Help with eHerms - 240v/5500w elements

Hey all,

I collected a few diagrams that P-J put together - excellent! But, I still have a few questions.

Here's what I'll be putting together:
Two 5500 elements (HLT and BK)
One PID (toggle back and forth between HLT and BK)
Two Pumps

Questions:
Do I need one SSR or two?
Do I need contactors? If so, where would they go?

Thanks, Todd

I use a 240V / 5500w element as well. Personally I would use 2 SSR's, 2 PID's and 2 temp probe's. You might be able to do it with one but for the cost of an extra PID, SSR & probe you will be happier in the long run. Usually, you would need a temp probe as an input to the PID and you would have to find a way to toggle between the temp probes and toggle between the output as well. If you just set two controllers up, your system will be a bit simpler (less problems).

One thing I would also do is add a toggle (on / off) switch to your HLT just before the element - after the SSR. I have mine wired up on my control panel this way and it gives me a bit more control over HLT temps while I am running my herms. I know you can just tell the PID to turn on the element and manually control the output but I would run it with the help of a probe and PID so you don't have to keep focused on that during the boil. Once you get a good boil going you can turn it down and still keep that boil going where a PID would just do that for you.

You can either switch between two SSR's with a regular DPDT toggle switch between the PID and SSR's or switch between the two elements with a contactor between a single SSR and the elements but you will still ned a toggle switch to control the contactor. The two SSR option seems simpler to me.

Thanks! So what' the best way to wire all this together?

Two 5500 elements
Two SSRs
Two contactors
One PID (I'll probably just stick with one PID and use a toggle to control either 5500 element)
Two pumps

Thanks again.