I need some help! Please!

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port2296

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About six months ago I began building a electrical powered brewery in my home (US). Just as I was nearing completion, I received orders to move to Germany (I'm in the military). After thousands of dollars invested in this brewery, I am determined to find a way to make it work. I designed to be supplied with standard US 220v (30A) power which is 2 hot lines, a neutral, and a ground. From what I understand, I believe US 220v means that the 2 hot lines are 180 degrees out of phase. I live on a military installation an my house has both European 220v and 110v. All the 220v outlets are the standard European setup with one hot. I considered combining pulling power from two of the 110v outlets that are on different breakers, but I do not understand phases well enough to know if that will cause trouble. After examining the breaker box, I have determined that I am in over my head. It appears that there are 3 hot wires that supply the main 110v power. I am guessing that each hot wire is a single phase of a 3 phase system that are 120 degrees out of phase with each other. Is it possible to use just 2 of those lines with a neutral and a ground to supply the 220v at 30A that I need?

I have attached a picture of a wiring diagram that is similar to my system. (one of PJs diagrams, he's the man!). Most of the components run off of one of the 110v legs, but I need 220v to power the heating elements.

I have also attached a picture of the 110v side of my breaker box. Hopefully somebody can explain it to me.

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Auberin-wiring1-a11a-SWA-2451-5500w.jpg


1.jpg
 
I think I found a solution. It will require re-wiring the control panel though. I will have to isolate all the 110v components and run them separately. Then, just use the native 220v lines for the heating elements. Although the native 220v is different, a European electrician apprentice assured me it still function normally. I sure hope he is right.
 
I also think you have a 3-phase supply there, with brown, black and gray being the 3 hot phases, blue being the neutral, and green/yellow the ground. I can't tell where the 110V is converted, or the voltages on those lines though. 3-phase is used for German ranges, afaict from Google. It may be that you only have 110V outlets on a single phase.

Also, a standard European 240V circuit with an outlet is unlikely to supply more than 16A (13A in the UK). I can't read the current rating on your 240V breakers, so I'm not sure what your circuits are rated at, but the relatively narrow wires on the output side suggests 16A. This will limit you to running one 2400W to 3000W element at a time. Ranges etc. tend to be hardwired, at least in the UK (sorry, I'm that not familiar with German wiring standards, but a standard Schuko outlet is rated at 16A).

You can adjust your panel to run on dual 110 and 240V inputs, with the pumps, PIDs, switches and contactor coils on 110V, and the elements running on 240V. To do this, you'll need to connect the red hot phase to the 240V hot, and move the dark green return lines from the elements that go through the contactors and 25A breakers to the the 240V neutral line. The pumps etc. will stay on the dark green 110V hot that runs through the 15A breaker, and the yellow neutral will connect to the 110V neutral. There's no need for the 240V neutrals to go through the contactors or breakers, so you can choose a convenient spot to move those returns over, but the element neutrals do need to go to the 240V neutral line so you don't trip the GFCI breakers. As always, this is advice from someone on the internet, so check it out properly with a local pro! But this should give you a 110V control/pump system controlling 240V heating elements.

Given the current limitations on the 240V circuits, you'll probably have to downgrade your elements to 2400W or 3000W (it'll be easier to source elements in the right power and voltage rating in Europe), and set up your control panel with a selection switch before the two element enable switches to ensure that only one can run at a time.

3000W is easily enough to brew 40 UK pint/5.5 US gal batches in a 13.7 US gal Euro keggle - I used to do it in the UK before I moved to the US, so downgrading the elements is a possibility. If the conversion and reduction in power looks too hard/too much of a compromise, you could buy a Brupak boiler, Grainfather or Braumeister in Europe that will run on a single 240V circuit and do 5 gallon batches that way. This may well turn out cheaper as well (or practically free if you can sell the 240V equipment on at the end of your tour), particularly if you have to pay any shipping costs for your equipment!
 
Is EU power 60 Hz or 50?

50 Hz, but it doesn't make any practical difference to a brewery or control panel. PID controllers, timers etc. are happy on either, SSRs don't care at all, and some designs of pump might run a little slower, but that won't make any real difference.
 
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