EZboil, Power Regulator for Boiling DSPR110

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
What are people here using to produce electrical diagrams? Here is my crude drawing.

Capture.PNG

I have 120 between A & C but not B & C in boil mode at 100% which makes me think it is the SSR? On the element I only have 120v and not 240 across E & F. Or am I missing something else?
 
It should work as wired. Could be the SSR is wired backwards. Check which ones are the input and outputs on the front of the SSR.
 
I've never tried to use a ground line as a neutral, but since they are bonded at the panel I guess it would work?

You have confirmed 240 at source? (And 120 across the phases at the source?)
Can you put a 9V battery on the SSR terminals and see if you get 240 out of the ssr?
 
I currently only have a 3-wire 240v setup so figured the ground could act as a neutral.

I have 240v on the other side of the switch when on (120v each side to ground and 240v between the two hots). Will have to give the 9v to the SSR a shot. Wasn't sure that was possible.
 
I currently only have a 3-wire 240v setup so figured the ground could act as a neutral.

I have 240v on the other side of the switch when on (120v each side to ground and 240v between the two hots). Will have to give the 9v to the SSR a shot. Wasn't sure that was possible.

I'm not an electrician so I can't really say if that is good, bad or indifferent. Does it not trip your GFCI breaker?

Most SSRs have a wide range of trigger voltages, so just make sure you test within the range of your particular relay. I think the ones I buy are 3-30v DC.
 
using neutral as ground in a 3 wire box is fine just don't ground your dc ground on the ssr to, it will fry your ssr

I would think that using a neutral wire from H-H-N as ground for a 240v only circuit should fine, but using a ground from H-H-G as neutral to derive a 120v circuit in addition to the 240v circuit would not be. I am not an electrician. :)
 
I've never tried to use a ground line as a neutral, but since they are bonded at the panel I guess it would work?

You have confirmed 240 at source? (And 120 across the phases at the source?)
Can you put a 9V battery on the SSR terminals and see if you get 240 out of the ssr?
I put a 9v on the SSR and it comes on and the element works. Hmmm, any settings on the Auber to specify the outgoing voltage? I do not have a PTD sensor hooked up to it yet but have it on power mode. Would that mater?
 
I put a 9v on the SSR and it comes on and the element works. Hmmm, any settings on the Auber to specify the outgoing voltage? I do not have a PTD sensor hooked up to it yet but have it on power mode. Would that mater?

I'm using a mypin PID (not aubers unit that is the topic of this thread) but I wired up my panel last night and for the life of me couldn't figure out why the ssr wasn't firing. Turns out I had the "-" SSR out pin from the PID going to the "+" terminal on the SSR itself. Flipped those wires around this morning and everything is working swimmingly.
 
I'm using a mypin PID (not aubers unit that is the topic of this thread) but I wired up my panel last night and for the life of me couldn't figure out why the ssr wasn't firing. Turns out I had the "-" SSR out pin from the PID going to the "+" terminal on the SSR itself. Flipped those wires around this morning and everything is working swimmingly.

I've triple checked that and even swapped them just to be sure. Still nothing.

I would expect to get a voltage reading from post 6 or 7 but it reads 0. Thinking it has to be that I don't have a TC hooked up to it. Mine is on the way but is a week out. Anyway to turn off the Temp reading or short the RTD input? I just want to control power to my BK.

dspr300_RTD.PNG
 
I couldn't find anything specific in the DSPR120 manual, but many temp controllers have a fail safe feature that prevents control outputs if the controller is not receiving a good temperature reading.

Brew on :mug:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've triple checked that and even swapped them just to be sure. Still nothing.

I would expect to get a voltage reading from post 6 or 7 but it reads 0. Thinking it has to be that I don't have a TC hooked up to it. Mine is on the way but is a week out. Anyway to turn off the Temp reading or short the RTD input? I just want to control power to my BK.

