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Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:05 am
by dave from downunder
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Hi All
I have just finished my revamp of my controller.
I needed to upgrade for multiple elements for my new beer keg boiler.
I think I went a little over the top and the more I thought about it the more I added.
I had a 600 x 400 stainless steel enclosure that I had my phase controller and contactors for my old 25lt boiler and stripped it and started again.
I wanted it as safe as possible so I decided to monitor temperatures at 4 places and to monitor flow in the cooling system, condenser for the pot still and separate flow meters for the condenser and re-flux coil on the column still.
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I added a programmable logic controller to monitor all these and give delays as required and output lights and flashers.
I automatically shut off the elements in the event of a flow failure and will turn the second element down or off if the output temp of the alcohol gets too high.
The elements will not switch on unless the cooling pump is in manual ( running all the time ) or in auto ( automatically switching on when the boiler reaches 60 Deg).
I have facility for a differential pressure switch to monitor pressure buildup in the boiler probably something set at about 2 psi.
I am a qualified sparky and my area of expertise is industrial control systems.
It is not as neat as I would like but I ran out of room in the cabinet.
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The cooling fan had to be mounted on the outside of the box and is controlled by an thermostat mounted on the inside top of the box.
The air flow will suck from the bottom across the first phase controller and exit through the opposite side on the top just above the second phase controller.
I have facility to bypass the phase controllers on both elements and just run flat out and then can turn both down when the boil starts.
All items are very oversized for the load and should not produce a lot of heat in the cabinet.
I have a 32 amp single phase plug on the box and I am installing a 32 amp circuit for the still.
I have used industrial 56 series outlets for the boiler and pump as well as a 20 amp 5 pin outlet for the keg boiler ( 2 x 15 amp single phase controlled supplies for the elements.
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Any and all suggestions welcome and if you have more that you think I should monitor please let me know.

I have also almost finished my new stills which is a modular 2.5 inch 750mm column and 2.5 inch pot with bubbler and sight glasses , the condenser is a 500mm 4 x 1/2 inch tubes spiralled inside a 50 mm copper tube..
I have installed a 750 lt tank for cooling and have a submersible pump and separate feeds for condenser and reflux coil.

Have a great day all.
Dave

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:10 am
by j0sh2008
wow :scared-eek:


That looks awesome !!


Nice work

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:22 am
by db1979
Bloody fantastic :clap:

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:03 pm
by Professor Green
Over the top be buggered, that's a marvelous controller. Nice work.

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:43 pm
by woodduck
Bloody hell we've got some very smart blokes on this forum :clap: :clap: .I would have absolutely no idea how the hell to put something like that together 8-} :laughing-rolling:

Well done.

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:40 am
by scythe
Nice looking bit of kit.

How much were the phase controllers?
They sound like what 90% of us would be using if we knew more about them.
They sound like a better option than the SSR, more reliable and durable.

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:20 pm
by warramungas
I think I speak for everyone when I say 'Faaaaaaaaark!!'
That is a ripper!
On the other side though, I'm betting the electrical components probably cost more than the still. :))

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 10:17 am
by dave from downunder
scythe wrote:Nice looking bit of kit.

How much were the phase controllers?
They sound like what 90% of us would be using if we knew more about them.
They sound like a better option than the SSR, more reliable and durable.



An SSR is a solid state relay which is basically just a switch.
If it has a pot connected on one end it is more than likely a phase controller which chops the waveform down to control the output power.
I have 8 SSRs in my box to control lights and the main feed for the elements.

Hope this helps

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 10:20 am
by dave from downunder
warramungas wrote:I think I speak for everyone when I say 'Faaaaaaaaark!!'
That is a ripper!
On the other side though, I'm betting the electrical components probably cost more than the still. :))



Yes I would not have bought all the gear for it , I had just about all of it in stock left over from other jobs.
I used to use a lot of the phase controllers and SSRs for curing oven control.
It would be prob a few thousand for the components to buy them all today.

Re: Oh Hell Not Another Controller

PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 9:25 am
by mako
Yikes Dave - when do you get time to drink ????