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alowell · 09-30-2010, 03:15 PM

Hi Guys,
I'm a newbie here and setting up to wire the BCS-460 and my control enclosure. I will be having my electrician friend come over and help me hook everything up, but I am just trying to order parts now. The design I will have is a 120V line coming in off a 30amp circuit. I would like to have a load switch to put the main power onto the enclosure or be able to shut it all down t once. I will have 5 SSRs (running 2 pumps, water heater element, gas solenoid valve, and hot surface ignitor). I will also be putting an outlet in the box for the BCS power supply and a wireless router (if that is needed). I will also have toggle switches (4 of them, On-Off-Auto positions) for the functions (though maybe I need 5 since I cannot combine the ignitor and gas valve into one without spewing gas until the surface get hot enough). Questions:

1. How do I wire the main power to all SSRs. Do I need a strip where the main power line is connected and then is branched off in 6 directions?
2. Do I need a router or is there something smaller that can be plugged into the ethernet port of the bCS-460? I've see little antennas plugged into ethernet ports before.

Thanks, any help would be great. I know the dangers of electrical work and I will not be attempting this on my own, just trying to order some parts now.

Andrew

**JonW** · 09-30-2010, 05:21 PM

Yes, you should use a terminal strip for the power distribution. Yes, you'll need a wireless router (or bridge). The plug in devices you are thinking of are USB wireless access cards. They can't be plugged right into an ethernet jack. I personally just pulled a data cable to the location in my garage where I have my BCS.

I don't have a readily available picture of my own, but here is a friend of mines:

alowell · 09-30-2010, 05:57 PM

JonW, thanks so much. I'm not going to be doing the outlets, but mine shoudl be pretty similar. As fas as the terminal strip goes, I am assuming that the main power (one line) woudl hook into one end of the strip and then from the terminals, wires could be branched off to the SSRs?

**JonW** · 09-30-2010, 06:17 PM

Yes, you are right on hooking the power to the strip and then feeding it to the SSR's. If you're new to AC wiring, please wait for your electrician friend to come help!

alowell · 09-30-2010, 06:20 PM

Thanks, JonW. Oh yeah, that's a given, I never fool with electricity. It's the one facet of DIY projects I don't touch! I'll probably set everything up and then have him come over and look it over, test it all, and then fire it up with him there. Thanks again

alowell · 09-30-2010, 09:46 PM

Another one, in terms of terminal strips. I'm trying to see from the picture, but is the "HOT" strip the only one that needs jumpers on it? Also, does anyone have a good source for wiring 3 way selector switches into the panel? I will have (On-Off-Auto) switches for each component controlled. Therefore I could manually turn the pumps and such on instead of going through BCS. Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help.

**JonW** · 09-30-2010, 09:51 PM

Not exactly sure what you're talking about with jumpers - all of the terminal strips shown there are wired common.

Here's a wiring diagram for doing the on/off/auto switch. Note that it is switching the low voltage to the SSR's instead of switching the high voltage. Much simpler and safer to wire it this way.

alowell · 09-30-2010, 10:41 PM

I was looking for terminal strips and the ones I have found don't have "jumpers" between the terminals on the strip. Therefore it is just a strip with terminals lined up that aren't connected to one another, but instead blocked off from one another...or are the connections internal in the strip? I am looking to attach the one hot wire from main power to the strips and be able to have that power run through each terminal. You've been a huge help, JonW, thanks

**RiverCityBrewer** · 10-02-2010, 12:13 AM

I think you are talking about this for the jumpers between the terminals of the barrier strip:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103227

ZymurGuy · 10-02-2010, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alowell

Another one, in terms of terminal strips. I'm trying to see from the picture, but is the "HOT" strip the only one that needs jumpers on it? Also, does anyone have a good source for wiring 3 way selector switches into the panel? I will have (On-Off-Auto) switches for each component controlled. Therefore I could manually turn the pumps and such on instead of going through BCS. Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help.

The picture JonW posted is from my control panel. At the time I did a little write up here http://cockalebrewery.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-alive.html and included a small parts list. Maybe that will help. The jumper bars are on all three terminal strips.

I did not wire in the 3-way switches for manual control. I thought about it, but so far not having them hasn't really been an issue.

--Brian