Curious what your total investment is here?
Out of curiosity, what are the main advantages to going with 3 pumps like you have instead of 2?
eeebigeee said: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....
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.
The customized GUI thread has been updated with file downloads for doing the customization yourself. See link to thread in my signature.Subscribed for the bcs stuff, gotta get this stuff.
The valves are from KLD. The folks at OSCSYS.com usually have them. http://www.oscsys.com/1-2-2-Way-Motorized-Ball-Valve-with-Manual-Override.htmlwho makes those electric valves? can you post a parts list for those components?
Thank you!D@mn nice build!
Do the thermoplastic hose hold the pressure when you restrict the valve at the top of the kettle?
Yes, I just use tap water from the hose. I get down to about 73-74 that way and then put my fermenter (sanke keg) inside a kegerator and it's down to 66-68 for pitching in an hour or so.However, do you just run tap water through the non-wort side? Does it chill quickly or do you somehow run ice water through the non-wort side while recirculating? I appreciate any response. Thanks!
JonW said:Yes, I just use tap water from the hose. I get down to about 73-74 that way and then put my fermenter (sanke keg) inside a kegerator and it's down to 66-68 for pitching in an hour or so.
I once used an immersion chiller coil in a bucket with ice to run my water through that first, then into the plate chiller. I waited until the wort temp hit the low-mid 70's, then loaded ice into the bucket. This got it straight to pitching temp level, but after trying that, I figured waiting an hour or so in the kegerator/fermenter was a lot easier.
Your ground water is likely not as warm as mine, so the plate chiller will probably get you even lower.
Sweet rig!
Do you recirculate the wort through the chiller or is it a one time pass? I didn't see how it would recirculate from the diagram.
JonW said:You can see the wort return (added later) in the updated pic #1 on the first page. This lets me recirculate back into the kettle until I get it down low enough to go to the fermenter.
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.
Jon - I assume you have the BCS trigger the solenoid gas valves and the bbq ignitor's SSR simultaneously, correct? How long does the ignitor stay on? I assume only momentarily. I'm planning to run my solenoid's and bbq ignitors from a control panel version. (ie. turn burner switch and it fires the solenoid and ssr for the ignitor.) Any issues with the ignitor only firing momentarily? Is there a way to make the ignitor fire for a bit of time? Capacitors maybe?
FYI - Solenoid valves are different than ball valves. I have solenoid valves on the NG burners, but SS ball valves on the liquid stuff.
http://www.electric-valve.com/ I ordered direct from China. Shipping costs is a killer, but if you get a few people together to order a quantity of them, it makes it worth it.
calebstringer said:I got ahold of the company in china. I was quoted ~$39.00 each. I asked for a quote on eight and shipping from china to Ohio was $80. As much as I want them, I'm going to have to go with manual valves for now. FYI, ONE valve from grainger was over 300!
I got ahold of the company in china. I was quoted ~$39.00 each. I asked for a quote on eight and shipping from china to Ohio was $80. As much as I want them, I'm going to have to go with manual valves for now. FYI, ONE valve from grainger was over 300!
Yes, each SSR under the stand is wired to a set of duplex outlets. There are 6 outlets in total, 3 for the pumps and 3 for the gas solenoid valves.It looks like what you did was come straight off the SSR to a 3 prong plug and then just plugged the pumps and solenoids directly in like a normal plug. Is that correct? If so, how did you figure wire gauge to handle the load?
An SSR is a relay - a Solid State Relay. Being "Solid State", means that it does not have mechanical moving parts. It's actuator can be triggered by a very low input voltage/current. For BCS purposes, SSR's are usually used for high voltage switching.Also, I have been reading a lot of your replies on the BCS boards and notice a lot of people talking about relay boards. Can you give a layperson a two second explanation of why a relay board would be of use? I suspect it has to do with having multiple devices 'fire' based off one SSR, but that seems a bit...excessive. I have been a computer programmer for the past 10 years, but other than building PC's I have rarely delved into the world of hardware and I am finding myself a bit out of sorts.
calebstringer said:I know earlier In this thread you said you didn't hav any issues with your pumps priming....I just built a rig with an identical plumbing setup as yours, except I am using manual ball valves, and I'm fighting alot with air pockets and starving the pumps. Any suggestions?
Brewed today with the new igniter system. It worked flawlessly! The BCS fires the igniters for a few seconds every time a gas valve opens. My standing pilot lights kept getting blown out by wind, so this was a nice change.
FYI - there is no safety system on these. If the igniter doesn't light the burner, then gas will still be flowing. I have a manual override button to also trigger the igniters in the event the 3 second auto-trigger does not get them lit (which did not happen at all today). Just like when using the pilot light system, I do not leave the area just in case a burner does not light for any reason.
The igniter is a 3 probe igniter from Walmart (about $20). It uses a single AA battery for firing the igniters. I hardwired the switch of it to a DC SSR. The BCS triggers the SSR, which triggers the igniter. Simple setup.
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