You can short out the temp probe sensor and set the input to thermocouple I believe. I emailed Auber about the exact same question. This way the PID is reading basically ambient temp and you just adjust the power output depending on the boil.
You can email Auber they will get right back with you just to make sure what probe type to set the PID to. Those guys are great with helping people out as well as dealing with any problems you may have with parts ordered from them.
 
I got my probe and everything fired right up. In looking through the programming guide I did see a section that stated it will not turn on the heater IF their is an error code on the display.
 
Anybody use this in a HERMS setup? My plan is this: propane for bringing mash tun and HLT up to or close to temp, then use 120v element in HLT to fine regulate temp while using continuous recirculation. I am wondering how responsive this controller is in this situation when the temp is measured in MT and heat control is happening in HLT with the heating element and herms coil. I am currently doing this manually with propane and reading my analog thermometers, and I would like to automate the heat control so I can set and forget, and of course control temp more precisely.
 
Anybody use this in a HERMS setup? My plan is this: propane for bringing mash tun and HLT up to or close to temp, then use 120v element in HLT to fine regulate temp while using continuous recirculation. I am wondering how responsive this controller is in this situation when the temp is measured in MT and heat control is happening in HLT with the heating element and herms coil. I am currently doing this manually with propane and reading my analog thermometers, and I would like to automate the heat control so I can set and forget, and of course control temp more precisely.

If you try to control a HERMS by using the MLT to control heat input to the HLT, you are going to have a problem due to the very long lag in system response to control inputs. By the time the mash gets up to its set point (after dropping below it) the water temp in the HLT will be too high, and the mash will end up being overheated.

The standard way to control a HERMS is to control the temp of the water in the HLT. It requires a little experience to figure out how much hotter then the mash set point the HTL water needs to be to maintain the desired mash temp.

Also, the DSPR110 has be replaced by the newer DSPR120 and DSPR300 models. All reports indicate that the EZBoils maintain setpoints extremely well.

Brew on :mug;
 
Thanks for the feedback, that was my thought, I just wondered if anyone had experience. I manually control my system now, but it's difficult to keep a steady temp in HLT with gas. I know my system well otherwise, if HLT is 3-4 degrees above mlt and i have a decent recirculation flow, I should stay right on target. This controller definately looks much more user friendly.
 
Couldn't you use the relay settings on the DSPR300 to control a pump that recirculates to maintain mash temps? As long as the HLT was hotter than the mash the relay could turn the pump on to raise the temp then turn the pump off once the set point was obtained.
 
Couldn't you use the relay settings on the DSPR300 to control a pump that recirculates to maintain mash temps? As long as the HLT was hotter than the mash the relay could turn the pump on to raise the temp then turn the pump off once the set point was obtained.

Interesting idea. Would depend on just what the "trigger" options for the relays are, but there is probably a suitable one. Only useful for HERMS systems however.

Brew on :mug:
 
Couldn't you use the relay settings on the DSPR300 to control a pump that recirculates to maintain mash temps? As long as the HLT was hotter than the mash the relay could turn the pump on to raise the temp then turn the pump off once the set point was obtained.

I had thought about this approach. It won't be totally ruled out in my build. I went ahead and purchased 2 ezboil 120. One will be to control temp in the HLT, the other is really to just measure temp in MT, but its for future proofing if I want to go full electric in the future. Well, I can use the HLT controller to keep it at a consistent temp, presumably a few degrees above the mash temp. I could then use the MT controller to control the pump. The goal would be to have the pump running most of the time to keep recirculation going, and only turn off if the mash temp went high. But really, if I have the HLT temp set close to mash temp, I will start the circulation at a middle of the road flow, and just adjust the flow faster or slower slightly to fine tune the mash temp.
 
Other than temp control, aren't there more benefits to having constant recirculation throughout the mash?
 
Other than temp control, aren't there more benefits to having constant recirculation throughout the mash?

