BCS460 and Brutus

**rtrevino** · 01-05-2011, 05:47 AM

Has anyone built a gas (propane or natural) powered Brutus with BCS controls? Every post I find has the BCS controlling an electric rig.

**Wrecked** · 01-05-2011, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtrevino

Has anyone built a gas (propane or natural) powered Brutus with BCS controls? Every post I find has the BCS controlling an electric rig.

I am curious about this as well.

HollisBrewCo · 01-05-2011, 02:59 PM

i have a BCS controlled natural gas rig, however its not a brutus. My BCS controls the flow of gas to my burners and turns my pumps on and off.

**alowell** · 01-05-2011, 04:13 PM

Ditto, I am almost finished building a single tier system with the BCS. The BCS will control the hot surface igniter and solenoid gas valve to the hot liquor tank, 2 pumps, and my RIMS heater.

**JonW** · 01-05-2011, 05:23 PM

I'm using 3 NG burners controlled by solenoid valves on my BCS system.

See details in the links in my signature.

**rtrevino** · 01-05-2011, 06:47 PM

So those using it for ng or propane have essentially built a Brutus and in place of the love controllers you are using the BCS? At $60 a pop, it is in my opinion a better expense to go the BCS route and have many more options for control. Am I wrong?

**JonW** · 01-05-2011, 07:40 PM

I think it's hard to make a direct comparison like that. But yes, the BCS is going to give you many more options for control. I have the BCS-462 model and I use all 8 temp probes on mine. Having all temps and control in a single web screen is much better for me than having separate controllers (like Love, Johnson, etc.).

Boerderij_Kabouter · 01-05-2011, 07:50 PM

The brutus is a liquid flow design. Lonnie just uses LOVE controllers. The phrase "I am building a brutus" is used way too broadly. You can control the thing however you want. The BCS can easily control a gas valve.

I am very high on the BCS. I think is is a good cost and the interface is very nice.

**RiverCityBrewer** · 01-05-2011, 09:03 PM

I have a BCS and control propane with no problem... for simplicity the love controllers are nice, but if you really want to control more than just your wort production then the BCS is a clear winner.

**rtrevino** · 01-05-2011, 10:02 PM

Down the line I want to go all out with ball valve solenoids but for now I want to do a single tier design mirroring Lonnies design so I am thinking what the he'll, just start with the BCS and expand later. The BCS 460 can only handle 4 inputs for temp correct? So ie. 1 on HLT, 1 Mash Tun, 1 at wort chiller intake and the final temp probe at the chiller exit. So if I want to include fermentation control I will need the 462.

Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to waste time and money on this build.