Going electric, where to start

[TrickyDick]

I do the same with beersmith because I have 3 gallons under my false bottom...

tricky, as far as the cycle time? do you mean the percentage in manual pwm mode or the actual cycle time ? if you are talking about the percentage number for the manual mode then its just controlling how long the element stays on for in each cycle (cycle adjustment is usually in seconds with say 2 being 2 seconds ... With the cycle time set to 2 for example 50% means the element will be on for 1 second and off for 1 second... if cycle time was set to 1 the element would be on for half a second then off..
You can also easily adjust the offset for each temp probe to read dead on..

Thanks.

Looks like I need to calibrate my mash tun dead space. I measured 2600ml in the pump and HERMS coil (does that seem right?) when I was doing a prelim cleaning. Don't know how much beneath the screen, at least 3 gallons.

As far as the cycle time. I think I found a better description on the ECC site. There are a bunch of settings in the PID settings page that will affect the function of the duty cycle mode, and I never looked at those. I was in the edit process page. From what I understand, there is a period setting in the PID settings someplace. The screen I was on had a set point adjustment for the duty cycle. No units or anything, just setpoint. I think it is the percent of the time that the element is ON during it cycle period. It's rather confusing to me but I do see that you can adjust the time in each period that the element is on, and many other tweaks to fiddle with the amount of heat you are adding to the system to maintain optimal boil without adding too much heat to the system.

 

[augiedoggy]

Thanks.

Looks like I need to calibrate my mash tun dead space. I measured 2600ml in the pump and HERMS coil (does that seem right?) when I was doing a prelim cleaning. Don't know how much beneath the screen, at least 3 gallons.

As far as the cycle time. I think I found a better description on the ECC site. There are a bunch of settings in the PID settings page that will affect the function of the duty cycle mode, and I never looked at those. I was in the edit process page. From what I understand, there is a period setting in the PID settings someplace. The screen I was on had a set point adjustment for the duty cycle. No units or anything, just setpoint. I think it is the percent of the time that the element is ON during it cycle period. It's rather confusing to me but I do see that you can adjust the time in each period that the element is on, and many other tweaks to fiddle with the amount of heat you are adding to the system to maintain optimal boil without adding too much heat to the system.

Yes thats how the cycle works... I usually use a setpoint of 75 or 80 with my 4500w element and boiling 12 gallons or wort.. this means that the element is on for 75 or 80 % of each cycle which is each second because I have my cycle time set to 1 second on my mypin pid... Basically its pulsing it like an led dimmer works to give it more or less power.

 

[TrickyDick]

Ok thanks!

I will need to fiddle with it on my next batch.

Good news! I got the fill valve and the float switches working. This means, if I have the HLT setup with a minimum of the coil installed and the main valve and dip tube installed and closed, that I can remotely fill and commence heating and hold the temp until I am ready to brew. I can set the high level float to turn off the valve and then begin heating, or could alternately set the low level float to commence heating as soon as it is above the element.

I still need to ensure water tightness on the polypropylene float switches installed in the stainless TC adapters, AND would be nice to know the effective volume of water in the HLT when the top float switch turns off the fill valve. Also curious if I commence heating based on top fill, will I have enough room to account for expansion due to heating (probably so). I bought a postal scale to weigh the kettle and was thinking that would be an accurate way to measure volume either hot or cold. Wonder how the conversion would work when trying to measure wort which greater specific gravity....

Also I am wondering how to set a timer or preprogram the kettle to fill at a particular time and begin heating at a particular time, so I'm not wasting energy keeping it hot while I'm sleeping unnecessarily. I think you can have the BCS send emails to you as well, but only under certain conditions, not sue that those can be programmed.

Would be nice to find some three way TC valves that could be automated. Probably hella expensive. I wonder if you could get a motor powerful enough to turn the ball valve for a DIY electric controlled valve....

TD