New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association
Brewing => Equipment => Topic started by: brew on May 08, 2013, 10:54:41 AM
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Wonder if this would work? For $13 hard to beat:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Automatic-LCD-Di ... 036wt_1184 (http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Automatic-LCD-Digital-Temperature-Control-Controller-Thermostat-AC-200V-240V-/360625440360?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53f6f38668&_uhb=1#ht_3036wt_1184)
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I think Richard has one of those for his keezer
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I have one for my Fermentation Chamber, it works well.
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Yes that one is 220/240v though - I know some have bought the PID instead but I think those are a little more expensive as a Mashing temp controller?
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$45 for a good quality PID controller isn't overly expensive Brew. Very good quality, and will do everything you want, from PID to manual updown heat adjustment like stove:
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_ ... ducts_id=3 (http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=3)
I made the mistake of buying an el cheapo PID off ebay...when I started changing things I realized it wouldn't accept most temp sensors I had bought, and didn't have manual mode for the boil kettle, so I had to buy another one, and bought a good one that accepts pretty much any temp sensor out there.
I highly recommend it Brew...it will be the last one you ever have to buy....unless of course you wanted 2 of them! :lol:
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Hmm so what's manual mode do?
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I should ask how you would rig that controller up to control your mash temp? would it turn onoff a 220V heating element?
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Yeah I guess it varies by a set amount - 1 deg minimum - then it turns on the circuit - I suppose the PID you have listed has a better resolution than that maybe?
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Manual mode turns the controller effectively into a 0-100% duty cycle type controll...pretty much the same thing as a stove 0-10 dial knob. Manual mode isn't good for hitting and maintaining a specific temp, but it's great for a boil kettle where you want to slightly turn up or down your output to increase or decrease the intensity of the boil.
you can't really use a PID for the boil as water boils at 212F. anything above that will cause a boilover, and anything below will reduce or stop the boil altogether.
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are you going to be maintaining your mash temp through a herms or rims system brew?
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I was debating about making myself a simple RIMS tube. Not sure - also debating about using the controller with the HLT to get water at my strike temp...
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The temp controller you listed would be good for cooling or heating something where +- a few degrees is acceptable, but you'd be better off with a PID if you want to maintain an exact temp over a period of time.
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Yeah I think I see a "real" PID would be a better idea
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Here's a cool application for a PID:
I have a PID controlling my HLT heating element. The HLT has a builtin HERMS coil. I'm recirculating wort from the MT through the HERMS coil. My temp sensor is reading the return wort temperature back into the MT, and is adjusting the HLT heating element temp accordingly to maintain an exact 150F wort temp.
With the above example, I don't care what the water temp is in the HLT, I'm only concerned with the wort temp returning back into the mash.
That would be very hard or impossible to do with a regular temp controller.
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I still have that el cheapo PID kicking around if you want it Brew. you'd just need to buy an RDT sensor for it. All the ones I had were NTC, and that is one of the ones it won't accept.
If you're using it for a PID application, it will do what you want...but I don' think it does manual mode...
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Cool I may take you up on that... maybe lemme know next meeting you'll be at?
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probably not this upcoming meeting, but most likely the next. I'll try to remember to bring it up next time I'm through if it's not a meeting weekend.
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fakr - Your HERMS system works like mine. The EBC III has one PID monitoring the temp probe in the MT and turns the pump on to recirculate through wort through SS could in HLT to maintain temp. The HLT has another PID to cycle on and off the element in that tank. I set the HLT temp the whatever I want to sparge at.Works great.
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Hey Steve,
I finally tried out the new brewery over the weekend and was very impressed with the mash recirculation temps.
I mashed in and overshot my target of 150F by about 8F. I set the PID temp to 150F, and started recirculating the mash through the herms. The HLT temp was up around 160F so I added cold water until the mash return temp was 150F....the HLT came on and off throughout the hour mash and the mash return temp didn't deviate from 150F at all...very nice!
at 45 minutes, I cranked the pid up to 168F, and within 15 minutes the return mash temp was readin 168F. I let it continue for another 10 minutes to bring the entire mash up to 168F, then sparged.
That was a very slick brew day I must say. Very impressed with the new setup. Most impressive is I didn't lift more than 5 pounds at once. That was when I was weighing grain.
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by the way, I prefer to recirculate the entire 60 minutes as I find it helps with efficiency.
Speaking of efficiency....2 months ago my efficiency was 73% and below. With the new system, my calculations show high 80's. I'm sure I could get low 90's if I sparged slower...but I think high 80's is good enough.
The recipe I made was one that I made last year. I was expecting an OG of 1.046, and end up this time around with 1.054.
Unfortunately with the new higher efficiency, I'll need to go over all my recipes and adjust accordingly.
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So based on your run, what would be the ideal temp of your hlt during the 60 min mash?
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Hoestly Brew, I didn't check the HLT temp the whole time. The only temp I was reading was the temp of the wort returning back into the mash. I can't really guess at the hlt temp either. I'm sure it was close to the mash temp as I'm running wort through 50' of 1/2" SS tubing.