My Electric Brewery

[cantrell00]

Are we still talking about $200 for 2 auber pids and sensors with shipping or $50 for thier functional equivalent from eBay or amazon?
Because I would recommend spending $100 on 2 mypin pids, 2 rtd pt100 sensors and the coil and fittings for your herms since you mentioned you don't have the extra money to waste.
The rtd sensors on aubers site are in no way superior to the same ones made in the same factories in China which auber stocks locally and marks up for this reason...

I can comment on how much better the pids really are but I have 4 mypin pids and all work flawlessly and have for over a year.
I f I haven't mentioned it yet you would want a ta4 for the hlt since you don't need manual mode and a td4 for the boil kettle... Td4 models run about $26 with shipping and the ta4 as little as $20 they are the same except one has manual mode option built in.

Had I had this reference at the time, I would have chosen to save money as well...

That being said, I don't regret buying Auber gear.

 

[augiedoggy]

Had I had this reference at the time, I would have chosen to save money as well...

That being said, I don't regret buying Auber gear.

Auber does have good support and their pids are nice since they designed and possibly manufactured them themselves in the US ( No one has ever actually commented on where they are made)... If you are on a budget or can wait an extra week or two I certainly would recommend buying your ssr, switches ,leds and sensors direct though instead of using them as a middleman as they have a 50-100% markup on these items because they stock them in the US as a convenience.

 

[HumulusHead]

Are we still talking about $200 for 2 auber pids and sensors with shipping or $50 for thier functional equivalent from eBay or amazon?
Because I would recommend spending $100 on 2 mypin pids, 2 rtd pt100 sensors and the coil and fittings for your herms since you mentioned you don't have the extra money to waste.
The rtd sensors on aubers site are in no way superior to the same ones made in the same factories in China which auber stocks locally and marks up for this reason...

I can comment on how much better the pids really are but I have 4 mypin pids and all work flawlessly and have for over a year.
I f I haven't mentioned it yet you would want a ta4 for the hlt since you don't need manual mode and a td4 for the boil kettle... Td4 models run about $26 with shipping and the ta4 as little as $20 they are the same except one has manual mode option built in.

I haven't priced any of the non auber items at this point. And I am not against it.

You think I can get 2 PIDs, 2 rtd sensors, and a herms coil+fittings for around $100?

That would literally be the difference of doing herms right away vs down the road...

 

[HumulusHead]

Plus pumps then I spose

 

[ChocolateMaltyBalls]

I don't think there's much difference between aubrins and China with the cords and temp probes. PIDs are a different story IMO, with those you aren't paying just for hardware you're paying for the software too.

I'm not knocking the other PIDs out there, I haven't used them and it sounds like they work well. Just seems to me you know what you're getting with Aubrins, plus they're super responsive to customers, and there's a lot of info out there on how to wire and set them up.

 

[tnorman93638]

Sub'd

Been looking at building a control panel in stages like this. Looked at cost of MyPin Ta4 and Td4 but there are 2 types SNR and RNR. Which one would be used for this type a panel?

 

[cantrell00]

Auber PIDs are Chinese.

A good, 50 x 1/2" coil w/ fittings will run you 125.00 by itself.

I wouldn't use anything smaller than 50 x 1/2".

 

[schematix]

I had a customer service nightmare with Auber. I would never recommend them. Probably the worst I've ever been treated by any company in my entire life. They actually deserve an entire thread about my transaction issues.

 

[augiedoggy]

Plus pumps then I spose

I use 24v food grade pps pumps... $20 a piece with shipping and they pump 3 gallons per minute.

 

[augiedoggy]

Sub'd

Been looking at building a control panel in stages like this. Looked at cost of MyPin Ta4 and Td4 but there are 2 types SNR and RNR. Which one would be used for this type a panel?

Snr or SSR model rnr is the relay control model.

 

[augiedoggy]

Auber PIDs are Chinese.

A good, 50 x 1/2" coil w/ fittings will run you 125.00 by itself.

I wouldn't use anything smaller than 50 x 1/2".

You don't need 1/2" if your using a smaller flow pump... 3/8 does flow enough to keep consistent temps without issues. Just make sure you go with more than 25ft..

