Who to hire to build my system?

[rexbanner]

I have all the parts for my 1 BBL system for my nano. I know nothing about electrical wiring so I'd like to hire someone to wire it and build my panel. What type of professional should I hire? One electrician I talked to suggested someone who specializes in water heaters. He said he wasn't knowledgeable enough to do something like this. Should I stop trying to call electricians? They never pick up the phone anyways around here.

 

[yjfun]

Look for a specialty electrical shop in your area. Electricians no longer build controllers on site anymore so a lot of them don't know how. We usually have to order them up. If you can find out who builds the traffic control cabinets for your area they should be able to build you any kind of control panel that you want.

 

[porcupine73]

Right you might want a panel builder shop, many local electrical shops will build panels. Most of their customers would likely be local industrial and sometimes commercial businesses. Their price might not be cheap though of course. Here's a couple examples from around here: http://www.asmfab.com/ http://www.se-mar.com/

But, if it matters to you, sometimes you can get an overall UL label on the panel when it's finished, which can be a nice thing, usually more for inspection/code requirements, but if the thing does ever catch on fire it might make it harder for insurance to fight saying it was some custom unlisted uninspected device/work that caused the fire so we're not covering it.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

What are the details of the system? Does the install need to be on site? I could potentially do it. Shoot me an email at jstalbot at gmail dot com.

 

[SpentGrains]

But, if it matters to you, sometimes you can get an overall UL label on the panel when it's finished, which can be a nice thing, usually more for inspection/code requirements, but if the thing does ever catch on fire it might make it harder for insurance to fight saying it was some custom unlisted uninspected device/work that caused the fire so we're not covering it.

While the panel can probably be built to UL spec, I don't believe it will be UL listed unless that model is tested, which is prohibitively expensive for a one off build.

However, there may be a building code in your area that mandates it be a UL labeled device if it is a permanent installation. So you may have trouble getting an electrician to finish the work for you. You didn't mention if the brewery would be a permanent installation or movable.

Good luck.

Edit: Labor rates are probably in excess of $80 an hour for a fabrication shop, so keep that in mind when budeting for your build.

 

[porcupine73]

You can get UL labels on panels, I think the panel shop has to be UL listed and then a UL inspector checks it and it gets a UL label. In some localities this is required even on industrial control panels. I think Canada is really picky about it. Details http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/offerings/industries/powerandcontrols/industrialcontrolpanels/

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Porc is right. If you need to have it UL listed you will need a specialty shop and it is going to be nauseatingly expensive. If that is the case, I am sorry in advance. One off UL testing is crazy expensive and takes a long time. I looked into it for several panel designs of mine.

 

[rexbanner]

Porc is right. If you need to have it UL listed you will need a specialty shop and it is going to be nauseatingly expensive. If that is the case, I am sorry in advance. One off UL testing is crazy expensive and takes a long time. I looked into it for several panel designs of mine.

Ughh, just reading the words nauseatingly expensive makes me sick

I have no idea whether it has to be UL listed. I guess I should find that out.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I have never heard of a UL requirement for brewing equipment, so I would worry much. I think it would be a question for your insurance agent and how it would affect your coverage. For a 1BBL, I cannot imagine going the UL route. I wouldn't be practical IMO. The cost of the brewery just wouldn't warrant it. But who knows, I could be wrong.

 

[rexbanner]

So I made a lot of phone calls today and eventually ended up talking to an electrical supply company. They recommended a guy for me. I called the guy and he's coming to my house in an hour to talk about the project. Said it would be no problem; he builds heating and cooling systems for huge servers all the time, and it's the same type of control.

So for future reference, if you need something like this, call a supply company and see if they can recommend someone. Thanks guys.

 

[VegasJ]

So I made a lot of phone calls today and eventually ended up talking to an electrical supply company. They recommended a guy for me. I called the guy and he's coming to my house in an hour to talk about the project. Said it would be no problem; he builds heating and cooling systems for huge servers all the time, and it's the same type of control.

There ya have it... and when he gives you his price, offer the 1st batched brewed to him and ask for the price again!

:rockin: