Heating element with controller

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aram

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Hi folks,

first post here and have to say this forum has helped me quite a lot over the past year!

I'm still fairly new but I have a decent amount of equipment that I'm constantly upgrading, which results in a proportional downgrade of funds :D I've recently graduated myself to all-grain brewing.

Anyway, it's getting cold up here and I don't wanna brew on my balcony with a gas burner so I wanna move to electric (and at around 7 cents a kWh who wouldn't?!). I wanna essentially use a 5500 watt heating element (or smaller) but without the PID or the temperature probes. All I want is some kind of controller on the heating element so I won't always have to operate it at full capacity. Can it be done? I already have a hole drilled in my kettle for a smaller 1000 watt element that I've used. I wanna avoid drilling more holes so a bigger element is what I would like.

I've done a fair bit of searching on here but most I can find is PID controller type set ups. Any help in terms of some key words that I should be looking for or whole threads would be greatly appreciated! :mug:
 
You can build a PWM (pulse width modulator) circuit very simple easy to do. bactronics is where I bought my first one cheap I think it was <$20 shipped. That will give a knob type setup where as you turn the knob the element will pulse "on" longer and turn the knob the other direction and the element will pulse slower (less heat). Like a knob on your stove top. You will have to have an ssr and heat sink and also some type of box to put all of this into. There is a ton of onformation on here just do some searching on "PWM"
 
Fast finger Walker beat me to it. Also just do a search under Walker and you can find all the information you need Walker knows his stuff.
 
Hey ya'll. This controller might be of some use to you. It uses a 2000w dimmer dial and a receptacle. All the parts are easily bought online. Here is a pic.
2013-2-10.jpg


The Home Brewer's Haven has a detailed writeup of what it takes to build this controller. Note that this is for a single 120v heating element. Some are 1000w, some are 1800w. This controller will handle both obviously. Here is the article with parts list.

Hope this helps some of ya'll. On my setup I have 2 120v elements mounted into each vessel. I have 2 controllers, one for each vessel. I rock one element at 100 % and then use this controller to dial the other one back to around 70% once the boil has started. It is too vigorous otherwise with 8gal boils. Please note that a general 20amp circuit can only handle one heating element at a time. If you use both, make sure they are plugged into separate circuits.

Cheers.
 
Am I doing something wrong? When I search for PWM in electric or DIY forum I get nothing...?
 
Am I doing something wrong? When I search for PWM in electric or DIY forum I get nothing...?

SpartyParty,
I had the same problem searching. Apparently, you can't simply search for a 3-letter word. Here's a link to the thread that was mentioned:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/pwm-show-us-how-221301/

It's a fairly long thread. You have to read it all the way through. If you PM me your e-mail address, I can send you a WORD document in which I copied and pasted the "meat and potatoes" from the above thread into a document.

There are a couple options. There's the Baketronics kit that's very inexpensive. You have to substitute a capacitor, though. I believe Walker's is built from scratch using breadboard. Someone else has a neat little PWM in which he has soldered the components directly to the potentiometer itself, so there's no circuit board. I sent a message requesting a more exact diagram for that one as well as a closer photo to help me, since the only electronics I remember is what I got in college Physics class 30 years ago.

I generally enjoy DIY projects, but I have another hobby that's already a money drain as well as a time stealer. At the moment, I have a bit more money than time, so I'm considering the purchase of one of these to get me started in e-brewing. If I stick with it, I hope to build a really nice controller panel.

High Gravity's Electric Kettle Controller appears to be simply the electric counterpart to my propane burner:

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productcart/pc/Electric-Kettle-Controller-269p3084.htm

Their EBC II controller has a pump switch. There's something else about this controller that's supposedly different from the one above, but I don't quite get it.

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productcart/pc/EBC-II-with-Infinite-Power-Control-269p3073.htm

My goal is eventually to build a controller like thughes or voltin:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/single-vessel-biab-electric-build-275238/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/yet-another-ebiab-build-282235/

Blake has a nice build and some very helpful information:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/ready-not-e-biab-here-i-come-312256/

Pvtschultz built a controller that contains BOTH a PID and a PWM:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/pvtschultzs-ebiab-build-finally-298407/

Hope this helps.
Respectfully,
Keith
 
Hey ya'll. This controller might be of some use to you. It uses a 2000w dimmer dial and a receptacle. All the parts are easily bought online. Here is a pic.
2013-2-10.jpg


The Home Brewer's Haven has a detailed writeup of what it takes to build this controller. Note that this is for a single 120v heating element. Some are 1000w, some are 1800w. This controller will handle both obviously. Here is the article with parts list.

