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Thanks for chiming in Bobby! I actually just ordered a bunch of my electric brewing setup from you, only waiting to decide on a controller. I’m planning on mostly doing ebiab with the occasional batch using a cooler mash tun for larger batch sizes or bigger beers. Seems I can’t go wrong either way with these controllers, just need to decide if the extra money is worth it.
 
For me, the big difference is screen size and UI (user interface). The UI is very straight forward and makes logical sense and it's touch screen. Every PID I've encountered leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to configuration and then troubleshooting settings if anything goes wrong.
 
...Neither is more user friendly than the other...

Bobby, what have you been smoking!? :)

The BrewCommander has an interface that makes it immediately obvious how to use the unit without any training or prior knowledge of the device. It's so obvious that you don't even have to read the documentation to use it. That is a well designed user interface.

Kudos to Blichmann on this one.
 
Is there a way to turn the element off completely with the Brewcommander? I recently used a controller that used a ezboil for the brains. I set the power to zero in boil mode and still fried my element when chilling.
 
Bobby, what have you been smoking!? :)

The BrewCommander has an interface that makes it immediately obvious how to use the unit without any training or prior knowledge of the device. It's so obvious that you don't even have to read the documentation to use it. That is a well designed user interface.

Kudos to Blichmann on this one.

I grant your right to your opinion but it's just not my experience (no smoke necessary). Do you have one yet? Have you brewed on it? Have you used the EZboil?

I've been screwing around with electric brewing for 7 years and have used my share of controllers both homebuilt and commercial. I have been using a controller with the EZboil DSPR-120 in it for the past two years. It took me 15 minutes to understand how it works while my kettle was filled with water. I DID need the manual to understand what was going on.... that one time mostly because the program attributes are abbreviated for the smaller LCD display.

I now have the Blichmann brew commander hooked up and I did run a batch on it. No, it was not immediately intuitive to me and took about the same 15 minutes of mashing virtual buttons to understand the GUI enough to get through my brew day. Even giving it allowance for user familiarity, this is the first time in 7 years that I had a massive boilover on my electric system. The reason for this is that I've grown so accustomed to the Boil Acceleration feature on the EZboil that I took it for granted. I'm sure there's a way to use the Mash schedules feature on the brewcommander to come up to a safe 205F, but preboil rest but there's no automation to jump directly into a boil process at 60% output after that temp is reached. Score one for the EZboil. Still not smoking anything.

I'm not saying it's not a functional controller. I'm saying it's not the end all solution with no cons.
 
Is there a way to turn the element off completely with the Brewcommander? I recently used a controller that used a ezboil for the brains. I set the power to zero in boil mode and still fried my element when chilling.

No, it doesn't have a positive disconnect on the hots leading to the element. Both the hard toggle switch and the soft on/off button do not activate any relays or contactors. It simply disrupts the signal to the SSR. That means an SSR fail open will keep the element running.
 
... Still not smoking anything. I'm not saying it's not a functional controller. I'm saying it's not the end all solution with no cons.

Bobby, did you not notice the :) that I included with my comment? My intent was obviously lighthearted. Posting your resume in response.....well you're free to do that. I'll refrain from posting my resume of designing user interfaces for systems far more complicated that what's under consideration here.

For the record I never said the BrewCommander was the end all solution. I said Blichmann did a great job with the user interface, and I'll stand by that.
 
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Bobby, did you not notice the :) that I included with my comment? My intent was obviously lighthearted. Posting your resume in response.....well you're free to do that. I'll refrain from posting my resume of designing user interfaces for systems far more complicated that what's under consideration here.

For the record I never said the BrewCommander was the end all solution. I said Blichmann did a great job with the user interface, and I'll stand by that.

Ok, we're all a bit hyperbolic so we can just get over that. I only over explain my context because there are a lot of people out there slinging opinions on products without ever using them. I'll stand by my first statement and reiterate. There are pros and cons to both the EZboil and BC. Yes, the BC has a slick touchscreen user interface and it's the best current commercial plug and play option for under $400. However, based on my initial trials with it, I don't know if I can give up my ezboil. A word of warning to casual bystanders, make sure you don't lump the Auber Ezboil based controllers in with simple PID units. It's a different animal completely.
 
