goybar

Recipes 

Nice. The wire rack has a pretty small base. Is it stable with all the water and grains, especially when you are pulling the grain bag out.

What size hoes is that? 1" looks to big to be 1/2"

Chris

jCOSbrew

Recipes 

Wire rack is very stable and is on a flat, concrete slab. Much more stable than the typical turkey fryer propane burner stands.

Hose is 1/2" ID silicon with 1/2" NPT camlocks for connections. I push the silicon hose right over the threads on a street elbow for maximum flow rate/minimum restriction.

biertourist

Recipes 

jCOSbrew, thanks again for the inspiration on the little Bud Enclosures Nema 4x box. After having a mechanical engineer friend mock up my box using a 3D autocad program we found a way to make everything work even with my more complicated design; I had very little room for error but with the 3D CAD drawing to prove that it could work in an acceptable layout I went for it.

We then created templates using MS word that we then printed out and taped to each side of the box to perfectly align all the holes -drilled out the center of each hole using a small pilot bit. (It's pretty simple really; use the built-in Drawing tool to make boxes where the corners represent where you want the center of a component's hole -then label each corner for good measure.

Pictures of mine almost finished: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151424325391929&set=a.10151336290 566929.536472.776771928&type=3&theater (Bought the wrong size alarm buzzer, still need to organize my wire, and need a replacement nut from Auber for one of the yellow LED indicator lights but beyond that, good-to-go!).

-I ended up going with a 30amp design that will support switching between each of my 5500w elements (HLT and kettle); I didn't have a solution that I trusted for switching the PID controller's temp probe between two probes so I'll be manually switching the RTD temp sensor when I switch my heat output between the HLT and Kettle; they're identical temp probes and are identical length; I'll also only be using PID mode for the HLT so I shouldn't have any issues with throwing the temp probe calibration off.

Adam

Chriso

Recipes 

A question and a comment. First the comment: I like how you've wired it to use the same, single PID - for both the Kettle Auto mode and the Pump Auto mode. Smart thinking and a good way to keep PID/parts cost down. Also, good mounting method on to the brew stand, looks very well built & rugged!

Question: What is the small silver round part, found on the left side of the enclosure, nearest to the Kettle Mode Switch? I can't see it in enough detail to tell what I'm looking at.

Thanks & Cheers!

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jCOSbrew

Recipes 

The knob on the left side is a pot that controls the power to the element via the phase angle SSR. In order to use this analog power control feature in conjunction with the PID for temp control I use a relay output PID which controls the 220v contactor to enable/disable power to the heating element. This is similar to the EBC concept and allows me to set the element to 50% power for temp control during the mash. I can hit my strike temp within 1 deg F with the PID in simple relay on/off mode. Not autotune and PWM required.

My pump is a low power 12v DC model using <1amp at 120v for the wall wort. I actually run this through the PID relay with the pump auto mode to have the pump run whenever the element is on. I thought it might be useful during the mash. For a more powerful pump, you would probably need an extra relay or different wiring setup.

Schematic of my design is on the first page of the thread.

Chriso

Recipes 

Ahhhh I see it now! I didn't have my bearings / was looking for the wrong thing so I didn't see it at first in the pics earlier in the thread. Looks just like a guitar pot. Awesome. Thanks.

At first I thought it was some kind of pressure relief valve? Seriously, with the style of knob, somehow it looks like it belongs on a corny keg!

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Beavdowg

Recipes 

Nice setup. I've been eyeing the EBCIII also and wondering what it would cost to just build a copy of it. Do you mind sharing how much it cost you to build that control panel? Do you have a basket inside the to hold your BIAB bag off of the heating element? I already have a 15.5 gal keggle and a 15 gal pot, a plate chiller and a march pump so I really just need the control panel and converting my pot of keggle to electric.

Nice work!

jCOSbrew

Recipes 

A basic eBIAB panel, element, and wiring can be done for about $300. Note that I didn't spend >$50 for an RTD sensor w/ multiple connections, etc. This also assumes you have access to 240v power.

I bought a basket originally but didn't like the way it fit in my kettle with the element so I don't use it. Had one issue where I burned a hole in the bag so now I put a silicon sheet between the element and the bag for insurance.