Looking for info on electric brewing panel

[sirjoel]

Hi folks. I'm looking for some info on the electric brewing panel in the attached photos.

I bought a lot of brewing equipment from a guy on Marketplace. I intend to keep the pieces that I need and sell the rest. One of the pieces was this electric brewing panel/controller. I'm a gas (propane) brewer so have no use for it. Problem is I know little about electric brewing so I have no idea how to describe this in listing or what it's worth. I know it's 110V and has an element with tri clamp fitting attached. Beyond that I have no idea. Would love some advice from the people in this group. Thanks

 

[whoaru99]

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[Indian_villager]

There is a lot going on in the image and it is really hard to tell what is going on without inspecting in person. There seem to be 2 sets of SSRs but I am only seeing one heating element. Also the grounds that are not connected to anything leaves me with a truckload of concern. If you want to punt it as-is feel free to do so. However you really need to protect yourself from liability if selling this.

 

[sirjoel]

Also the grounds that are not connected to anything leaves me with a truckload of concern.

Sorry I should have included that the guy did tell me that he was building this controller but that he never got it finished.

 

[Broken Crow]

1-SSR and 1-SSVR with a pot in the front panel... presumably with a switch to switch from Temp Control with the Inkbird, to Power Control with the dial. If complete, it would probably be useful for a small BIAB setup. You could sell it as-is, or you could use the temp-control part yourself and add a 110V RIMS to suplement your gas rig.

 

[doug293cz]

This panel is obviously a DIY design and build. Apparently the builder had access to three phase contactors, which are really not a good way to deal with single phase 120V. I echo @Indian_villager 's concerns. Also, a 120V panel has much less resale value than a 240V panel, as max power from 15A @ 120V is only about 1650W, or 2000W @ 20A. This is underpowered for 5 gal and larger batches.

Brew on

 

[doug293cz]

It should also be noted that the SSR and SSVR are not mounted to external heatsinks. This could result in an overheating problem for them. SSRs and SSVRs that overheat tend to latch in the "On" state (i.e. won't turn off when they should.)

Brew on

 

[Bobby_M]

I like the DIY portable cable by wrapping the single THHN strands with electrical tape. I wouldn't call this whole project a dead end, but it would be advisable for whomever buys it unwires the whole thing and start over. The SSRs do need heat sinks. Frankly it doesn't make any sense to have any boil power control on a 120v element if the batch size is any larger than 2-3 gallons.

 

[passedpawn]

Yes, I have a crystal ball... you'll eventually spend an equal amount of money to make it work safely, you'll use it for a while, you'll buy something commercial that is far nicer, you'll sell it for nothing, you'll wonder why you didn't buy the good one in the beginning.

Ask me how I know. I went through that process twice lol.

 

[sirjoel]

Thanks for all the feedback folks. The themes of the responses are all fairly similar. I will be listing it as-is, full disclosure, and best offer.

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for all the feedback folks. The themes of the responses are all fairly similar. I will be listing it as-is, full disclosure, and best offer.

Remember that if you list it in the HBT "Classifieds" you must include an asking price (it's in the rules.) You are allowed to follow the asking price with "OBO."

doug293cz
HBT Moderator