jd-santaclarita

Recipes 

Hi All,
I was hoping you all could help steer me in the right direction. About a year ago I decided to go electric and bought most of all the parts I need to recreate something similar to this brewery: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/my-official-e-biab-build-thread-269164/

To make a long story short, life took over, nothing was touched until now and I'm trying to remember what in the world I was going to to to make it all work together. I'm trying to get jumpstarted back into the build with all my parts and can't really find any details around the actual build process of this auberins box with these parts. I see the schematics (which are difficult for me to comprehend as I'm not super electrical savvy yet), but I'm assuming I can follow the connections on the wiring. I'm hoping theres a thread out there or something someone can point me to to help with the actual build process of the box as the thread I used as the basis is missing those types of instructions. Things like internal pictures, wiring shots, how to mount things, how to screw down or how to attach the ssr/power bus blocks to the metal box, etc, etc. It would be super helpful and greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, I dismantled and parted out my gas brewery a year ago (moved), so my ability to brew again revolves around me making this all work. Thanks in advance.

-JD

jdowling

Recipes 

I've never assembled that particular control panel. I don't know if it will help but here's what I've found useful while building my own control panels (I have a similar one for a RIMs setup & I'm piecing together a larger system). I'm also not an electrician or anything.

For a lot of stuff it looks like The Electric Brewery might help you out. There are some pretty detailed instructions on there. Particularly you might want to start with: Control Panel (Part 1) - Step 4: Cut Holes.

I think I actually used a 1/2" conduit punch (7/8" holes) to make holes for my 22mm components instead of the step bit mentioned.

Looks like your enclosure already has the hole for the PID - which is nice because I think that's probably the worst hole to try to make. The rest of the external stuff should basically be punching holes of various sizes & attaching components.

Seems like you want 3x 22mm holes in the front for those push button switches, a couple smallish holes in the side for the temp probe wire & the power-in wire, & two holes in the back for pump-out and element-out sockets.

As for mounting other components internally - I've found that using crimp connectors help for connecting wires to different components. Most of the pieces I've used I could bolt onto my enclosure... so more little holes for bolt + nut.

I realize that's probably not as helpful as you'd want but maybe it's enough to get you started (or someone else can provide better info for this particular build). Just remember - measure twice (or three or four times!) & cut once

jCOSbrew

Recipes 

If you are concerned about the control panel and kettle mods, an Aluminum kettle and ABS plastic enclosure are much easier to work with than SS. An inexpensive Harbor Freight punch set and step bit work well with these materials but their life span is limited with SS.

I used DIN rail components which can also minimize the mounting holes required for mounting components in the panel.

immuneone

Recipes 

I used a piece of 1/4" plexiglass (eBay). The plexiglass acts like a raised base within the cabinet. Mount by drilling holes through the bottom of the box. Use rubber grommets to separate the plexiglass from the base. Be sure it's raised up enough to allow small mounting bolts not to contact the base. Layout your components on the plexiglass, mark and drill. Attach with small nuts and bolts. Start wiring!