ziggy13

Recipes 

Curious what your total investment is here?

__________________
717 Studios, LLC - Design that doesn't suck

ZacharyZiegler.com - My blog on brewing, design, photography, business, sports and more

Primary 1: Maple Molasses Marzen
Primary 2: Toasted Chocolate Porter
Primary 3: Cherry Chocolate Porter
Secondary 1: Maple Molasses Ale
On Deck 1: Espresso Stout (Uganda)
On Deck 1: Espresso Stout (Brazil)
On Deck 2: Cherry Weizen
On Deck 2: Cherry Lambic

JonW

Recipes 

There's not a simple answer for this. Do you include the $275 for the 20 inch 1920x1080 touchscreen? Do I calculate the cost of two Blichmans at the Craiglist price I paid or full value? I hunted around and got a lot of good deals on parts and had parts from my old rig that I sold to offset costs, so my investment is not that easy to measure.

I did create a spreadsheet for all the parts though to see what it would cost if you had to build it from scratch with all new, full price parts. That number is just north of $5500. I'm into it about half of that.

__________________
Surf City Brewing

My Single Tier, 3 Pump, BCS-462, Brutus Build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/single-tier-3-pump-bcs-462-automated-rig-204705/
My customized BCS-462 controller web interface: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hacking-bcs-add-customized-web-pages-done-209388/
My 8 tap, 11 keg, upright Keezer build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/upright-keezer-8-taps-11-kegs-371438/

ziggy13

Recipes 

Wow, very nice. It certainly is one of the nicest rigs I've seen. Wish I had the dough to go completely automated like that with the rig I'm building now, but we're probably going to skip the computer controlled at this point.

Out of curiosity, what are the main advantages to going with 3 pumps like you have instead of 2?

__________________
717 Studios, LLC - Design that doesn't suck

ZacharyZiegler.com - My blog on brewing, design, photography, business, sports and more

Primary 1: Maple Molasses Marzen
Primary 2: Toasted Chocolate Porter
Primary 3: Cherry Chocolate Porter
Secondary 1: Maple Molasses Ale
On Deck 1: Espresso Stout (Uganda)
On Deck 1: Espresso Stout (Brazil)
On Deck 2: Cherry Weizen
On Deck 2: Cherry Lambic

JonW

Recipes 

Mostly for doing simultaneous batches. Probably about 1 in 3 of my brew sessions are double batches and 3 pumps allows me to start a second batch in the mash tun while I'm still boiling in the BK. It also simplifies plumbing. When you're doing a fairly automated setup, the cost of an extra pump is a small added expense.

__________________
Surf City Brewing

My Single Tier, 3 Pump, BCS-462, Brutus Build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/single-tier-3-pump-bcs-462-automated-rig-204705/
My customized BCS-462 controller web interface: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hacking-bcs-add-customized-web-pages-done-209388/
My 8 tap, 11 keg, upright Keezer build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/upright-keezer-8-taps-11-kegs-371438/

eeebigeee

Recipes 

not sure if you posted this already. i've read this thread 10 times so I can't remember.

do your 1/2 ball valves have the manual override? they are running 110v?

mind posting your spreadsheet breakdown? I'm about halfway there....

JonW

Recipes 

Yes, the valves can be operated manually, but thy are a PIA to do that. They are 12v and operated through a relay board. I'll see about posting the sheet.

__________________
Surf City Brewing

My Single Tier, 3 Pump, BCS-462, Brutus Build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/single-tier-3-pump-bcs-462-automated-rig-204705/
My customized BCS-462 controller web interface: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hacking-bcs-add-customized-web-pages-done-209388/
My 8 tap, 11 keg, upright Keezer build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/upright-keezer-8-taps-11-kegs-371438/

armageddon

Recipes 

Could you post up a schematic for how you wired up your bbq igniter to an SSR. I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a BCS system and would like to figure this part out. All of the igniters that I've looked at run off of a single battery (1.5V) and the regular SSR's that Embedded Control Concepts sell look like they have a minimum 3V for the load side. What's the trick?

JonW

Recipes 

I used this SSR IC: http://www.futurlec.com/Relays/SSR3A48D05pr.shtml

I bought an AA battery holder to put the battery external to the igniter and then soldered wires into the igniter so it could be controlled by the SSR. Sorry I don't have any pics or a schematic of it.

__________________
Surf City Brewing

My Single Tier, 3 Pump, BCS-462, Brutus Build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/single-tier-3-pump-bcs-462-automated-rig-204705/
My customized BCS-462 controller web interface: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hacking-bcs-add-customized-web-pages-done-209388/
My 8 tap, 11 keg, upright Keezer build: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/upright-keezer-8-taps-11-kegs-371438/

armageddon

Recipes 

Perfect. That was all I needed, thanks.

oakbarn

Recipes 

Thinking about the BCS 462. Right now we are 100% manual and once I get our new Stout HLT with HERMS and Stout Brew Kettle, we will be doing double batches. We will likely be using our old igloo MLT to do the small second 10 gallon batch. We like the idea of controlling my fermenter freezers remotely. We will likely use both gas and electric for heating. We will likely control the HERMS water with a RIMS type tube.

As a side, we use three pumps currently. Although only two are used at a time, we really like having 3 as it simplifies plumbing connections on brew day. It also speeds up clean up. We use one for nothing but hot water.

Could you supply more pix and information on your tippy MLT. We are in the process of engineering something like yours. We had come up with the idea of a hinged plate below our MLT that had anchors to chain down the MLT (it is a Stout 45 Gallon one that has handles that are 90 degrees to the outlet. I like the idea of your pipes as that may provide some support. We can use a plate on the bottom because we do not directly heat the MLT but currently use a counter flow chiller as a HERMS.