is my wiring diagram right?

[itchy]

i put together my controller today and added a switch to shut off the power,,so far so good.. it was kinda plain and i decided to dress it up a bit so i just went to ebay and bought a ammeter and a voltmeter to add on to it when they get here.. if someone could just tell me if i got the right idea on how to wire them into the circuit it would be greatly appreciated.. this is my attemt at the future add ons,,, don't laugh too hard,,,,,,lol

[coppercreature]

Yep, that'll work.
You might want to take the 2nd leg of the voltmeter to the other terminal on the element instead of to ground to get the true voltage going to the element.

[Prairiepiss]

Yep, that'll work.
You might want to take the 2nd leg of the voltmeter to the other terminal on the element instead of to ground to get the true voltage going to the element.

+1 Not to mention the volt meter as you have it will only read half. It will only read off a 110v leg.

The volt meter won't do much for you. You aren't varying voltage really. You are switching it on and off. At best you mite see the needle shake a bit at the lower settings.

[BigPa]

Yes you have to get the voltage drop across the element. I also agree, the volt meter will be just for looks. The only thing that will change is the amperage. I just put an amp meter in mine.

[Coaster]

Forum Member itchy incorporating a Volt Meter in his PSR-25 Phase Angle Controller is more than ‘Just For Looks’.

Having both a Volt Meter and an Amp Meter operator itchy will know what Wattage (Power) his PSR-25 Phase Angle Controller is providing to his keg boiler electric water heater element. In many instances knowing the Wattage (Power) his PSR-25 Phase Angle Controller is providing to his keg boiler electric water heater element would be useful information.

Volts x Amps = Watts

Regards,
Coaster

[BigPa]

I agree it is good to know how much power is going to the element. However, most states have regulations on how much your line voltage can fluctuate. This is usually in the +/- 8 volts range. Now doing the math, considering that amount of fluctuation and using 12 amps as a starting point, you would have approximately 192 watt swing from high to low. On a hobby standpoint, I think this is close enough not to make much difference.

That is why I said it would be for looks. It is just like my Temp gauge on my dual purpose tower. Most say it is useless, but I enjoy looking at it so I know where I am at.

[Prairiepiss]

It will read line voltage at all times it is working. Because that is what is being supplied to the element. It just gets turned off and on really fast.

[rad14701]

It will read line voltage at all times it is working. Because that is what is being supplied to the element. It just gets turned off and on really fast.

No, it will not read a constant line voltage, that is a common misconception... Due to the phase angle functionality it will only be providing a portion of the line voltage at a given amperage and those two values get multiplied to come up with actual wattage sent to the element...

Here is an example from my Power Controller Wattage Calculator...
[th]Volts[/th][th]Amps[/th][th]Watts[/th]

120	12.5	1500
110	11.46	1261
100	10.42	1042
90	9.38	844
80	8.33	666
70	7.29	510
60	6.25	375
50	5.21	261
40	4.17	167
30	3.13	94
20	2.08	42
10	1.04	10

[Prairiepiss]

Really? I stand corrected. I apologize. I based my answer off what we find in our field of work on similar systems.

Thank you Rad for the correction.

[rad14701]

Really? I stand corrected. I apologize. I based my answer off what we find in our field of work on similar systems.

Thank you Rad for the correction.

No problem... It's an easy mistake to make without toiling over a crapload of phase angle information...

Looking around and not finding my calculator... Maybe I haven't uploaded it yet...

EDIT: I have added my Power Controller Wattage Chart Calculator for member convenience...

[itchy]

wow,,,, thanks for all the input guys,,, i wish i knew half as much about electric as most of you do,,,, i was really hoping to watch my times and what power i was pulling to try and figure out how much the electric would cost to run a decent 12-13 gallon wash,,, i guess if its pretty much 220 the whole time and i watch my amp pull and times i can get a close estimate on power usage... this site rocks......

[itchy]

i'm hoping some of you catch this question,,, with the amp meter on just one leg of the 220 would it read the amps on just that leg? or is it gonna tell me the total amperage the element is useing? if its reading only the one leg would i just double that amount to get to the full load or would the other leg constantly be pulling the maximun amperage pull reguarless to what the psr-25 is allowing on its leg?

[rad14701]

i'm hoping some of you catch this question,,, with the amp meter on just one leg of the 220 would it read the amps on just that leg? or is it gonna tell me the total amperage the element is useing? if its reading only the one leg would i just double that amount to get to the full load or would the other leg constantly be pulling the maximun amperage pull reguarless to what the psr-25 is allowing on its leg?

If you are completing a circuit you get the total currently in use for the entire circuit, whether voltage or amperage... In the US 240V uses two 120V circuits that are 180 degrees out of phase to achieve 240V...

[itchy]

thanks rad,,, i think the whole electrical thing is the hardest part to understand in this forum,, especially since the us has 120 volt and two legs for 220... we just gotta complicate things over here...lol.. so my drawing is good to go other then switching the voltage meter neutral wire to the other side of the element line.... thanks again..

[itchy]

i finally got back on this project as well,,, thanks to everyones input on this topic i added in the volt meter n amp meter,, only i connected the volt to both sides out the element leads as suggested and it works great,,,,
here it is at full power

and at 3/4 half power,,, the volt meter does read out the voltage output just fine..

when i got the boiler good n hot i was able to use less power then that last pic,, about 13 amps at 90 volts.. maybe the volts arent accurate but it gives me a point of reference that actually isnt needed if i got the amp meter...

[RiskyWhiskey]

Thanks for the pics, itchy. Where did you get your enclosure?

[bentstick]

Nice work itchy, been trying to figure out the same only with digital meters, have a buddy I know working out bugs as we speak.