Controllers,PID's and components

[Backwoodsbrewing]

I have been contemplating building an electronic brewing system. I am comfortable working with electricity. But unfamiliar with solid state electronics. I have read through several threads concerning controllers, probes, timers and such. And am searching for any articles that might explain or help me decide what controllers,PID's and probes work well together. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[SplitHops]

I just completed my panel and I will tell you the best thing I found after searching online for parts from amazon and frys electric, etc was to go to EBrewsupply.com and get the kit for 180 bucks that includes everything you will need to build a panel less the box which I found from a company which was a second, they said it had a dent and I got a 300 box for 45 bucks.

I purchased the MyPin T4 PID's which were 25 bucks on Amazon and they work perfectly, I will say however they were not easy to wire but now that I have the wiring all set, I can save you the trouble. the wire was the hardest and most expensive thing to buy, it is not cheap for braided copper line that is flexible and also in the guages and colors you need to do this. All in on wire I think I spent just under 100 bucks. Terminal ends come with the kit, get a great set of strippers and crimpers as you will be doing a great deal of that.

I dont see the reasoning behind going out and spending 100+ bucks on one Love Controller when you can buy all four for practically that and they work perfectly. Also if you are going to get the bix and cut it out yourself all the information and layouts can be found on the EBrewsupply website. I am not pushing that company but they have made it very easy to obtain what you need at a great price and complete with compatible parts. Let me know what else you need clarification on and I can help you out. I learned a great deal doing this and now know I can wire this panel perfectly quickly and cleanly.

I have attached some photos of my panel so you can see. We purchased a 16" 12" 8" deep panel, solid steel constriction, locking mechanism with water tight seal.

 

[Backwoodsbrewing]

Thanks for the share I looked at rtd probes I wouldn't think the length of the probe would matter since I'm going to be installing it into the side of the kettle any suggestions

 

[homerbruer]

If you're looking at a typical 3-vessel electric system with HERMS, consider putting the temperature probes in the recirculating loops for the HLT and HERMS/MLT.

There are so many good places to look for information about building an electric system (in the process myself). Scour these forums, check out ebrewsupply, and theelectricbrewery for lots of information. I sourced most electrical parts from Amazon, Auber, and automationdirect. Others have had great luck finding deals on electrical components from eBay.
GLHF.

 

[SplitHops]

Thanks for the share I looked at rtd probes I wouldn't think the length of the probe would matter since I'm going to be installing it into the side of the kettle any suggestions

That is the beauty of the RTD probes, they have two resistor wires that sense the length of the wire and the resistance form the probe and adjust the temperature. These are the best in my opinion. Length of cable matters if on a type K probe with only two leads.

 

[SplitHops]

If you're looking at a typical 3-vessel electric system with HERMS, consider putting the temperature probes in the recirculating loops for the HLT and HERMS/MLT.

There are so many good places to look for information about building an electric system (in the process myself). Scour these forums, check out ebrewsupply, and theelectricbrewery for lots of information. I sourced most electrical parts from Amazon, Auber, and automationdirect. Others have had great luck finding deals on electrical components from eBay.
GLHF.

I have my probes in the stream from the out port of the Herms and on the mash port in as well as in the boil kettle for my whirlpooling and one on my out port of the wort on the Counterflow chiller.

 

[augiedoggy]

3 wire pt100 /rtd probes for sure.... as far as pids you have lots of options... depends on what your doing... the mypin TD4 is perfect for a boil control pid and the ta4 is fine for HLT.... the ezboil (auber ) controller uses a non pid system and seems to control temps better with less tuning and fidling but you will pay more for it..(although it has a built in timer and alarm and the higher end one has a couple relays you can setup to turn other things on or off...)

These sensors are the same as you will find for much more from the popular resellers here..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RTD-PT100-T...c24c83989886b60087b81e&pid=100506&rk=1&rkt=1& Trust me you want the quick disconnects at the kettle end...

I can say I paid less than $300 total to build the control panel in my build thread below and in my avatar..(using ebay and amazon). If I used ebrew or the like to buy all the same or compatible components it would have cost closer to a grand and I still would have had to buy some of the components like the pwm speed controllers for my dc pumps elsewhere. I actually priced it out at auberins site and stopped when I reached $700...

as far as SSR's my vote is for the mager or berme branded ones since they are the same as the ones ebrew and auberins sells rebranded but from the same manufactuerer... The fotek clones are the least reliable so I would avoid them. something like this works great http://www.ebay.com/itm/SSR-40A-DC-...594860b689c167dca9bf8c&pid=100642&rk=1&rkt=1&.

I recently built a new second control panel using a single $6 arduino mega as the brain of the operation and it does everything my old 3 pid 3 pump system with timer did as well as more and was cheaper and easier to build as well... I have actually been one of the beta testers for a new software package that uses a windows pc as the front end (its just about to be released so Im not mentioning by name yet). It has the flexibility to do and automate pretty much any step of the brewing process I want including fermentation temp control which I'm working on implementing with it now... If I decide to add or change things its much easier this way and I dont have to worry about where to cut holes and fit things on my control panel face plate.. just something to consider... When I build my first panel all of this was new to me and the software/touchscreen systems seemed over the top and intimidating so I went the other way... either works well and they both have advantages over the other.