RyanS wrote:Okay, so does a gas or Electric hotplate usually have steady heat output controls?
you need adjustable controlls. I use a variac with the electric heat elements. a router controll is good also. If you have a hot plate it should be modified to stay on full to allow the variac/router controll to adjust the applied voltage.
I think i finally learned that as the still reaches production temperature, to apply just enough heat to keep a slow drip rate and then to just watch the head temp to see how the distilling is going and when im close to quitting time.
3-IMG-20140520-00042.jpg
I use a Phase Angle controller(PAC). In the pic is a remote power useage monitor clipped over the main power cable from the meter (free from e-on in the uk), it tells me the power used at any moment and the cost per hour or day etc. Very handy for accurately adjusting the PAC when tuning. On the left of pic is a pid temp display, I have the probe in the top of the column just before the vapours enter the cooling coil/head. Its very accurate (when calibrated). I can see the tiniest of changes if i touch the water coolant flow or PAC. I believe if you are after consistency and continuity then modern tech is the way to go.
The 6kw PAC was about 135 GB Pounds, seems a lot but worth every penny imho.
Oooohhhhhh....... Pretty.
Awesome setup. I see I'm not the only one looking at converting to electric right now. All the old controller threads are getting bumps.
Must be the heat!
Cheers.
"You know, you can just buy that stuff right up the road" he said.
I just smiled, and said quietly, "No you can't".
Wow, I'm glad, in a way, that I don't have to convert to using electric rather than gas for heat. It takes me a lot longer to heat up, and I'm not using one of those hot-water heating element, just a simple hot plate. My evolution to 'heat control' came about largely because of P.P.'s effluence. Now I'm using a 1500wt Cadco hotplate, with the burner re-wired directly to my 9761EPC Electron Stepless Speed Control. The EPC allows me to adjust the wattage to the plate, which seems to directly influence the heat in the boiler, i.e. the rate of flow from my coil. Long and short of it is, I seem to have amazing control over the 'rate of boil', which comes about as the rate of flow from the end of my coil.
Temp Control is interesting. In that I've not seen a measurable difference in the ABV if I run fast or slow during a beer run, but this I attribute to my use of a Thumper, rather than direct output from the Pot. For spirit runs, I like to run slow, and cut short on both ends, and the heat in the pot is a major factor.
Yeah, I'm starting to feel like the variac will work perfectly and make me confident and at peace, whereas the RSC will work well enough and cost me a lot less $$$. I'm cheap, so this is a tough one....pony up now and be happy with the results, but bummed about cost? Or happy with inexpensive, but wishing I had something better.
...Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty
or give me death!" – Patrick Henry
I ran a router speed controller for a while. Was working fine. Want what I really wanted. But I couldn't afford what I really wanted. Truthfully I still can't afford what I really want. But I did step up to a psr controller and 240v. And it works pretty much the same as the router speed controller. But I just have more power. Would I do it the same way again. Sure. $20 to get up and going. And use it for almost two years. Heck yea I would. And hell I still use that controller for all kinds of other things.
But these days a simple psr controller can be built for little of nothing.
A $20 resistance based solid state relay and a $2 potentiometer, with some scrounged up wiring, will control 40, 60, or 100 amps perfectly. Throw in a heat sink and one of those inexpensive 30 amp toggle switches, and there's your power unit. A Camco 5500 watt heating element will draw 23 amps from a 240V circuit. All the information needed for success is in the electrical sub forum.
I know there are router controls, variacs, and other ways to do it, but for the electrical-shy person, it can't get any simpler than this. Just one opinion...
Just a quick note a pid control is really easy to set up . You can adjust the slopof the heating element ( so it comes on at 10% up to 100% based on your setting ) or just straight on /off . Pid on eBay 20$ with solid state relay. Rtd temp probe 10$ . The pid turns the relay on or off or on a slope (10-100%power ) it is hooked up with 7simple connections.
Trying to insert pic but having issues
120 v to pid = 2 wire
Relay to pid= 2 wire
Rtd to pid= 3 wire
Rtd probe to thing needing heated or cooled
Element to relay
Turn on amd set
Johnsmih1010 wrote:Just a quick note a pid control is really easy to set up . You can adjust the slopof the heating element ( so it comes on at 10% up to 100% based on your setting ) or just straight on /off . Pid on eBay 20$ with solid state relay. Rtd temp probe 10$ . The pid turns the relay on or off or on a slope (10-100%power ) it is hooked up with 7simple connections.
Trying to insert pic but having issues
120 v to pid = 2 wire
Relay to pid= 2 wire
Rtd to pid= 3 wire Rtd probe to thing needing heated or cooled
Element to relay
Turn on amd set