Hope this helps some of ya'll. On my setup I have 2 120v elements mounted into each vessel. I have 2 controllers, one for each vessel. I rock one element at 100 % and then use this controller to dial the other one back to around 70% once the boil has started. It is too vigorous otherwise with 8gal boils. Please note that a general 20amp circuit can only handle one heating element at a time. If you use both, make sure they are plugged into separate circuits.

Cheers.

Problem is just the 2000 watt dimmer is $89.00 and add everything else to the project & you are somewhere around $120. You can buy a complete, tested and ready to use 120V brew controller for $74.95.
 
Hey all, I wanted to revive this thread because I'm now in the process of shopping for a similar device. After a couple months of research and budgeting for a new electric system I settled on purchasing a Brewha BIAC (10-15 gallon batches). I'm a DIYer at heart, but I am in school for brewing science and also undergoing two experiments (one on wild yeast, another on single-hop brews for sensory analysis of 30 varieties of hops from the Yakima Valley, WA) and on top of all that, working!

I just don't have the time to build a controller and seeing that my lady is an avid brewer as well, I refuse to build something I am not confident will provide 100% safety using water, steel and a 30A circuit. The system we are buying will suit our needs but the price of electric is really mounting. I am looking to cut costs where I can without risking our health, so power control seems central to this priority.

A couple questions:

BRewha has a digital power controller (550) and an electric temp controller (130) sold separately. We need digital because we intend to use the 5500 watt element in the conical to keep temps within range during fermentation and therefore need to dial in power to 1-2% to avoid scorching of yeast and flavor compounds. Our 240 dryer outlet is downstairs and I wanted to run an extension cord from it to our kitchen/fermentory. Is there anything I should know about this kind of voltage and extension cords I should be privy to?

I love the high grav control box mentioned in this thread (thanks for the recommendation!) because it looks like I would be able to substitute out an ETC with this, control my one pump, and control my element for boil and fermentation. Does anyone have one of these? Is anyone familiar with both this and the BIAC that could tell me if I'm missing something or not?

The High Grav controller has two 120 outlets on it. If I am not fermenting in the conical (my yeast experiment with move the wort into 1 liter vessels in a chest freezer) can this controller handle a chest freezer using the given temp probe?
 
Hey all, I wanted to revive this thread because I'm now in the process of shopping for a similar device. After a couple months of research and budgeting for a new electric system I settled on purchasing a Brewha BIAC (10-15 gallon batches). I'm a DIYer at heart, but I am in school for brewing science and also undergoing two experiments (one on wild yeast, another on single-hop brews for sensory analysis of 30 varieties of hops from the Yakima Valley, WA) and on top of all that, working!

I just don't have the time to build a controller and seeing that my lady is an avid brewer as well, I refuse to build something I am not confident will provide 100% safety using water, steel and a 30A circuit. The system we are buying will suit our needs but the price of electric is really mounting. I am looking to cut costs where I can without risking our health, so power control seems central to this priority.

A couple questions:

BRewha has a digital power controller (550) and an electric temp controller (130) sold separately. We need digital because we intend to use the 5500 watt element in the conical to keep temps within range during fermentation and therefore need to dial in power to 1-2% to avoid scorching of yeast and flavor compounds. Our 240 dryer outlet is downstairs and I wanted to run an extension cord from it to our kitchen/fermentory. Is there anything I should know about this kind of voltage and extension cords I should be privy to?

I love the high grav control box mentioned in this thread (thanks for the recommendation!) because it looks like I would be able to substitute out an ETC with this, control my one pump, and control my element for boil and fermentation. Does anyone have one of these? Is anyone familiar with both this and the BIAC that could tell me if I'm missing something or not?

The High Grav controller has two 120 outlets on it. If I am not fermenting in the conical (my yeast experiment with move the wort into 1 liter vessels in a chest freezer) can this controller handle a chest freezer using the given temp probe?
Since you dug up an ancient thread...some other options you may like...

http://www.jaggerbushbrewing.com/DIGITAL-CONTROL_c_15.html

http://www.brumatic.com/

I believe the 2 120v outlets you reference on the HG unit are just on off switched pump outlets... no temp control.
 
Wow, great recommendations auggie, thanks a bunch!
 
bellybuster

I like the looks of that "pot" style controller..can you post how you wired it up to the heating element and power cord? I have "another" hobby as well, and am looking to power my 2000 watt 120vac heating element. Could use a simple wiring diagram, to get this up and running.

Thanks
 

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