Blichmann BoilCoil - any way to get this to work in UK?

[Garren]

Hi all,

Finally have all the parts suggested, connection kind of goes in a clockwise direction from bottom left.

https://ibb.co/i92v3Q

1x heavy duty plug (13A fuse) wired with 2.5mm high temp 3 core cable, through a waterproof gland (will eventually but in a box).

Live (brown) connected through a 10A resetable curcuit breaker to terminal 1 of SSR (40A 24-380V AC).
500K OHM Pot connected over terminals 3&4 of SSR (to control max current output?) over terminals 1&2 of SSR.
Terminal 2 of SSR connected to the AMP/VOLT meter, then to the female locking receptacle L6-30R (!) that
Blichmann would normally use to connect the Boilcoil cable to the Boilcoil itself.

Not sure what the doughnut thing is yet (think it might be something to do with the AMP/VOLT meter.

I am hoping I have read the responses correctly from Fil, the 500K OHM Pot should determine max current
that can be drawn from the Boilcoil, with the resetable curcuit breaker, breaking at 10A.
I would like to experiment heating different water volumes at 10A, then change this for a resetable 12A.
With a 13A UK plug, I am trying to see what volumes I can successfully boil.

Further help much appreciated.

Thanks again, G

[themadhippy]

Not sure what the doughnut thing is yet

its for measuring the current,only the live wire goes through the middle of it.

[Fil]

looks good, as said above, loop the post ssr live wire through the polo mint / doughnut thing and that will provide the amp reading of the elements current draw.

if you connect the volt meter to the ssr terminals you may read the input voltage regardless of the pot/ssr output?? suck it n see to read the output voltage you may need to read pre and post element? i cant recall atm all i know is i wired up the 'wrong' input voltage reading way to start with ..

[Garren]

Fil,

Thankyou again.
Will assemble, test and update.

Cheers all, G

[Garren]

Ok, so I decided to make this modular as best I could
so I could replace something easily if it blew/overheated/exploded etc.. or change something
if I wanted to try something different.

240V mains with 13 amp fuse plug going through a 10 amp reset-able fuse.

Live going to PIN 1 of SSR, Neutral and Earth passing through,
500K OHM Pot connected over PIN 3 and PIN 4 of SSR (yet to see which way turning will increase/decrease current).

PIN1 then also connected to input voltage terminal of voltmeter to provide constant not variable power
(as I had it wired up first to PIN 3).

Neutral split between other power terminal of voltmeter and one terminal of L6-30R.
Earth also to straight through to L6-30R, have earthed SSR heatsink to this as well.
PIN2 of SSR through doughnut thingy then on to L6-30R. Doughnut thingy wires connected to ammeter.

Turns on, lights up, shows correct voltage.
So far so good...

Next phase, installing the boilcoil then test, fingers crossed!

[url=https://ibb.co/nq8C7m][img]https://thumb.ibb.co/nq8C7m/IMG_20170901_180615.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/m348f6][img]https://thumb.ibb.co/m348f6/IMG_20170901_182257.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/jAsTf6][img]https://thumb.ibb.co/jAsTf6/IMG_20171006_174213.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/eYnTf6][img]https://thumb.ibb.co/eYnTf6/IMG_20171006_231652.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/d4qyf6][img]https://thumb.ibb.co/d4qyf6/IMG_20171006_233447.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/hhGRYR][img]https://thumb.ibb.co/hhGRYR/IMG_20171109_153603.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://ibb.co/kHw4L6][img]https://thumb.ibb.co/kHw4L6/IMG_20171116_142833.jpg[/img][/url]

[Kev888]

I think you may need another post or two before your images will show (this is an anti-spam measure), so I've quoted your message as they'll show for me:

Ok, so I decided to make this modular as best I could
so I could replace something easily if it blew/overheated/exploded etc.. or change something
if I wanted to try something different.

240V mains with 13 amp fuse plug going through a 10 amp reset-able fuse.

Live going to PIN 1 of SSR, Neutral and Earth passing through,
500K OHM Pot connected over PIN 3 and PIN 4 of SSR (yet to see which way turning will increase/decrease current).

PIN1 then also connected to input voltage terminal of voltmeter to provide constant not variable power
(as I had it wired up first to PIN 3).

Neutral split between other power terminal of voltmeter and one terminal of L6-30R.
Earth also to straight through to L6-30R, have earthed SSR heatsink to this as well.
PIN2 of SSR through doughnut thingy then on to L6-30R. Doughnut thingy wires connected to ammeter.

Turns on, lights up, shows correct voltage.
So far so good...

Next phase, installing the boilcoil then test, fingers crossed!

I don't really follow the circuit (think you've used some unconventional flex colours?) but the best of luck with the test run!

Cheers
Kev

[Garren]

Yes, kind of run out of the correct colour heatshrink. Pretty successful test last night. Rolling boil achieved.
Ran for 3 hours, no overheating or any other problems at all. Currently testing boil time for 25L, will update in a bit.
Timing to 72 degrees then will see how many amps to hold at around 65 degrees for mash.
Next, will turn up to 12.9 amps and time until rolling boil.

[Garren]

Ok, 2nd test completed today.

After 1st test last night, I ended up bypassing the reset-able fuse to get a bit more current,
system now has live going straight into PIN1 of SSR, only have the 13 amp fuse in the plug.

26L batch (1 extra litre to account for evaporation) heated at 12.8 amps got to 72 degrees (no lid on pot) in 30 minutes.
Have decided to test holding at 65 on my first brew as conditions will change when the mash tun pot (see Breweasy setup) is on top
and pump/sparge system is running.

Good rolling boil achieved for 25.5L at 1 hour mark, 12.9 amps, no lid.

Will upload a circuit diagram / parts list when I have more time, I am also going to remove redundant parts and see if I can get it all
in a small hobby box.

First impressions are that it will serve its' purpose quite well, although for more impatient people, you could add another boilcoil
powered from a separate socket. I think with both elements running at about 10 amps, would be complete overkill but you could adjust them individually and would run less of a risk blowing a 13 amp fuse in each plug, plus one would cope on its' own if the other fails during a brew.

Thankyou to all who have helped with this.
Project is not over though, I think automating the temperature control will be next!

Thanks again, G

[jaroporter]

looking good there!
another option for impatient or energy-conscious brewers would be to modify the lid or fabricate some kinda hood, and even add some insulation to the kettle (helps with not burning yourself too!). i usually end up using ~1,5kw for 45L.

[Garren]

Excellent suggestion with the insulation! Will have a look around to see what the options are.
How long for a rolling boil at ~1.5kw, 45L with insulation?

[jaroporter]

to be honest i've not timed it, but i do vary things quite often. but i'll go max power (3kw) to get to boiling anyways and then drop down once there.

but the difference from using an open topped keggle (with 3kw just keeping a rolling boil) to my current boiler that just has a 4" vent and goes crazy above 1,5kw is amazing.