Building a 240v 5500w Craftbeerpi Single Heating Vessel System (EBIAB?)

[jjkeegan86]

In manual mode, 80% produces a really vigorous boil ~2g per hour boiloff. I'm going to try 40% next brew day.
I have the heater set up in hystersis mode and it turns on and off and holds temps pretty well. I couldn't find the PID setup mode, and it's worked fine as is so far

Ah okay, are you doing anything to hold the mash temps? Or are you just heating the strike water manually and then leaving the mash alone?

 

[joeybeer]

With the hystersis setting, I just set the target temp and the little car (auto lol) and it holds it pretty close. It does tend to overshoot a couple of degrees and then creep back down. I've been setting it about 2-3* lower than I want to mash.

I'd be interested to hear how to set up the PID and if it could get it to hold closer. I've also considered just insulating and shutting it off...

 

[joeybeer]

I should also mention I'm using Craftbeerpi3.0 !

 

[jjkeegan86]

I should also mention I'm using Craftbeerpi3.0 !

So there's two plugins you can add from the plugin tab, pidautotune and pidboil. Then after a restart they are available for the heater logic.

with pidautotune you add your typical water amount, and it runs and trys to maintain temperature for awhile then it gives you the PID values. You then change the heater to pidboil and add those values in. Then pidboil is setup with a boil threshold where it changes from pid to manual supposedly, and you can set the mwc boil output.

I'm going to try it out in a batch tomorrow, on my first batch I think I had some settings messed up and it just boiled at 100% the whole time.

 

[joeybeer]

I'm back at it again !
After 7 successful brews, I decided to upgrade to a bigger case with more ventilation. The SSR got stuck on a couple of times and I rigged up some fans etc, but it was a mess. I'm midway through moving it to a recycled computer case, it's a thing of beauty.
The computer power supply has 220 input, and 12v and 5v outputs, just what I needed for the pump and pi.

While I'm at it, I'm going to upgrade the Levitron switch with a Estop and contactor.
I can't seem to find a drawing with a 3 wire 220 and a contactor. ( I understand how the two hots run through the contactor)

Should the hot wire go to one side of the estop then to the side post of the contactor ?
Since there's no neutral, does ground go to the other side post of the contactor ?


Also, I was thinking of putting the contactor after the SSR, just to kill the element and leave the power on to the panel and computer.
Is that a bad idea ?


Thanks again for all your help !

 

[rkhanso]

Also, I was thinking of putting the contactor after the SSR, just to kill the element and leave the power on to the panel and computer.
Is that a bad idea ?

If the controller/computer is what's on fire and smoking, putting the contactor AFTER the SSR but before the heat element won't gain you a whole lot. I'd put it before the SSR.

 

[doug293cz]

I'm back at it again !
After 7 successful brews, I decided to upgrade to a bigger case with more ventilation. The SSR got stuck on a couple of times and I rigged up some fans etc, but it was a mess. I'm midway through moving it to a recycled computer case, it's a thing of beauty.
The computer power supply has 220 input, and 12v and 5v outputs, just what I needed for the pump and pi.

While I'm at it, I'm going to upgrade the Levitron switch with a Estop and contactor.
I can't seem to find a drawing with a 3 wire 220 and a contactor. ( I understand how the two hots run through the contactor)

Should the hot wire go to one side of the estop then to the side post of the contactor ?
Since there's no neutral, does ground go to the other side post of the contactor ?


Also, I was thinking of putting the contactor after the SSR, just to kill the element and leave the power on to the panel and computer.
Is that a bad idea ?


Thanks again for all your help !

You cannot use a contactor with a 120V coil in a panel without a neutral. If you wired a hot and ground to a 120V coil, you would trip your GFCI as soon as you applied power to the coil. You must use a contactor with a 240V coil.

Use the schematic below as a guide. You can leave out the volt/amp meter. The e-stop switch should be a double pole, normally closed device, and should be located between the 1A fuses and the key switch, and should be wired just like the key switch. In my opinion the e-stop switch is redundant, since you can kill power just as easily with the key switch. But, if you want to put it in, there is no issue with doing so.

Brew on

 

[joeybeer]

Thanks for the help again Doug293cz ! I'll study that drawing.
Hot 1 to one side of the coil, and Hot 2 to the other makes more sense than getting ground involved. I guess only one would have to go through the E-Stop switch ? This is the switch I'm using : https://amzn.to/2K0iwb0

The contactor is a 240v 30amp (as best as I can tell) - pictured below.

 

[golfindia]

That contactor is rated for 240, but it's got a 110v coil. Don't hook 220v up to the switch coil (white plastic doodads on sides). Smokey smokey.

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for the help again Doug293cz ! I'll study that drawing.
Hot 1 to one side of the coil, and Hot 2 to the other makes more sense than getting ground involved. I guess only one would have to go through the E-Stop switch ? This is the switch I'm using : https://amzn.to/2K0iwb0

The contactor is a 240v 30amp (as best as I can tell) - pictured below.

Yes, since that switch has one NO contact pair, and one NC contact pair, you can only run one hot thru the NC side of the switch. This will work as an e-stop. However, best design practice is to use two NC pairs in a switch so that both hots are disconnected when activated.

As @golfindia noted, the contactor pictured has a 120V coil, so cannot be used in a system without a neutral.

Brew on

 

[joeybeer]

You guys ! Saving my ass again..
A contactor needs a 240v COIL, not just contactor rating.
This one looks like it will do the trick.

 

[doug293cz]

You guys ! Saving my ass again..
A contactor needs a 240v COIL, not just contactor rating.
This one looks like it will do the trick.

Yep, that one will work in a system without a neutral.

Brew on

 

[BeardedBrews]

As a side note. An E-Stop button with 2 NC blocks is strangely expensive. It seems to be cheaper to buy two of the Uxcel buttons and scavenge one of the switch blocks.

 

[joeybeer]

I'm back at it again after getting side tracked on another project.
I already have the Uxcel button installed, is there any point to just wiring one side of the coil to hot1, and running hot2 to the Uxcel switch and back to the coil ?

Hitting the estop would kill all power past the contactor and the only things hot would be one side of the coil and the transformer for 12v etc that's wired before the contactor.

There is also this switch on Amazon that has 2 NC if the above is unsafe. hot1 and hot2 will still be live going to that switch though?

 

[joeybeer]

Pleased to say I got it figured out! I stopped by our wholesale industrial electronics in Charleston, and got just the right switch for $30! 2 pole 220 volt 10 amp Siemens switch, it's a thing of beauty compared to the Chinese plastic one that I had