ECC Forum

I am in the process of designing a small 250L system.
I was originally going to do a simple manual control panel and was looking for a multi step pid controller to do mash temp rests,
But then i found this BCS and it looks like just what I need and more.

I have been trolling the documentation and forums for a couple of days now, trying to figure out how everything works. I could not access the testing unit to verify some of my questions.

I will defiantly doing a custom interface, hopefully the HMI builder will be enough but I think not. (attached Diagram)

the main question I have is about volume control. I need to measure either flow of liquid or volume of tank. the only thing I saw was in the brewtroller forum for using a pressure regulator http://www.oscsys.com/projects/brewtrol ... easurement

How is everyone measuring mash and sarge water?
Ideally i would use a flow meter to control a process, but i don't think that is an option

The system will be built per my design but I will be doing the wiring myself
I am really looking forward to trying this out, I hope to be able to order my BCS in a month or so.

Cheers
Gordon
ALEhouse Brewery
Riga, Latvia

Here is an updated schematic, with the items I would want on screen
I have yet to decide if the valves will be manual or solenoid

I saw someone had posted about using a proximity sensor on a sightglass to control levels
it looks like this is the only way currently to control volume.

is there any info on when volume/flow control and HMI updates will happen?

Cheers
Gordon

I can only assume from the lack of a response there is no solution for this issue? I also would like to do the same, but no where near the same scale you are talking about.

Let us know if you come up with a solution.

I saw a post a while back where someone had made a 'depth sensor' with an aquarium air pump, and a pressure sensor. They pumped air into a tube, and the pressure changed with the depth of the liquid... Only solution I have heard of.

don.fief@comcast.net wrote:I saw a post a while back where someone had made a 'depth sensor' with an aquarium air pump, and a pressure sensor. They pumped air into a tube, and the pressure changed with the depth of the liquid... Only solution I have heard of.

I think that setup is used with the Brewtroller. Not sure if it will work with the BCS. I am in the process of designing my own setup with the BCS.

Here is link to what I think you are talking about: https://www.oscsys.com/projects/brewtro ... easurement

You can use the digital inputs of the BCS with switches(float or pressure) to measure these things, or you can buy or design a different system... There is a reason that the BCS is affordable and a industrial automation controller is not.... plenty of previous posts on this subject if you read them...

-mike

I would skip all the in-tank solutions. They'll just make for issues. I've considered an infra red eye on a sight glass also, but I think the best solution is a piezo weight scale that tells the system what you want to know.
Wort and water each weigh in at a known (or knowable) quantum and are close enough that you prolly can just use one weight for both. Any given volume will have a weight. You wouldn't even need to know the wights; you can set your volume points manually one time for whatever known liquid volume/s you want to track and use whatever the piezo scales provide as that volume. The advantage to using weight is that you can have as many volume settings as you can get your BCS to handle. Plus there's no failed infra red sensors blocked by debris, no sticking parts in gooey dried wort, nor is there any cleaning. Another advantage is that it cleans up the lines of the system being invisible and entirely out of the way.

You could use a piezo strain gauge or a regular scale.