Electric burners - Any builders out there?

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OK - so I am a bit confused, and getting annoyed at the lack of reliability of my electric set up.

So to follow up, I just hooked it all back up and the GFI is not tripping. However the element is not firing either. So shame on me for throwing the other one out.

I used a multimeter and I am getting 70v ac at the hots on the 240 outlet. Previously I measured this and was getting 238v ac.

I noticed it appears my SSR is not illuminating the red diode on it. So I am about to replace the SSR to see if that is the issue.

Any suggestions? I have to say, this electric unit is costing more than the perceived convenience.

Thanks gents,
 
Sounds like what I suspected. SSR stuck in the off position.

There is some current that leaks through them when they are off so you get weird voltage readings with a meter.

Use you meeter to verify that the PID is sending out a proper dc control signal though.

SSR could be fine and PID having problems.
 
Walker said:
Sounds like what I suspected. SSR stuck in the off position.

There is some current that leaks through them when they are off so you get weird voltage readings with a meter.

Use you meeter to verify that the PID is sending out a proper dc control signal though.

SSR could be fine and PID having problems.
Click to expand...

Thanks walker - just put in a new ssr and retested with the multimeter. So new SSR yielded 238v ac at the outlet as before. i.e. I assume bad SSR.

So that leads to the next question. Why did the SSR fail? Should I be looking for a better quality SSR?

Have to admit that I am a bit annoyed by the failures of the H/W. Tell me to eat lima beans and I will. Interpretation... tell me the part to buy that will be reliable and I will buy it. I got into the electric game for consistent, worry free reliable ;)
 
Don't know what to tell you man. I used my system for a year before I ever had a problem with it, and that was really a self-inflicted wound.
 
Walker said:
Don't know what to tell you man. I used my system for a year before I ever had a problem with it, and that was really a self-inflicted wound.
Click to expand...

Could be bad luck - I certainly don't hold anyone accountable but myself. Just disapointed right about now. Guess it is time to order a back up SSR,.

Thanks for tuning in though. This project has helped me understand a lot about electric. Hopefully that isn't all I get out of this exercise.

:cross:

Maybe I brew too much
 
I'm using the chinese ebay SSR and I think alot of other folks are also since you can buy 4 for the cost of a single one from America (that's probably still built in China anyways).

In any case, they are much more likely to fail if you heat stress them. Be sure you're using a good thermal conductor between them and the heat sink. If your heat sink sink doesn't get warm, I'd worry that you're not conducting enough heat away from the SSR. Vice versa is also true, if the heat sink gets too hot to touch you're not moving air off it fast enough. If I recall, you used this setup for a while without a fan. That could have contributed to a premature failure of the SSR.
 
Walker said:
is that REALLY the right link? That one is for a DC output SSR.
Click to expand...

No I just googled real quick - mine is AC which one are you guys using?

Bruin - I never used the sink without thermal grease. I did put a fan on it later and used a ghetto rigged fan on the frist one when I temped the sink at 190F with a laser temp gun
 
Walker said:
Ok. I use that exact same SSR (240VAC, 40A, 3-32VDC control from china).

If you want to try something else, maybe just go with Auber's SSR?
Click to expand...

Wait are you saying the one on the link I sent is ok?

Just checked - that is the same seller as the one I bought, same product. Just lucky google. That is the SSR I bought

if this is unsafe let me know.
 
No. I was saying that the AC version of the SSR you linked to is what I use. If you bought DC ones then that is probably not good.
 
Walker said:
No. I was saying that the AC version of the SSR you linked to is what I use. If you bought DC ones then that is probably not good.
Click to expand...

well **** - just checked my hardware - they are DC output.

Can you give a knuckle head a link for the correct SSR on ebay or other?

f...!
 
On my phone in my car using voice recognition to send messages. I can't get you a link right now. Will do it later if begin doesn't beat me to it.
 
Well I think I get the bone head award.

I read the spec sheet on that listing, and I just garbled it up. I was looking on the right side and it said 80-280VAC; but it looks like that was the different flavor and I was buying the DC version.

Thanks for the help - looks like we might have the issue pinned down. Now just to replace the SSR
 
hopefully you guys are brewing this weekend - I am off to my parents house. Of course my dad is lokoing forward to the cooler full of growlers.

