About Time To Document This (Strut/Penrose/BCS-460 System)

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So, you don't have a network cable available near your bcs? When you plugged the bcs into your old linksys, you built a new wireless network...independent of your existing one. You need a wireless gaming adapter, something like this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0024G48VA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Yeah, figured that one out, hoping a local home-brew buddy is going to hook me up with an adapter :). If not I'm not too worried, I can always just use the phone for music or something.
 
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Ok....so that solves your real problem. But since you don't have that adapter...you use a router you already had to make a wired connection between your bcs and your PC...but you lose access to the internet when you do this?

If so....that's not too hard to explain. When you connect to the router, either wired or wirelessly, the router gives you an IP address. Something like 192.168.0.100. Think of this as a street name with a house number. Street is 192.168.0 and the house number on that street is 100

You could be getting two different addresses on the same "street" and confusing your laptop.
There is also another problem.....the default gateway is an address where you put your "outgoing mail" (or any other packets destined for the internet) that your ISP will deliver. If your brew stand router doesn't have an internet connection hooked up, your PC doesn't know that and will try to use that to get to the internet

You can look at these settings by clicking start -> run. Then typing "cmd", no quotes
Then in the new window type ipconfig /all
 
On post 73 can I ask what strut channel part number was used to mount the pumps. I really like the way it was done. Its nice and neat, along with the plate chiller. I am looking forward to building my own soon.

Cheers.
 
On post 73 can I ask what strut channel part number was used to mount the pumps. I really like the way it was done. Its nice and neat, along with the plate chiller. I am looking forward to building my own soon.

Cheers.

Those were both custom/hack jobs by me.

For the pumps I drilled some thin plate and used bolts through that and the 4 holes on the pump base to clamp to the strut. The Chuggers have rotatable heads so that location seemed to work best, time will tell if they stay there but they should be easy to move.

For the chiller I used some metric bolts into the studs on the back of my Duda Diesel Frankenstein, I had to use a leftover chunk of DIN rail to space the bolts on the backside (I may just replace with proper length bolts) but so far it's sturdy.

Sorry for the lack of updates, combination of busyness and laziness. Someday...
 
Ooof. Need to finish this damn thing. I could make excuses, but I've taken too damn long to close out the last items. I did finally put in the time tonight to write some processes, and now that I'm familiar with them, I'm embarrassed that it told so damn long. It's really not too hard, even as a mechanical engineer I can work with a simple state machine.

Anyway, hoping to test in the next few days and then brew soon. Fingers crossed.
 
Let me know when you do your first brew and I'll bring over a growler of my latest batch.


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Put some water in to see what happened today. No heat and only one pump working. Discouraging.

Unhooked the panel and brought it in to do some troubleshooting, found a few culprits in the form of some swapped wires (in a way that wouldn't damage anything) and a loose switch. Fixed those up, hooked it back up, and everything appears to be working as it should. I'll probably be up snowboarding tomorrow and won't be able to test it again for a couple days, but I'm optimistic. Close...
 
Tested today. Both elements work great, heating just like they should. Wort pump was fine as well. Water pump was not having it. Checked continuity everywhere, wiring is correct. Checked pump function on the wort pump circuit, pump is fine. Tracked it down to the SSR, the DC side is fine but the AC side isn't actuating. I'll futz tomorrow but will likely just replace it next week and hopefully brew next weekend. I wanted to brew Monday but oh well, another 6 days is trivial at this point :D.
 
You have your pump on an SSR or a mechanical relay? A SSR requires AC side current to function and isn't really ever 'off' so it's always leaking some voltage which is fine for elements but not sure about pumps. I just put my pumps on a 120v switch for on/off



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You have your pump on an SSR or a mechanical relay? A SSR requires AC side current to function and isn't really ever 'off' so it's always leaking some voltage which is fine for elements but not sure about pumps. I just put my pumps on a 120v switch for on/off



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An SSR will work just fine for a pump. The voltage across the AC side only shows up at very low (milliamp) levels. As soon as a reasonable load is put on the circuit the voltage drops close to zero.
 
Eric, 4 SSR's on the system, one for each pump and element. 3 mechanical contactors, one for main power and one for each element. The water pump SSR does seem to be borked.

Unrelated, why the hell are you checking HBT from Mexico? :)
 
Cause I still get up too damn early in the morning ... Nothing gets going around here till after 9am ... Nightlife doesn't start till 11pm, so that might explain why :)

I'm planning my next brew for when I get home, I've got Thursday off so ... ;)


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SSR swapped and the second pump is working great! First brew is tomorrow, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. I'll post updates as I can.
 
First brew is on the books! The mash was educational, had some trouble with pulling air through the MLT sight glass. Solved it temporarily by jamming a pencil eraser in there, but if anyone else has some advice (brew hardware sight glass FWIW), I'm all ears. I want a temporary solution so I can still use it for measuring strike water.

I think I need some priming valves on the front of the pumps as well to burp them and keep them flowing well. And some caps for the cam locks on the chiller to keep them covered when not in use.

All things considered though, not bad at all. Hit my numbers pretty much dead on and had a good time with it. Silence through the boil was nice, I forget how loud those damn propane burners are. Hoping to get the pieces I need this week and brew again next weekend.
 
The mash was educational, had some trouble with pulling air through the MLT sight glass. Solved it temporarily by jamming a pencil eraser in there, but if anyone else has some advice (brew hardware sight glass FWIW), I'm all ears. I want a temporary solution so I can still use it for measuring strike water.

