Help with my Electric 3v RIMs panel

[Bruer]

Hi Everyone,

I'm in the process of building myself a sparkly, new all-electric 3v RIMs brewery. I'm scoured the interwebs, taking the best of all designs and putting them together. Just to note, I live in Australia, where we only have 240v power which is delivered as a 3 point plug (Active, Neutral and Earth).

• In order to run everything, and given that I am currently in a rental (and will be for the foreseeable future), I have two source of 10A power going into the unit, which will be run off of separate circuits in the house.
• Each source will power only one 2200w to 2400w element at a time
• The boil kettle will have two elements to allow for a vigorous boil.
• Each element will be run through a 40A SSR
• Each circuit will also run a pump (yet to dicide but from what I can tell the Keg King pumps only draw 0.1A
• There are going to be three way switches (e.g. RIMs/BK1/OFF) for each circuit.
• For the sake of cost and safety, I've decided to use 12vdc powered switches and relays.
• The system is controlled by PIDs (Aubers) with the BK elements running of each circuit and controlled by the BK PID.

What I need to know is does everything look right? I'm fairly confident with wiring and electronics, but I'm not a sparky. Any advice would be very helpful.

Edit: Sparky is Australian for electrician

 

[doug293cz]

Some comments:

• I would limit max element power to 2200W since you are limited to 10A circuits.
• 30A relays seem to be over sized for 10A loads, but will work fine. I wouldn't use less than 15A rated relays.
• You don't need two relays for main power and emergency stop. Just wire the emergency stop switch in series with the main power switch and use a single double pole relay.
• You don't need switch + relay combos to control power to the PID's. Just let them come on when main power is turned on.
• The two SSR's driven by the BK PID should have their control signals wired in parallel. Your diagram makes it look like you intend to wire them in series.
• You don't need a double pole relay to interlock the RIMS element power to the pump. Put the pump power switch in front of the half of the 3 position switch that selects between the BK element and the RIMS element.
• The 15A fuses aren't needed if you are running from feeds with 10A circuit breakers
• I also put indicator lights between the element power enable relays and the SSR's. This way you have a better indication of the 3-way switch settings.

I can provide diagrams that show this in more detail if you can't visualize what I am describing.

Brew on

 

[Bruer]

Some comments:

• I would limit max element power to 2200W since you are limited to 10A circuits.
• 30A relays seem to be over sized for 10A loads, but will work fine. I wouldn't use less than 15A rated relays.
• You don't need two relays for main power and emergency stop. Just wire the emergency stop switch in series with the main power switch and use a single double pole relay.
• You don't need switch + relay combos to control power to the PID's. Just let them come on when main power is turned on.
• The two SSR's driven by the BK PID should have their control signals wired in parallel. Your diagram makes it look like you intend to wire them in series.
• You don't need a double pole relay to interlock the RIMS element power to the pump. Put the pump power switch in front of the half of the 3 position switch that selects between the BK element and the RIMS element.
• The 15A fuses aren't needed if you are running from feeds with 10A circuit breakers
• I also put indicator lights between the element power enable relays and the SSR's. This way you have a better indication of the 3-way switch settings.

I can provide diagrams that show this in more detail if you can't visualize what I am describing.

Brew on

Awesome. Thanks mate.

• Good idea batman, the BK will have two 2200w elements for a strong rolling boil. The HLT and RIMs don't need much more because they don't need to heat as quickly or boil things.
• I'll try tracking down some 15A relays (any hints?). I was making an effort to future proof it in case i wasnted to install bigger elements at a later date.
• I'll wire the E-stop in series. Don't know why i didn't think of that.
• Can PIDs be turned off from the unit? I kinda like the idea of isolating everything and being in total control of what is turned on.
• Another wiring faux pax, yes the two 40A BK SSRs are meant to be wired in parallel not series.
• Without an relay, I'm not sure how you would interlock the RIMs tube with the Pump. Could you please explain this further, perhaps a diagram?
• The household circuits are running through some old-school (1950s) ceramic and wire 16A fuses. They all run through RCDs as per Australian standards. Hence I'd rather blow a fuse than than the old-school wired fuses which are a pain to change.
• All of the switches are illuminated, but i was thinking of having 22mm 250V LED panel lights to show which element is selected.

Cheers,

Nigel

 

[doug293cz]

Awesome. Thanks mate.

• Good idea batman, the BK will have two 2200w elements for a strong rolling boil. The HLT and RIMs don't need much more because they don't need to heat as quickly or boil things.
• I'll try tracking down some 15A relays (any hints?). I was making an effort to future proof it in case i wasnted to install bigger elements at a later date. Nothing wrong with future proofing.
• I'll wire the E-stop in series. Don't know why i didn't think of that.
• Can PIDs be turned off from the unit? I kinda like the idea of isolating everything and being in total control of what is turned on. The PID's don't have a built in power switch. You can certainly switch the PID's separately, but there is really no reason to do so.
• Another wiring faux pax, yes the two 40A BK SSRs are meant to be wired in parallel not series.
• Without an relay, I'm not sure how you would interlock the RIMs tube with the Pump. Could you please explain this further, perhaps a diagram? Diagram below. You need a three position switch that does not have a common terminal, like the Auber Instruments SW3.
• The household circuits are running through some old-school (1950s) ceramic and wire 16A fuses. They all run through RCDs as per Australian standards. Hence I'd rather blow a fuse than than the old-school wired fuses which are a pain to change. Agree, easy to change fuses are essential. Are the circuits rated for 10A or 16A? If rated for 16A, then you could use up to about 3500W elements
• All of the switches are illuminated, but i was thinking of having 22mm 250V LED panel lights to show which element is selected. Lighted three postion switches are not particularly useful, unless they have a two color LED which indicates which of the possible on conditions is in effect.

Cheers,

Nigel

Brew on

 

[Bruer]

Hey guys, it's an old thread and I've taken all the advice on board and am well on the way to completing the wiring.

Just a quick question. Because I need to use two household circuits (separate cicuits), is it proper and safe to run all of the earths into the same bus?

 

[augiedoggy]

Hey guys, it's an old thread and I've taken all the advice on board and am well on the way to completing the wiring.

Just a quick question. Because I need to use two household circuits (separate circuits), is it proper and safe to run all of the earths into the same bus?

I did, In fact I believe you're supposed to, including the metal cabinet if used. I have everything on 2 60a gfci circuits and the ground fault protection works fine.