ElevenBrewCo

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I use belimo at work...great actuators

TheFlyingBeer

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Good news...

Four of the actuated valves I ordered arrived today! They are Johnson Controls model VA9104-AGA-3S, 24VAC floating, 3/4" ball valves. The valves have a red button that can be used to manually override the actuator should a problem come up.



My hopes of having an ISO5211 mounting interface were confirmed upon inspection. The black plastic adapter under the blue actuator body is sized to fit a F03 ISO5211 pad. For the triclamp valves I want to order (see post #1) I will most likely need to drill and tap a thread on the square valve stem.

This actuator operation is super simple, apply 24VAC on terminal 2 and it will begin opening, apply it on terminal 3 and it will begin closing. Terminal 1 is a common ground. The datasheet says the valve will open/close in 60 seconds at 60hz. There are no end switches or position indicators, something I am eager to implement myself.



The lower half of the actuator is the gear train which I have not and don't currently plan to inspect. There is a bunch of space in the top half of the enclosure to place components for position feedback/control etc.

I have modeled the actuator in 3D and it should fit perfectly on the valve pad:



I purchased these on eBay and now that I have the 6 I need I am willing to share the source for anyone who is interested, although he is almost out: 3-4-Two-Way-Ball-Valve-w-Electric-Actuator-NIB

A little cheaper than the KLD's people have used, but I still have to buy the actual valves... the price I pay for tri-clamps I suppose.

__________________

Primaries: Air
Secondaries: Lakefront India Brown Ale
On Tap 1: Rootbeer, On Tap 2: NB White ouse Honey Ale, On Tap 3: Nitrogen, On Tap 4: Air, On Tap 5: Air
On Deck: DIPA, Imp Stout, Porter, Wheat, Black IPA

"No sense having empty carboys around when full ones take up just as much space. " - Me

JonW

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60 seconds to open or close? That's a long time.

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ClaudiusB

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I have done it with pneumatic actuators.
2" butterfly valve



5 & 8 mm prox sensors can be mounted on the back.



Commercial 2" actuator adapted to a 1-1/2" butterfly valve

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

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TheFlyingBeer

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The KLD are spec'd at 90sec. I am not too concerned with the open/closed time as they are really going to be used to change between modes (strike, sparge, transfer, etc) so time isn't critical.

Edit: After reviewing the datasheet on the KLD I see they have a 5-7s open to close time, not the 90 I remember... now which valve did I see 90 seconds on??? Still I don't think it will impact the process to have the valves open/close a little slower.


Claudius, as always that's some nice fancy equipment you have there. Me likey.

__________________

Primaries: Air
Secondaries: Lakefront India Brown Ale
On Tap 1: Rootbeer, On Tap 2: NB White ouse Honey Ale, On Tap 3: Nitrogen, On Tap 4: Air, On Tap 5: Air
On Deck: DIPA, Imp Stout, Porter, Wheat, Black IPA

"No sense having empty carboys around when full ones take up just as much space. " - Me

Guldberg

Recipes 

Im in the process of upgrading the KLD valve to proportional controlled over i2c or if you like to stick to analog, a potentiometer and some buttons.

Take a peek at http://forum.brewtroller.com/showthread.php?t=1044

TheFlyingBeer

Recipes 

Awesome day in homebrew land! The 7 3/4" 3pc tri-clamp ball valves I ordered from Taiwan were sitting on my step when I came home from work:



I now have 6 actuators and 7 valves (ordered an extra valve just in case).



I finally got to compare my 3D CAD versions against the real hardware and it looks like the valves and actuators should mate great!



Hopefully this weekend I can see if the actuators are up to the task of moving these valves.

__________________

Primaries: Air
Secondaries: Lakefront India Brown Ale
On Tap 1: Rootbeer, On Tap 2: NB White ouse Honey Ale, On Tap 3: Nitrogen, On Tap 4: Air, On Tap 5: Air
On Deck: DIPA, Imp Stout, Porter, Wheat, Black IPA

"No sense having empty carboys around when full ones take up just as much space. " - Me

TheFlyingBeer

Recipes 

The weekend came a little early I suppose, I was able to mount and test one of the valves with my actuators tonight. The actuator stem requires a little modification to get the orientation of the ball correct but overall they fit together well.

The actuator handles these valves with no issue! Time to continue the valve control circuit now that I know everything should work fine.

__________________

Primaries: Air
Secondaries: Lakefront India Brown Ale
On Tap 1: Rootbeer, On Tap 2: NB White ouse Honey Ale, On Tap 3: Nitrogen, On Tap 4: Air, On Tap 5: Air
On Deck: DIPA, Imp Stout, Porter, Wheat, Black IPA

"No sense having empty carboys around when full ones take up just as much space. " - Me

EarthBound

Recipes 

Awesome!

From where did you purchase that stuff and for how much?

__________________
"You can do anything you set your mind to when you have vision, determination, and an endless supply of beer."

TheFlyingBeer

Recipes 

Actuators were from ebay about $45 each. Valves were direct from a supplier in Taiwan for $33 each, but shipping and bank transfer fees raised the unit rate up decent amount.

__________________

Primaries: Air
Secondaries: Lakefront India Brown Ale
On Tap 1: Rootbeer, On Tap 2: NB White ouse Honey Ale, On Tap 3: Nitrogen, On Tap 4: Air, On Tap 5: Air
On Deck: DIPA, Imp Stout, Porter, Wheat, Black IPA

"No sense having empty carboys around when full ones take up just as much space. " - Me