Control Box? Old Computer? Complete Noob

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jdlev

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So I am determined to make brewing as complicated as I possibly can :rockin:

I have no electrical background. No welding background. No designing circuitry background. No wiring background. No control box design background. No computer automation background - BUT I can use a computer, and I can also program a little :D

The question is where to start. I have no idea what the components I should be looking for are called. I haven't decided between the two yet. I'd like to do a lot of automation....so rather than designing a control box...maybe using an old computer is the way to go? So how would you use a computer to send power to and control things like the pump (march 809 on the way :ban:), open and close thermo couplers...etc etc etc...
 
So here's the thing.. you can absolutely use a computer, and many of us do. The problem is, your computer can't output 120V or 240V to power heating elements or pumps. You need mechanic or solid-state relays to power that stuff. That's where the control panel comes in. You can use a computer to send the signals that control the relays, but you can't use a computer to directly send AC power to a device - it doesn't work that way.
 
Since the OP is proficient with computers I'd suggest that alternatives to the gold standard exists. Things like the BCS from www.embeddedcontrolconcepts.com or the BrewTroller. Kal's system is a thing of beauty but he did not design it as a full on automation system.
 
Since the OP is proficient with computers I'd suggest that alternatives to the gold standard exists. Things like the BCS from www.embeddedcontrolconcepts.com or the BrewTroller. Kal's system is a thing of beauty but he did not design it as a full on automation system.

That looks pretty sweet, but sweet jebus is that expensive...can't wait for christmas :D
 
There are several ways to do it. If you want fancy and expensive, look around.

I'm going to try it with a 1-wire network, an old laptop (or desktop) running Linux, and a simple graphical interface (playing with PHP-GTK2).

The theory is that the 1-wire network can send temperature readings from several cheap sensors to the One Wire File System (OWFS) on the computer. PHP can read those values from the OWFS and do something with them.

The something they could do is turn on a relay using a 1-wire Switch.

A couple of sensors, a switch or two, and voila! Instant automation! (ha ha..)

Well, we'll see how it goes. I'm not actually looking to go full automation, just a display to show temps, and a controller to set the mash temp and HLT temps on an electric system. Maybe a timer for timing the mash.

I'll probably turn the pump on by hand...
 
Ahhhh...so a lowly 'manual' system, eh? :D

We'll see. I mean, I still want to brew beer myself.

Of course, it might be nice to simply phone my brewbot and say, "HAL, please initiate program, name 'Black Betty'. Authorization: 758.9985"

And have a fermenter bubbling away when I get home. But I get an uncomfortable feeling about that level of automation for some reason...
 
We'll see. I mean, I still want to brew beer myself.

Of course, it might be nice to simply phone my brewbot and say, "HAL, please initiate program, name 'Black Betty'. Authorization: 758.9985"

And have a fermenter bubbling away when I get home. But I get an uncomfortable feeling about that level of automation for some reason...
/\
I'm with stupid.

I do automation for a living. Water/waste water treatment systems, oil well work over, flair stacks, generator controls, you get the point.

I want to be a bit more hands on with my beer.
 
It's no problem, I get it.

:cheers:

I want my automation to consist of setting a mash temp, and walking away. I still want to move stuff around by hand, (with a pump), but for some, almost total automation might be the bees knees.
 
Arduino. They can do a million different things, like measure temperatures, control pumps, start heaters (all with relays, of course).
 
Agree, arduino would be cool if you wanted to DIY everything from software to hardware. I went with a BCS to get back to brewing quickly. I will most likely still get an Arduino and play with it though.

I had intentions of nearly full automation with automated pump transfers and valves, etc. But I'm liking the current setup and what it does for me. Ie. Precision temp control, 4 digital temp readouts, a mash timer, and a boil process that assures I'll never boilover. That's my favorite part. I start the boil process when the wort gets above the element and it ramps the temp until it measures 205 then switches to 65% duty cycle. Also has a nice timer that starts when it switches to duty cycle. 205 seems to be the temp I start rolling boil/hot break, took some experimentation to figure out the right time to switch to duty cycle operation.
 
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