Curious about avoiding boil overs. The benefit of the EZBoil, not including the boil acceleration feature, is that turning down the element is super quick, just turn, as opposed to the Brew Commander would be a minimum of 4 button presses (click power, two numbers for %, save). I assume the smart thing to do would be when you are approaching boil, power off the element briefly, then re set to lower temp and turn on? Though I just assumed that the Auto power would throttle the power down, but i guess they can't sense boil over, it's just trying to maintain temps.

Also, if they don't power off the SSR, i assume you would recommend to disconnect the element when you are moving into chilling?

When I spoke to them at NHC, the one thing that really worried me, was that they had no way to flash the firmware if they needed to update. They basically said, if there was a major problem they'd have to have everybody send it back and change it. In this day-in-age, it's amazes me that they didn't add a usb port to flash new updates etc.

I ordered one, basically because the price point was too good to pass up, still haven't used it yet. But i'm not gonna lie, i'm quite worried that in < 1 year they'll release a WiFi or updated version with better software based on what they learned.
 
Curious about avoiding boil overs. The benefit of the EZBoil, not including the boil acceleration feature, is that turning down the element is super quick, just turn, as opposed to the Brew Commander would be a minimum of 4 button presses (click power, two numbers for %, save). I assume the smart thing to do would be when you are approaching boil, power off the element briefly, then re set to lower temp and turn on? Though I just assumed that the Auto power would throttle the power down, but i guess they can't sense boil over, it's just trying to maintain temps.

After brewing on the Ezboil a while, you forget how different and effective the approach is. Mash over, switch to boil mode and boom it's heating 100% until it reaches 208F (I selected that) and it automatically drops down to your pre-selected power setting (60% for me). 50 batches and never a boil over. The reason this is so effective is that it's actually a clever combination of PID-like temp control followed by PWM power control.

Contrast to the BC, The mash mode is the only place it does things based on temp. The boil mode is pure PWM. So far the only approximation I can figure is to start the boil in mash mode with the power set to 100% and the temp target at 210F. It seems OK but it does start slowing the heat down pretty far ahead of time and you have to be there to switch it to proper boil mode. I can probably talk myself into using it but it's not giving me anything new aside from the delay start.
 
Potential hack solution would be to figure out how many degrees out it starts ramping down the power and then set the mash temp boiling + that number, so maybe set it to 220? Obviously a hacked solution, but possibly could work. From what it looks like to me, the brew commander isn’t any more usable than anything else, it just has the visibility benefits of a screen. In fact, things like I described in my previous post (4 button clicks vs automatic or turn knob) lead me to think it might be less usable. This isn’t surprising or an insult as Blichmann is a brewing equipment company not a software design firm. That being said for the price point, it’s hard to pass up. I’ll give more in depth review once I use it, but worst comes to worst I flip it for a small loss and go with an auber.
 
No, it doesn't have a positive disconnect on the hots leading to the element. Both the hard toggle switch and the soft on/off button do not activate any relays or contactors. It simply disrupts the signal to the SSR. That means an SSR fail open will keep the element running.

Is the auber cube different in this regard? That's one of the things pushing me to build my own controller, being able to have a hard shutoff for the element.
 
The cube has a 2pole breaker that is also yhe switch to turn the whole unit on and off. The one mod I prefer is to move the power feed to the brain and pump switch to upstream of this switch so the electronics come on while allowing,the breaker to be off
Is the auber cube different in this regard? That's one of the things pushing me to build my own controller, being able to have a hard shutoff for the element.
 
... it's heating 100% until it reaches 208F (I selected that) and it automatically drops down to your pre-selected power setting (60% for me). 50 batches and never a boil over. The reason this is so effective is that it's actually a clever combination of PID-like temp control followed by PWM power control.

Indeed! An example of brewery automation, improving the brewer's experience (and often, safety). I have a similar setup on mine... heat to 210 at full power, then drop down to a lower power for a few minutes, then drop down again to boil level power. Likewise, never boils-over.
 
