eBIAB Control Panel Build Questions

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blargs_boiler

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I am getting ready to transition to all grain and have decided that eBIAB is the route that I would like to take (live in a 2nd floor apartment so I don't have anywhere I can brew outside, and love the simplicity of the one vessel system). I have found several threads to be helpful but had some specific questions.

I just recently got a Grounded Brewing Tech kettle on the cheap. Until this point I wanted to go with two 120V elements, but now I cringe at the idea of putting another hole for a second element in the shiny new kettle. For that reason, I have opted for 240V and found this circuit diagram on another thread. I do not have a dryer in my apartment, so I will have to go with the 50A electric range outlet in my kitchen.

I have a few questions,

1) What is the cheapest and easiest way to get GFCI protection on this outlet while still being safe? I don't plan to live in this apartment for more than a year so I'd like to avoid any permanent upgrades.

2) Are there any concerns powering a 30A element on a 50A circuit? I plan to use a 30A breaker as my main power switch. Found a 50A range power cable that used 6 gauge wire.

4) I have found that my stove uses a 50A outlet, but there is a 40A breaker in the panel. Is this normal?

3) Does anyone have any expereince with the inkbird ITC-106VH? I was happy to find a pretty cost effective PID+SSR+heatsink+temp probe bundle, but the more I read I'm not sure this controller is what I want.

Otherwise, would love some solid input before I commit to anything, as this is my first major brewing project and I would hate to waste money going down the wrong route. My main goals are cost effective (still in graduate school), future proofing, and ability to move the system without too much trouble as I'm not in a permanent living situation yet.
 

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I will leave it to the more experienced to reply to most of your questions. However, I just went through building my first panel using almost the exact same diagram. I had no previous experience really other than the little tinker here and there and more with pcb boards. Anyway once you get comfortable with that diagram it makes it so easy! Has all your parts laid out for you and is pretty straight forward. Doug was a huge help as well answering a few questions along the way.

For the controller, I went with an ezboil120 for now and will upgrade to a 320 later on when I’m set up for step mashing and use the 120 for my boil. The ezboil is easy to use, not that expensive and mine was almost dead on out of the box with minimal tweaks.

The controller, ssr, contactor and switches were the cheaper parts of the build, it’s the nema outlets and plugs that added up for me.

For the outlet, you might be able to make a converter dongle and run that to a spa box with a gfci, but again I will leave that to the more experienced.
 
I see the ezboil120 is understandably very popular, as everyone seems to say it works well and provides all the functionality one could ask for as far as a mash+boil controller. I will probably end up going for it, was just wondering how the inkbird compared, as I could save some money.

Did you end up hard-wiring your box, or install a receptacle? I noticed a lot of plugs/receptacles add up so I wanted to hard-wire mine.

I saw that the spa panels were the suggested way to go, but seeing as I don't want to mount anything directly on the walls of my apartment, I was hoping there may be a cheaper more portable solution...

Were there any unforeseen purchases on your build that you didn't think about when looking at the diagram?
 
My box is set for 120v now but I built it knowing I would be upgrading to 240v in the next 1-2 years. So it’s wired a little differently.

As for the spa panel, I was thinking just make a power cable that fits the 50a for your stove and then supplies power to the spa panel. This way you can just kind of pop it where ever it fits on your counter. I say this with out even looking at them so not sure that would even work.

Unless I’m misunderstanding you, you want to hard wire your element to your box?? How do you plan on cleaning your kettle?

I didn’t really have any unforeseen expenses as I really went through it on paper several times to make sure I had all parts. As I mentioned it’s the nema plugs and adapters that ended up costing the most out of the build as I got my box on exchange for a growler of a hop slam clone I made.

Here are a few pics of my build. Still haven’t painted it, should have did that before I put everything in, but I wanted to use it that weekend haha.

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Build looks great! Is it a 10x10x6? It looks like you had plenty of room, and that's what I just ordered. What made you decide to do a 120V element if you had access to 240V power?

