electronic valves

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hepkat701

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Ok putting together my first rig. It will be a HERMS system that I plan on fully automating. Four vessels keggle hlt, 5 gallon heat exchanger, keggle mash tun and keggle bk. All hard plumed all run off 1 pump. Hlt and bk gas fired and heat exchanger electric 220. Obviously lots of electronic valves involved, anyone have suggestions on where to source the valves?
 
They have motorized ball valves at http://www.oscsys.com/ (the commercial site run by the contributors to the brewtroller project). They are stainless and look pretty nice. $50 a pop. They seem to be out of stock but that might just be because the owners are currently at NHC. I think you can also order these from China in quantity but I think the shipping times are longer.
 
Ya might wanna contact member "Squeeky" he has a connection to some very nice ball valves that are electrically controlled. he will also have a lot of the answers to how to plumb them in and write the proper control code for a chip. Definately worth talking to him before you decide. Hope this helps get you going in the direction your interested in.
Wheelchair Bob
 
Hi

Based on a post elsewhere, Squeaky is more or less waiting for 30 pieces to be needed before he places his next order.

Bob
 
Wow I feel so loved :D

Thanks for the recommendation guys, carlisle bob is correct about needing 30 claimed before I'd order again. It's not worth it economically to have them come from China unless I order 50; as it's well over $200 in shipping. At that I make roughly $6 a valve for my time and effort, not trying to hide anything. Plus the fund of wiring 2k+ to China, and hoping everything come correctly without extra fees etc.

There have been several members asking, but no one really ready to buy yet. (Emjay, pull the trigger on the 20 you want and I'll get the order placed this week)

Rbeckett it correct, I'm here to help. HBT has done so much for my brewing, I just want to repay the favor. If you have any questions just PM.

Squeeky
 
The extras I had went for $42 a piece or $40 if ordering more then 5. They would be the same cost if I ordered another 50, assuming factory prices didn't go up, however I don't know why the would.

OSCSYS sells for $50, but I know he offers a discount if ordering 5+ and 10+, I think the cheapest they go through him is $44 when ordering 10+. Although JC is out right now, he will likely have them in 2 weeks after getting back from NHC.

I'm not a vendor so I can't really buy for resale within the classifieds, and the profit isn't enough to pay for vendor status. So shhhh just PM if you need valves in the future :)
 
It's also removing the risk for a small additional cost.

All it takes is one wire transfer to China that goes "unaccounted for" and then what happens? This is something that never seems to be worked out in advance with group buys. Especially if squeeky is fronting all the money; I'd hate to see a transaction go bad that he was ordering on behalf of several people and those people don't end up sharing in the liability.
 
I got great support from the Chinese manufacturer. Emails were replied to almost instantaneously regarding payment and shipping notification. When I ordered mine, another board member was having an issue with one of his valves not opening and the manufacturer sent him the part he needed for free.

Jeremiah and the OSCSYS team are also extremely helpful, I just chose to save a little coin.
 
Subscribed.

This thread on valves is great.

I'm looking for a ball valve with a positioning actuator. The purpose is to control pump volume output with a feedback loop from a flow meter. So far, cheapest is a pneumatic actuator for several hundred from valworx.

Any thoughts?
 
Just introducing myself around here:

Im currently a partial mash, BIAB, brewer. Set up is the typical 5-gallon extract, with two carboys, 9 brews in bottles, 1 in keg.

I'm planning to go high automation HERMS over the next year. I'm not getting younger (54) so transferring is an issue. Plus I hate fussing with the gas valve over-and-over again. Started planning this summer. Right now I'm thinking 3 kettles, but I'm carefully considering 2 as well.

I'll start by automating BIAB process, then move along from there.

Love this site.

I'll be watching and posting. :)
 
SMc0724, you not getting younger :D. Noticed you posted the same post three times in this thread and once in mine :)
 
Just buy them from OSCSYS. They stand by their products.

They aren't the best at answering emails though. I sent OSCSYS a message asking if they could get 24vdc or 120vac valves(the valves they sell are available from the manufacture in that voltage). They said they would talk to the manufacturer and get a price. That was almost a month ago. I've contacted them again but they don't respond now.
 