I assume this setting is available on all EZ-boil controllers. Do you see any reason to go for the more expensive option other than programmable step mashing?
 
I assume this setting is available on all EZ-boil controllers. Do you see any reason to go for the more expensive option other than programmable step mashing?

The programmable steps and relays would be the only reason.
 
I assume this setting is available on all EZ-boil controllers. Do you see any reason to go for the more expensive option other than programmable step mashing?

All EZboils have the boil acceleration mode. Having never taken advantage of automated step mashing, I've never appreciated the need. However, it does allow for the delayed start to fire up strike water an hour before breakfast.

In other news, I brewed my second batch on the commander and I did set a temp target of 210F during boil ramp. It didn't boil over but I just wish there was a way to have it flip to boil mode on its own.
 
All EZboils have the boil acceleration mode. Having never taken advantage of automated step mashing, I've never appreciated the need. However, it does allow for the delayed start to fire up strike water an hour before breakfast.

In other news, I brewed my second batch on the commander and I did set a temp target of 210F during boil ramp. It didn't boil over but I just wish there was a way to have it flip to boil mode on its own.

EDIT: Just saw it in the previous page... my bad!

I just noticed in the manual it requires a minimum of a 35A breaker for 3rd party electric heaters... Is that only if you use 7200W? I don't see why a 5500w 3rd party element would require a larger breaker
 
I finally got around to brewing with my two BC units on Saturday and I'm impressed. It's also my first electric brewing experience beside the RIMS tube with the inkbird pid controller, so that might play into my impression. I just recently installed the electrical and picked up a couple 5500 watt TC elements from Brew Hardware.

Anyway, I got the strike water ready the night before, set the delay timer so it was ready when I woke up, mashed in at 6:30 AM, awesome!

The 120V BC did great with the 1650 watt RIMS element, definitely more intuitive than the inkbird. And programming the mash steps into it was super easy, the RIMS protect feature is a great idea too.

When it came to the boil with the 240V BC, I did what Bobby did and set the temp at 210 and just payed attention while it came up to a boil to avoid a boil over. I added fermcap when the foam started to rise though, then switched to boil mode.

I'm pumped on brewing electric, don't regret this investment at all.
 
EDIT: Just saw it in the previous page... my bad!

I just noticed in the manual it requires a minimum of a 35A breaker for 3rd party electric heaters... Is that only if you use 7200W? I don't see why a 5500w 3rd party element would require a larger breaker
It's only if you use a 7200watt. It's only stating maximums.
 
That’s very, very dumb.

Their PCB should have at least (2) triggered outputs to control the SSRs, allowing them to be independent. The cost would be negligible, and I don’t need (2) sets of brains to control (2) elements. Seems like a no brainer to be honest.

If the only point of the relay module is to control two elements in one vessel, why not just get a hotter element?

-TC
I guess I understand part of your arguement but compare this single element controller to every other on the market. They beat the existing units in function but also price to the tune of almost 50 bucks.

They have always leaned towards modularity. There are a few ways to use the brew commander on a 2 vessel system. Pros and cons follow.

30 amp system.
Heat and mash, cable connected to HLT, probe in HLT. Move cable to Boil Kettle as soon as element is covered during sparge. Pro: one controller. Cons: move cable once. No temp readout for boil kettle.

30 amp system, switch mod.
Same as above but mod the box with extra SSR and output dongle cable. Add toggle switch to select which SSR gets the trigger signal. Pro; no cable switch con; extra costs and still no temp feedback on boil.

50 amp feed. Dual commanders.
Full independent control of each vessel with temp feedback. Sure its 750 bucks but that still kills any competitor aside from full DIY.


Depending on how consistent the temp probes are in specs, I have thought about a selector switch that switches both the SSR fire signal and the probes that would be installed in both vessels. On that path, it would be awesome if blichmann would sell the board and screen as a system builder OEM.
 