Sadly I figured the auber pids were also made in china... its funny everyone here leaves that part out when they are talking about supporting US made goods being the reason behind purchasing from them at twice the price... so an auber engineer or two likely designed them but has all the manufacturing done in china... this is the new business model of most "american" companies... some don't even design the products the brand and distribute.

 

[augiedoggy]

I don't think there's much difference between aubrins and China with the cords and temp probes. PIDs are a different story IMO, with those you aren't paying just for hardware you're paying for the software too.

I'm not knocking the other PIDs out there, I haven't used them and it sounds like they work well. Just seems to me you know what you're getting with Aubrins, plus they're super responsive to customers, and there's a lot of info out there on how to wire and set them up.

Since the my pins work perfectly at temp control a d have done everything they are supposed to what exactly would be the advantage of spending $150 instead of the $65 it cost me for my 3 td4 pids?

Support is the only advantage I see and I haven't needed any since I have the internet for that.

Besides the directions which I only used during setup now that I know how the menu works there is no real advantage for the basic model with manual mode.(The my pin directions are bad so I did a search here for the info I needed as well as YouTube)
Auber does sell one with ramp soak which is like $85-$90 with shipping which does have that additional automatic feature once programmed... I do it manually.

 

[cantrell00]

You don't need 1/2" if your using a smaller flow pump... 3/8 does flow enough to keep consistent temps without issues. Just make sure you go with more than 25ft..

Sadly I figured the auber pids were also made in china... its funny everyone here leaves that part out when they are talking about supporting US made goods being the reason behind purchasing from them at twice the price... so an auber engineer or two likely designed them but has all the manufacturing done in china... this is the new business model of most "american" companies... some don't even design the products the brand and distribute.

I will take your word for it. I read so many contradicting opinions on this that I didn't risk it.

That being said - it ramps fairly quickly for a HERMS.

 

[augiedoggy]

I will take your word for it. I read so many contradicting opinions on this that I didn't risk it.

That being said - it ramps fairly quickly for a HERMS.

I never said the 1/2" wouldn't work quicker
I probably should have worded my response better. 1/2" is a better choice but 3/8" will work as well if someone is on a budget...

 

[cantrell00]

I never said the 1/2" wouldn't work quicker
I probably should have worded my response better. 1/2" is a better choice but 3/8" will work as well if someone is on a budget...

No doubt...

It really isn't that much more expensive to go with 1/2" though..

 

[augiedoggy]

No doubt...

It really isn't that much more expensive to go with 1/2" though..

Well you said 1/2" was $125 with fittings.... Stainless fittings average $10-15 but lead free brass ones are closer to $5 and 50ft of 3/8 copper coil is about $40-50... I made a 3/8 herms but I used 25ft of coil and had no way of mixing the hlt water to keep temps even so it didn't work well. Ive since switched to a stainless rims setup that uses a 25" stainless cartridge heater (1000w) that I built for about $100. The nice thing is I can run my hlt or bk element at the same time as my rims tube...(but not both 4500w elements at the same time since I have a 30a power source)

 

[cantrell00]

Well you said 1/2" was $125 with fittings.... Stainless fittings average $10-15 but lead free brass ones are closer to $5 and 50ft of 3/8 copper coil is about $40-50... I made a 3/8 herms but I used 25ft of coil and had no way of mixing the hlt water to keep temps even so it didn't work well. Ive since switched to a stainless rims setup that uses a 25" stainless cartridge heater (1000w) that I built for about $100. The nice thing is I can run my hlt or bk element at the same time as my rims tube...(but not both 4500w elements at the same time since I have a 30a power source)

That was all stainless gear... 1/2" 50' is about $25.00 more than 50' of 3/8" at Stainless Brewing... Fittings are practically the same cost..

 

[HumulusHead]

My enclosure came in the mail yesterday! I had no idea how heavy those suckers are! It is a used one and has a bunch of holes already punched in it so I am hoping to come up with a good setup to take advantage of the current holes for my switches, lights, etc.

I will try to post a picture if I remember.

I began work on setting up my new brew keggle late last week. I installed the ballvalve, pickup tube, and the sight gauge.

Ran into a few issues, hopefully i can fix all of them tonight. One issue is that the sight gauge is leaking at the weldless connection. Should be easy enough to fix, just was getting rather annoyed with it that night and gave up.

