Inside wiring. For this to be correct the white and the yellow wires should be switched on the Triac. Also, the extra wire hanging goes to the near side of the resistor (I didn't have it connected in this picture).
An earlier view of the inside wiring
Here is a picture showing the back. The screw on the lower left knock-out is the screw holding the triac down to the bottom of the box. There are better ways to do it and I will post them as I build them.
The finished unit
I mispelled the work "controller" in all the links above but I did it in a hurry and didn't check myself until now --- sorry.
Anyway! There are much better ways to build this thing and I've been scrounging through my junk box to find what I need for an enclosure and heat sink. I'll let you guys know with a better step buy step when I put the new one together.
Thanks pinto. I was out of heat shrink tubeing so I used tape just to be on the safe side. I was afraid that as I pushed the wiring inside the box I would mash a wire against the bottom of the box and short something out.
I did drill apart another dimmer and if I were to build this design again I'd do as you said and use a rivit hole and screw to hold the Triac to the dimmer instead of using the steel box at the heat sink. I really think the dimmer has enough surface area for the 120v versions.
Thanks for all your help --- and you to masonjar for pointing me in the right direction on my wiring screwup.
That's closely approaching the current limit of the triac, but it falls within the specs. It should work, but you may need a bigger heatsink.
If it didn't work, the triac would burn out, so be ready to accept the loss of that triac when you test it out. The burner and dimmer should be safe from getting damaged if the triac fails.
I think I may not have been thinking. This is way over 15A, and would kick off the breaker. I need to look at running 220V I guess, then use the 220 specs. Well I am certainly no electrician. My current unit works well, but cutting back 1500W seems silly with the size of my still. It was fun to make though. maybe I can use it for something else someday.
Yeah, I thought that sounded high, but it could be done. I've seen 30 amp, 120v circuits for hot tubs before. Maybe that's what the element is for originally.
Oh, that 3000W element that is made for 120v will be a 12,000W element if you connect it to a 240v circuit - that is, if it doesn't melt itself or trip the breaker. Doubling the voltage will quadruple the power when the load is kept the same.
You could use 2 1500W heaters on 2 different circuits also.
My favorite thing to do, and what I use for sankey kegs, is to use a good quality 4500 220v water heater element. It allows me to boil up quickly and adjust down so I can run good quality spirit.
My nomad son arrived home unexpected . I showed him this thread, We visited our local Dick smiths . (1) 400 v 15 amp triac $5 . (16) 5 watt 1k2 ohm resistors (soldered together top & bottom in a open square.$5 50.! aluminium project box $15 (1) 240 500 watt light dimmer $ ?
We wired it up using Pintos & Tonks suggestions .It works unbelievably well. We used the dimmer as is with original capacitor etc. Time taken 3hours We could not find a 25 w 75ohmm resistor hence the prefab job.
many thanks Newts
No, you have not missed the point. Some of us run elements that would require off the shelf dimmers in the 5000W range. There are around $150USD. So if you can get by with a cheap off the shelf dimmer, then please use it. Iran one of those $35 dimmers on my 750W element on 120V for a long time a long time ago.
I built grayson a box that changed power from 240 to 120 by flipping a swich you take 2double pole contacters with 240 volt coils and a on off on switch.Also added a lite to show when in 240 volts were on.
Have any Aussies out there built a controller as detailed in Pinto's diagram? I only ask because I've spent the last two days trying to source the parts without any luck. I can find them on mouser.com but the shipping to Aus is out of this world. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Brett
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
CoopsOz wrote:Have any Aussies out there built a controller as detailed in Pinto's diagram? I only ask because I've spent the last two days trying to source the parts without any luck. I can find them on mouser.com but the shipping to Aus is out of this world. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Brett
I put a 1500 watt jug element in a 20 litre SS boiler, I use it with my valved reflux, works great with no overheating probs. I plan to add a 2400 jug element to it with a Infinite switch, the type used in electric stoves. I will use the 2400 for stripping runs
masonjar,
Can you not find an Australian distributor, or can you not find the part number at your local Australian distributor?
The triac was easy enough.....DSE sells them for about $5.00, it's the 25w 75ohm resister I'm having trouble with. I think I'm just gonna go the route newts did, 16 x 1K2ohm, 5watt ceramics in parallel will get me the 75ohms.....I'm not sure how the pwr rating works though. Any thoughts?
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
"masonjar"
In parallel, the power rating of each resistor will be summed if they are the same value resistor. So your new power rating will be 16x5=80 watts.
Thanks masonjar....80watts is obviously more than sufficient. Next step is to find a light dimmer that isn't gonna break the bank. All the higher wattage ones I've seen are over $50.00!
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
This may have already been covered in another thread.
Has anybody used a stove element control? They're rated in the 1000W range and you can get them at most hardware stoves. They're cheaper than lighting dimmers too if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah, as Tater pointed out earlier in this thread, stove elements use thermal switches (infinite switch), which can wander around a small range of power outputs and cause surging - where the boil picks up and calms down over and over. I've been using an electric stove burner for the past few months and it works okay, but I've heard other people say that it surges for them. The electric stove doesn't heat up as fast either. I do like that I can do a stripping run for one batch on one burner while heating up another batch on a second burner. When one finishes, I switch pots from underneath the still head, re-seal and start the second batch without having to wait another hour for it to come up to temperature.
I have a quick question, I built the cct as described and thought I was doing well until I plugged it in, it blew the triac to hell. I built it with a female adapter at the output end, so I can just plug my existing element cable into that. When I tested it....I didn't have the element plugged in, is the resistance of the element required in the cct? Or did I just wire it up wrong?
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
Three possibilities for why the triac let out its smoke:
1. Underrated triac. Which part did you use and what is the voltage of your power line?
2. Load shorted. If the female adapter had its wires touching, the triac would be the weak link - or if you're lucky the circuit breaker would pop.
3. Wired incorrectly. Perhaps the gate was shorted directly to the power line. Did you build it in a metal enclosure that could have shorted things out?
Masonjar, the triac used was BT139, 600v, my pwr line 1s 240v @ 50hz. I'm pretty sure my female adaptor isn't shorted.....I'll check it out, and yes, it was built in a metal case.
This is how it looks;
The active is straight through from input to output,
The Neutral went to pin1 of the triac,
Pin2 of the triac was tied to neutral and one leg of the 75ohm resistor,
The other side of the resistor went to one side of the dimmer,
The other side of the dimmer went to pin3 of the triac (the gate).
Disregard above.....I've just discovered that I wired it backwards, CoopsOz takes dickhead of the year award!
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
Brown is active and blue is neutral....I had them around the wrong way. I should have remembered the old saying "touch the brown, and your in the poo!"
I'll buy another triac today, rewire it and see how I go.
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
Keep on Stillin' 
If ya had read this whole post you would of seen it was covered. 
