slayer021175666
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- Sep 24, 2020
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I was thinking about installing a PID in my boil keggle to do some hop whirlpools and to know I'm boiling at the same vigor every time. What I have is a 5500w element connected to a control panel that I made using an SSR and a rheostat dial. My thought was, if I add a PID to it, I could hold at whatever temp I want for as long as I want on the hops AND I could control the boil vigor by setting it to a certain temp instead of just trying to turn the rheostat dial to the same position every time. Now, I'm reading about it and being told that you also have to have a manual control on the PID! Isn't that what I already have with the rheostat? Water boils at 210F where I am. Why can't a guy just set the PID to 210F and let it go? It seems like manually controlling it would mean sometimes you'd be boiling with more vigor than others. With the PID set at 210F, wouldn't you know that every time you brew, your boils would be the exact same? Sure would make boil off calculating easier!
What am I not getting, here?
How would I wire this up?
If a manual boil control IS necessary, could I still use my rheostat for the manual control?
Also, The Electric Brewery site says you shouldn't use a temp probe that has NPT threads in the kettle wall installation. It says, you won't get it to seal without "straight" threads. All my other stuff is done with NPT threads through the kettle wall and it all seals. The NPT probes are more readily available AND, they are less expensive. Is this an actual concern or just, a convenience?
Let me have it, guys. I'm ready to learn.
What am I not getting, here?
How would I wire this up?
If a manual boil control IS necessary, could I still use my rheostat for the manual control?
Also, The Electric Brewery site says you shouldn't use a temp probe that has NPT threads in the kettle wall installation. It says, you won't get it to seal without "straight" threads. All my other stuff is done with NPT threads through the kettle wall and it all seals. The NPT probes are more readily available AND, they are less expensive. Is this an actual concern or just, a convenience?
Let me have it, guys. I'm ready to learn.