Jimbo's Electric Conversion

[bellybuster]

too many conversations going at the same time. The poster i was referring to only has 2 hot legs and a ground... no neutral. DUE51 I think.

[Due51]

I got my SCR in the mail today and am thinking about how I'll mount this in the box. As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm concerned about the weight of the SCR hanging on the stem of the control knob. It is quite frail and just holding the SCR by the stem causes the rest of the unit to sag under its own weight.

I've re - read the whole thread again tonight because I want to make sure I understand that I CANNOT use 1 hot leg and my bare ground wire to generate 120V for a fan because I don't technically have a neutral (I have 3 wires total: 2 hot black and 1 bare aluminum strand ground). Correct?

[tickle]

Whatever I bought it threads on slick as snot. I doubt they are different

Not looking for argument at all. I was noting the couplings not your nuts.

AC

LOL! AC, quit checking out his nuts!

[Giner]

I got my SCR in the mail today and am thinking about how I'll mount this in the box. As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, I'm concerned about the weight of the SCR hanging on the stem of the control knob. It is quite frail and just holding the SCR by the stem causes the rest of the unit to sag under its own weight.

I've re - read the whole thread again tonight because I want to make sure I understand that I CANNOT use 1 hot leg and my bare ground wire to generate 120V for a fan because I don't technically have a neutral (I have 3 wires total: 2 hot black and 1 bare aluminum strand ground). Correct?

If you switch to a 4 wire plug you can use the neutral. You will want to make sure your outlet is properly wired to the neutral bus. If using Jimbo's diagram, the neutral can go to the 4th wire. Otherwise you will want to mount your controller like Jimbo did and send a 4th stand alone wire back to the neutral bus.

[acfixer69]

Whatever I bought it threads on slick as snot. I doubt they are different

Not looking for argument at all. I was noting the couplings not your nuts.

AC

LOL! AC, quit checking out his nuts!

Put a smile on me face how's it rollin tick If it fit. Life is good Jimbo

[Due51]

I finally got everything installed and powered up. The SCR works well so far with excellent control and reaction. I'm doing a stripping run with 5 gallons of Birdwatchers sugar wash through my unpacked Boka. I have a nice flow from the discharge tube and cool water from the condenser tube. So far, si good. Thanks everybody.

[Jimbo]

I finally got everything installed and powered up. The SCR works well so far with excellent control and reaction. I'm doing a stripping run with 5 gallons of Birdwatchers sugar wash through my unpacked Boka. I have a nice flow from the discharge tube and cool water from the condenser tube. So far, si good. Thanks everybody.

excellent congrats

[Due51]

I finally got everything installed and powered up. The SCR works well so far with excellent control and reaction. I'm doing a stripping run with 5 gallons of Birdwatchers sugar wash through my unpacked Boka. I have a nice flow from the discharge tube and cool water from the condenser tube. So far, si good. Thanks everybody.

excellent congrats

Can't thank you enough for the info and pics.

All HAIL the drinkin man.

[buflowing]

Well Jimbo, been thinking about you recently. You see, I've a couple of buckets of mash sitting around waiting to be run. And you know what? I've got a propane fired rig. And I'm in Michigan. And it's cold as a witches tit, both outside and in my garage. I seriously don't know when I'm going to run again. And I know you are not too far away and it's likely as cold as it is here. And you used to cook with gas as well, probably outside in the garage like I do. And now, I'm jealous. You've gone electric and are cooking in the basement. Where it's warm, and dry, and probably not as dirty.

It's time to join the ranks. Gotta get my keg electrified. I'll be reading this thread and others to see what I need to do, as well as what I can do with what I have. And planning my summer sailing adventures to get my mind off this numbing cold.

[Jimbo]

Well Jimbo, been thinking about you recently. You see, I've a couple of buckets of mash sitting around waiting to be run. And you know what? I've got a propane fired rig. And I'm in Michigan. And it's cold as a witches tit, both outside and in my garage. I seriously don't know when I'm going to run again. And I know you are not too far away and it's likely as cold as it is here. And you used to cook with gas as well, probably outside in the garage like I do. And now, I'm jealous. You've gone electric and are cooking in the basement. Where it's warm, and dry, and probably not as dirty.

It's time to join the ranks. Gotta get my keg electrified. I'll be reading this thread and others to see what I need to do, as well as what I can do with what I have. And planning my summer sailing adventures to get my mind off this numbing cold.

haha, yes, basement is pretty much 66-68 all year. LOL, woops not gloating. You know, you could put a vent fan in and use propane in the basement, until you get around to the electric build. Ive always cooked in the basement, with ventilation.

[buflowing]

Titillating.

Now I need to get reading to find out what I can run off a 30 amp dryer circuit.

[Halfbaked]

Most don't go over 5500w or 6000w and your 30 amp will do either.

[himesrun]

Hey Jimbo. I'm going to copy your controller and could use a wiring diagram. I'm just gathering parts for now. Any way you draw up and post one?

[Jimbo]

himesrun, I posted one in this thread. couple pages down.

[himesrun]

Thanks Jimbo, every time I get to the "NPT" discussion I usually skip a couple of pages and that's where it was.

[Due51]

Most don't go over 5500w or 6000w and your 30 amp will do either.

I have a 15 gallon keg and boil 10 gallons max at time. I installed a 5500watt camco ulwd element and it'll heat up 10 gallons in no time. I'd venture to say it's a little overkill if 10 gallons is the most you're going to bring to a boil.

Also - Buflowing, I'm in Michigan too. Convert to electric. Sitting in the garage in this weather sucks. Doing it in the basement is quite enjoyable when it 0 outside.

