Single tier, 3 pump automated build

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JonW
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Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by JonW »

EDITED: 2010-11-08 Scroll down thread to see newer pics with powder coating, painting, new kettles, etc.

OK, here's the current iteration of my stand. I have the BCS-462 running all the temp probes, gas valves, pumps & liquid valves. I'm still working on tweaking the programming on the BCS to meet my processes. I'll still be tearing it back apart to either powder coat or paint the stand. I'm meeting the powder coater on Wednesday to discuss what can be done. I'm worried about the coating standing up to the continued heat of the burners.

I placed 6 SSR's under the stand that control the gas valves and pumps. There is also a 12V relay board and power supply under the stand for the liquid valves. There are 3 Cat-5 data jacks in a mounted box on the back corner of the stand that plug into corresponding jacks on the garage wall. One cable for temp probes, one for gas/pumps and the third one for the liquid valves.

The BCS is in an enclosure on the wall as it is also running my staging (conditioning) fridge and serving fridge. It will also be running the fermenter fridge. (All 3 of these refrigerators are kegerators.)

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Last edited by JonW on Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:21 pm, edited 3 times in total.
ukbrewer
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by ukbrewer »

looks good John. I'm in the middle of rebuilding my current system. Right now its a Brutus 10 with Love controlllers and asco valves. Moving over to electric HLT and RIMS with gas just on the boil kettle.
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ECC
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by ECC »

Wow, looks great. I love how you tucked the pumps under the base, very clean.
BCS Portland
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by BCS Portland »

That is one neat clean looking build. I especially like the graphic showing the flow. I need to upgrade mine to copy your design.
JonW
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by JonW »

ECC wrote:Wow, looks great. I love how you tucked the pumps under the base, very clean.
BCS Portland wrote:That is one neat clean looking build. I especially like the graphic showing the flow. I need to upgrade mine to copy your design.
Thanks guys. It's still a work in progress. I just swapped the keggles last night for some 20 gallon BoilerMakers. Got them used from a local guy on Craigslist! He delivered them to my house so he could come check out the BCS - He'll be getting one shortly. :)

I was originally going to have the pumps mounted on the diamond plate shelf, but I didn't like the heat that was radiated from the burners and having the diamond plate shelf below the pumps also caused the shelf area to hold in the heat. Relocating them under the stand has now also allowed the shelf to act as a splash guard and is also used to conceal all the wiring and relays.

My previous stand only used 2 pumps and when I first started using this stand (before automation), I used 2 pumps. I really hate doing hose changes and dripping stuff all over the place while brewing, so I had implemented a (confusing) valve manifold setup to do all the liquid switching. When going to electric ball valves, I found that adding the 3rd pump not only simplified the flow and operation, but it was just as cheap as having a couple more valves and it now gives me new flexibilities. I'll be able to easily do back-to-back brews where I'm mashing (and recirculating) the second batch while the first one is finishing in the brew kettle.
JonW
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by JonW »

If anyone is interested in the SS ball valves I used, I still have about a dozen of them left. I directly imported some of them to get the price down and to supply to a few other brewers.

Here's some links on them:
Mfg US web site: http://www.electric-valve.com/20.html

Video showing them in action: http://www.absolutecentrifuge.com/speci ... spx#spec03 (note that the specs this site lists are for the 120V AC coils, mine are 12V DC coils).

The valves are $75 each. Check Ebay for electric ball valves and you'll find that there isn't anything even close in that price range.
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by gbrewer »

If only we could get some sort of level control "on the fly".
JonW
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by JonW »

Here's some new pics of the stand. I have the powder coating done now. The BCS is mounted to the garage wall and is also used to control the temp for my serving fridges (2 kegerators) and my fermentor fridge (3rd kegerator). There are 3 CAT-5 data jacks on the back of the rig that are plugged into the BCS on the wall. One CAT-5 for the temp probes, one for the gas valves and pumps, and one for the liquid SS ball valves. Check out the next post for a liquid flow diagram.

Burners are natural gas. I ran a dedicated 3/4" gas line in my garage and have a 1/2" ID gas line with QD that the stand attaches to.

The finish on the stand is a high temp powder coating. I was running it for a while with no finish, but it starts to rust pretty quick. I've only fired it up once now that the coating is on it, but it seems like it should last pretty good. The powder coat is rated for 1200 degrees.

Yeah, I know, 3 pumps seems like overkill, but with pumps now available for $100, it really just simplified the setup when using the electronic ball valves. It also lets me setup for doing back-to-back brew sessions where I can be mashing brew #2 while I'm still finishing up brew #1 in the BK. I like to do continuous recirculation on both the HLT & MLT, so this handles that nicely as well.

Still to do:
- change to SS QD's or cam locks. (I'm not a fan of the discoloring and flow restriction of the McMaster ones). (DONE!)
- swap out pump heads for SS versions. (DONE!)
- new tubing when new QD's are done. (DONE!)
- possibly move gas control valves from rear to front (DONE!)



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Last edited by JonW on Mon Mar 07, 2011 4:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
jkurl
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by jkurl »

Jon,

Looks awesome. How many SSR's do you have working that rig. I am looking to do the same. I just got a nice size box to put all the controls in and need to make sure i have enough SSR's for the system.
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Re: Single tier, 3 pump automated build

Post by JonW »

jkurl wrote:Jon,

Looks awesome. How many SSR's do you have working that rig. I am looking to do the same. I just got a nice size box to put all the controls in and need to make sure i have enough SSR's for the system.
There are 6 SSR's. Here's a legend for what connections are on it.

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