So from what I've read, and I'm hoping someone can validate, setting up a spa panel to be plugged into the 50A outlet with a 50A plug and then hard wiring the spa panel to the control panel will add GFCI protection cheaper, and theoretically safer than adding it to my main breaker panel. It seems like a better option than overpaying for an inline GFCI extension cord. I don't plan to hardwire the element to the kettle, I found one with a L6-30 connection.

Also after reading, I'm convinced the ezboil120 is the way to go.
 
Build looks great! Is it a 10x10x6? It looks like you had plenty of room, and that's what I just ordered. What made you decide to do a 120V element if you had access to 240V power?

So from what I've read, and I'm hoping someone can validate, setting up a spa panel to be plugged into the 50A outlet with a 50A plug and then hard wiring the spa panel to the control panel will add GFCI protection cheaper, and theoretically safer than adding it to my main breaker panel. It seems like a better option than overpaying for an inline GFCI extension cord. I don't plan to hardwire the element to the kettle, I found one with a L6-30 connection.

Also after reading, I'm convinced the ezboil120 is the way to go.

I don’t have access to 240 yet and this is why I am running it as 120 now. We are planning for an addition to the house in 2 years and will add in the 240 at that time.

I see what you are saying about hardwiring in now. Makes sense.

Ezboil for me is great for now, but if you want to do any kind of automated step mashing than the 320 is the way to go. I would read up on both of them to make sure.

Once I get 240 my plan, for now, is to use the ezboil120 for my boil and pick up a 320 for mash.

The box was 12 x 12 x 8 I think. 10x10x6 is plenty of room to I would think.
 
I am getting ready to transition to all grain and have decided that eBIAB is the route that I would like to take (live in a 2nd floor apartment so I don't have anywhere I can brew outside, and love the simplicity of the one vessel system). I have found several threads to be helpful but had some specific questions.

I just recently got a Grounded Brewing Tech kettle on the cheap. Until this point I wanted to go with two 120V elements, but now I cringe at the idea of putting another hole for a second element in the shiny new kettle. For that reason, I have opted for 240V and found this circuit diagram on another thread. I do not have a dryer in my apartment, so I will have to go with the 50A electric range outlet in my kitchen.

That design uses the now obsolete (no longer offered) DSPR110. The current version is the DSPR120, which has different terminal assignments, so the wires all connect in different places. The current higher end DSPR's all have terminal assignments compatible with the DPSR120.

I have a few questions,

1) What is the cheapest and easiest way to get GFCI protection on this outlet while still being safe? I don't plan to live in this apartment for more than a year so I'd like to avoid any permanent upgrades.

The first thing to worry about is whether the range outlet is 3-wire or 4-wire. The control panel design you are looking at requires a 4-wire power feed in order to get 120 volts for the pump and aux outlets. If you only have a 3-wire 240V outlet, then you will need to power a pump from a separate 120V outlet. You would also need to use a 240V coil element power contactor, and connect the unswitched side of the coil to the black hot bus instead of neutral. Most PID's can use either 120V or 240V power, so no issue there. A spa panel is probably the best option for an apartment, as they are cheaper than in-line GFCI extension cords.

2) Are there any concerns powering a 30A element on a 50A circuit? I plan to use a 30A breaker as my main power switch. Found a 50A range power cable that used 6 gauge wire.

With the 30A breaker in you control panel, there is no issue with bringing in power from a higher amp capability supply circuit.

4) I have found that my stove uses a 50A outlet, but there is a 40A breaker in the panel. Is this normal?

Nothing to worry about. However, since the main panel has a 40A breaker, the wiring from the panel to the receptacle may only be 8AWG, so that you couldn't replace the breaker in the panel with a 50A one in this case.

3) Does anyone have any expereince with the inkbird ITC-106VH? I was happy to find a pretty cost effective PID+SSR+heatsink+temp probe bundle, but the more I read I'm not sure this controller is what I want.

