Over the last couple of months I've been watching this forum closely and picking up little bits from many of the posts. thank you to everyone who post their builds. Now its my turn to contribute back to the resource.
After doing some research and thinking about what I can do with the space and resources (and $) I have decided on a two tier single element system. I plan to use 2 insulated drink coolers for Mash and HLT. My boil kettle (keggle) will serve as both the heat source for strike and sparge water and take care of boiling. I have a single SS chugger pump to handle the movements between the vessels and equip all the vessels with SS ball valves with SS camlocks (brewhardware.com).
Knowing that I may not have everything figured out ahead of time, I wanted to make sure that I couple upgrade to the gold standard (Kal setup) single tier, dual element setup. I wanted to make sure i built in room to upgrade to the next levels if I need to go there.
So far I have completed my control panel. I'll be adding in as much detail and stumbling blocks as I can remember. Still to come is the brewery build (Keggle, MLT, HLT, brewstand, etc)
I followed PJ's wiring diagram for the most part. Thanks PJ!
My deviations included dropping the element selector switch (plenty of room for one) and including a 220v LED instead of the 110V indicator to monitor the element.
I got almost all of my parts for the control panel from ebrewsupply.com I got my enclosure from the Home Depot just a 12x12x6 PVC junction box. note it comes with no holes so get ready to become real friendly with a drill and a dremmel. I used a greenly conduit punch set to make most of my holes. it works alright cutting through the plastic, I'm sure a step bit would be just as fast.
Other lessons learned when wiring the control box. Make sure you use stranded wire, I had some solid core around and tried to use it. the terminals are not made to handle the stress that comes from trying to bend the wires opening and closing the front.
I'll post pictures tomorrow.
After doing some research and thinking about what I can do with the space and resources (and $) I have decided on a two tier single element system. I plan to use 2 insulated drink coolers for Mash and HLT. My boil kettle (keggle) will serve as both the heat source for strike and sparge water and take care of boiling. I have a single SS chugger pump to handle the movements between the vessels and equip all the vessels with SS ball valves with SS camlocks (brewhardware.com).
Knowing that I may not have everything figured out ahead of time, I wanted to make sure that I couple upgrade to the gold standard (Kal setup) single tier, dual element setup. I wanted to make sure i built in room to upgrade to the next levels if I need to go there.
So far I have completed my control panel. I'll be adding in as much detail and stumbling blocks as I can remember. Still to come is the brewery build (Keggle, MLT, HLT, brewstand, etc)
I followed PJ's wiring diagram for the most part. Thanks PJ!
My deviations included dropping the element selector switch (plenty of room for one) and including a 220v LED instead of the 110V indicator to monitor the element.
I got almost all of my parts for the control panel from ebrewsupply.com I got my enclosure from the Home Depot just a 12x12x6 PVC junction box. note it comes with no holes so get ready to become real friendly with a drill and a dremmel. I used a greenly conduit punch set to make most of my holes. it works alright cutting through the plastic, I'm sure a step bit would be just as fast.
Other lessons learned when wiring the control box. Make sure you use stranded wire, I had some solid core around and tried to use it. the terminals are not made to handle the stress that comes from trying to bend the wires opening and closing the front.
I'll post pictures tomorrow.