Take care and thanks again for the help. Just proves if you read it on the internet is isn't necessarily true:drunk:
 
haven't brewed in a few weeks.. but planning to soon. I've brewed almost 6 weeks in a row and hit the capacity of my keezer (4 tap). I've got 2 batches waiting for an open spot, hoping to kill a keg this weekend to make some room (if I don't I'll bottle the rest). Then next weekend maybe as a father's day gift to myself, I'll spend the day brewing :)
 
bruin_ale said:
haven't brewed in a few weeks.. but planning to soon. I've brewed almost 6 weeks in a row and hit the capacity of my keezer (4 tap). I've got 2 batches waiting for an open spot, hoping to kill a keg this weekend to make some room (if I don't I'll bottle the rest). Then next weekend maybe as a father's day gift to myself, I'll spend the day brewing :)
Click to expand...

Nice.

I just added to my kegs so now I have 14. Right now I have all but 3 in waiting for my 4 keezer (my buddy missed three brew sessions so now I have his portion too). I will admit that my buddy owns 2.5 of the kegs at my place. However it is nice having some pipeline.
 
you have 11 kegs full for a 4 tap keezer? Nice.. I have 9 kegs, but at the rate I'm drinking them I can't justify keeping more than a couple extra in the pipeline. Maybe I should start doing 3 gallon batches so I can go through batches/styles faster. I only brew 5 gallon batches right now because I like the variety.
 
bruin_ale said:
you have 11 kegs full for a 4 tap keezer? Nice.. I have 9 kegs, but at the rate I'm drinking them I can't justify keeping more than a couple extra in the pipeline. Maybe I should start doing 3 gallon batches so I can go through batches/styles faster. I only brew 5 gallon batches right now because I like the variety.
Click to expand...

Yeah I am sort of "sharing" my kegs with my buddy (he has yet to get a keg system set up). I brew 10g's with a buddy, so we usually split the batches. However, it doens't make much sense to ever do a 5 gallon because the 10 gallon is the same amount of work. i.e. if my buddy misses a brew day, I end up with 10G of something. He has missed the last 3 brew days. I still gave him splits even though he missed on one of the days - but three missed session! get your priorities straight ha!

My keezer is 2 party taps and one double tower tap that is fed from the basement but on my bar in the living room.

Variety is key :)
 
Had a question for you guys. Was thinking of adding a dedicated BK. Do you think that a 25 gallon BK would work on a 5500w element? That is, would one element boil 20 ish gallons for a 20 gallon batch?

I was thinking for some of the hefes I do, I would love to brew a 20 batch and split it, or 15g batch at a time. You can put that low ABV brew away pretty fast.
 
Just a follow up: Had bought two of those DC SSR's; so I figured what the hell and hooked up the DC while I wait for the new part. Just did a 10G double brew day (20 gallons of brew in 6 hours) with my buddy - was awesome. Nailed the gravities and electric system did the good work I was hoping for. Can't wait to get new BK which will allow for a less run around day (I had to heat the sparge water for the second batch on my kitchen stove). I am thinking i am going to build a gravity fed brew stand this winter.

Good times.
 
Hey guys had a quick question for you (I think).

I was planning on adding on to my electric build since I just recently bought a new 25G bayou classic 18g steel pot for 208 shipped!!

Anyway... I want to have a temp probe in both the HLT and BK. To remind you of my set up, I only have 1 PID. I was thinking that I could simply take the main feed wire on the RTD from the PID and feed it into any basic on - off - on switch (SPDT). That way I can flip from one element to another with power as well as the temp probe without having to disconnect anything.

Here is the probe I have:
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20_15&products_id=84

I noticed this has three wires on it, so I wondered if there was a special type of switch that has enough terminals to keep the wires distinct. Like a 9 terminal type switch (three pole double throw). I assume anything over 1 amp would work for the switch. Or, if there is an acceptable way to wire these in a standard switch.

I understand that since they are different probes, likely they won't read accurately if I set them up as described above (since I would need to calibrate each one to be accurate). I am willing to accept some error since the HLT will be the accurate one and the BK will be the inaccurate probe. But I like being able to look up at the PID and see a temperature for reference on how long it will be before my boil starts.

Thanks!
 
CidahMastah said:
Hey guys had a quick question for you (I think).

I was planning on adding on to my electric build since I just recently bought a new 25G bayou classic 18g steel pot for 208 shipped!!

Anyway... I want to have a temp probe in both the HLT and BK. To remind you of my set up, I only have 1 PID. I was thinking that I could simply take the main feed wire on the RTD from the PID and feed it into any basic on - off - on switch (SPDT). That way I can flip from one element to another with power as well as the temp probe without having to disconnect anything.

Here is the probe I have:
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20_15&products_id=84

I noticed this has three wires on it, so I wondered if there was a special type of switch that has three terminals in the SPDT fashion. Or, if there is an acceptable way to wire these in a standard switch.