I believe folks have used that controller with success. Only thing to look out for is the terminal assignments are different than in the design file you are looking at. I would be more worried about the SSR that comes with it. A lot of the cheap package deals use Fotek SSR's (or rebadged Foteks), and many of the Foteks are counterfeit and are built with sub-standard internal components. The counterfeit Foteks have a very high failure rate. The included temp probe may not be suitable for mounting in your system. Probe placement is critical for proper system operation, so you don't want to compromise on probe length or mounting method.

Otherwise, would love some solid input before I commit to anything, as this is my first major brewing project and I would hate to waste money going down the wrong route. My main goals are cost effective (still in graduate school), future proofing, and ability to move the system without too much trouble as I'm not in a permanent living situation yet.

I see the ezboil120 is understandably very popular, as everyone seems to say it works well and provides all the functionality one could ask for as far as a mash+boil controller. I will probably end up going for it, was just wondering how the inkbird compared, as I could save some money.

Did you end up hard-wiring your box, or install a receptacle? I noticed a lot of plugs/receptacles add up so I wanted to hard-wire mine.

Hard wiring the power in and out connections to the control panel is acceptable and will save significant $$. The only plug you need is the one that mates with the wall receptacle. And the only receptacle you need is the one that mates with the element plug.

I saw that the spa panels were the suggested way to go, but seeing as I don't want to mount anything directly on the walls of my apartment, I was hoping there may be a cheaper more portable solution...

You could mount the spa panel and your control panel on a single sheet of plywood (or similar.)

Were there any unforeseen purchases on your build that you didn't think about when looking at the diagram?

Build looks great! Is it a 10x10x6? It looks like you had plenty of room, and that's what I just ordered. What made you decide to do a 120V element if you had access to 240V power?

So from what I've read, and I'm hoping someone can validate, setting up a spa panel to be plugged into the 50A outlet with a 50A plug and then hard wiring the spa panel to the control panel will add GFCI protection cheaper, and theoretically safer than adding it to my main breaker panel. It seems like a better option than overpaying for an inline GFCI extension cord. I don't plan to hardwire the element to the kettle, I found one with a L6-30 connection.

Also after reading, I'm convinced the ezboil120 is the way to go.

I don't think a spa panel GFCI is safer than a main service panel GFCI. The main service panel option protects more of the total circuitry from faults, but the spa panel does protect the most important portions.

Brew on :mug:
 
I don't think a spa panel GFCI is safer than a main service panel GFCI. The main service panel option protects more of the total circuitry from faults, but the spa panel does protect the most important portions.

Brew on :mug:

Doug,

Would proximity to the kettle not be beneficial? Correct me if I am wrong, but I have been given the impression that code for GFCI breakers states that it should be no closer than 5ft but no further than 15ft to a water source.

If this is not correct, all I am looking for is cheap while not compromising safety, and the spa panel is cheaper. As long as the 50A GFCI breaker in the spa panel will still provide GFCI protection on the 40A circuit, than I am happy.

Also wanted to thank you for all of the useful information you have provided on other threads I have read!


EDIT: Sorry didn't see the comments you left on the quotes (new to the forum), it would appear you already answered my response question
 
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Doug,

Would proximity to the kettle not be beneficial? Correct me if I am wrong, but I have been given the impression that code for GFCI breakers states that it should be no closer than 5ft but no further than 15ft to a water source.

I'll have to read up on this.

If this is not correct, all I am looking for is cheap while not compromising safety, and the spa panel is cheaper. As long as the 50A GFCI breaker in the spa panel will still provide GFCI protection on the 40A circuit, than I am happy.

Yes, the GFCI action is independent of the overcurrent rating of the breaker. However, the GFCI only protects the portion of the circuit downstream of the GFCI. It cannot detect faults between the service panel and the GFCI (but the faults being protected against are much less likely to occur there.)

Also wanted to thank you for all of the useful information you have provided on other threads I have read!


EDIT: Sorry didn't see the comments you left on the quotes (new to the forum), it would appear you already answered my response question

Brew on :mug:
 
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