control for 120 and 240v system?

I've got a 1500w 120v element in my RIMS tube and will be adding 5500w 240v elements in my HLT and BK. can I control the different voltage elements on the same BCS system (circuit or whatever)?

Yes, the BCS can control any voltage supply. The BCS outputs 5v. signals to drive solid state relays which do the actual switching of the high current load. SSR's can be purchased that can control 50-600 volts, so there should be no problem. Look around here for various schematics and you will find examples of systems that use either the BCS or a PID to control the relays.

ChuckO said:

Yes, the BCS can control any voltage supply. The BCS outputs 5v. signals to drive solid state relays which do the actual switching of the high current load. SSR's can be purchased that can control 50-600 volts, so there should be no problem. Look around here for various schematics and you will find examples of systems that use either the BCS or a PID to control the relays.

Click to expand...

Not trying to hijack; rather expand upon the OP...

With two 120v elements would you use two SSR's and connect them in parallel to the PID?

B

EDIT: That is, in a case where I'd be using two 120v elements in the BK. Two to bring to a boil; one to maintain a boil.

OP: The short answer, YES, but it all depends on how you wire it.

Birvine: YES, SSR use very little input current(around 0.02 amps), so you can parallel them and not overload the PID.

Great. I just wasn't sure if the 120v element could still draw that voltage while other elements are pulling 240v from the breaker/control box/bcs. I'm no electrician so I'm trying to figure out if I can do 240v elements in the BK and HLT or if I need to do what birvine is doing and run a coupld of 120v elements instead.

A good idea seems to be what many do - use a DPDT switch so you can heat the BLK or the BK and not both. Since one PID will run two SSR's I'll either power the HLT element or the pair of elements in the BK.

TB22 - FYI, the other night I tested my HLT with one 1.5kW element and it brought the water up to about 205 °F after a few hours. It had been at 150 much earlier which is the range of what I'll be doing. What I think it means is that with a pair of these elements I should easily be able to bring the BK up to a boil. I may not have to get an electrician in to install 20A circuits after all.

B