One concern I have is that since they are different probes, likely they won't read accurately if I set them up as described above (since I would need to calibrate each one to be accurate). I am willing to accept some error, but any suggestions would be great if you have any.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

The "SP" part of "SPDT" means "single pole". You want a switch with three poles so that you can switch three wires instead of one. You need a "3PDT" switch.

And, yes, you will likely have errors unless you get lucky enough to get two probes with the exact same error offset.

I assume your BK probe is just for monitoring temps during chilling? if so, I would set your PID to be accurate when the HLT probe is selected and just note what error that gives you on the BK probe and manually account for that BK probe error when chilling.
 
Thanks Walker - I was sort of figuring it out (made some edits to my original post... but you wre too fast!) and found this switch:

http://www.micromark.com/Toggle-Switch-3-Pole-Double-Throw,8424.html

I think this will do the trick. I think the hardest part for this one is... getting it locally. I will probably grab a few of these suckers because I haven't seen any of these types of switches available at radio shack or similar. Will likely pay more for shipping an the switch!

And yes you are right - probe in BK for chilling and estimated time to start of boil. With the new pot though... won't have to worry about boil overs!


Thanks!
 
If you can stand to wait for it, you can get them on ebay for cheaper ($2.85 + free shipping). Shipped from China.
 
Checking ebay and seeing what I can stir up! I wish I could find one with screw terminals, but I bet the business end of that switch would be huge with 9 terminals! Soldering here I come.

So I guess I am just buying insurance with the higher rim on the new pot then :D

Right now on a 13 gallon boil I get some slop up out of the kettle here and there, for 90 minute boils (14G) I have to do a very low boil and watch it (cover the element junction box with a towel), or add in a gallon after 30 minutes.
 
CidahMastah said:
Checking ebay and seeing what I can stir up! I wish I could find one with screw terminals, but I bet the business end of that switch would be huge with 9 terminals! Soldering here I come.
Click to expand...

All the ones I see are being described as "mini toggle switches", which means they are going to be small and you are going to have some fine soldering work to do.
 
Walker said:
All the ones I see are being described as "mini toggle switches", which means they are going to be small and you are going to have some fine soldering work to do.
Click to expand...

I think I will go with a couple of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120731605230?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I just have a basic solder tool with three little adapters, so I am sure it will be a bit tricky.

In a few weeks I will be near having all I need for a rack set up! Of course I am sure I will want to add a PID and more power so I can run the HLT and BK at the same time in 6 months :) ha

Thanks for the help!
 
Cost to Electrify (with RTD temp probe), ball valve a pot ($176.00)

ELECTRIFY ($136.00):
5500 Element/gang cover and JB weld with plates: $45
10/3 wire (10ft)/washer dryer plug/terminal rings: $26
RTD probe with 10ft extra wire: $50
Misc hardware: $15

Ball valve:$40

Pot: $208 (bayou classic 102qt 18.25W x 21H 18g 304 Stainless)

Cost to buy a pot, electrify and ball valve it = ~ $384


cost of tools not included
 
CidahMastah said:
Cost to Electrify (with RTD temp probe), ball valve a pot ($176.00)

ELECTRIFY ($136.00):
5500 Element/gang cover and JB weld with plates: $45
10/3 wire (10ft)/washer dryer plug/terminal rings: $26
RTD probe with 10ft extra wire: $50
Misc hardware: $15

Ball valve:$40

Pot: $208 (bayou classic 102qt 18.25W x 21H 18g 304 Stainless)

Cost to buy a pot, electrify and ball valve it = ~ $384


cost of tools not included
Click to expand...

You just keeping records for your specific build here or something, cause I know you can do it cheaper than this. :D
 
Walker said:
You just keeping records for your specific build here or something, cause I know you can do it cheaper than this. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah I am sure you can do it cheaper, but this is using my impatient buying style for electrical stuff :D

How much cheaper do you think you could get that price down though? Stuff like the elements and electrical components i ball parked from memory, so I am sure I am a little high (my element was attached via 2 gang box like in electric brewery). Do you have actual excel sheets that are more accurate than my memory? - it wouldn't take much... :cross:

I bet the probe could be done much cheaper - but I really like that detachable probe... I did go with the most expensive ball valve from bargain fittings (3piece weldless SS).
 
bulkhead + brass ball valve and a 1/2" weldless thermo fitting for a probe and an element nut with o-ring from bargain fittings would come to $35 (shipping included).

RTD can be gotten on ebay, shipped, for $24. A piece of old phone or cat5 cable is free.

Element is $17 local.

We're at about $75 there.

I use pvc coupling and JB weld to pot the element. That's another $6 locally.

Dryer cord = $10.

Call it $100.

edit: a three-pin XLR quick connector on ebay is like $1.50 to make the probe pluggable/unpluggable.
 

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