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nukebrewer

Brew the brew!
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So basically, I'm sick of ****ing around with propane. The actual going out to get it sucks, plus since no one around here fills, so I end up exchanging and paying for a full tank even though there is some left in the tank I'm turning in. The thing is, I've been doing a bit of research and all of the kits I've seen include a lot of stuff I don't need. I don't mind babysitting my brewery, so all I really want to do is to be able to plug the element in when I need it and unplug it when I don't need it. I want to install two elements, one in my BK and one in my HLT.

I kind of feel like someone is going to read that and say, "WTF?" so if you need a better explanation of what I am looking for, I'll be able to do that, but hopefully my current explanation will do.

Where would be the best place to start looking for something like what I am looking for? I went to a couple of the sites from the vendor list, but there were lots of words I didn't understand, so I my brain started hurting. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction to the most bare bones e-brewery setup possible. Thanks.
 
Check out high gravity brewings website. They sell simple controllers for heating elements.


There are many ways to install the elements in the kettle. I'm having. 2" tri clamp ferrule welded to my kettles for use with the brewers hardware heating element tri clamp adaptor.

Sorry I'm on my phone and it's a pain to post links.
 
Pid control is really usefull as it gives you digital temp control fairly inexpensivly. You can easily slap together a single Pid controller that you swap between both your hlt and bk. you only ever actually use one Pid at a time. you can pretty much all your parts from auber instruments in one shot for less than a hundred dollars. Certainly you can piece together a controller for less, but the precise digital temperature control that a pid gives you is well worth the relatively small investment.
 
fpweeks: When you get a chance a link would be awesome. What you're talking about sounds right up my alley.

grandequeso: Under a hundred is well below what I was expecting to have to pay, so that is awesome. When I went to the site, there were a bunch of different controllers. Which one should I get for what i am trying to do?

Thanks for both of your input.
 
Well I guess my price estimate was a bit off. For the couple controllers I've built I had a lot of the parts laying around already, I've never had a auber order over $100. Them small parts do add up little by little. This list came out to $220 I just saw auber has a pid with a built in timer... is about $20 more, but I think I might be worth it especially for your hop additions. You could potentially add a buzzer or something when its time to hop up. Otherwise you could use either the 1/32 or 1/16th universal pid. The biggest difference between the two is the screen. The 1/16th shows you both your present temp and set temp at the same time. The smaller controller you have to hit a button to see your set temp, otherwise it always shows you your present temp. This list includes a enclosure but I'd suggest getting an enclosure like this (ebay search) "INDOOR/OUTDOOR ENCLOSURE W/BACKPLATE 300x200x200 12X8X8" So that you can expand a little bit, and its quite a bit more rugged, and its water proof. You can yank a heatsink for your ssr out of any old stereo or computer you find in the trash.

1ea.- Contactor, 2 pole, 30A, 120V Coil
1ea.- 40A SSR
1ea.- Selector Switch, 3-Position Maintained, 1 NC, 1 NO, 22mm
1ea.- LED Indicator, 22 mm, 120/240V
1ea.- Panel mount connector for RTD sensor
1ea.- Liquid tight RTD sensor, 2.5 inch, 1/2 NPT Thread
1ea.- Liquid Tight RTD Sensor, 4” probe, Weldless Fitting
1ea.- Box for 1/16 DIN controller
1ea.- 1/16 DIN PID Temperature Controller w/ Timer
 
Thanks very much to both of you for the great info. I'm still not sure which direction I am going to go. I do want to set myself up for moderate expansion, but I don't have a huge budget to work with. I'll look at both sites and see which one I feel will give me the most bang for my buck. Thanks again.
 
i think the biggest decision you need to make is whether you want to build something your self or whether you just want to buy something off the shelf and use it. Building it yourself gives you ultimate flexibility in how big or how little you want to make it.

http://brewmation.com/Panels.html

here's another site that offers built electrical controllers.
 
After looking at all the web sites you both provided, I've realized there is a lot more to this than I originally anticipated. I think I want something pre-built since I want to make sure it's done right. My track record with DIY is pretty shaky, so I think I am better off paying the extra for professional work. So, having said that, I don't suppose there's a cost effective way to get a professionally built system, is there? That Brewmation site had some awesome looking systems, but $1500.00 is way more than I willing to spend right now. Maybe it can go on my Christmas list. Thanks.
 
nukebrewer said:
After looking at all the web sites you both provided, I've realized there is a lot more to this than I originally anticipated. I think I want something pre-built since I want to make sure it's done right. My track record with DIY is pretty shaky, so I think I am better off paying the extra for professional work. So, having said that, I don't suppose there's a cost effective way to get a professionally built system, is there? That Brewmation site had some awesome looking systems, but $1500.00 is way more than I willing to spend right now. Maybe it can go on my Christmas list. Thanks.

How about this?

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productcart/pc/EBC-II-with-Infinite-Power-Control-269p3073.htm

You would use a Johnson or ranco controller with it to regulate temps instead of a pid.
 
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