rtrevino
Well-Known Member
Has anyone built a gas (propane or natural) powered Brutus with BCS controls? Every post I find has the BCS controlling an electric rig.
BCS460 and Brutus
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Wrecked
Well-Known Member
I am curious about this as well.
HollisBrewCo
Well-Known Member
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
Well-Known Member
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.
I'm using 3 NG burners controlled by solenoid valves on my BCS system.
See details in the links in my signature.
See details in the links in my signature.
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
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?
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
Well-Known Member
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.
I am very high on the BCS. I think is is a good cost and the interface is very nice.
RiverCityBrewer
Well-Known Member
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.
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
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.
Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to waste time and money on this build.
BCS-460 = 4 temp inputs, 4 discrete inputs, 6 discrete outputs (6 pwm)
BCS-462 = 8 temp inputs, 8 discrete inputs, 18 discrete outputs (6 pwm)
If you plan on doing fermentation control and are going to do full ball valve control later, I highly suggest you get the 462. There are limitations with the add-on boards for the 460 that the extra outputs cannot be controlled simultaneously by multiple processes whereas all 18 of the outputs on the 462 can be controlled simultaneously by separate processes.
My BCS-462 is in a cabinet mounted to the wall so it can run my two kegerators and my fermentor 24x7. I then plug my brew rig into it via CAT-5 cables on brew day.
BCS-462 = 8 temp inputs, 8 discrete inputs, 18 discrete outputs (6 pwm)
If you plan on doing fermentation control and are going to do full ball valve control later, I highly suggest you get the 462. There are limitations with the add-on boards for the 460 that the extra outputs cannot be controlled simultaneously by multiple processes whereas all 18 of the outputs on the 462 can be controlled simultaneously by separate processes.
My BCS-462 is in a cabinet mounted to the wall so it can run my two kegerators and my fermentor 24x7. I then plug my brew rig into it via CAT-5 cables on brew day.
RiverCityBrewer
Well-Known Member
You can use the 460 for brewing and fermenting... just don't hard mount your probes and you can move them wherever you want.
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
Could one also use two sets of probes, 1 in the rig and 1 for fermentation? But when your using the BCS for brewing you fermentation chamber is just not functioning, correct?
Wrecked
Well-Known Member
How does the BCS-460 energize the gas/water valve solenoids? Is the 5vdc output enough to energize the solenoid? If not, what do you need in addition to the BCS-460 to make this happen?
Sorry for the newbie electrical questions
I currently control my stand through LOVE controllers and the wiring was as easy as it gets.
Wrecked
Sorry for the newbie electrical questions
I currently control my stand through LOVE controllers and the wiring was as easy as it gets.
Wrecked
How does the BCS-460 energize the gas/water valve solenoids? Is the 5vdc output enough to energize the solenoid? If not, what do you need in addition to the BCS-460 to make this happen?
Sorry for the newbie electrical questions
I currently control my stand through LOVE controllers and the wiring was as easy as it gets.
Wrecked
Your Love controllers contain relays built in so it's easy to just wire up your 110V circuits. With controllers like the BCS, they are low voltage switching devices. You need to wire up a relay to the 5V triggers. On my rig, I use both a relay board (8 relays) for my 12V liquid valves and some SSR's (solid state relays) for controlling the 110V gas valves and March pumps.
RiverCityBrewer
Well-Known Member
Yep that would work just fine as well... I wire my probes to RJ-45 connectors so I can swap them easily at the control panel.
I only use 3 probes for brewing so 1 is always available to keep my fermenter running, and the BCS can control both processes at the same time.
Brewing Clamper
Well-Known Member
Will the BCS take input from pressure sensors?
Yes, if they are setup for triggering digital I/O. The BCS doesn't have analog inputs.
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
I thought about doing it that way too but I also want to have multiple readings on my rig. I guess if I go the cheap route I end up with a cheap rig that I just modify again later on.
Swapping temp probes is a workable solution, but having all the probes setup and defined is a much cleaner way to do it. Additionally, if you are going to do all electric ball valves as you previously stated, you'll want the BCS-462 due to the limitations I pointed out above.
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
Ok, so I finally got a BCS 460 and I've been plying around with it. I am going to use it to control 3 gas solenoid valves and two pumps. I plan on having a temp probe for the HLT, MLT, BOil Kettle and then at the output of my plate chiller. I just feel overwhelmed with the programming. Can anyone help?
Why is the plate chiller outlet temp needed? Won't you be recirculating through the chiller and back to BK until
Target temp is reached and then pump from BK to Fermenter?
Target temp is reached and then pump from BK to Fermenter?
Dupell13
Active Member
I highly recommend following the bcs web site and look at the examples given. It's definitely easier to use manual first and then move into writing states.
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
Actually my plate chiller gets it down to pitching temp the first pass. With a probe on the output I can remove the analog I have on it.
Ok. I'm down South and summer brewing requires a pass through an ice bath immersion chiller too. I guess in the winter the plate chiller alone might work. Thanks for the feedback. I'm working on new rig design and this helps.
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
I'm in San Antonio and even when we hit 110 this last summer I was able to get my wort to 78f with my plate chiller. Although an ice bath does provide a safety net, should you not be able to hit the target temp.
78 is your target temp? Should be more like 68.
Agree that your first brew should probably just use manual mode. Reason for this is that you get used to what needs to be switched on and off and it helps you better understand what you want to do with your processes and states. As a rule of thumb, each time you need to manually change something, you probably need a state change.
I do processes for the following:
- MLT Heat/Hold
- HLT Heat/Hold
- Fly Sparge
- Wort/Hop Boil
- Hop Additions
Agree that your first brew should probably just use manual mode. Reason for this is that you get used to what needs to be switched on and off and it helps you better understand what you want to do with your processes and states. As a rule of thumb, each time you need to manually change something, you probably need a state change.
I do processes for the following:
- MLT Heat/Hold
- HLT Heat/Hold
- Fly Sparge
- Wort/Hop Boil
- Hop Additions
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
78 isn't the target, I was just stating that with 110f ambient temps I got the wort cooled down to 78f with a single pass
So my challenge is I can barely make 80 with an immersion cooler with house water and placing my brew kettle in the pool for additional cooling. Now one variable that is probably different is that I live in the country and my water is well supplied and it is stored above ground (allows breathing time as I have gas in the water). So my water is probably lower than ambient but not as cold as typical ground water.
digitalhifi
Well-Known Member
^^My typical ground water in Houston reached 98* this past summer for a few weeks. Cooling to 70 required me to get 4 2 lb bags of ice for every 5 gallons.
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rtrevino
Well-Known Member
I had similar problems with an immersion chiller, took forever to get it down. I then invested in a counterflow chiller and dramaticly decreased my chilling time. I then invested even more money in a plate chiller and found that I should have bought one a long time ago. Well worth the money.
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