Simple control for 220 heating element for $14usd

[coalminer]

Guys I have read all about the controls and who made what with making a box and using SS relays and what not. I thought I had it all figured out, then I read some more and got thoroughly confused. I know electronics but not near as much as alot of you guys. So I decided to throw something together and see if it works. It worked like a charm. It is so simple and cheap! I bought this regulator http://www.ebay.com/itm/262044005372?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow (10,000 W SCR voltage regulator).
I have a 5500W heating element mounted inside the keg.

Now, you have 3 wires coming out of the 220 plug, some may have a ground also.
2 wires are hot or positive (charged) 1 goes straight to one leg of the heating element. The other goes to the input side on the controller. Then the output goes to the other leg on the heating element.
The neutral wire goes to the neutral on the controller.
Run the ground to the ground on the controller and to the keg.
YOU MUST GROUND THE KEG SOMEHOW. I drilled a hole in the bottom below the liquid level (on the rim) and used a bolt and nut to connect my ground.
This not only controls how much heat but also turns the heating element off when not in use.
There you have it, a simple controller for under $15 and you do not need to be en electrical engineer to do it.

[RedwoodHillBilly]

Guys I have read all about the controls and who made what with making a box and using SS relays and what not. I thought I had it all figured out, then I read some more and got thoroughly confused. I know electronics but not near as much as alot of you guys. So I decided to throw something together and see if it works. It worked like a charm. It is so simple and cheap! I bought this regulator http://www.ebay.com/itm/262044005372?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow (10,000 W SCR voltage regulator).
I have a 5500W heating element mounted inside the keg.

Now, you have 3 wires coming out of the 220 plug, some may have a ground also.
2 wires are hot or positive (charged) 1 goes straight to one leg of the heating element. The other goes to the input side on the controller. Then the output goes to the other leg on the heating element.
The neutral wire goes to the neutral on the controller.
??? Neither the controller or the element needs/uses the neutral. Neutral is only used if you need 120v. If you mean that you connected to the common, that's not necessary, but shouldn't hurt anything. You could have used a cable with one less wire. It looks to an optional connection point for the unswitched hot, used as a daisy chaining tie point. I bet if you look at the circuit board, you'll find that that doesn't actually connect to anything.
Run the ground to the ground on the controller and to the keg.
YOU MUST GROUND THE KEG SOMEHOW. I drilled a hole in the bottom below the liquid level (on the rim) and used a bolt and nut to connect my ground.
This not only controls how much heat but also turns the heating element off when not in use.
There you have it, a simple controller for under $15 and you do not need to be en electrical engineer to do it.

[coalminer]

Redwood, you are probably right. I only had 3 wires in my 220 cable and I used it for common and grounded the controller and keg together and went to ground from there. I am thinking the common is just a ground in that case.

[Jif]

Have you had success with this? I've got a StillDragon DIY kit that I've been too intimidated to put together for quite some time. This looks like it could be an easy fix.

[freefall]

Have you had success with this? I've got a StillDragon DIY kit that I've been too intimidated to put together for quite some time. This looks like it could be an easy fix.

It's an easy wire job. Don't worry about it. There is a wiring guide on here somewhere.