NEW EZboil unit with automated step mashing and boiling

[doug293cz]

You can use one controller and switch between elements, but you also have to switch temp probes at the same time (this requires a 3PDT switch which Auber offers.) If you switch the elements and forget to switch the probes (or vice versa) you will get some interesting, but not desirable, results. This is a very easy operator error to make, which can be avoided by using a separate controller for each element.

Brew on

 

[BeardedBrews]

It would be interesting to draw up an ice cube relay diagram that simultaneously switches the temp probe and triggers the contactors for the elements.

 

[aeviaanah]

It would be interesting to draw up an ice cube relay diagram that simultaneously switches the temp probe and triggers the contactors for the elements.

I've done it, the problem I had was poor resistance on the RTD side tho, It worked fine at first. The contacts on the relays I bought require a larger load to "self clean" the contacts. After 2-3 brews, the accuracy of the RTDs started to be influenced. The electromagnetic field from the relays may have messed up the resistance too, not sure. I'm thinking of trying reed relays?

The Auber switch referenced above works great.

 

[Smellyglove]

I'm looking to use a 310 to control my 3 vessel eHERMS. Will I be able to use one 310 and switch between elements in my HLT and boil kettle, or do I need separate pids for each element?

I use RTDs with QC's. There's an RTD installed in each of the vessels, I just move the cable between them depending on where in the process I am, reading temps on the same PID-unit.

 

[jc587491]

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask a quick question about this PID. I'm building an Ebiab system and it looks like this is an awesome PID but I was wondering if I could program the timer to delay heating. So for example heat strike temp. in 4 hours from now, ECT.
I'm new to using pids and controllers and couldn't find an answer.
Thank you!

 

[BeardedBrews]

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask a quick question about this PID. I'm building an Ebiab system and it looks like this is an awesome PID but I was wondering if I could program the timer to delay heating. So for example heat strike temp. in 4 hours from now, ECT.
I'm new to using pids and controllers and couldn't find an answer.
Thank you!

For sure on the step mash capable units.

You could set the first mash step at 40f or something below ambient, and the time for that step as 4 hours. The next step in could be your strike temperature (162 or whatever) and then set the timer to hold. It will stay at that temp as long as you want, until you click to start it on the next step (mash at 155 for 60 min or whatever).

Keep in mind, energizing a DIY 5500w heater using a DIY controller while you are asleep and far away is certainly one potential way to burn your house down. Proceed with abundant caution.

A safer solution is to go turn it on in your jammies first thing, then go make a pot of coffee and eat breakfast while you wait.

 

[jc587491]

For sure on the step mash capable units.

You could set the first mash step at 40f or something below ambient, and the time for that step as 4 hours. The next step in could be your strike temperature (162 or whatever) and then set the timer to hold. It will stay at that temp as long as you want, until you click to start it on the next step (mash at 155 for 60 min or whatever).

Keep in mind, energizing a DIY 5500w heater using a DIY controller while you are asleep and far away is certainly one potential way to burn your house down. Proceed with abundant caution.

A safer solution is to go turn it on in your jammies first thing, then go make a pot of coffee and eat breakfast while you wait.

Thank you. I appreciate your help. I will keep safety in mind, I was not intending on running when asleep or away from home. More of a "if I get stuck doing a chore or something for longer than expected, my strike water will be ready" type of thing.

Thanks again!

 

[Smellyglove]

You can also do a "smart home wifi-outlet" and have your entire brewery controlled by this, and set the PID to start up doing it's job when it gets power. I have one of those "smart home" things which is controlling a contactor. When I turn on the smart plug it sends power to the contactor which in turn passes main power to the brewery. So it's basically a remote on/off switch for the brewerry, without the main power passing through that unit. I use it so I can start heating up the brewery from my phone while eating breakfast or still lying in bed on lazy days.

 

[jc587491]

You can also do a "smart home wifi-outlet" and have your entire brewery controlled by this, and set the PID to start up doing it's job when it gets power. I have one of those "smart home" things which is controlling a contactor. When I turn on the smart plug it sends power to the contactor which in turn passes main power to the brewery. So it's basically a remote on/off switch for the brewerry, without the main power passing through that unit. I use it so I can start heating up the brewery from my phone while eating breakfast or still lying in bed on lazy days.

That would be awesome and I love the idea. However, unfortunately, I'm one of the millions of Americans that don't have access to the internet at my home. I use a wireless 4g mifi as my home internet and it sucks. It never stays connected and throttles after 20gb/mo. I'm right on a main road and Comcast want $23,000 from me to run lines to my house. I've been fighting this battle for 6 years now. Sigh....