I guess I understand part of your arguement but compare this single element controller to every other on the market. They beat the existing units in function but also price to the tune of almost 50 bucks.

They have always leaned towards modularity. There are a few ways to use the brew commander on a 2 vessel system. Pros and cons follow.

30 amp system.
Heat and mash, cable connected to HLT, probe in HLT. Move cable to Boil Kettle as soon as element is covered during sparge. Pro: one controller. Cons: move cable once. No temp readout for boil kettle.

30 amp system, switch mod.
Same as above but mod the box with extra SSR and output dongle cable. Add toggle switch to select which SSR gets the trigger signal. Pro; no cable switch con; extra costs and still no temp feedback on boil.

50 amp feed. Dual commanders.
Full independent control of each vessel with temp feedback. Sure its 750 bucks but that still kills any competitor aside from full DIY.


Depending on how consistent the temp probes are in specs, I have thought about a selector switch that switches both the SSR fire signal and the probes that would be installed in both vessels. On that path, it would be awesome if blichmann would sell the board and screen as a system builder OEM.


Thanks for the breakdown Bobby, I think I'm going to end up going with one of the cube controllers you have on your site. Just waiting for the steam slayer to come back in stock so I can put it all as one order!
 
30 amp system.
Heat and mash, cable connected to HLT, probe in HLT. Move cable to Boil Kettle as soon as element is covered during sparge. Pro: one controller. Cons: move cable once. No temp readout for boil kettle.

This is basically what I did with the HLT and BK except I picked up an extra probe and cord so I just had to swap them at the Brewcommander when I was ready.
 
After brewing on the Ezboil a while, you forget how different and effective the approach is. Mash over, switch to boil mode and boom it's heating 100% until it reaches 208F (I selected that) and it automatically drops down to your pre-selected power setting (60% for me). 50 batches and never a boil over. The reason this is so effective is that it's actually a clever combination of PID-like temp control followed by PWM power control.

Contrast to the BC, The mash mode is the only place it does things based on temp. The boil mode is pure PWM. So far the only approximation I can figure is to start the boil in mash mode with the power set to 100% and the temp target at 210F. It seems OK but it does start slowing the heat down pretty far ahead of time and you have to be there to switch it to proper boil mode. I can probably talk myself into using it but it's not giving me anything new aside from the delay start.

Could you explain this a little further? Right now I use a Brew Boss system. Boil works by going 100% until it reaches the set boil temp for 45 seconds then the power goes down to what the user inputs into the parameters for boil percentage. How does the BC work? Is the power always on at the set percentage and won't change once it reaches a set temp unless changed by the user manually on the fly?

Also, have you had any experience with the SS Brewtech eController? I'm comparing the two. I like that the eController uses SSVR but the BC seems to be a nicer unit with touch screen and easy step mashing.
 
Completed my first brewday with the BC on Sunday. The brewday itself went pretty well, had no hiccups. I took bobby's advice and set it in mash mode to ramp up to boil, then switched over to boil mode. I was using the steam slayer so i set the power at between 30 and 40% (i was switching it around and playing with it). I'm in Boston, so boiling technically should be 212, but when set to boil it mostly held between 210 and 211, but the liquid was definitely boiling.

From a review standpoint, I have a few minor gripes. I call them minor, because they are really not that big of a deal, but if fixed i think they could be a nice improvement. The changing of the power was definitely clunky and not well thought out, some sort of slider would have been much better. I also didn't bother with using any of the internal timers, i figured out how to set them and whatnot, but I found it to be much easier to just set a multi-timer on my phone, that way I could carry it around if i was by the sink or whatnot. Another little annoyance I found was that the device itself isn't very heavy, and the center of gravity is back loaded. This seems like a small gripe, but since the device doesn't have integrated plugs, and relies on pigtails coming off the back, if you don't have those being held up by a table (i.e. if you let them hang off the back of the table), it tilts the controller back and makes it not very secure. Long term i might try and mount it to the wall (though i'm not sure how interested i am in opening it up and manually rewiring the device), or finding a better way to secure it to a table.