Wow I feel so loved :D

Thanks for the recommendation guys, carlisle bob is correct about needing 30 claimed before I'd order again. It's not worth it economically to have them come from China unless I order 50; as it's well over $200 in shipping. At that I make roughly $6 a valve for my time and effort, not trying to hide anything. Plus the fund of wiring 2k+ to China, and hoping everything come correctly without extra fees etc.

There have been several members asking, but no one really ready to buy yet. (Emjay, pull the trigger on the 20 you want and I'll get the order placed this week)

Rbeckett it correct, I'm here to help. HBT has done so much for my brewing, I just want to repay the favor. If you have any questions just PM.

Squeeky

Please let me know the next time your doing an order. Also can you get the valves in 24v or 120ac?
 
I honestly don't think I'll be able to do another order. Apparently they now offer paypal as an option so a little easier for everyone. Check out alibaba.com and the valves.
 
I am kicking myself right now for not ordering the valves six months ago, but I didn't have the money at the time. Now that I do, I can't seem to find any at reasonable prices. Anyone know of any other dealers?
 
Did you try direct from manufacturer? Takes about two weeks, but good pricing if getting several
 
I found some dude on eBay. Supposedly I have bought them at a reasonable price (read: the price I paid was reasonable, hopefully they stack up). Until they show up at my front door I am skeptical but so far little cause for concern. I tried alibaba.com and found the site to be confusing and the vendor took over a week to email me back. I am a child of the 80's, if I don't have an answer in two days I am moving on. :) However, I saw that oscsys.com now has them for sale again (downside to being an 80's kid, I had already bought them from dude on eBay...).
 
Not to revive a somewhat dead thread, but this is the best discussion on valves I've found yet. I'd like to include electric valves in my build, but don't intend to use any computerized automation. I like gizmos, but suck at coding, so I want to wire my valves to individual switches. Push a button, valve opens - that simple. Is anyone planning to install their valves in a switched configuration like I describe? Any experiences to share?
-Kevin
 
Really easy to do! All you need is 12v DC psu and spst per valve. Wire 12vdc +/- constant switch the yellow trigger. PM me if you need more info.

You could use 9v batteries if needing portable option.
 
Seems easy enough. What I can gather from the data sheets, power draw is low enough that I could run the valve straight through a decent SPST switch without worrying about a relay. It's coming together, build post will be forthcoming.
-Kevin
 
Squeeky said:
Really easy to do! All you need is 12v DC psu and spst per valve. Wire 12vdc +/- constant switch the yellow trigger. PM me if you need more info.

You could use 9v batteries if needing portable option.

I have no idea what all of those initials stand for, but I am interested in learning. I was planning on using 24vac valves, is there any advantages to using 12vdc. I'm a plumber not an electrician so please be clear. Thank you.
 
No benefit, with 24v you could use doorbell transform. I use 12v as I will also be running 12v pumps, air pump, and brewtroller.
 
And they offer the most wiring options. Seems like CR02 would be best - no permanently energized wire like CR03, just a simple switch. The downside is they don't indicate whether the 3-6v,12v,24v is AC or DC...
 
They do both AC and DC by the looks of it.

Wiring diagram CR02 is for DC definitely.

I think CRO3 is for AC controllers as the supply options are 3-6, 12/24 and 220V (220V is mains AC in many parts of the world). The supply is labeled as "IS" rather than +ve and -ve, which are DC only supply terminal labels.

CR04 is also for AC but without an earthing lead which to me says that would be the one for low voltage AC supply.
 
Seeing that 1/2'' copper pipe for plumbing has a typical OD of 5/8'', I guess the correct valve would be the 3/4'' valve. You would then thread the pipe and use teflon tape to seal the join.
 
I sold them awhile back, in order to get my overall costs down. Sold through them quick and keeping my 2 extra just in case.
 
Good links. I had no idea you could get motorized SS valves for those kind of prices. Although I would prefer EPDM over Viton seals, personally, for hot stuff.
 
The alternatives are also rated at this temperature.

Yes, they won't be suitable for boiling wort however, when do you actually transfer boiling wort? The hottest part of your system will be the outlet of the brew kettle. the valve will be open after you whirlpool the wort and are transferring it to the heat exchanger.

You probably whirlpooled for around 5 mins and let it stand for another 5 mins. anyway, my point is that the wort is not at 212 when it comes out of the kettle. It's probably dropped by a good 15 degrees during this time.

That's still right on the upper edge of these valve's operating parameters but much better than a boiling transfer operation.
 
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