New to Programing

[gillclark]

Hey all. Been trolling around for a bit trying to read as much as I can, and still a little lost. Im by no means a computer/ programmer guy, nor an electrican, so some of this stuff is a little out of my leauge. Just finished the build on my HERMS system, which includes the BCS 460, and have done a few batches in manual mode. Now i want to start programing the BCS to automate things and get more accutrate; but not sure where to start? Ive read some post and WIKI page, played around in the BCS, but to be honest.. states, processes, WIN, widgets.... im still a little lost.

A little about my rig.. its a single tier HERMS, 2 march pumps, and 2 BG-14 burners, 2 temp probes, blichman auto sparge, copper pumbing and stainless ball valves. Conncetd to the BCS are the HLT burner; HLT and MT temp probes; and both pumps. Looking to start with just a simple single step mash. Heat HLT to strike, pump to MT, dough in and start recirc, ramp to mash out, sparge.

Any guidence on how to program, add interface, or just any advice in genral would be much appericated. If anyone happened to be in Michigan, id love to see some programs in use.

Also had a question regarding BCS page refresh. In manual mode, I have to refresh my browser every minute or two to update the temp probe display? is this normal?

Thanks in advance!

Clark

[Bru-Noob]

hey gillclark.. I see no responses but I am just starting out and while I cannot help you I would love to keep up with you and your progress since we are on similar paths.. You are just ahead of me.. I hope some folks chime in and help you out..

[JonW]

I have loaded my programming configuration to the BCS demo system. You can start/stop processes and poke around on it to see how it works.
Go to http://demo.embeddedcc.com/index.html

Start at "System Settings" and look at what items are defined for temp probes, outputs and inputs.

Then go to a process like the "MLT Heat/Hold" process and look at each state. See what happens in "State 0" and look to see how it exits that state to move to the next one. Continue on through the states so you can grasp how the process progresses.

A process is usually defined for a specific type of activity like the boil, the mash, etc. Within that process, you may have multiple states that each do something until a specified trigger usually moves it to the next state. That trigger or "exit condition" may be a temperature, time, digital input, Win button or manually selecting something in the interface.

Here's a breakdown of my "MLT Heat/Hold" process:
- State 0 initializes process timers, opens the recirculation valve, waits 5 seconds, then jumps to State 1.
- State 1 turns on the gas valve to start heating, maintains valves for recirculation and starts the pump. It continues this until the strike water hits 162, then it exits to State 2 - triggering the alarm on the way (so I know strike water is ready) and also spawning the "HLT Heat/Hold" process to start getting the HLT water ready.
- State 2 continues to recirculate and hold the strike water temperature until I manually activate "State 3" to tell it that I am mashing in. (you could also trigger this with a WIN button).
- State 3 starts a 5 minute "Mash-in Rest" timer and keeps the pump and burner off during this time. This is when I mash in. At the end of the 5 minute timer, it will jump to State 4 and trigger the alarm on the way so that I know to check the recirculation rate and turn down the burner level.
- State 4 will maintain a mash temperature of 154 for the duration of the mash timer (and maintains valves and pump for recirculation). State 5 will be triggered when there is 10 minutes left in the mash time.
- State 5 will proceed to raise the mash temperature to 168 for a mash-out. At the end of the mash timer, the "MLT Heat/Hold" process is automatically triggered to stop and the "Fly Sparge" process is triggered to start.

Spend some time reviewing the demo system and then I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

[gillclark]

Thanks for the info Jon! I did a lot of looking and reading at all the info youve shared on here, what a great help.

Bru-noob - reading all the Wiki pages, and all the post I could on here still had me confused on how to get started. What really helped me was some face time with the BCS. I poured a few pints of homebrew and spent an afternoon in front of the BCS, toggeling between here and the BCS until it started to make sense. I was able to get a very basic understanding, and set up a process for my single infusion brews. I have alot to learn still, but Ive got a few batches under my belt now.

I am starting to plan a brewery build 2.0 and go electric. I feel a little like I am staring over with all new questions, so im sure I will be seeking more advice soon!

[MrNatural]

Still basically a BCS virgin, with just a couple of days of foreplay.
Really looked forward to comparing the behavior of the demo to what I was coming up with.
http://demo.embeddedcc.com/index.html seems to be broken?

Currently looking to figure out:
Trigger outboard alarm for event or state change.

Constant trigger to 220V contactor whenever PID is asserting SSR to heating element. I get the burner/ignition setup, but contactor needs to be energized continuously. Would a huge light time when triggering the contactor as "ignition" do the trick?

Still not sure on this one, but thought is PID control of 110V March pump to throttle sparge delivery.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f235/pwm-pu ... ol-457281/

Thanks, Dale

[MrNatural]

Crickets anyone?

[JonW]

Still basically a BCS virgin, with just a couple of days of foreplay.
Really looked forward to comparing the behavior of the demo to what I was coming up with.
http://demo.embeddedcc.com/index.html seems to be broken?

It's up now.

Trigger outboard alarm for event or state change.

If you want to do this with an external alarm, you'll want to use the system setting "Force alarm to Reg10". This causes register 10 to be asserted whenever the alarm is to be active. You can then add a line of ladder logic code that turns the alarm on and off whenever the register is asserted. I think there's an example on the forum here somewhere - if not, I can post up the ladder logic if you need it.

Constant trigger to 220V contactor whenever PID is asserting SSR to heating element. I get the burner/ignition setup, but contactor needs to be energized continuously. Would a huge light time when triggering the contactor as "ignition" do the trick?

Don't use a huge light time - that won't work. Is the contactor being used just to energize the circuit ahead of the PWM of the PID output? If so, just use a separate output to turn the contacter on in the state needed. The PID will then turn the SSR on/off as needed without your contactor continuously turning on and off. When you exit the state or stop the process, then the contactor will turn off also.

Still not sure on this one, but thought is PID control of 110V March pump to throttle sparge delivery.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f235/pwm-pu ... ol-457281/

Not going to work. Those pumps are not designed to be throttled. You'll lose prime on them immediately.

[MrNatural]

Thank you sir!