Overall, I was relatively happy with the product, especially with the price point, however, I would say it is mostly a bare-bones product. I think a bit more user and competitor research, could have helped them identify a few more power-user and convenience features that could have put this over the top. I'm not sure if this will be my forever controller, especially as the space seems to be growing so rapidly, but for the next year or so, this should meet my needs. If you have any other questions feel free to ask, and i'll do my best to answer them.
 
Completed my first brewday with the BC on Sunday. The brewday itself went pretty well, had no hiccups. I took bobby's advice and set it in mash mode to ramp up to boil, then switched over to boil mode. I was using the steam slayer so i set the power at between 30 and 40% (i was switching it around and playing with it). I'm in Boston, so boiling technically should be 212, but when set to boil it mostly held between 210 and 211, but the liquid was definitely boiling.

From a review standpoint, I have a few minor gripes. I call them minor, because they are really not that big of a deal, but if fixed i think they could be a nice improvement. The changing of the power was definitely clunky and not well thought out, some sort of slider would have been much better. I also didn't bother with using any of the internal timers, i figured out how to set them and whatnot, but I found it to be much easier to just set a multi-timer on my phone, that way I could carry it around if i was by the sink or whatnot. Another little annoyance I found was that the device itself isn't very heavy, and the center of gravity is back loaded. This seems like a small gripe, but since the device doesn't have integrated plugs, and relies on pigtails coming off the back, if you don't have those being held up by a table (i.e. if you let them hang off the back of the table), it tilts the controller back and makes it not very secure. Long term i might try and mount it to the wall (though i'm not sure how interested i am in opening it up and manually rewiring the device), or finding a better way to secure it to a table.

Overall, I was relatively happy with the product, especially with the price point, however, I would say it is mostly a bare-bones product. I think a bit more user and competitor research, could have helped them identify a few more power-user and convenience features that could have put this over the top. I'm not sure if this will be my forever controller, especially as the space seems to be growing so rapidly, but for the next year or so, this should meet my needs. If you have any other questions feel free to ask, and i'll do my best to answer them.

Why do you need to use mash to ramp to boil? Couldnt you set it to boil at 100% and then change the power to 35% once you see it reach 211 and it is boiling?

How do you change the percentage? Is it a number pad and you save it each time you want to adjust the number?

What features, that you know of, that other controllers have that you would want in this one to make you want to use this more long term?
 
May be a dumb question. But looking at the controller since it has a 240v plug and a 120v plug I'm assuming that the 120v is used to power the pump and if you are not planning on using a pump you would not have to have that plugged in. Their online manual isn't clear on that
 
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Ok Answering a few questions

1. Why do you need to use mash to ramp to boil? Couldn't you set it to boil at 100% and then change the power to 35% once you see it reach 211 and it is boiling?

100% power is a lot, if you ramp to boil too fast and are not able to dial it down quickly, you are at risk of having a boil over. Considering there is also an electric plug in the back of the kettle for the element, this is very bad news. The mash mode is set to slow things down before you get to boil.

2. How do you change the percentage? Is it a number pad and you save it each time you want to adjust the number?

Yes, in order to change the percentage it requires 3-5 clicks... Press the current percentage, type your numbers (theoretically you could type a single or three digits, but most likely 2), then hit enter. This is MUCH slower than the EZ-BOIL which just has a knob (and a setting that you can have it auto ramp down power after boil is achieved)

3. What features, that you know of, that other controllers have that you would want in this one to make you want to use this more long term?

The EZ-BOIL has a lot of nice features to streamline brew day, like the auto-ramping, the pre-boiling, and some other automation. I do not see myself changing over to any current available controllers, it was more of a comment that I think this space is growing faster than it has before, and I assume in the next 2-3 years we will see major upgrades. Honestly, while i think the BC is a nice controller, it is not thought out that well from a usability standpoint and there are some obvious features missing (i.e. WiFi connectivity). Also i think the multi-timer systems are kind of mediocre, as well.

4. May be a dumb question. But looking at the controller since it has a 240v plug and a 120v plug I'm assuming that the 120v is used to power the pump and if you are not planning on using a pump you would not have to have that plugged in. Their online manual isn't clear on that.

