Good temperature controller for boiler

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jceg316

Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by jceg316 » Wed Mar 11, 2015 12:43 pm

Hello,

I'm looking to get a new temperature controller to power my brew kettle/HLT. Something of good quality and preferably can support two outputs, although that if push comes to shove I don't mind one. I have looked at the STC 1000 however it only goes up to 99 deg, a good rolling boil should be just over 100.

Thanks.

AnthonyUK

Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by AnthonyUK » Wed Mar 11, 2015 1:38 pm

I only use a temperature controller for reaching a set point in my case a PID. There are other devices that can be used for boil control such as an SCR - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4000W-220V-SC ... 1399570789

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themadhippy
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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by themadhippy » Wed Mar 11, 2015 1:42 pm

the item linked too isnt a temperature controller,its just a power controller.
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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by rpt » Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:33 pm

themadhippy wrote:the item linked too isnt a temperature controller,its just a power controller.
Because that's what you need to control the boil.

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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by Grumpydev » Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:43 pm

Yeah, the requirements for the kettle and HLT are different - boiling you just want to control the power in order to keep a rolling boil, you do that with power control and that can be as simple as "full power all the time" or "two elements to get to the boil, one element to maintain it". For the HLT side though you do want temperature control, although you probably don't want an STC1000 as that's aimed at heating *and* cooling, and each of those can only be 10A without using an external SSR. One of these will probably fit the bill for you:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350841056022? ... EBIDX%3AIT

If you're drawing more than 13A across your two elements though you're going to struggle with something like that, although you could have one element with an on/off switch and the other hooked up to the temp controller, with the switched element just working to accelerate getting up to temperature.

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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by themadhippy » Wed Mar 11, 2015 4:06 pm

Because that's what you need to control the boil.
indeed,however the description of the item linked to is a bit misleading as it recons its a thermostat and temperature control.however you could get creative with one,an stc1000 and relay or 2
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jceg316

Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by jceg316 » Wed Mar 11, 2015 4:44 pm

Ah yes, this will be an HLT and boiler, so setting the temp specifically would be necessary. However, would the power controller work as I will have a thermometer on my pot and when it gets to temperature I can roll off the power to maintain the heat?

Thanks for that link Grumpydev, it looks like what I'm after. Althouhg someone did say I should get a PID device as it would be more accurate.

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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by lord groan » Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:25 pm

I use one of the 30A temp controllers on my HLT, mine can have a temp higher than 100c set so it can give a rolling boil but it definitely isn't a variable power controller, with it the element is either on or off. Can't fault it for the HLT though.
I'm also in the process of building a new boiler and I'm fitting one of the 4000W variable power controllers shown in AnthonyUK's link. I've tested it and it seems to work well but I haven't run it for 90 mins yet so time will tell.

Within limits I wouldn't get too hung up on the accuracy of temp measurements in the HLT , I measure to an accuracy of 1.0c - the digital controller measures to 0.1c on the display and thats more than accurate enough bearing in mind that if you check the mash temp you can stick the probe in 5 different places and get 5 different temps. In the hlt, in reality what you end up measuring is the temp of the water which is touching the probe, the water next to the element will be hotter, the water touching the side of the hlt will probably be cooler, so trying to measure to even greater accuracy is just chasing your own tail.

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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by Fil » Fri Mar 13, 2015 3:09 pm

you can source SSRs that are controlled by resistance and not a switching current. simply wiring a potentiometer (variable resistor) between the control poles will allow you to dial up and down the power you supply to an element, add a ebay china volt/amp meter for a tidy and budget controller, just remeber to wire the meter power from the output side of the SSR unlike me in this pic where the voltage is the input voltage not the output ;)

Image

this sort of thing
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SSR-Solid-Sta ... 43c4b56ee1

controlled by something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-5-10-20-50- ... 27beb24d17

500kohm linear i think ??

And something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-AC-30 ... 35d2fe2aec

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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by themadhippy » Fri Mar 13, 2015 4:29 pm

just remeber to wire the meter power from the output side of the SSR unlike me in this pic where the voltage is the input voltage not the output
doubt it will make much difference,theres still 240v on the output,its just being turned on and off rather quickly,even with the controller set to zero thers still kicking out 240v all be it at a minimal current
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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by Wonkydonkey » Fri Mar 13, 2015 6:51 pm

themadhippy wrote:
just remeber to wire the meter power from the output side of the SSR unlike me in this pic where the voltage is the input voltage not the output
doubt it will make much difference,theres still 240v on the output,its just being turned on and off rather quickly,even with the controller set to zero thers still kicking out 240v all be it at a minimal current

We all do things, maybe wrong or right. I have wired mine up on the input sides, I have a pid and one of those 4000w things.
The thing I noticed is, the pid uses 12.5A and the 4000w thing uses 10. But 60lt boiling via a 3kw helicoil just needs 6-6.5A for a good boil.

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jceg316

Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by jceg316 » Thu Mar 26, 2015 5:06 pm

Just to follow this up, I used aquarium heaters in the buckets and put sleeping bags over the buckets and this worked really well. My beers started fermenting again. Temperatures on the dial are closer than I thought they would be to the actual temperature of the batch with about 4C difference. There's still some guess work going on as I get the process right but so far much better than just leaving them for weeks in plastic buckets to go off!

naturals

Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by naturals » Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:50 am

Long time thread resurrection but rather than starting a new one...

I'm thinking of trying a couple of these voltage controllers to limit the rolling boil in my kettle (I brew ~23L batches and 2x 2.4kW elements is just too much power).

Can anyone tell me:
A) Is this a complete unit or do I need additional components (aside the obvious sockets, cable, project box)? I'm thinking these can be used without any sort of SSR - is this correct?

B) What's the quality of these units generally like? I'm not expecting much for £4 but if they have a reputation for overheating and burning out I might as well invest in something decent from the start (like an Inkbird PID).

C) Will they kick out a lot of heat? Do I need to start thinking about fans or heatsinks in the project box?

D) From an energy use point of view, I guess these aren't very economical as they're just a big resistor. Are there other options (aside a PID) which would consume less power?

Thanks y'all

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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by vacant » Sat Nov 26, 2016 12:29 pm

jceg316 wrote: I have looked at the STC 1000 however it only goes up to 99 deg, a good rolling boil should be just over 100.
That's easy. Calibrate the STC 1000 then lie to it and set the calibration down a couple of degrees. e.g. 99 will give you 101, if you want HLT at 75 to set the STC to 73.
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Re: Good temperature controller for boiler

Post by Fil » Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:25 pm

sweet wort will boil @ anything upto 113c depending on its sugar concentration.. ive not checked very often but iirc a circa 1040-1050 fg brew will start to boil @ about 106c..
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

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