BREWHA Medium BIAC Fermination Heater - Option

[Dan Wendling]

Looking for comment on this approach to a fermentation heater for the BREWHA Medium BIAC.

The BIAC has a 240V 4500W heating element controlled by a Blichmann Brew Commander for Boil and Mash operations. I am considering using a Poniie TC-15A Temperature Controller (https://poniie.com/products/19) as a fermentation controller.

I would connect the TC-15A cooling outlet to a chiller pump.

The idea I am looking for comment on is the fermentation heater circuit.

1. Use the existing 240V 4500W Boil/Mash element at very low power (50-100W) as a fermentation heater.

2. Disconnect the Brew Commander from the 240V 4500W heater and operate the element from a 120V source instead. This would provide a maximum of 1/4th the power or 1225W.

3. Control the power into the element using a VenTech 120V 15A Fan Speed Controller. This will allow me to control the power at low wattage settings.

4. Connect the Ventech input to the heater outlet of the TC-15A

All comments and suggestions welcome!

 

[Dan Wendling]

Looking for comment on this approach to a fermentation heater for the BREWHA Medium BIAC.

The BIAC has a 240V 4500W heating element controlled by a Blichmann Brew Commander for Boil and Mash operations. I am considering using a Poniie TC-15A Temperature Controller (https://poniie.com/products/19) as a fermentation controller.

I would connect the TC-15A cooling outlet to a chiller pump.

The idea I am looking for comment on is the fermentation heater circuit.

1. Use the existing 240V 4500W Boil/Mash element at very low power (50-100W) as a fermentation heater.

2. Disconnect the Brew Commander from the 240V 4500W heater and operate the element from a 120V source instead. This would provide a maximum of 1/4th the power or 1225W.

3. Control the power into the element using a VenTech 120V 15A Fan Speed Controller. This will allow me to control the power at low wattage settings.

4. Connect the Ventech input to the heater outlet of the TC-15A

All comments and suggestions welcome!

Just had someone suggest an obvious (well obvious to them not me) alternative:

1. Leave the Blichmann Brew Commander main power output connected to the 240V 4500W element as used for Boil/Mash.

2. Connect the main power input (normally 240V) of the Brew Commander to the TC-15A 120V heater outlet instead of normal main 240V circuit. Just need a simple power cord adapter L6-R to NEMA 5-15. No need for the VenTech speed controller.

3. Place the Brew Commander in Heater On mode and set the Power Level % on the Brew Commander to get the desired power level. The heater power would be the displayed power percentage x 1225W (.25 x 4500W).

This would allow 1% power steps of ~12W which should provide plenty of resolution.

Heating and cooling on/off would be controlled by the TC-15A

PS>

In this BIAC setup I have the Brew Commander temperature probe in a 1.5" TC thermowell. When I change from Boil/Mash to Fermentation configuration I remove the Brew Commanders temperature probe and install the TC-15A probe with a little thermal conductive paste to make good contact since the probe is a smaller diameter.