I also marked the volume graduations on the sight gauge. While draining, i realized that I had it sitting on a not perfect level surface (bottom of bathtub). So i think I am going to have to start over with marking the graduations on a more level surface to accurately represent the volume of liquid in the keggle.

My last issue is the pickup tube. Not so much an issue as an annoyance/worry. I bought a 90* elbow with the angle pickup tube for whirlpooling. Figured this way I could try whirlpooling to keep the gunk out of my fermentor. The part that bothers me is how much deadspace it leaves behind. I hate wasting stuff! It leaves behind just under 3 quarts of liquid! Maybe I just need to get used to that, my last BK i would fully drain the wort through pretty much a sanitized BIAB bag while transferring to the fermentor. Didnt waste a drop! But thats prob just something I need to get used to doing. I could get a straight coupler and aim the pickup tube towards the center and capture prob another 2 quarts, would that be worth it? OR should I just stop worrying?!?!?

 

[HumulusHead]

Are we still talking about $200 for 2 auber pids and sensors with shipping or $50 for thier functional equivalent from eBay or amazon?
Because I would recommend spending $100 on 2 mypin pids, 2 rtd pt100 sensors and the coil and fittings for your herms since you mentioned you don't have the extra money to waste.
The rtd sensors on aubers site are in no way superior to the same ones made in the same factories in China which auber stocks locally and marks up for this reason...

I can comment on how much better the pids really are but I have 4 mypin pids and all work flawlessly and have for over a year.
I f I haven't mentioned it yet you would want a ta4 for the hlt since you don't need manual mode and a td4 for the boil kettle... Td4 models run about $26 with shipping and the ta4 as little as $20 they are the same except one has manual mode option built in.

I took some of your advice.

I bought a TD4 off amazon for $36. It came with a 25A SSR and a heatsink.

I also bought a PT100 RTD prob for $10.

These items should come today!

I am going to use the TD4 with the RTD probe to control the temp of the HLT for strike and sparge water.

I then will have a switch that will have the TD4 control the BK via manual mode.

 

[HumulusHead]

I now have my HLT fully figured out on the controller end.

My BK is pretty much fully figured out. Still thinking I will add a RTD probe to it that will connect a XLR port on the controller that will be shared with the HLT RTD for the PID. The PID will be 'calibrated' to the RTD probe that is in the HLT, to give a highly accurate temp. The RTD in the BK will basically be used for cooling. If its off a few degrees it doesn't bother me. I may put this item off til the future too to save some dough.

I am now pondering a way to monitor (NOT REGULATE, AT THIS P.I.T.) the temps of my MLT. I'm wanting to have a constant temp monitor of the mash temp. Thinking like some sort of PID with a prob placed in a thermowell deep into the grain bed.

For this I have a few ideas, with pros/cons of course.
STC1000. I have a few of these. Love them for fermentation and fridge temp control. Would one be accurate enough for mash temps though? Like this idea due to cheapness, and I see that have a F* version now.
Some other cheaper PID that has been thermocouple options to use a K or RTD type. Suggestions?

Both of these options would include a thermowell. Probably thru the lid of the MLT so I dont have to worry about stirring into a fragile temp probe during dough in.

 

[HumulusHead]

OH!!! And scratch the RO water system idea.

Just got in contact with the City Water Plant Superintendent. He is going to be sending me weekly water reports every Friday! I guess he already has a list of people that he sends this out to every Friday. He sent me an excel file for the weekly tests they have taken for the past 11 years! Pretty sweet! After looking at the excel file and finally learning how to correctly use Bru N Water, I have decided that the city water is just fine to brew with.

Now instead of buying DI water, adding CaCl2, adding epsom salt, adding baking soda, adding acid, etc I can just add a small amount of CaCl2, add a small amount of Acid, and a campden tablet (first and foremost) to get rid of the chloramines, and I should be good!

Its obviously a little more technical than that, but just relaying that I can use less additions and less of each addition. And not have to buy 10 gallons of DI water. So pumped!

I am going to brew an APA on Sunday to highlight Belma hops, and will be using City Water again! All in my new keggle!! Going to be an exciting brew day

 

[augiedoggy]

How about this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251281000159?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT it has Fahrenheit readout and will work with the $6 pt100 rtd sensors... I have one I'm going to use in a build I am doing for someone.
if you dont mind celcius there are more options. personally I just use a manual dial thermometer in the tee at the base of my MLT....from bargain fittings.

