Automation Questions - Electric or Gas

[MotterFocker]

I think I'm starting to sway to all gas for now. I like the fact that I could always add electric later and be able to use my burners if I wanted. If I had a more permanent place to keep the brew stand, for sure it would be worth going all electric.


Mylo,

Do you have any pics of your brewtroller control panel? Is it as simple as just plugging things into the board or is there soldering required of little pieces and programing things on the PC? I saw that you can add multiple displays, which is nice and there are options for lots of inputs and outputs for future upgrades. Just curious to see what people have done with this and I don't want to rule it out quite yet. Looks like the core package and output control would be just over 200 bucks. You mentioned the new system has fixed the EMI issues, so do the new ones work with the intermittent honeywells?

BTW, just finished building a fermentation chamber similar to the one you built to go ontop of my freezer. Need to get it set inplace and brew a few batches to test it out. It will definitely help with my temp controlled capacity.

Dave

[Mylo]

Glad to hear that I am helping (as opposed to just confusing)! I don't have any pictures of the inside of my control panel. It's pretty scary, taken at face value. If you built it piece by piece, like I did, then you can understand what's going on. I showed it to my brother in law and he flipped, because there is a lot going on if you aren't used to looking at the 3 different voltages and a bunch of relays.

The Honeywells (intermittent or standing) need 24VAC. My pumps and BK ASCO valve are 120VAC. I am starting to add some motorized ball valves that use 12VDC (also needed for the BT itself). No soldering should be necessary, but you should be familiar with how relays and switches work, and basic serial/parallel wiring. As far as programming is concerned, you might need to flash the firmware occasionally (if you want to upgrade or repurpose as a FermTroller). But it does come ready to go. If you need to flash it, you download some stuff, plug the board into USB, and click the button that compiles and downloads the software to it. No programming skills are necessary. All this should be pretty well documented on the BT site. The folks over there are very friendly and willing to help, if you get into a jam.

I haven't had an opportunity to try the new LCD boards with the Honeywell Intermittent Pilot unit, but I will, shortly. I really like the safety features of the IP unit, that automatically relights itself if it ever blows out. Although I imagine that it would have to be some VERY strong sustained wind to knock out a dedicated pilot burner. Lonnie Mac's "pilot burner" in BYO is nothing more than a gas powered candle with no thermocouple or anything.

You can always shoot me a PM if you run into trouble. For me, designing and building the stuff is half the fun in this hobby.


Mylo

[MotterFocker]

I agree, I enjoy making stuff. I especially like it when I get to spend a week at my parents and use all my dad's machining, welding, and woodworking equipment for projects.

For that matter, I almost like brewing beer more than consuming it. Don't get me wrong, I like drinking it, but I'm in the stage where I'd be an alcoholic if I had to drink it all. My friends sure like coming over alot