 

[Smellyglove]

That would be awesome and I love the idea. However, unfortunately, I'm one of the millions of Americans that don't have access to the internet at my home. I use a wireless 4g mifi as my home internet and it sucks. It never stays connected and throttles after 20gb/mo. I'm right on a main road and Comcast want $23,000 from me to run lines to my house. I've been fighting this battle for 6 years now. Sigh....

This can be run on wifi, so If you have a home network you can trigger it.

In Norway, access to Internet is almost treated as access to pure water. And no throttling. it's by law. Europe welcomes you

 

[rafoster1987]

Are you still using this setup? I’m looking to make the move to ebiab and think your controller would work well for me. Do you have a parts list for the controller? Where did you source the parts?

 

[Soulshine2]

Here are a couple pics of my controller; inside are 2 40W SSRs driving twin 1500W elements. SSRs are cooled by the custom heatsink, the three toggle switches control each element and an outlet for my wort pump. This setup requires plugging the two power cables into receptacles on separate circuits to avoid tripping the breaker. Heats up plenty fast for my taste, and isn't limited to 20A circuits. If I get bored with the 1500W elements I can one day upgrade them to 2000W without changing anything else.

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I noticed your Aurelios Pizza glass. I grew up in Joliet,IL .There was an Aurelios (owned by the Cemeno family)on Jefferson Street in Marycrest shopping center.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I noticed your Aurelios Pizza glass. I grew up in Joliet,IL .There was an Aurelios (owned by the Cemeno family)on Jefferson Street in Marycrest shopping center.

Are you a fan of their pizza? IMHO, Aurelio's makes the world's best pizza. I grew up in Tinley and was raised on Venuso's, which was perhaps my first solid food, though that place closed down in the early 90's. Aurelio's is about as close to the taste of Venuso's as you can get, except maybe Village Pizza on Oak Park avenue, though they only have one location. While we were living overseas for a few years and my wife could see I was suffering from a lack of good pizza, she took up the challenge of cloning that Aurelio's taste at home. Over the course of a couple of years (and countless delicious pizzas!) she came up with a very authentic tasting recipe which she still makes for me every couple of weeks.

We moved back to the states a few years ago and I'm in the west 'burbs now, there are a couple of Aurelio's within a short drive so we go there often. I don't work close enough to one though to have for lunch, so sometimes my wife and I take a day off work just to go enjoy their lunch buffet, where I try to eat my weight in pizza. I might have to go hit up Village someday soon, just for comparison.

 

[Soulshine2]

Are you a fan of their pizza? IMHO, Aurelio's makes the world's best pizza. I grew up in Tinley and was raised on Venuso's, which was perhaps my first solid food, though that place closed down in the early 90's. Aurelio's is about as close to the taste of Venuso's as you can get, except maybe Village Pizza on Oak Park avenue, though they only have one location. While we were living overseas for a few years and my wife could see I was suffering from a lack of good pizza, she took up the challenge of cloning that Aurelio's taste at home. Over the course of a couple of years (and countless delicious pizzas!) she came up with a very authentic tasting recipe which she still makes for me every couple of weeks.

We moved back to the states a few years ago and I'm in the west 'burbs now, there are a couple of Aurelio's within a short drive so we go there often. I don't work close enough to one though to have for lunch, so sometimes my wife and I take a day off work just to go enjoy their lunch buffet, where I try to eat my weight in pizza. I might have to go hit up Village someday soon, just for comparison.

