Temperature control for BIAB setup.

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SimonB

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Hi all.

I'm new here from sunny South Africa. Have been lurking for a while so this is my first post.

I have been using a mini (5 gallon pot) BIAB with quite a bit of success.

My issue however has always been temperature control on the mash step.

I've been thinking about converting to electric, with digital temperature control. Now it seems most controllers maintain temp by switching heating/cooling circuits, but in my case the cooling side isn't all that important, as it is a case of getting it up to temperature and maintaining it there. What I'm not sure about is then "dialling in" the second temperature (i.e that of the boil) How would one go about that? Use a second controller, or can the controller be just adjusted to the second desired temperature?

Any thoughts on better solutions?

Thanks in anticipation for your advise.
 
Most people who use temperature controlled mash rigs are only heating. I can't imagine that anyone is trying to cool his mash tun.

I'm not sure what you mean by "dialing in" the boil. Water boils at 100ºC, and it can't get any hotter than that. If you turn your element on, it will heat the water until it starts to boil. You can adjust the power manually to get as gentle or as vigorous of a boil as you'd like.

The generally preferred tool for this is a PID with a solid state relay. In the States, Auber is popular, but I'm not sure what is easily available in South Africa. Do your research, though. You don't want to electrocute yourself with bad wiring! :mug:
 
Thanks malfet


What I mean by dialing-in by using the temperature controller to change from mash temperature to boil temperature.

Ok perhaps I'm not expressing myself or even thinking clearly. What I am after is really to control the mash temperature, and then easily switching over to the boil when the mash is done, then controlling the "strength" of the boil.

Put it this way, how does one override the controller when wanting to boil without unplugging the works.
 
Thanks malfet


What I mean by dialing-in by using the temperature controller to change from mash temperature to boil temperature.

Ok perhaps I'm not expressing myself or even thinking clearly. What I am after is really to control the mash temperature, and then easily switching over to the boil when the mash is done, then controlling the "strength" of the boil

PID and SSR is the way to do it. There are lots of threads around here describing the process. You'll want to make sure that you get parts appropriate for your local voltage.
 
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