Hello existing and future BruControl users.
I also use BruControl to control my fermenters. I have made a box on each fermenter with a
Wemos D1 mini,
pressure sensor, and a relay board inside. The relays control the heating cable under the armacell insulation and the solenoid to bleed off pressure. The temperature probe sits in the thermowell and is wired to the Wemos. In the glycol chiller there are solenoids which are controlled with wireless $5
NodeMCU Electrodragon relay board flashed with BruControl firmware. If the Wemos in the fermenter control box demands cooling the NodeMCU will open the solenoid in the glycol chiller to let cooling water to the cooling coil in the fermenter. A neat and portable solution where the only wiring needed is 240V power to the fermenter.
I have written a script in BruControl which ramps the temperature and fermenting pressure if desired. Normally I ferment at 1 psi and ramp it up to 15 psi at the end of fermentation to carbonate. Its also set up to send email notification if temperature or pressure is out of defined limits. And off course, the vessels also has a pressure safety valve in case of BruControl failure but so far it has not failed. The Wemos in the fermenter control box will continue to control pressure and heating if it looses wifi signal and/or connection with the BruControl server.
Next step for me would be to add motorised valves. I consider using the
Electrodragon DC relay boards for valve control as they would fit well under each kettle and not require additional wiring to the control cabinet. Automation is not that important for me as I enjoy being around when brewing. BruControl has given me the possibility to add safety features like the RIMS tube not firing if low flow or the kettle and HLT elements not firing if low liquid level and when I am leaving the brewing room I can monitor it remote from the laptop or the remote desktop app on my Iphone.