BCS with Stout

[muhteeus]

Here is what I bought:

http://www.brewershardware.com/1-2-MPT-2-long-BCS-460-462-Temperature-Sensor-TPBCSTF1202-M12.html

http://www.brewershardware.com/CABM12M3.html

I bought the bare end because I was planning on XLR into the panel. Now that I see the m12 I wish I would have gone that route for all of them. The XLR is okay but the m12 is way better!

I will definitely be getting these. $29 with the cable? That is MUCH cheaper than auber... Plus you get Amphenol and an extra .5" of probe! Thanks for the links!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

You bet. It is a good deal for sure. I have capability of 8 dins so I will be adding more in the future

 

[oakbarn]

Just got my own BCS 462 and have had some fun with it. Documentation is really lacking for non techies. The forum answers are OK and helpful for the most part. I am trying to document what I am doing as I build my BCS system.

One thing you can do is design the way you brew. We have been brewing with a Stout MLT (40 gal), Stout HLT (30 Gal) and Stout BK (45 Gallon) and Stout 27 Gal Fermenter. We also have a 10 gal Blickmann (Retired to our Wall of Fame and a 20 gal Blickmann when we do double batches. We also have a Stout 14 Gal fermenter and also ferment in Corneys for Lagers.)

We know our process well and will slowly automate some of the functions.

The main thing I want to do first is control the MASH finer. We use a Chin Chiller as a Herms ( I like its flow better than the Stout Herms coil). We adjust the temp on the HLT to control the temp now. We can normally get very close but occasionally have it fall too much.

I will eventually replace some of my valves on the Hot side with electric ones, but will likely keep TC fitting only after the Heat Exchanger (Duda Dielsel A++++) so we can clean them better.

So my first process will be Mash Temp and Mash Out. I will leave all valves manual for now.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Oakbarn,

Still liking the BCS? I am wiring up my panel now. I got the stand done and most of the hardware in. I was email Duda about getting an exchanger that had sanitary fittings on it. I really don't like threads!!! He didn't think they could get it done on the smaller chillers. I was looking at a b3-36a or a bs-52a. I haven't decided yet but I am leaning towards the 36. Just a smidge smaller but I can still get a full 1M^2+ of contact area.

When it comes times to power up the BCS it will be interesting to see how it is. I have heard quick a bit of anecdotal stuff, but have yet to get my hands on it.

How much wort are you packing into the 27 gallon conical? You should be able to do 1bbl batches on your setup no problem! I want to try and push my 30-gallon kettles to a 25 gallon batch, but I don't know if I will quite have the space. That is a good amount of wort to have in the kettle preboil. I will definitely need some fermcap!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I will definitely be getting these. $29 with the cable? That is MUCH cheaper than auber... Plus you get Amphenol and an extra .5" of probe! Thanks for the links!

Glad I could help!

Depending on your application you could check this out: http://www.automationdirect.com/adc...Switches/Micro_(M12)_Normal_Duty_Q-z-D_Cables

A little different, but soldering stuff together isn't hard at all. I like the 90* connectors. That could come in handy in the future.

 

[oakbarn]

Still on the steep learning curve with the BCS. We have Auber Pids but have been only usibg at Digital Temp guages and controlling the gas manually. We normally plan 23 gal brews but have put up to 25 gals in the 27 gal fermenter. We normally do a "double" batch where we make 23 gal of one and 15 gals of a different beer. We find this adds only a little time to our brew day as the clean up is just about the same. We lauch one and immediatly the other. We only do all grain and follow the purity laws.

I have been creating diagrams of flows for my "processes". Some of the answers on the Forum remind me of when I bought Red Hat Linux years ago. You needed to know something in order to ask the proper question. I do find it somewhat confusing and the Wiki is hardly any help to me. I am not a computer dummy and have actually sold $$$ of software that I have written myself. That may be part of the problem as I know what a computer can do, but the BCS is fairly primitive for programming and somewhat limited by its non volitile memory.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Would you go back and build with a brewtroller? Have you played with those? I was seriously looking at it for a while. And then there is the true PLC route.

I got to interact with a BrewMation control panel for a nano-brewery. It was running a 3-bbl electric RIMS system with 16kw of 208vac 3-phase heating power and then 6 or 7 7bbl conicals and the associated glycol system. The main panel and the slave were nicely put together and a dream to use.

I am planning on mounting an Android Tablet on the front of my panel with a wifi link to the BCS to control it. I hope that works out okay. I won't be powering things up for a while yet, but I am looking forward to the first "brew day" of heating water and trying to control temperatures.

How many thermocouples do you have and where are they located? I ordered 3 but I am thinking of adding some more. I would like to log some temperatures and see how they change throughout the system. Maybe a bit overkill, I don't know, but interesting none-the-less.

 

[oakbarn]

We have 8. I have 4 on my MLT. One on the HERMS inlet to the MLT, Two welded in Thermowells on my Stout MLT. One on the HERMS outlet and one on HLT one on outlet of HE (Duda Diesel Wort Chiller). One on Bk and the rest on fermementers


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[oakbarn]

I did get a wifi connector for the BCS and it works great. I am going to set a static ip. I will be able to connect from anywhere using remote access software to a PC



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[oakbarn]

I am trying to hard plumb our Hot side with copper. We will have our first test BCS in maybe a month. I need a propane valve and pilot


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[Clawson]

I went down this road with a single tier stand, low pressure propane, bcs controlling Honeywell valves, and 20 gallon stout kettles. Let me know if you need anything. Still working through the little nit noids of the system. Matt