sourmash

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I am about to build a brutus system and have a good friend that is a HVAC tech and also understands the fundamentals of brewing beer. I have been reviewing Lonnie's plans with him for the past couple of weeks and looking for ways of improvement. One question he had (and made sense to me) is when the Love controller calls for more heat, the burner turns completely on correct? For those who run a brutus system, do you modulate the amount of gas going to the burner? Would a modulating orifice type valve to control the amount of gas going to the burner have an advantage? Maybe we are making to much out of the heating process but figured I would ask before I get the gas valves for my system.

Thanks in advance,
Joe

ClaudiusB

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The Love TS, TSS, TS2 are ON-OFF controllers.
To control a modulating valve you need a controller for proportional control.
The nice thing about proportional control is the control of gas flow (heat) automatically.

I use only ON-OFF valves but control the duty cycle through my brewing controller.


Cheers,
ClaudiusB

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mrbowenz

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Go with a variable pressure regulator , ClaudiusB is right, most gas valves and PID's are on/off, proportional valves and their controls are expensive and complicated .KISS

Gordie

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I run mine through a gas valve and manually adjust the flow. I am, however, going to get a 0-60 psi adjustable regulator in short order. I'm not sure you'd get much benefit out of a proportional valve in any case and the valve may or may not work out, depending on your burner selection. The jet burners that I and others have been using are a bit touchy.

MNBugeater

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I give a big +1 to this. The burners that most are using aren't 'flexible' enough to be reliable on varying levels of gas flow. I think you will find there is a very small window or variability between gas flow/air mix that allows these burners to produce a correct flame. Regulating the gas would also require adjusting airflow and involve way too much tweaking. I would stick with KISS method, or at least as simple as you can with automation.

The LOVE switches are just simple temperature controlled on/off.

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Snake10

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I jut finished my brutus and am just about to brew with it. I know what your asking. I too had the same questions. The ball valve to the electronic controller is wide open, the ball valve to the pilot light is barely on. I have a 0-30 adjustable regulator. You will find a sweet spot after tightening it down. Some guy say 20lbs is a good number for a regulator. Whatever. Your pilot light stays on the whole time because your electronic valve is on off depending on what your set point temp (that you set on your box) and what /where your temp probe is reading. One your temp falls below the set point the electronic valve opens, gas flows and the pilot ignites the gas. Bottom line is the gas at your bottle is turned on, regulator adjusted, pilots lit- go for it. I will attempt to show you my setup, but this is my first attempt at a pic.

sourmash

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Thanks all to all who replied. All great information and I believe I am going with the KISS principle and go with something similar if not the ASCO valves. The buddy of mine that is a HVAC tech did mention that the proportioning valves are spendy but might be able to look in the right spots to find some for cheap(free). But even at that price I am certainly a guy that like techy stuff but seems like it would be to much fooling around in order to get the temperature correct.

BTW - Snake10 - Great job on the rig! Tremendous craftsmanship! Please keep us in the loop on how it works!