Recirculation can speed up the conversion process a little, due to the shear of the wort moving by the grits removing the outer gelatinized material, thus allowing water to diffuse into the grits faster. The shear and mixing from recirculation can also disrupt concentration gradients that slow diffusion of water into the grits. Complete gelatinization of the grits is the rate limiting step in conversion.

Brew on :mug:
 
I have a question with this. I have been testing it a couple times after installing this with just water/cleaning cycles. But, I am having an issue with step mashing. When I get a target temp it holds it great after I changed offshoot to 1. But, when I try to step mash and bring the temp up sometimes it will keep the element on instead of cycling on and off. If I unplug the element and plug it back in everything is perfectly fine again cycling etc. I have a 5500 Watt element from Brewhardware and I use a 2 vessel Rims system Mashtun / HLT and Boil Kettle. I did see there is a setting where once the timer is over in mashing it will start to heat up for boiling, but I have that turned off (mashing ending options). I have been racking my brain and can't figure it out.
 
I have a question with this. I have been testing it a couple times after installing this with just water/cleaning cycles. But, I am having an issue with step mashing. When I get a target temp it holds it great after I changed offshoot to 1. But, when I try to step mash and bring the temp up sometimes it will keep the element on instead of cycling on and off. If I unplug the element and plug it back in everything is perfectly fine again cycling etc. I have a 5500 Watt element from Brewhardware and I use a 2 vessel Rims system Mashtun / HLT and Boil Kettle. I did see there is a setting where once the timer is over in mashing it will start to heat up for boiling, but I have that turned off (mashing ending options). I have been racking my brain and can't figure it out.
Any chance that what you are seeing is latch up (getting stuck on) with your SSR, and not a problem with the control signal from the EZBoil? Do you have an indicator lamp wired in parallel with your element? Such a lamp is very helpful for diagnosing SSR issues.

Brew on :mug:
 
Actually it could be that. I do have an indicator light for my element and it stayed on during the time i described. I will look into that, never heard of that before. The ssr is brand new so i hope there isn't an issue.
 
SSR latch up can happen if the SSR gets too warm. Can you post some photos of how your SSR and heatsink are mounted. This is why the SSR will work again if the disconnect the element, since the SSR cools down when there is no current flowing thru it. The latch up resolves itself due to the current interruption, and cooling.

Brew on :mug:
 
SSR latch up can happen if the SSR gets too warm. Can you post some photos of how your SSR and heatsink are mounted. This is why the SSR will work again if the disconnect the element, since the SSR cools down when there is no current flowing thru it. The latch up resolves itself due to the current interruption, and cooling.

Brew on :mug:
Here is a pic of my setup. I am just using the normal heatsink that came with the ssr.
20171126_120159.jpg
 
I'm familiar with that model heatsink. What I need to see is the details of just how it's mounted on your system. Mounting details can make a huge difference in how well a heatsink works.

Brew on :mug:
 
I'm familiar with that model heatsink. What I need to see is the details of just how it's mounted on your system. Mounting details can make a huge difference in how well a heatsink works.

Brew on :mug:
Pretty much cut a square out at the top and connected them through the hole.
20171027_122900.jpg
 
Is there solid contact between the entire common surface area between the SSR and heatsink, and do you have a thin layer of thermal compound between the two? Another possibility is operating a possibly substandard SSR too close to it's "rated" current. A 5500W element draws about 23A when on, and many commodity SSR's are rated higher than the internal components warrant.

Brew on :mug:
 
Is there solid contact between the entire common surface area between the SSR and heatsink, and do you have a thin layer of thermal compound between the two? Another possibility is operating a possibly substandard SSR too close to it's "rated" current. A 5500W element draws about 23A when on, and many commodity SSR's are rated higher than the internal components warrant.

Brew on :mug:
Thanks for the info, i guess i will either upgrade the heat sink or get one rated higher.
 
Back
Top