You only need to plug the 120v into an outlet if you plan on using the accessory/pump port
 
Not being able to use a tablet is a big downside for me. I love that feature with the Brew Boss.

With the boil, cant you set the percentage you want the element to be on during the boil? So couldnt you set it to say 60% to tamp to boil and then drop it down to 35% once it reaches boil. I'm just a little confused as to why the mash programming needs to be used. I could understand if boil was set at 100% and couldn't be changed but it sounds like it can be.
 
With the boil, cant you set the percentage you want the element to be on during the boil? So couldnt you set it to say 60% to tamp to boil and then drop it down to 35% once it reaches boil. I'm just a little confused as to why the mash programming needs to be used. I could understand if boil was set at 100% and couldn't be changed but it sounds like it can be.

Yes, but like Bobby was explaining, on the EZ BOIL you can have it set to 100% to get to boil ASAP, and then auto ramp down to avoid boil over. You could keep it lower while ramping up, but then it would get to the boil slower. The mash mode throttles the power a bit to make sure it doesn't overshoot the temperature (which is technically impossible, but it could cause a boil over).
 
Yes, but like Bobby was explaining, on the EZ BOIL you can have it set to 100% to get to boil ASAP, and then auto ramp down to avoid boil over. You could keep it lower while ramping up, but then it would get to the boil slower. The mash mode throttles the power a bit to make sure it doesn't overshoot the temperature (which is technically impossible, but it could cause a boil over).

Oh ok I see what your say. I'm actually not sure how Brew Boss works. I'll have to remember to watch it next batch. I know I'm never close to a boil over. I get a good hot break but it's nowhere near the top of the kettle. I could see that being annoying. Makes it a little more hands on when it really doesnt need to be
 
Could you explain this a little further? Right now I use a Brew Boss system. Boil works by going 100% until it reaches the set boil temp for 45 seconds then the power goes down to what the user inputs into the parameters for boil percentage. How does the BC work? Is the power always on at the set percentage and won't change once it reaches a set temp unless changed by the user manually on the fly?

Also, have you had any experience with the SS Brewtech eController? I'm comparing the two. I like that the eController uses SSVR but the BC seems to be a nicer unit with touch screen and easy step mashing.
Could you explain this a little further? Right now I use a Brew Boss system. Boil works by going 100% until it reaches the set boil temp for 45 seconds then the power goes down to what the user inputs into the parameters for boil percentage. How does the BC work? Is the power always on at the set percentage and won't change once it reaches a set temp unless changed by the user manually on the fly?

Also, have you had any experience with the SS Brewtech eController? I'm comparing the two. I like that the eController uses SSVR but the BC seems to be a nicer unit with touch screen and easy step mashing.

The brewcommander is either in Mashing mode (Temp target with or without max power output setting) or Boiling mode (power output level, no temp targets factored in). Once in boil mode, you CAN set to 100% and wait for it to get close to a boil and then throttle down but it doesn't do it in an automated fashion. The only way to ramp at 100% and also avoid a boilover if you are not nearby is to stay in mash mode and set to a target temp a few degrees below boiling. When you do come back, you'll just flip it to boiling and watch for the boil to throttle down.

The EZboil DSPR series of controllers have boil acceleration mode which sounds similar to what the BrewBoss does the way you describe it. 100% output until X Temp, then drop down to power setting that you put on the front panel.

The SS controller is just a regular PID with a manual selection over to SSVR boil control. In the grand scheme of controllers, it's the least automated solution and doesn't do any function better than Brewboss, BrewCommander, Auber Cube or any other EZboil DSPR brain based controller. I would never buy it or suggest it unless it was the significant price leader (it's not).
 
May be a dumb question. But looking at the controller since it has a 240v plug and a 120v plug I'm assuming that the 120v is used to power the pump and if you are not planning on using a pump you would not have to have that plugged in. Their online manual isn't clear on that

The electronics are powered off the 240v source so the 120v line goes in, hits the pump on/off relay and goes back out again. Frankly I was a little disappointed by that fact because it would make demos and messing around so much easier when you're not near a 240v outlet.
 