Tinley... been there to the outdoor concert venue a few times. Also same town where Freddie Bear Sports is. Nice area.
Well, the Aurelios I was referring to was bought out by the Cemeno family instead of being a franchise , back about 15 yrs ago I guess,probably longer .
Anyway the Cemenos Pizza (Essington Rd, Joliet) is the same as the old Aurelios recipe ,that I can remember anyway. We go back up north to visit family and Cemenos pizza/Joe's Dugout is a "must have" crave meal,(but so is Portillo's,lol)we eat like fat kids . Their crust is nothing short of amazing and something I wish I could re-create. I'm planning to build an outdoor fireplace by our pool deck and even further trying to include a brick lined pizza oven...
Since moving to Alabama summer of 2017 ,good pizza is hard to find , mediocre pizza is rare enough. We have found Mellow Mushroom is about the best we've had here. Hand tossed crusty chewy crust, fresh toppings. Its still no Aurelios/Cemenos. But...it has an entire 2 chalkboards full of tap beers.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Tinley... been there to the outdoor concert venue a few times. Also same town where Freddie Bear Sports is. Nice area.
Well, the Aurelios I was referring to was bought out by the Cemeno family instead of being a franchise , back about 15 yrs ago I guess,probably longer .
Anyway the Cemenos Pizza (Essington Rd, Joliet) is the same as the old Aurelios recipe ,that I can remember anyway. We go back up north to visit family and Cemenos pizza/Joe's Dugout is a "must have" crave meal,(but so is Portillo's,lol)we eat like fat kids . Their crust is nothing short of amazing and something I wish I could re-create. I'm planning to build an outdoor fireplace by our pool deck and even further trying to include a brick lined pizza oven...
Since moving to Alabama summer of 2017 ,good pizza is hard to find , mediocre pizza is rare enough. We have found Mellow Mushroom is about the best we've had here. Hand tossed crusty chewy crust, fresh toppings. Its still no Aurelios/Cemenos. But...it has an entire 2 chalkboards full of tap beers.

Mellow Mushroom is pretty decent, I've had it in Indianapolis a couple of times. Also, Village Pizza that I mentioned is literally next door to Freddie Bear, ever had their pizza? It still looks exactly like I remember, but I'd like to know if the old guy who ran it is retired or sold it, and if their pizza is still awesome. I haven't been back to Tinley in probably 17 years, it's not that far to drive I just don't have family there or much reason to visit. There is an Aurelio's there though, at 159th & Oak Park where Jardine's used to be. My grandmother waited tables in that dining room for more than 40 years, so it would be nice to visit again.

Anyway, if you would like to try out my wife's recipe I could post it here or PM it to you. If you substitute the sugar in the sauce recipe with a bit of LME or DME it tastes even better

 

[Konadog]

@Jayjay1976, did you ever make out a part list for your panel, and are you still using it (original build)?

 

[Jayjay1976]

I haven't gotten around to the parts list yet but yes I use it all the time, 28 batches on it so far and zero tweaking or adjustments have been made. It suits my purposes exactly and I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Konadog]

Good to hear, do you remember what box you purchased to house everything?

 

[Jayjay1976]

It was a plastic junction box made by Carlon, I think its the 8x8 model, home depot sells it.

 

[Konadog]

Thanks! I was looking at that one but couldn't tell if it was the same size.

 

[jc587491]

Reviving this thread for a quick question, I currently have a Wort-Hog controller with the 120 model. If I purchase the 320 model to upgrade, would I be able to just plug and play the wires on the new model. I'm confident I can wire it, just want to make sure it uses the same wires, connections, ECT.
Thanks guys!
Cheers!

 

[doug293cz]

Reviving this thread for a quick question, I currently have a Wort-Hog controller with the 120 model. If I purchase the 320 model to upgrade, would I be able to just plug and play the wires on the new model. I'm confident I can wire it, just want to make sure it uses the same wires, connections, ECT.
Thanks guys!
Cheers!

Yes, all models from the 120 on are pin-out identical. The 3xx models have some additional terminals used for the relays, but power, SSR, and temp Pt100 sensor terminals are the same.

Brew on

 

[jc587491]

Awesome! Thanks for the quick response!
Cheers!

Yes, all models from the 120 on are pin-out identical. The 3xx models have some additional terminals used for the relays, but power, SSR, and temp Pt100 sensor terminals are the same.

Brew on

 

[augiedoggy]

besides those extra relays though what other advantages does the 3xx have to make it an upgrade? I have a 3xx but its been a few years since I used it.

 

[jc587491]

besides those extra relays though what other advantages does the 3xx have to make it an upgrade? I have a 3xx but its been a few years since I used it.

The main thing I was interested in was the step mashing and boil temperature programmability. It would be nice to just set my brewday up once before I start, rather than messing with the temperature settings so much. Even if it's a simple single infusion mash, it would be nice to set strike temp, then holding mash temp, then mash out. And for the boil, go up to boiling for x-time then to 175 for whirlpool.

 

[ShaLaH]

The main thing I was interested in was the step mashing and boil temperature programmability. It would be nice to just set my brewday up once before I start, rather than messing with the temperature settings so much. Even if it's a simple single infusion mash, it would be nice to set strike temp, then holding mash temp, then mash out. And for the boil, go up to boiling for x-time then to 175 for whirlpool.

This is exactly what I'm looking for. Are you able to program all these steps with the 3xx? How has your experience been with it?