[The KYChemist]

I've got a question, or two. I know... You're all thinking "Oh, no." I really would like to put an ammeter, and voltmeter, on my controller box. I read about the blue chinese ones, which is what i was planning on using, before I even read this thread. Seems, they don't give accurate readings. I read all about why, a few pages back, but its still like reading Greek, to me. I'm not the most electrically inclined person, but have been learning. Seems the problem lies with the meters, themselves, and what they are calibrated to read. So, would these be acceptable to use?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110951281361?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120985523453?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I figure, by using the analog meters, you wouldn't have the same problem as the digital ones. I was also thinking the problem may lie with the controller. From what I've read, most use the ssr set-up, where you have to buy fifty different pieces. I preferred the all-inclusiveness of Jimbo's scr controller set-up. I haven't been able to find much on it, but have the ssr people had the same problem, with the digital meters, as Jimbo did?

[bellybuster]

personally, if buying Chinese I would go with an amp meter that uses a shunt. I just find the connections on those to be pretty wimpy for pass thru. That's allot of amps going thru there. That's my feeling but both those gauges should do the trick.

On the flip side. you really only need measure one, amps or volts. Either will give you what you need. I have both and don't even notice the volts side. Mine is digital. It has been said you don't need either and its true. A mark on the dial is all you need but I like shiny things.

As far as the accuracy it really doesn't matter as long as it is consistent.

[Jimbo]

Im switching to analog meters. Just a lot more convenient to look at a needle, and Ill put ink dots on the lens where 2,3,4,5 and 5.5 KW are. Old school retro look is cool too.

As far as True RMS or average, I assume the analog meters will have the same problem. Yes SSR and SCR's both chop the waveform the same way, so the same problem exists with both.

[The KYChemist]

Im switching to analog meters. Just a lot more convenient to look at a needle, and Ill put ink dots on the lens where 2,3,4,5 and 5.5 KW are. Old school retro look is cool too.

As far as True RMS or average, I assume the analog meters will have the same problem. Yes SSR and SCR's both chop the waveform the same way, so the same problem exists with both.

Hmmm... Well, that's dissapointing. Anyway to rectify this, so the gauges read true? Or, is it one of those "live with it" situations?

[Jimbo]

it doesn't matter whether they read true or not KY. they could read in the alphabet as long as you know where 2000 3000 4000 watts ia. I have a chart a few pages down that converts true rms to average

[Jimbo]

Apparently analog meters dont suffer the same Average--True RMS error issue. I bought a couple analog meters, again,cheap from China, link below, and they read the same voltage as my Fluke, true RMS. For those new to the discussion I initially had some cheap digital meters, linked in the OP. They read way off, like 130V when my Fluke was reading 178 (for 3000W).

Anyway, if I did it all over again Id skip the meters, as discussed below they are totally unneccesary. I cut some pieces of masking tape into arrow shapes, and using my FLuke DVM marked where 1.5, 2, 3 and 4 thousand watts are on the dial. Done. Meters just bouncin around lookin cool now. Kinda retro.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370438615097?ss ... 1497.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Edit: PS- Even the wattage doesnt matter, what matters is where on the dial you get the flow rate your after. I only go balls out (5500W) when Im heating up. For 12 gal stripper runs I back down to 4000W, for 12 gal spirit runs Im under 2000W. So the tape markings make for quick adjustment to my sweet spots

[sthudium]

Double boiler is done.

One of the seldom mentioned advantages of the double boiler concerns heat loss vs heat control. With a conventional boiler, the input heat to the wash = element heat minus heat loss through the boiler wall. With a double boiler, the input heat to the wash = the heat in the water bath. Heat loss to the environment is not a consideration, as long as the element heat is greater than the heat that is lost to the environment through the walls of the outer boiler.

[The KYChemist]

I remember it being mentioned earlier, in this thread, about the mounting deficiences of the SCR controller. Sounded like the ones who used them, were just hanging them from the pot itself. I came up with a simple solution that may just work, for those using the SCR controller. Here is a teaser pic. If you want to see more, check out my Boka build thread.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 50&t=44011

[Jimbo]

excellent idea KY. Thanks for posting the pic. Next time I have mine apart Ill do same. BTW, the analog meters are in now. I like them better than the dig, easier to read meaningul info, and they read true. I plan to put some dots on the faces where 2,3 and 4000 watts are. Those are the power levels I use unless Im roaring to heat water. Cheers.

[humbledore]

I like the simplicity of that KY. I did my mount using the holes in the PC board and stand offs. Whoever designed these things sure made it a challenge to figure out a good way to mount them. Here's a pic of mine:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44557

[The KYChemist]

That's good to hear about the gauges, Jimbo. Thought I was just going to be adding those for looks only. Good to hear they actually work. I wish I would've thought about separating the pot, from the board. Good idea there, Humbledore. It would make separating the faceplate from the box, for any possible maintenance, much easier. Thanks for the compliments you guys sent my way, as well.

[Prairiepiss]

As far as the meters being accurate.

Do they really need to be absolute accurate? No not really. You really just want the meter to give you a good reference. So that you can be more consistent. With your runs. Once you figure out where it runs best. Then you will have tour reference point.

Some are so dead set to have exact numbers. Why?

[Jimbo]

Sure for running, its pure reference, mark where works. But getting the numbers right, at least once, to understand the true power levels lets us help others when questions come up here about how much power does it take to do this or that, or how fast will it run at x power etc

Edit: That can be done with a hand held meter. I said below if done again, Id leave the meters off. They dont add a lot of value. I have marks with tape on the dial on where my run points are, thats about all thats really needed.

[The KYChemist]

I wouldn't say that I'm dead set to have EXACT numbers. I just prefer that something work the way its supposed to.