The electronics are powered off the 240v source so the 120v line goes in, hits the pump on/off relay and goes back out again. Frankly I was a little disappointed by that fact because it would make demos and messing around so much easier when you're not near a 240v outlet.

Bobby, you can actually run the entire controller off 120v, which I found out due to my miswired outlet. If you would just make a jumper between the 6-30 and a standard 5-15, it will power on, and even heat up. Should make it easier for demos!
 
The electronics are powered off the 240v source so the 120v line goes in, hits the pump on/off relay and goes back out again. Frankly I was a little disappointed by that fact because it would make demos and messing around so much easier when you're not near a 240v outlet.
Since it is 240v the l6-30 wire is two hots and a ground, I was under the assumption to have GFI protection you would need a neutral wire, how would that work with a gfi breaker if there is no neutral going back to the breaker to trip it?
Sorry if this is not a good question, just wanted to make sure of everything before I make a purchase.
 
Long term i might try and mount it to the wall (though i'm not sure how interested i am in opening it up and manually rewiring the device)

I rewired mine through the bottom so I could use the wall mount, it really wasn't a big deal. I followed the video on the blichmann site, it walks you through the whole thing.

 
Since it is 240v the l6-30 wire is two hots and a ground, I was under the assumption to have GFI protection you would need a neutral wire, how would that work with a gfi breaker if there is no neutral going back to the breaker to trip it?
Sorry if this is not a good question, just wanted to make sure of everything before I make a purchase.

You don't need the nuetral on the load side of the 2 pole GFCI breaker, you do need to connect the neutral pigtail from the breaker to the nuetral bar though.
 
The brewcommander is either in Mashing mode (Temp target with or without max power output setting) or Boiling mode (power output level, no temp targets factored in). Once in boil mode, you CAN set to 100% and wait for it to get close to a boil and then throttle down but it doesn't do it in an automated fashion. The only way to ramp at 100% and also avoid a boilover if you are not nearby is to stay in mash mode and set to a target temp a few degrees below boiling. When you do come back, you'll just flip it to boiling and watch for the boil to throttle down.

The EZboil DSPR series of controllers have boil acceleration mode which sounds similar to what the BrewBoss does the way you describe it. 100% output until X Temp, then drop down to power setting that you put on the front panel.

The SS controller is just a regular PID with a manual selection over to SSVR boil control. In the grand scheme of controllers, it's the least automated solution and doesn't do any function better than Brewboss, BrewCommander, Auber Cube or any other EZboil DSPR brain based controller. I would never buy it or suggest it unless it was the significant price leader (it's not).

I'm actually not sure the Brew Boss ramps down either. I'll have to check. I want to say it stays at 100% until boil is reached. The boil indicator is a 45 second timer each degree. If the timer goes the full 45 seconds without the temperature increasing another degree, the program starts the 60 minute boil and at that point will then drop to your set boil power.
 
30 amp system, switch mod.
Same as above but mod the box with extra SSR and output dongle cable. Add toggle switch to select which SSR gets the trigger signal. Pro; no cable switch con; extra costs and still no temp feedback on boil.

50 amp feed. Dual commanders.
Full independent control of each vessel with temp feedback. Sure its 750 bucks but that still kills any competitor aside from full DIY.

On that path, it would be awesome if blichmann would sell the board and screen as a system builder OEM.

That’s an interesting thought - the switched version. My perfect system would have the ability to heat the HLT while running the RIMs, that way I can fly sparge (3 vessel system). I’ll probably end up with two controllers because of this, but it just feels unnecessary.

I’ve bought an extra temp sensor to swap at the controller. I’ll use the brew commander to deal with the RIMs portion while propane heats the HLT up again to MO for now. It’s not perfect, but I’ll still be saving a ton of propane and still get strike water up to temp before I wake up.

I also agree with them on the wiring needing to be changed - it looks like 10ga wire internally - for 50amp it needs to be 4ga.
 
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