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Home brewing controller diagram

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dean_wales

New Member
OK Guys....

So I am building a control box to automate some of the headaches in my home brewery. This box essentially will control the immersion element in the HLT or hot water tank in non brewing jargon.

In summary:

  • The SSR will switch the feed to the immersion on and off.
    The SSR will require the switches in the temperature controller, timer and float switch to be closed to operate.
    There is a red and amber neon on the front. Amber means element is now firing, red means boil dry/insufficient water.
    The boil dry neon is actuated by normally closed relay. This is opened (neaon goes off) once the flat valve engages.
    The thick lines are 2.5mm cable as they will carry current for the immersion.
    The remaining fine lines are low ampage cable for the control circuits.
    The black lines are for the probe and so do not carry current as such.

I know I am over complicating what is essentially a water heater! But I really want to know if...

  • I am over complicating it electronically - can this be done with less bloomin' wires!
    I have made some serious melt-me-house-down electronic mistakes!

I know the amber neon shouldn't really be in series on the SSR control side but it gets messy with the wiring if I bridge the SSR contacts instead.

The bit I am not sure is correct is the operation of the red neon - can I bridge the contact of the float switch in that way with the relay?

You can download the full **broken link removed** or the **broken link removed** (if you have it installed on your PC).

A thumbnail to give you an idea of the mess...!
**broken link removed**

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Dean.

PS - I don't know what is classed as high voltage by this forum so please move this if needed.

PPS - I know you may say that I shouldn't be tinkering with 240v without 100% confidence but the reality is that I will be doing it anyway so any knowledgeable input would be very welcome.
 
It looks like you are connecting the temp controller switch + time clock switch + float switch all in series? So all switches have to be closed for the heater to come on?

That itself is fine, but the problem is that yellow light is also in series! That is bad.

Keep the three switches in series, but connect the yellow light in parallel to the SSR "coil" inputs.

So the three switches must all be closed for the SSR to be activated, and when the SSR is activated with power at its coil the yellow light also gets power.
 
It looks like you have your mains voltage connected to the control of the SSR, Most SSR's I have seen use low voltage DC to control them.
 
OK... Version nine I think now! I have also included a power source and control switch for a little 12v pump that will stir/circulate the water within the vessel!

Full **broken link removed**.
Full **broken link removed**.

A thumbnail...!
**broken link removed**

I have moved the neon to bridge the SSR rather than in series and yes the SSR is 240v AC on both sides - control side is low amps whilst load side is high amps.

Any other errors you guys notice? I have tidied/bundled the wiring a little to make it easier to follow.

Thanks,

Dean.
 
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