with a dull gray powder coat finish. I used several small cans of automotive touch-up paint to dress it up. I honestly didn't have a design in mind when I started painting; this is just what I ended up being happy with. Because of the way it turned out, I'm now naming my home brewery the Demon Eye Brewery (for obvious reasons). The kids don't like it but what can you do.



This is inside. Along the top are three big aluminum heatsinks with 5 SSRs (solid state relays) which will drive the 5 heating elements in the system. They are 4500W + 3000W for the lauter tun/hot liquor tank, 4500W for the heat exchanger, and 4500W + 3000W elements in the kettle. There are two fans on either side of the SSR bank, one to push, the other to pull. With them, the SSRs shouldn't even get warm to the touch.

Directly below the SSRs are four tiny boxes - they're traditional relays. Two each for the pumps (one "sanitary" for the wort path and the other simply to circulate water through the CFC and HE) and two are for the water inlet valves. One is to automatically fill the lauter tun, and the other is to fill the HE.

Below that are the terminal blocks. At the bottom are the high voltage terminals (from L to R, neutral, 120Vac phase 1, and 120Vac phase 2 which is essentially -120Vac). In the middle are the DC terminal blocks (from L to R, ground, 12Vdc, and 5Vdc). To the left of the blocks is a black box - it's simply a holder for an ordinary 120Vac duplex outlet. It is required to power the two "wall warts" (i.e. DC power supplies) which create the 5V and 12Vdc "rails" I need. I used off-the-shelf supplies because I had them handy. I could have incorporated them into the custom board I made but I had to ask myself why bother when I had them already.



This is the bottom of the thing. On the left are two duplex 120V outlets, one for the pumps and the other for the water inlet valves. You can see a bunch of holes on the bottom too - they're for the sensor inputs which I haven't had time to install yet. The square group of 4 are for the float switches - one high water emergency cutoff for the lauter tun, another for the HE (for the same purpose as for the lauter tun) and two for the grant - one high "pump on" and another "pump off". There are two groups of 3 holes, and they're for the sensors. Three temperature sensors - one for the lauter tun, one for the mash tun, and another for the HE, and three mass sensors for the lauter tun. Using the mass sensors I can set whatever target water volume I want, and given that a litre of water weighs a kilogram, I can accurately hit the target. I used three simply because of manufacturability - balancing a big SS vessel on one little sensor wouldn't be fun. With three I define a plane - no tipping, no balancing. Finally, over on the right is the power switch and the 240V/30A 10AWG dryer cord.



This is the right side of the enclosure. The 5 outlets are for the 5 heating elements. You can see the fan at right as well. This is the exhaust fan.

I still have the controller coding to do, but the custom PCB will arrive tomorrow. Tomorrow evening I'll begin to solder everything down. The way I designed it, the controller PCB will piggy-back on the touch screen. No extra mounting holes needed this way. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have the thing all done.

 

[vykuza]

Newie, I think I'm almost as excited as you are! Please keep posting the pics as you progress :beerbang:

 

[raven19]

Luverly build thus far, there even room for one more SSR on those heatsinks!

 

[newguy]

After a long hiatus (work imposed), I finally have begun work on my spiffy new brew system again. This is the room prep.



The brewery is going into our laundry/freezer/furnace room. I bought a stacking kit for our washer/dryer to free up some floor space. The laundry sink is brand new - I finished installing that a couple of weeks ago.



I lined the walls with galvanised steel roofing panels as they were easy to install, cheap, and they will be easy to clean. Scale is hard to judge from the photo, but the wall on the left is about 2m - plenty of room for the new setup. At the top you can see the new in-line exhaust fan I just finished installing today. I nailed thin strips of wood to the floor joists directly above where the brewery will be situated. The home-made fume extraction hood will screw to the strips. The strips were necessary in order for the hood to clear a couple of copper water pipes and some cables. The light fixture leaning against the wall will be mounted inside the hood.



The PEX hot and cold water supply lines for the brewery. Their placement isn't finalised yet as I'm waiting for the hood to be in place before I decide exactly where/how to run them.

 

[newguy]

Update: I finally have my indoor brewing space done (almost).



I got the hood together today. Applied 2 coats of paint and I think it will need minor touch ups in a few spots. The fan intake needs to be caulked to the hood, but I can't do that until the paint is completely dry. I also need to seal the gaps between the wall and the hood. I picked up some bathtub sealing tape that should do the job, but again I can't do that until the paint has a day or two to cure.



Not much of a change but I used the left over duct panels to fashion a backsplash for the sink.

I also got almost all of my SS vessels back from the welder this week. Once I affix the heating elements and float switches, I'll post pictures.