PID Controller Help

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mateo27

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Some of you may remember this -

I recently bought a 30 amp RIMS system with bayou mash kettle and lauter/boil pot - March pumps - hop blocker - huge plate chiller - blah blah blah

So both kettles have their own elements, and they both plug into the same control box that has the PID controller - my question here is - how do I get the PID controller to do both jobs at once?View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1438574135.800016.jpg
I want to use the boil kettle element to continue heating sparged wort while I'm maintaining mash out temps in my mash kettle. This will also shave down on my water heating time. Currently just unplugging one element and plugging in another which works fine for now.

I've looked around and haven't found this kind of information - this is a kit from brew hardware. I'd hate to ask bobby, in fear of wasting his time and he probably is sick of explaining stupid things like this.
If anyone can point me in the right direction.
 
Some of you may remember this -

I recently bought a 30 amp RIMS system with bayou mash kettle and lauter/boil pot - March pumps - hop blocker - huge plate chiller - blah blah blah

So both kettles have their own elements, and they both plug into the same control box that has the PID controller - my question here is - how do I get the PID controller to do both jobs at once?View attachment 294043
I want to use the boil kettle element to continue heating sparged wort while I'm maintaining mash out temps in my mash kettle. This will also shave down on my water heating time. Currently just unplugging one element and plugging in another which works fine for now.

I've looked around and haven't found this kind of information - this is a kit from brew hardware. I'd hate to ask bobby, in fear of wasting his time and he probably is sick of explaining stupid things like this.
If anyone can point me in the right direction.

You need two PID's to control two elements at the same time, at least for the inexpensive PID's typically used by homebrewers. It's possible to implement PID's in software on inexpensive computers like Arduinos and RaspberryPi's. StrangeBrew Elsinore is a software app that runs on RaspPi's (or pretty much any other linux computer) and can implement multiple PID's simultaneously, but each one needs its own temperature probe. I'm not aware of any Arduino apps that can implement multiple PID's.

Brew on :mug:
 
So both kettles have their own elements, and they both plug into the same control box that has the PID controller - my question here is - how do I get the PID controller to do both jobs at once?

Just have to ask: what size elements are you using? Are your components and circuit breaker rated to handle both elements at once?
 
Also, I forgot to note that you will need a separate SSR for each element you want to run simultaneously. You can switch an SSR between elements that don't run at the same time, but if the elements are 240V, the switching might cost more than a separate SSR.

Brew on :mug:
 
Just have to ask: what size elements are you using? Are your components and circuit breaker rated to handle both elements at once?


Not 100% sure as I am the second owner - it's running off a 20 amp plug - I would imagine circuit breaker could handle it - we use it for electric supply to a pump

Elements look to be the largest you can get for a 240 system
Excellent question not sure
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Not 100% sure as I am the second owner - it's running off a 20 amp plug - I would imagine circuit breaker could handle it - we use it for electric supply to a pump

Elements look to be the largest you can get for a 240 system

A 20A circuit can handle at most one 4500W element.


Brew on :mug:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If I were you I'd try and figure out what I'm running first. Could be dangerous.

You can use a multimeter to measure the resistance of the element and figure out what wattage it will put out.
 
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