tdjb
Active Member
So I'm not an electrical guy at all which is why I'm posting here 
I'd like to put together a budget e-herms build so I can brew in the basement year round. I have most of the "hardware" side figured out (most of which I already own) but have not been able to put together a solid idea on how to run it.
My main thing is I have a ton of small electronic parts and pieces I've picked up over the years from jobs or random projects. I'm not a coder by trade but can write java at an ok level, so with some work I can probably get something running on an arduino using their arduino specific language and then spit out results to an actual java app on a computer. I can solder just fine but designing circuits and getting everything happy is a bit beyond my knowledge
So here is my question to the HBT electric brewing gurus, assuming I have the MLT, boil kettle, HLT, herms coil and pump taken care of (as well as 240 run to a spa panel), can I make something out of the below mess of parts?
- 3 arduinos with zigbee boards
- 1 25 amp SSR and heatsink
- 4 Maxim DS18B20's
- 2 500k thermistors
I realize this question is so vague it's probably hard to even start somewhere, but I'm basically looking for a simple e-herms system that uses one pump probably (with me manually moving hoses). I know I'll have to buy stuff like the heating elements and what not, but if I can get by on a bare-bones control system but still have the ability to monitor temps and adjust as needed I would be more then happy. With the arduinos I figured I could have a dedicated old laptop with an app I write to run/monitor everything so I really just need help figuring out if the above mess of parts can get me something to even monitor haha.
I'd like to put together a budget e-herms build so I can brew in the basement year round. I have most of the "hardware" side figured out (most of which I already own) but have not been able to put together a solid idea on how to run it.My main thing is I have a ton of small electronic parts and pieces I've picked up over the years from jobs or random projects. I'm not a coder by trade but can write java at an ok level, so with some work I can probably get something running on an arduino using their arduino specific language and then spit out results to an actual java app on a computer. I can solder just fine but designing circuits and getting everything happy is a bit beyond my knowledge
So here is my question to the HBT electric brewing gurus, assuming I have the MLT, boil kettle, HLT, herms coil and pump taken care of (as well as 240 run to a spa panel), can I make something out of the below mess of parts?
- 3 arduinos with zigbee boards
- 1 25 amp SSR and heatsink
- 4 Maxim DS18B20's
- 2 500k thermistors
I realize this question is so vague it's probably hard to even start somewhere, but I'm basically looking for a simple e-herms system that uses one pump probably (with me manually moving hoses). I know I'll have to buy stuff like the heating elements and what not, but if I can get by on a bare-bones control system but still have the ability to monitor temps and adjust as needed I would be more then happy. With the arduinos I figured I could have a dedicated old laptop with an app I write to run/monitor everything so I really just need help figuring out if the above mess of parts can get me something to even monitor haha.
