Brew Boss v3.0 circa 2018

[Mike Howard]

Well, my Brew-Boss 20g v3.0 is starting to have issues, and I need to do some work on it. Not surprising since I brew twice a week and have since 11/2018. I use it as my pilot and specialty brewing system alongside the 1 bbl system.

I tried emailing Darin Danelski at '[email protected]', but I got a bounce back. Anyone have a current way to contact him? I reached out on Linked-In, but not sure he is responding to that.

Anyway, looks like I need to upgrade the Control Box to something industrial, or even metal, and while I'm at it I'll upgrade/modify a few things along the way. I plan on doing the following:

1) Remove the hard-wired 240v 30a input line and go with a L6-30P outlet.
2) Put both L6-30 outlets (input and heating element) in the bottom of the panel facing down.
3) Remove the universal outlets for the Tablet and the Pump and replace them with a more positive waterproof connector.
4) Remove the need for the external power supplies for the Tablet and the Pump by installing DIN rail mounted 5v and 24v power supplies.
5) Install Terminal blocks for all connections and get rid of the push-in wire connectors.
6) Convert all panel plugs to watertight connectors and relocate them to the sides/bottom.
7) Add a cooling fan or two.
8) Upgrade the 30a wiring to 8AWG.
9) Upgrade the SSR heat sink.
10) Might need to upgrade the Dual SSR as I can't find the VR Controls PD2830D online. I've reached out to VR Controls, so we will see.
11) Might swap out that power supply for a DIN rail mount but I have not looked at it yet.
12) Might also swap out the display if I can find a suitable replacement.

I'll need to replace every component except the PCB (and PS and Display), as I am still using the system and once its ready, do the swap. Hopefully I can get it all completed before the control-box completely dies. I will replace the internal wiring that is burnt before its next use though.

 

[ehall]

[email protected]
[email protected]

I haven't had to email him in quite a while but that's what I got... This situation you're in has been my fear but I dont brew anywhere near what you're doing. Good luck bud!

 

[Mike Howard]

[email protected]
[email protected]

I haven't had to email him in quite a while but that's what I got... This situation you're in has been my fear but I dont brew anywhere near what you're doing. Good luck bud!

Thanks. I'll try the gmail address since I didn't have that.

 

[Mike Howard]

BTW, I did get a response back from VR Controls on Dual SSR PD2830D. They said the item is obsolete, but they do have about 30 in stock. $70 each unless you want to buy the whole lot. Anyone interested in a group buy? I'm going to get two at least and then look for a replacement.

 

[Jeroen79]

Is that an esp32 on the board?, in that case you could just use my firmware as a replacement -> esp-brew-engine

Or you could just use any other esp board.

 

[Mike Howard]

I received an email from Darin over the weekend on some questions I had asked. Here is basically what I learned.

====================================================================
The heating element was designed by Darin and manufactured by a company he did not divulge. If there are any left, they would be available from Bobby at Brew Hardware. The only match I found online was made by Dernord, but he did not indicate they were the original manufacturer.

The USB port on the front of the v3 unit was intended to be used for programming but was never implemented.

Darin does have a few of the VB Controls Dual SSR's, available at $60 each. I asked about the reasoning behind the Dual SSR and I am awaiting feedback. My guess was due to size constraints and if so, I'll go with separate SSRs, one at 240v/30a and one at 24v/2a.

The PCB is a custom build. He has a few spare PCB's, but the Gerber files have been lost due to a redesign from a now defunct PCB supplier. Since those are custom PCBs with no way to replicate them, if our PCB's die, it seems the system dies with it.

When asked about the enclosure and upgrading to something else, he specifically cautioned against using a ventilated enclosure.

And, as disappointing as it may be, Darin is not willing to part with the source code at this time. As a software developer I was really looking forward to the ability to make some mods on that and possibly port it, but unfortunately that won't come to pass any time soon.
===================================================================

So now I am looking for a NEMA sealed enclosure and I am researching cheap methods to cool the SSR, but so far that effort has been fruitless. While there are numerous options available, they are either too expensive, or overkill for a small 30 amp SSR. I will probably just go with an external heat sink like the original design, due to my time constraints on getting this system back up and running.

 

[CDCTx]

Is that an esp32 on the board?, in that case you could just use my firmware as a replacement -> esp-brew-engine

Or you could just use any other esp board.

Impressive amount of code and features for an ESP32. Nice work! I use these with Brucontrol firmware mainly (fermentation control), but I've coded a few for my own projects (data display, keg scales, etc.) Since Brucontrol's person has been MIA, I've been tempted to start a Node-based project with ESP32s and a React dashboard.

As for what is in these, when I opened my old one up, it was an Arduino

 

[CDCTx]

I received an email from Darin over the weekend on some questions I had asked. Here is basically what I learned.

====================================================================
The heating element was designed by Darin and manufactured by a company he did not divulge. If there are any left, they would be available from Bobby at Brew Hardware. The only match I found online was made by Dernord, but he did not indicate they were the original manufacturer.

The USB port on the front of the v3 unit was intended to be used for programming but was never implemented.

Darin does have a few of the VB Controls Dual SSR's, available at $60 each. I asked about the reasoning behind the Dual SSR and I am awaiting feedback. My guess was due to size constraints and if so, I'll go with separate SSRs, one at 240v/30a and one at 24v/2a.

The PCB is a custom build. He has a few spare PCB's, but the Gerber files have been lost due to a redesign from a now defunct PCB supplier. Since those are custom PCBs with no way to replicate them, if our PCB's die, it seems the system dies with it.

When asked about the enclosure and upgrading to something else, he specifically cautioned against using a ventilated enclosure.

And, as disappointing as it may be, Darin is not willing to part with the source code at this time. As a software developer I was really looking forward to the ability to make some mods on that and possibly port it, but unfortunately that won't come to pass any time soon.
===================================================================

So now I am looking for a NEMA sealed enclosure and I am researching cheap methods to cool the SSR, but so far that effort has been fruitless. While there are numerous options available, they are either too expensive, or overkill for a small 30 amp SSR. I will probably just go with an external heat sink like the original design, due to my time constraints on getting this system back up and running.

Sounds like a good opportunity to give it a bit of an overhaul, including the controller. I had considered doing this to my old BrewBoss, but ended up with a BrewZilla (wanted more capacity). But it is definitely doable, and I'd suggest BruControl as the control software, but the creator has been silent for a bit, so I can't guarantee long-term support at the moment. The firmware from @Jeroen79 looks nice, and ESP32s very nice microcontrollers (I believe your system has an Arduino... mine did)

 

[Mike Howard]

It's not an ESP-32, but it is an ESP-12F sitting on a custom control board.

 

[CDCTx]

It's not an ESP-32, but it is an ESP-12F sitting on a custom control board.

View attachment 866973View attachment 866974

Ahh. Interesting choice, but likely was the top thing at that time. The mentioned code above could work, but that would wipe the BrewBoss code and leave you with nothing if it fails. I also wonder if that even has enough memory...

 

[Jeroen79]

Yeah an esp8266 is pretty much deprecated, not enough memory to do any fancy stuff., but, it seems its attached via headers, maby worth checking out if there are esp32 modules that are pin compatible?