Pumps and PIDs

[user 18729]

I used a combination of eBay, AliExpress, rs components, Toolstation. It really depends what else you want your control panel to do. Here's some pics of my panel. It might help you decide how much wiring/functionality you are looking for:thumba:

That’s a thing of beauty

 

[user 18729]

Well, nothing too exciting but I finally got around to fitting castor wheels to the brew bench. Only about £10 on Amazon and used a gate post to mount them

 

[user 18729]

Progress has slowed on the kit I’m afraid. I have some of the components for my panel but I’ll need to wait until the new year before ordering the rest. Car insurance on both cars, Road tax, service, Christmas coming up, just came back from a holiday in Scotland, and to top it off our cat was hit by a car this weekend... I need a lottery win to keep up with it

 

[user 18729]

Father Christmas brought me a Riptide I absolutely love how easily it comes apart for cleaning. I had some spare wood in the garage so decided to mount it this afternoon.

 

[thegrantickle]

Fitted the immersion cooler/HERMS coil this morning, as well as two ports for whirlpooling. I'm pleased with how it's looking. I need to wait for some silicone washers to turn up before leak testing as I didn't order enough.

View attachment 19700 View attachment 19701
For fitting the pt100, am I right in thinking that having it connected to a T-piece on the inlet of the mash tun is the right way to go? And if so what method of fitting it do most people use? Do people blank it off and then drill a 14mm hole to fit it or use a 1/2'' BSP to 1/4''BSP reducer or similar?

This is my rough idea for the lid of the mash tun...
View attachment 19702

There's no rush as this will be a gradual upgrade. I'm not likely to invest in a pump for a few months, but want to get everything set up and ready to go.

I see you fitted a stainless steel coil rather than a copper one. Where did you source this from and how did you bend it?

Cheers
Grant

 

[user 18729]

I see you fitted a stainless steel coil rather than a copper one. Where did you source this from and how did you bend it?

Cheers
Grant

Hi Grant, I’ve fabricated copper coils before but without a proper pipe bender you can’t tackle stainless. I bought this one from BrewBuilder. Highly recommend

 

[Andy_K]

Looking good Hopsteep. I’ve just bought a new pump and need another ball valve to control the output. What is the advantage of a stainless steel valve over a cheaper brass version? (Sorry to go a bit off topic)

 

[user 18729]

Looking good Hopsteep. I’ve just bought a new pump and need another ball valve to control the output. What is the advantage of a stainless steel valve over a cheaper brass version? (Sorry to go a bit off topic)

Brass can leach metals into your wort (I think I read about that a few years ago). That’s why everything is either stainless or copper as they don’t react or leach anything harmful

 

[Andy_K]

Brass can leach metals into your wort (I think I read about that a few years ago). That’s why everything is either stainless or copper as they don’t react or leach anything harmful

Thanks Hopsteep

(Ignore the brass flange nut on the end). This was the Screwfix valve. It does look like stainless steel but isn’t stamped with 304 or 316 like the rest of my stainless kit. Product code is 67744. Description says “brass, steel & plastic construction”

Should I replace it, do you think?

 

[user 18729]

Thanks HopsteepView attachment 43833
(Ignore the brass flange nut on the end). This was the Screwfix valve. It does look like stainless steel but isn’t stamped with 304 or 316 like the rest of my stainless kit. Product code is 67744. Description says “brass, steel & plastic construction”

Should I replace it, do you think?

It’s probably worth swapping it out at some point

 

[user 6402]

I bought an inkbird IPB-16 (https://www.ink-bird.com/products-PID-controller-ipb16.html) which was $99 or £75 so I didn't need to make one. The case/box is good, comes with probe, the newer version is a bit better with switches to isolate the heater or pump.

I am thinking about building a PID controller and came across your post. I was interested in the Inkbird IPB 16S and thought it was specifically for the US market. I contacted Inkbird to ask if they were going to make one for the European market, but they have no plans to do so. Did you have to modify yours to work on the UK power supply?

 

[Vinylwasp]

But there is a snag (for HERMS). If any sensor location other than "A" is used to control the temperature of the MT, the HLT cannot be heated using the same PID controller unless the recirculation system is operating. This might not be an issue for many, and it will not be a problem to work-around for the handy folk who would like the challenge. But the limitation may prove unsurmountable for some, in which case using location "A" is the only option. Another snag when not using "A" (for HERMS) is if recirculation is interrupted (e.g. stuck mash): The controller may continue to instruct the HLT to keep heating (until it is boiling unless some sort of fail safe is worked in).

First of all, what an fantastic analysis @peebee , you're bang on the money wrt the challenges of placing the sensor which drives the HERMs PID. I've ended up with sensors at B,C & D so I can tweak the PID response per brew to reflect the slope across all 3 as it changes (as you correctly pointed out) depending on the grain bill (mash density) and in my case the weather and temp loss (I brew in my garage at ambient temp).

I built my 3 x 50 vessel system myself, but based the whole project on the BrewPi + Brewblox reference HERMs design that Elco (the creator of hardware/software) suggests. I originally only one MT sensor at D but ran into a few overshot/undershot challenges so added two more.

Brewblox gets around the limitation that you highlight with the use of the sensor anywhere other than A by having 2 PIDS that directly control the temp in the HLT and BK, and a 3rd MT PID which the user can tweak with a desired offset from the MT temp sensor (at C physically + shown center of MT graphic) which when manually enabled takes control of the HLT PID and sets a new target temp for the HLT.

So below, I've mashed in and started lautering through the HERMs with the MT target set 65.5c with the current temp at C being 65.0c.
The user configurable HERMs PID is shown to the right of the HLT with a +2 degree offset, thus setting the HLT target at 67.5c. You can also see that the coil outlet sensor at B is currently 66.1c, the MT outlet sensor at D is at 64.0c, the HLT sensor (on HLT outlet, I recirculate to minimize HLT hot spots + evenly heat the HERMs coil) is 67.1C, and the HLT PID is driving the HLT heating element at 30%.

FYI. I use the same system to control my Fermentation fridge, this was the original purpose Elco developed it for.

Mashing (continuous lautering)

 

[MashBag]

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