New e-HERMS build, questions.

wyowolf said:

Where did you get that panel from at HD? I have been looking at HD and Lowe's and haven't seen anything like that.

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the electrical asle... they are with all the gray plastic pvc electrical boxes and piping.

I made a small amount of progress today after receiving my 63amp DIN rail contactor, temp probes, and heatsink in the mail. I also picked up some stainless hardware.

Here's a mock up of the heatsink. I drilled two more holes in the bottom for the temp probes, too.

Now it's time to paint the enclosure and wire it up. Slow and steady!

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Painted and components are in.

The internals and wiring still to come.

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Nice job spartybrews on your build so far! I am also going electric now and enjoying your progress. I need to install a dryer outlet also as I want to brew on my roof covered lanai by the pool. Good luck with the rest of the build!

John

Looks great, Man!

Finally!

Still need to work on the elements, kettles, and pumps.

So excited to take a big step in the right direction. Thanks for the support and encouragement!

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Nice progress.
I assume this is the case, but wanted to confirm for the benefit of others that you are going to be installing a cable clamp/strain relief where the power supply cord enters the cabinet.

MajorWoody said:

Nice progress.
I assume this is the case, but wanted to confirm for the benefit of others that you are going to be installing a cable clamp/strain relief where the power supply cord enters the cabinet.

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Of course. I installed that this morning and hung it on the wall.

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I performed a quick water test and it looks like I will be good to go for an extract brew day tomorrow. I'll calculate boil off at that time and work on installing the HERMS coil.

I installed the elements using a weldless kit from bargain fittings and a homemade stainless enclosure (formerly stainless salt shakers).

It's really starting to come together!

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I like that very clever use of those shakers!

Today's extract brew did not goes as planned...

I got water from tap to boil in less than 15 min (that's a win!). I mixed in the LME, changed to manual mode on BK pid and went down to 60%. Got to boil, started to boil over, cut power, reduced power to 45%. Started to boil over again. Cut power, reduce power to 35%. Started to boil over again! Reduced power to 30% and couldn't get a boil so I moved up slowly to 34%, got a very low boil. Tried 35% again, started to boil over again!

I spent the next hour battling boil overs.

If 34% is not enough, but, 35% is too much, what do I need to do?

Trying an Auto Tune with the BK pid right now. Temp probe is mounted on the side of the kettle... I have temp set at 150 and present value has over shot to 172 and still climbing.

The same thing happened on Saturday prior to the extract brew and boil over issues.

I don't know what's wrong. Any suggestions?

fermcap is your friend

BigFloppy said:

fermcap is your friend

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I plan to pick up a large supply of it!

1 drop per gallon, my 2 oz bottle has lasted me nearly 3 years so far and still going strong

BigFloppy said:

1 drop per gallon, my 2 oz bottle has lasted me nearly 3 years so far and still going strong

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Good to know.

Any suggestions on getting the PID dialed in? Auto Tune doesn't seem to be working correctly. And auto mode won't hold the temp.

BigFloppy said:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=540075

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Thanks, I've read through that a few times... I tried Auto Tune again. And had A100 flashing with At on the PID. Once the PV went above the SV, the At was flashing with A 0 but the temp still continued to go up.

Bad PID? Bad SSR?

I think it is a bad SSR. I ran an Auto Tune this morning with the HLT PID, hooked up to the BK element and BK temp probe and the temp has stopped within 1 degree of the set temp and is holding there, 10 minutes into the process. EDIT: Auto Tune finished after 23 minutes, temp holding at 152 (the SV).

I emailed Auber this morning to see what they have to say, too.

Then I believe I will swap out the BK SSR and try again.

It was definitely a bad SSR. I swapped it out this morning, ran Auto Tune and it's holding the SV temp.

Auber also responded with recommended P, I, and D values for beer brewing:

"For your application, please try setting I =350, P=40, and D=2. It should give you very good control."

Added gallon calibration to the Boil Kettle. Used a 12volt DC power supply, cue tip, salt/vinegar mix as described on these forums and this BYO article.

http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3113-etch-your-kettle-projects

It was a lot easier than I expected.

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Wow that came out great, good job!

John

This is the 2nd brew day using the new all grain system (a golden wheat).

Still need to fine tune some things in my process, but, I am very happy with it. From start to finish in less than 4 hours.

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Good times, congrats! Have fun brewing on your rig!

John