Electrical Supply Question for RIMS

[southpawbrew]

So I have been planning out my RIMS build. My electrical supply is limited and as I live in a rental I can't make changes to it without invloving the owner and an electricitian (not something I want to do unless I have to). I do have a dedicated 3 wire 30amp 220v dryer outlet. Here is the challenge that I have been trying to solve:

How to supply my control box safely from the 220v dryer outlet, have a 220v outlet on the box for future use, run all the 110v needs march pump, pid, rims tube, etc., add GFI protection and not make any changes to the existing wiring in the garage? Not possible? Not advisable? Here is some more detail.

I am planning to combine Boerderij_Kabouter's Simple brewery control box with Bendavanza's Portable RIMS box with a few modifications because of available power in my garage. This is my plan so far:

1. Build or buy a 220v extension cord of about 25 feet to feed a recessed male 220v receptacle on the control box. Like in 2p-twent-e here but 220.

2. Supply 220v to a plug on the side of the control box that I can plug a heater element for a e-BK that I am planning for a later build. Right now the hlt and bk are propane.

3. Supply 110v to power the RIMS tube element, PID, ssr, march pump, etc.

Basically my control box will be the same as the Simple Brewery but with the change of 220v supply and adding the 220v plug. Any help, suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated. I am taking longer to plan this than any other diy build for my brewing because of the electricity piece and that I want to do this right the first time.

I want to thank Boerderij_Kabouter for his Simple and 2p-twent-e Brewery threads, to Code Rage for the electrical primer for brewers thread, and to all the rims threads out there that I have read and re-read numerous times. The HBT community never ceases to amaze me with its ingenuity.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I have a lot of the same questions you do....I can't seem to find a 220v recessed male receptacle very easily.

I think it would be cool to use 1 PID and be able to select between controlling 220v BK, 220v RIMS, or 115v accessory, like a 2 kw element in a smaller rig, or even for controlling the fermenting chamber after brewing.

It seems like with some serious thought, you could save yourself the cost of buying several controllers and have a box that does it all.

 

[mattmauriello]

I've thought about the same thing. I have a 3 wire dryer outlet, and I'd like to install a 4 wire fro that reason, but its expensive. what I would do is use 2 plugs. get your dryer outlet for the element, and run a regular 110v cord to a normal outlet for your PIDs and pumps. easy, cheap.
as for outlets and cords, check out some twist locks. I really like the L6-30 twist locks, and recessed panel mounts aren't too hard to find. they're not super chear, but the quality and ease of use is worth it
L6-30 recessed plug
L6-30 plug for your extension cord
look for L5-20 plugs for your 110 if you want to do the same thing

 

[SweetSounds]

Flush mount male 220 plugs are hard to find and even harder to pay for

StayOnline has them for $25.00
I found these a LOT cheaper when I built my live sound 220v distro, but for the life of me I can't find where I got them...

 

[southpawbrew]

I ended up going to 110 because of the extra costs and steps involved in making the 220 work. I switched out the dryer to a 20amp gfci plug (extra steps in changing the breaker in the panel wasn't to bad).

I decided to keep my HLT and BK propane. I have finished the control box and am waiting on a tri-clover RIMS tube from brewer's hardware. I'll put up a build thread once it's all together.

 

[southpawbrew]

Below is a link for the rig I was planning when asking questions on this thread. I ended up not attaching my RIMS tube to the toolbox. Mostly because the tri-clover rims tube sits so securely on its own and the ability to break it down after use is so much easier when not attached to something else.

Check it out here