Rhodesy wrote:Thanks guys, I will take your advice there as stray wires is a concern if out in the open.
Waiting on some clamps from Angel Homebrew arriving to allow me to attach this to the brew stand where I then hope to test this midweek. I have a Blichmann autosparge I plan to utilise for recirculation back into the MT which I hope works well. Hope to post some pics later in the week once the build is complete. I am using a HLT type temperature control which I hope works well as from my previous posts/threads you will see I am not the type to build a PID. Unlike the STC controllers it is rare to find prewired ones and being quoted £250 is a bit out of my reach just now.
Its not a difficult job to box up a pid, imho the hardest bit is cutting the holes for fittings in an abs plastic box (drill and hacksaw blade are the tools i use)
in addition to a pid controller you need:
a box ( probably the most expensive aspect after the pid ? upto £20???)
a heatsink and SSR (£5-6 from ebay china)
a couple of cable glands to secure flex in and out of the box (£2-3)
a small cable gland or a socket for the probe wire (3 pin audio xlr sockets/plugs are cheap robust and popular) (£5?)
a 15a rated leggo brick style connection strip ( £1-2)
some flex (rated to 15/16a to be on the safe side) (£ 5??)
and a plug/socket to connect the power out to the element (16a commando sockets/plugs are £2-3 each)
so with a £30 pid your looking at £70-80 Max total cost probably a lot less....
(Im guessing at the costs above been a while since i bought the bits)
to wire up use the leggo brick connector to attach the live neutral and earth feeds form the power in flex.
connect a live and neutral wire to the connector strip and connect to the power in contacts of the pid controller. (pid powered - done hehe)
connect input earth to the output earth
connect input neutral to the output neutral
connect input live to the in side of the ssr (clearly marked)
and connect the output live to the out side of the ssr (clearly marked)
(Element power done)
from the pid controllers dc drive terminals connect to the ssr drive terminals.
(ssr control done)
connect the probe or probe socket to the probe connectors on the pid controller
(probe done)
for safety an additional earth connection to the heatsink and your done..
However In addition i would suggest a switch on the live output from the ssr to isolate the element as ssrs can bleed a didy bit of current when in the off (unpowerd) state..
its very simple and straight forward, and if in any doubt do as you did above and post a pic for comment..
if really stuck PM me i have a spare pid almost boxed, i could finish off and let you have for cost plus actual pnp and perhaps a token gesture for the work.