My Heat Controller

[brewtrekker]

Hey Gava. Wow tense times yep know what your going thru we went through it last year with our second child. Good luck get as much sleep as you can now. No rush on this I fully understand. I still have mt old brew rig humming along. Cheers

 

[brewtrekker]

Gava did you get a lot of your reference from the Electric Brewery .com ? I am still deciding where I want to go with my panel design but since I am planning on using a BCS computer it cuts out a lot of things needed on KALs panel design.

 

[gava]

Gava did you get a lot of your reference from the Electric Brewery .com ? I am still deciding where I want to go with my panel design but since I am planning on using a BCS computer it cuts out a lot of things needed on KALs panel design.

I referenced it throughout my design but added a few extra switches and changed some internal electronics to fit into my budget.
I previously had a brewtroller design and it was a lot different to this current control panel, which I assume a BCS design would to.

With my brewtroller design I had the 12v switching and controls separated from my 240v panel
can check my build thread here http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/57759-brewtroller-e-herms-build-pictures/

Gav

 

[brewtrekker]

Hey Gava
I am sure your busy with your new family member and all. But can you just send me quick list of parts needed to put together a mini electric controller for my BK. I just wanna get one up and running to access my current electrical setup.
Cheers
Paul

 

[gava]

Hi Paul,

Yup little bub Elliott came early Wednesday morning and we're working out everyones routine since..
For a brew kettle it depends..
What's the size of your pot and what element are you running? I ask this because if your running a large element in a small/mid size pot your control device should have a manual output by % setting, this is so you can change your boil if its to aggressive. If you have a fine rolling boil with the element on full then you can just get a simple controller OR just connect your element up to a switch to turn on and off.

Simple Temp Control unit

• Temperature control device (PID) Stay away from REX100 and other cheap eBay units. Our PID Controllers are nice bit of kit but if your on a budget SESTOS ok fine.
• Compatible temperature probed
• SSR (Solid State Relay) used for switching the 240v from the PID, I've been using those cheap grey ones seem fine.
• Jiffy Box
• Cable Glands (not required but alot easier and nicer)
• 10AMP rated power cable (I get extension cables and cut, i strip some for the internal 10amp wiring also)
• Heat Sink (heat gel) for SSR (I've used old CPU heat sinks or you can get a SSR + Heat sink pack off ebays)
• terminal fork to suit controller and SSR + heat shrink wrap
• switch to manually turn off the element if your using a PID if not a switch to turn on the element.
• Terminal Strip 3position
• Some soldering might be required for switches

I think that's it, working off random sleep times at the moment.. although I'm better off than my wife... new babies... fun..

Cheers
Gav

 

[Camo6]

Congrats on the birth of your bubs Gav.

 

[brewtrekker]

Congrats Gava ! Hope you manage to get some sleep mate. Yep my pots are the same as your new build. 75 liters. I want to do 10 gallon batches. Thanks for the list mate ! Cheers.

 

[brewtrekker]

Hey Gava I hope you have been dealing well with the new family member and all.
Once question can I get a inside pic of the wiring of your heat controller? I.E. I am dumb as a bag of hammers with electrics! I am a aircraft mechanic and if there isn't a photo or schematic to go off of we are hopelessly lost ! Thanks I just got all my bits sent in from all points of the globe. Element and 1.5 tri clamp adapter from the states. PID and sensor from you blokes, SSR and heat sink from China.