 

[augiedoggy]

OH!!! And scratch the RO water system idea.

Just got in contact with the City Water Plant Superintendent. He is going to be sending me weekly water reports every Friday! I guess he already has a list of people that he sends this out to every Friday. He sent me an excel file for the weekly tests they have taken for the past 11 years! Pretty sweet! After looking at the excel file and finally learning how to correctly use Bru N Water, I have decided that the city water is just fine to brew with.

Now instead of buying DI water, adding CaCl2, adding epsom salt, adding baking soda, adding acid, etc I can just add a small amount of CaCl2, add a small amount of Acid, and a campden tablet (first and foremost) to get rid of the chloramines, and I should be good!

Its obviously a little more technical than that, but just relaying that I can use less additions and less of each addition. And not have to buy 10 gallons of DI water. So pumped!

I am going to brew an APA on Sunday to highlight Belma hops, and will be using City Water again! All in my new keggle!! Going to be an exciting brew day

Thats basically what I do only I fill my HLT and let it sit for a couple days for the chlorine to dissipate naturally. I also use the 5.2 stabilzer on my ligghter beers..I have a digital ph meter and TDS meter so I can see that it does work....And I have an RO system... RO has not been worth using so far for the styles I've one...

 

[HumulusHead]

How about this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251281000159?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT it has Fahrenheit readout and will work with the $6 pt100 rtd sensors... I have one I'm going to use in a build I am doing for someone.
if you dont mind celcius there are more options. personally I just use a manual dial thermometer in the tee at the base of my MLT....from bargain fittings.

Thats pretty much what i am looking for!

Is it safe to say that the readout is as accurate as the sensor? So as long as i am using an RTD sensor and its calibrated properly, I shouldn't worry about accuracy?

The reason I wouldn't want to do an STC1000 is accuracy, but that must be due to the probe?

 

[HumulusHead]

Thats basically what I do only I fill my HLT and let it sit for a couple days for the chlorine to dissipate naturally. I also use the 5.2 stabilzer on my ligghter beers..I have a digital ph meter and TDS meter so I can see that it does work....And I have an RO system... RO has not been worth using so far for the styles I've one...

I used to fill my cooler up with water and let it sit. Then one day for class we took a field trip to the WTP and I learned that that use Chloramine instead of Chlorine. Chloramine doesn't evap out like Cl. So i was letting it sit for no reason! ha

I am going to experiment with campden this weekend.

 

[augiedoggy]

Thats pretty much what i am looking for!

Is it safe to say that the readout is as accurate as the sensor? So as long as i am using an RTD sensor and its calibrated properly, I shouldn't worry about accuracy?

The reason I wouldn't want to do an STC1000 is accuracy, but that must be due to the probe?

I cant comment on that for sure but there is another version for 2-3 bucks more that has an adjustment and alarm ability if you search ebay for "Fahrenheit temperature meter" or "digital ......"

my pids were all close but I did have to adjust the temps on one of them.

 

[augiedoggy]

I used to fill my cooler up with water and let it sit. Then one day for class we took a field trip to the WTP and I learned that that use Chloramine instead of Chlorine. Chloramine doesn't evap out like Cl. So i was letting it sit for no reason! ha

I am going to experiment with campden this weekend.

yes you are right... I read this as well now that you reminded me. guess I should use the camden every time...

 

[HumulusHead]

yes you are right... I read this as well now that you reminded me. guess I should use the camden every time...

It depends what you municipality utilizes though. Some use chlorine while others use chloramine. My city uses primarily surface water (River water) as the water source and due to this there are alot of organics in the water. Chlorine, i guess, reacts with organics while chloramine doesn't. Chlorine is cheaper and is therefore the preferred route if possible.

If your city draws its water from wells there is a good chance your trick of letting the chlorine vap off is a good idea.

 

[stevehaun]

chloramine can be removed by an activated charcoal filter that can be purchased at home depot, lowes, etc.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Icemaker-Filter-Refill-GXRTDR/202073877?N=5yc1vZarss#specifications

 

[HumulusHead]

yes you are right... I read this as well now that you reminded me. guess I should use the camden every time...

Well i did some creeping, appears you get to drink water from the Niagra! So I would bet it is chloramines you do have to deal with