BCS-462 with S8610u

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dryhopgulch
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BCS-462 with S8610u

Post by dryhopgulch »

I purchased a BCS-462 recently with the intent of going electric. Long story short, I can't do that yet and I'm hoping to adapt my current brutus system that has a honeywell spark ignition (s8610u). I remember reading horror stories about a yr ago when I built the system with users describing emi interacting with the bcs leading me to design with pid controls. I'd like to keep my current system and just slot in the bcs but wondering if I too will go crazy tracking down the interaction and shielding/grounding in a metal box. I've also seen posts describing use of the bcs to control the ignition, what kind of valves are people using for that setup?

Also, if anyone has a similar setup and doesn't mind sharing their config I'd appreciate it.

Thanks
dryhopgulch
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Re: BCS-462 with S8610u

Post by dryhopgulch »

Update: I'm moving forward with a rpi/touchscreen and changing honeywell gas valves to valves4projects solenoids with glowfly hot surface igniters. I do have a few questions that was hoping someone could help me out with:

1. How does the igniter output interact with the process when there is a call for heat? I could see this perhaps being within latter logic but please advise.
2. Can you have more than 8 states within a process?
3. Typical warmup and ignition time for HSI/solenoid?
4. Do propane/NG users control the boil or manually control? If manual, do you use a hardwired switch (ON instead of Auto) to control the valve open or is this possible within the BCS?
5. Just curious if it's possible to have a pop-up indicating what to do for the next state? For instance telling the operator to switch hose configurations, etc before continue. I'm planning on having a control panel push button to move onto the next state but was wondering if we have the ability for more user interaction.

Thanks (if anyone replies)!
JonW
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Re: BCS-462 with S8610u

Post by JonW »

dryhopgulch wrote:Update: I'm moving forward with a rpi/touchscreen and changing honeywell gas valves to valves4projects solenoids with glowfly hot surface igniters. I do have a few questions that was hoping someone could help me out with:
dryhopgulch wrote:1. How does the igniter output interact with the process when there is a call for heat? I could see this perhaps being within latter logic but please advise.
http://docs.embeddedcc.com/settings/#auto-ignition
dryhopgulch wrote:2. Can you have more than 8 states within a process?
No, there are only 8 per process. If you think you need more than 8 states for a process, maybe post up what you're doing and someone can give some input on it. It's usually best to break things down so different processes handle only specific steps. e.g. my system has "HLT Heat/Hold", "MLT Heat/Hold", "Fly Sparge", "Boil Process" and "Hop Additions".
dryhopgulch wrote:3. Typical warmup and ignition time for HSI/solenoid?
I usually do 5 sec / 5 sec.
dryhopgulch wrote:4. Do propane/NG users control the boil or manually control? If manual, do you use a hardwired switch (ON instead of Auto) to control the valve open or is this possible within the BCS?
Propane/NG doesn't make a difference for BCS boil control. You'll set your process/state to fire the BK burner and then you may want to adjust the flame to ensure you have a good vigorous boil, but not too overactive. You don't really need temperature control on the boil process itself. You may want a BK temp probe though for checking chill temps or triggering a boil timer once you hit boiling. It's all up to you on how much you want to automate steps.
dryhopgulch wrote:5. Just curious if it's possible to have a pop-up indicating what to do for the next state? For instance telling the operator to switch hose configurations, etc before continue. I'm planning on having a control panel push button to move onto the next state but was wondering if we have the ability for more user interaction.
No, there are no user informational popup messages that can be programmed into the process. You can name your states "Change Hose", etc. and you would see that it is paused and highlighted on that state.
dryhopgulch
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Re: BCS-462 with S8610u

Post by dryhopgulch »

Thanks for the thorough response JonW, much respect. Also thanks for the dm oakdale.
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