I use a PVC cap that fits tightly over the sight glass to solve this problem. Once I have finished the dough in I put the cap on before I start the pump. I think that the cap came off a shipping tube for a specialty drill or end mill, don't remember exactly.
 
I use a PVC cap that fits tightly over the sight glass to solve this problem. Once I have finished the dough in I put the cap on before I start the pump. I think that the cap came off a shipping tube for a specialty drill or end mill, don't remember exactly.

I'm thinking one of the little white caps from a carboy cap may work too, that's what Bobby suggested. I'm going to swing by my LHBS today to get one, see if it fixes it. Picked up the items needed for priming the pumps too, should be here Wednesday. I've got a KBS clone on deck for brewing next weekend.
 
Some random pics from yesterday:

Heating strike water (computer is hiding off to the right on a table):


Chilling:


Another shot of chilling:


I took a video of the boil too, I'll see if I can get that uploaded as well.
 
Weirdest fermentation on this beer. Took forever to get going, just now starting to ramp to high krausen. I apparently have the blow off tube in there weird too, no stream of bubbles, more like a big belch every 15 seconds or so. I know the mash was hotter than I wanted, we'll see how it turns out.
 
Fermentation came back to life and looks to have finished out fine. Hydrometer sample this weekend will confirm. Dry hopped yesterday.

Put on some pump burp valves today which should help get everything flowing easier. Unfortunately one of the Chuggers is sounding a bit broken, very little use but I've had it long enough that I'm sure warranty is a no go. Oh well, I'll keep using it until it quits. Got a cap for the sight glass too, for anyone looking you can get a 3 pack of 1/2" screw caps at Lowes for $0.92, they fit great.

Burp valve pic:

 
I need to add a burp valve as well ... Did you add those at the input or output side of the pump? Looks like the input I'd guess. Let me know how they work.


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Which pump is burping? I think its the bottom one. I read somewhere (I think here) that there is a right way and a wrong way to in stall the pumps. Try to put the bottom pump in the same position as the top pump and then please post here.
 
I need to add a burp valve as well ... Did you add those at the input or output side of the pump? Looks like the input I'd guess. Let me know how they work.


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Inlet, borrowed from MoreBeer: http://morebeer.com/products/march-pump-assembly.html

Which pump is burping? I think its the bottom one. I read somewhere (I think here) that there is a right way and a wrong way to in stall the pumps. Try to put the bottom pump in the same position as the top pump and then please post here.

^ That's true, the bottom pump in the picture has the inlet above the outlet which makes it more likely to cavitate...

Cheers!

Both have burpers now. The pump bodies are in the same position, the heads are rotatable at 90 degree intervals. The bottom one has actually been working better and is the quiet one, I might swap the head position on the top one to see if that helps.
 
Brewed this today. Went ok. Programs all worked well with some tweaking. Need lids for the HLT and MLT to hold heat in better but all else is solid. Even the noisy pump calmed down a bit. Still working out the best way to sanitize the plate chiller too.

That particular recipe posed an interesting challenge. I've brewed a regular breakfast stout clone before on propane and had no issue with the chocolate melting and mixing. After I drained the kettle into the carboy today some of the chocolate was left in the bottom unmelted, I guess if they're far enough from the direct heat of the element they just don't melt. I'll toss them in a hop bag or something in the future. Also my OG didn't hit the 1.092 in that thread but Beersmith estimated it much lower (1.079). I was at 1.076.
 
Brewed again today, pilsner this time. 90 minute mash, 90 minute boil. I've discovered a new issue, this system is so automated that it's a bit boring to brew :). Watched some Breaking Bad, played some video games, etc. It went well, though I've found I'm coming up a bit shy on the OG's. Pre-boil estimate was 1.037, hit 1.036. OG estimate was 1.049, hit 1.045. I can't quite understand it, any insights?

I did have a rather successful IT evening. I was running the BCS on a separate network on an old WRT54G. Tonight I flashed it to DD-WRT and set it up as a wireless bridge, meaning it's now on our normal wireless so I can dick around on the internet while napping through 90 minute mashes/boils :D.

Big IIPA planned for next weekend (should be more data for the low OG issue) and hopefully 10 gallons of a sour stout the weekend after. I think that will fill every fermenter I have.
 
Great build hyper! I am building a Kal clone now. One of the things that seems to come up as a common issue is pulling air in the sight glass causing cavitation. The common cause is not using a loose crush. Kal recommends .45 for the gap. Since you are reticulating you do not need a fine crush to get good efficiency. The loose crush will help the water recirculate through the grain bed and avoid creating suction under your false bottom. He runs his pumps wide open during the mash without suction issues due to the loose crush.
 
Update: Slow summer of brewing for multiple reasons, but back at it. I brewed 10 gallons of IPA last weekend, pitched half with Belgian yeast, half with east coast. I was much closer on numbers, over a bit in fact. I added a tap in the house water line before the softener but after the filter, seemed to help a good deal. Checked temp consistency too, it was within a degree or so of what the BCS claimed. Still having cavitation in the mash tun though, which causes an odd stop/start pumping. I recently rebuilt my mill and set the gap at .036", I may open it a bit to see if that helps. That said I'm pretty happy with things right now.

I also picked up another kettle so I have a complete gas system as well. Hoping to do some double batches soon side by side.
 
For anyone interested I've put this up for sale along with a 4 tap kegerator and a ferm chamber. Please shoot me a PM if you're in the area and interested.
 
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