Electric boil kettle control

[bluenose]

I'll reserve this space for a crude diagram that I'll draw today.

hint hint: I like crude drawings and pictures of completed stuff... wink wink nudge nudge nowadImean, say no more

[jtmwhyte]

The last piece of the puzzle for me is the controller box. Should I be looking to place the heat sink outside of a box or will it generate minimal heat? I was thinking of buying a larger electrical enclosure box (about 12"x12") and enclosing the unit inside.

[Jayme]

How many watts is your element and what type of SSR are you using? It's a pretty simple calculation to determine your waste heat.


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[jtmwhyte]

How many watts is your element and what type of SSR are you using? It's a pretty simple calculation to determine your waste heat.


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My ssr is the first link listed by TimG on page 1 of the thread(10000w 240v) and the element is 5500w.


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[jtmwhyte]

Pics

[bluenose]

The last piece of the puzzle for me is the controller box. Should I be looking to place the heat sink outside of a box or will it generate minimal heat? I was thinking of buying a larger electrical enclosure box (about 12"x12") and enclosing the unit inside.

I was wondering about this too... I'm guessing it's be a pain to detach the heat sink part so it can be mounted outside?

Maybe a fan will have to be installed

[Jayme]

The datasheet for that controller is pretty much useless, but it does say max ambient of 80C. Just no temp rise as degrees C/watt. With at 5500W element at 220V though, that is 32.5W waste energy. I suppose if you can easily mount it inside, you could always just try a brew day, and keep an eye on the temperature within the cabinet. If it's an issue, blow a fan on it with the door open (probably wouldn't come to that haha) and then make a hole for the heat sink to be external - or a fan should probably work too. Even just some vent holes, though then the box wouldn't be water tight. I think it would take a while to heat up that much though regardless, so unless you're doing a triple decoction with a 2 hour boil, it's probably going to be ok.

[jtmwhyte]

The datasheet for that controller is pretty much useless, but it does say max ambient of 80C. Just no temp rise as degrees C/watt. With at 5500W element at 220V though, that is 32.5W waste energy. I suppose if you can easily mount it inside, you could always just try a brew day, and keep an eye on the temperature within the cabinet. If it's an issue, blow a fan on it with the door open (probably wouldn't come to that haha) and then make a hole for the heat sink to be external - or a fan should probably work too. Even just some vent holes, though then the box wouldn't be water tight. I think it would take a while to heat up that much though regardless, so unless you're doing a triple decoction with a 2 hour boil, it's probably going to be ok.

I'm gonna go ahead and mount it in the box with the lid unscrewed. I can't imagine the heat getting to ridiculous. If I recall Angelofdebt has his in an enclosed tool case with the same controller. I'll give a 1 hour test boil to check it out and gauge my evaporation rate. I'm getting pretty close so a trial in the next week or two is not out of the question.

[jtmwhyte]

I also realized that my pot looks disgusting in that first photo. It really is not that bad. This was immediately post-boil and it was still wet with IPA gunk. I figured I'd clean it after the metal shavings got in there.

[Jayme]

Yeah it's unlikely the SSR junction will straight up fail unless it gets super, super hot. But if you're pushing it hard, it will significantly reduce the life span. Not to say using a tool case is bad, but I wouldn't trust it without temperature measurements being made. Though I tend to be extremely anal about this kind of thing - ensuring semiconductors don't overheat is a significant part of my day job!

[bluenose]

I'll reserve this space for a crude diagram that I'll draw today.

I was a little lost on the wiring, so I was hoping for a drawing... but I have a few questions

What's the brown wire doing?

Is is possible to have a 10/3 wire going from the element to the controller box?

Rubbertoe said something about using the other for powering a pump. How would that look?

I think the green (ground) is correct, but I should let an electrical expert chime in

[jtmwhyte]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sokd1rD-LPY#t=55" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the general idea, but without the switch.

[bluenose]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sokd1rD-LPY#t=55

This is the general idea, but without the switch.

right on, but do you have 3 or 4 wires going from the control box to the element?

[jtmwhyte]

4 but the lead is not connected or stripped

[bluenose]

So my parts are coming together... still to get are the 1" SS locknut, gasket, and ring terminals.

Although I'm thinking I'd like a way to disconnect the keggle section from the controller section, so I'd need some 4 prong male and female ends

I also need to get a hold of a 1-1/4" greenlee punch for the keg and box cover... does anyone have one I can borrow?

[jtmwhyte]

Did you open that enclosure box yet? There's no ground lug in there. I am also looking to add connectivity with a male /female twist lock setup and maybe even a switch.

[jtmwhyte]

Also, I cut my hole with a bi metal hole saw without any issues, so I don't think a greenlee punch is necessary

[AllanMar]

Did you open that enclosure box yet? There's no ground lug in there. I am also looking to add connectivity with a male /female twist lock setup and maybe even a switch.

You don't need to ground a non-conductive enclosure.

[jtmwhyte]

Did you open that enclosure box yet? There's no ground lug in there. I am also looking to add connectivity with a male /female twist lock setup and maybe even a switch.

You don't need to ground a non-conductive enclosure.

interesting. What would become of the ground wire going into the controller box?


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[AllanMar]

Connect it to the wire going to the element, as you want to ground your kettle and element box (if conductive). If you were using a metal enclosure for your controller it would have to be grounded as well.

[jtmwhyte]

Lol, I just took that exact project box back to Central today. I'll grab another as they are nice and big and I can toss a switch in it

[bluenose]

I got mine at central too... so the ground will basically just pass through the control box?

edit: I got the round terminals at canadian tire, 5 for $1.69 or something like that

[bluenose]

Lol, I just took that exact project box back to Central today. I'll grab another as they are nice and big and I can toss a switch in it

What type of switch are you getting and where?

[jtmwhyte]

Red Light Illuminated 4 Pin DPST ON/OFF Snap in Rocker Switch 15A 30A 250V AC

Copy that into an eBay search or link to

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11401.m1 ... ACA%3A3160" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jtmwhyte]

I am probably going to finish assembly in the next week or so. I'll boil a batch of water to test boil of and then pull off the main event. I'm thinking Pilsner with a double decoction performed in the cooler to toss on my Vienna Lager yeast cake (did a 3 gallon batch a week ago). Maybe we can collaborate after that on a large batch.