Control panel is complete

[scouser007]

Still working on the stand I under estimated the cost of all the little stuff especially in 316 stainless.
The whole thing is in my attic at the moment.

 

[big_al_in_k-zoo]

Looks great. What PID's are those?

 

[wolfman_48442]

That's a great looking setup! Really dig the 'modular' brew stand

 

[day_trippr]

Wow! That panel is freakin' gorgeous! I want it!

Cheers!

 

[Markd27]

Looks great!

Can you give some more details on your setup? I'm curious about the temp measurement labeled "heat exchanger", where exactly are you measuring that? The return from the HERMS coil?

Would also be great to see your wiring diagram if you are willing to share.

 

[scouser007]

Sorry for the delay in responses, I did not have any notifications turned on.

I used eurotherm controllers as I got 3 of them for free and one from ebay for around $70. I really like them, very felxable and somewhat easy to program. I will warn you that there are a lot of configurations you can buy so make sure you are getting what you need.

So fromt he top.
Blue lights are on when 24vac is going to the honeywell valves, so gas on for the HLT, Mash, and Boil.

3 PIDS. Again one for the HLT, Mash, and Boil. However I added another PID for a heat exchanger in the HLT. This is a bit of a gamble. I used 50ft of coiled 316 tubing. My idea is I want to limit the gas on the Mash so I do not burn the wort. So I will be recirculting through the HTL coil. I will be monotoring the output of the heat exchanger, if its low the HTL burner will fire. If the Mash is low then the Mash burner will also fire. I have limited the mash burner by using a needle valve and putting it about 6 inches below the keggle.

Below the PIDs are some cheap 3 selection switches. Left position is Auto or PID controlled, middle shuts off the gas, right turns on the gas.
Next row down are 2 way switches. The left and right are alarms. So when the HLT or the Boil reach temp it will wake me up if I have passed out. These alarms are wired up to a buzzer and the red lights on the bottom left. The lights stay on the alarm is silenced via the switch. Middle two switches and the green lights is the left and right pump control.

Bottom right is an omega timer that is wired up to the PIDs. Thsi allows we to do a step temp if I wish. So I can set the mash to be at say 145 for 20 minutes and automatically flip to 155 for the last 30 minutes. I can also use this to do say 154, and then hit 170 to make the mash out timing more consistent.

Alarm lights. Top left is the HLT, top right is the Boil, bottom left is a boil over sensor, bottom right is an AUX that is not yet used.

Boil over sensor, you will like this one! I used a one shot relay with a variable timer on it. What the heck is that? Crap I still do not know, lol. What I have is the trigger for the relay set up on 2 wires. One wire has 24v on it. Dunk the wires in water it makes a connection and trips the relay. So my thought here is to have a 1/4 inch tubing held into the top on the keg via a compression fitting and silicone gaskets so it slides up and down. Fill the keg, more the tubing to an inch above the liquid level and done. In the tubing will be 2 18awg wires, ends of the wires will be stripped when the exit the tube and bent away from each other. I do not want a bead of condensation forming and making the circuit. The relay has 2 modes, on or off in essance. I have it inline with the 24v out to trip the honeywell valve below the boil keggle. When the relay is tripped it breaks the line to the valve for a set amount of time, aka, shuts off the gas to the boil. Rolling boil calms down, relay timer times out, gas is applied back on, and I do not have a big sticky mess everywhere.

Make sense? Now I just need to figure out how to turn on reply notifications on this forum...

 

[scouser007]

lol, wiring diagram. I am affraid it was not that kind of operation! As soon as a wire falls out I may need to throw it away and start over.
I made it a LOT more complicated than it needed to be. For example at first I wired every circuit seperate just to make sure, then went back and combined. I isolated the PID controllers via relays, the PIDs have relays that could have handled the load from the honeywell valves, but I did not want to take any chances. I used a rail din mount system, bit of an experiement, BUT DO THIS. OMG did it help with the wire management and power distribution. I also used this to fuse everything which worked like a charm when I did something stupid and shorted it out. What I will say is if you need help I am more than willing to assist. It looks much more complicated than it actually is. I am a bio chemist not an electrical engineer, so anyone can do it.
I also used the relays to push around 24v, even when powering the pumps. So everything in the panel is 24v, only has 120v into the PIDs, and out to the pumps. I used a 4 wire cable 16awg for the pumps and a locking plug. They will share the neural and ground as the amps are low.

 

[scouser007]

On the pic above. Red is 120 and 24v live, white is of course neutral 120 and 24v. Green is ground and trigger wires.
The rail mount was nice as it has grounds that go directly into the rail/box. $5 for the fused connectors, top left ones with a red LED if the fuse blows. Color coded to keep power distribution clear. Top right is the 120 to 24 converter. Red leds that are on are the relays. White block on the top left were the therocoumple connectors. White block with the green LED is the one shot relay.
I can probably dig up PNs and websites where I found the best deals. The box is massive and very heavy, but as you can see you WILL need the space.
Handles were cheap kitchen hardware from amazon.

 

[stevehaun]

sexy

 

[processhead]

Looks like you could control the space shuttle with that panel.

Very nice set-up.

 

[scouser007]

My wife says the same thing and I think you are both right, but do not tell her!

 

[CCBrewer]

what fitting did you use to go from the appliance hose to the 3/8" Flare fitting on the burner orifice