New Controller

[Expat]

So one of my setbacks was that the cool din mount gfic circuit breakers I bought were listed as two pole 240 vac but in reality are one pole and a hot = 1 hot and 1 neutral and the only other breakers that I could find were marine grade and lots of bucks.Scrapped the idea of having separate gfic breakers in the panel went with just a 50 amp on the main

50ampgfic.JPG

OVZ

Hot tub GFCI boxes can be used inline between the breaker and the plug, they can generally be had used for a reasonable sum. I'm using a 50a unit salvaged from a removal.

[Oldvine Zin]

Hot tub GFCI boxes can be used inline between the breaker and the plug, they can generally be had used for a reasonable sum. I'm using a 50a unit salvaged from a removal.

Got mine on ebay, new and less than half the price of the big box store And I had space in the main panel for it.

OVZ

[charlie2K]

I bought this controller but I don't think it will work.....it is to regulate my 5500 watt element....is anyone familiar at all with wiring this up?
Thanks

[Oldvine Zin]

Looks like says 4000W, can't really tell from that photo but if it is you are correct and it probably will fry

be safe
OVZ

[charlie2K]

Looks like says 4000W, can't really tell from that photo but if it is you are correct and it probably will fry

be safe
OVZ

This the link...https://www.amazon.com/uniquegoods-Cont ... B01M3XZBV9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[sambedded]

Heatsink doesn't look big enough to handle full 5500watt for long time. I'd add a fan. Otherwise looks OK.

[charlie2K]

Heatsink doesn't look big enough to handle full 5500watt for long time. I'd add a fan. Otherwise looks OK.

Having a hard time figuring out how this would wire up?

[Oldvine Zin]

+ 1 for the fan but it is rated for 10000 watts so you are in the ball park. Forget about the common terminal and just wire half of your heater through it.
One hot directly to the element and the other through the controller.

be safe
OVZ

[sambedded]

Having a hard time figuring out how this would wire up?

Are you talking about a fan wiring or controller itself? Controller wiring is shown on its side.

BTW I did some estimations - heatsink size is OK for 5500 Watt element if heatsink will be exposed outside of your controller box. Otherwise you definitely need a fan.

[charlie2K]

That's awesome guys thanks for the help....im not going to do a box just yet maybe down the road but I would like to hook an ampmeter to it....is that possible with no neutral wire.....im only running 2 hots and a ground?

[sambedded]

Sure you can connect an amp meter with no problem. Which one you wanna use? Analog or digital?

[charlie2K]

Sure you can connect an amp meter with no problem. Which one you wanna use? Analog or digital?

Just your normal analogy....i just need some sort of reading for future reference

[charlie2K]

Sure you can connect an amp meter with no problem. Which one you wanna use? Analog or digital?

Just your normal analogy....i just need some sort of reading for future reference

Or maybe a volt meter would be better....not too sure yet

[Oldvine Zin]

Picked up my front face label today from the printer, now I can start mounting components and wiring

Hope to get it up and running this week,I've been without a controller for almost 3 weeks and my still feels neglected,

OVZ

[charlie2K]

So I think I've decided on an amp meter and fans....im only running 10 3 wire no neutral so I would be best to go with 240v devices....lamp,gauge,fans etc? I am going to put it all neatly in a box ive decided just to keep things neat and organized..do I only need a shunt for the meter or do I shunt the light and fans as well?....sorry to keep asking silly questions I have been reading a lot but getting answers from you guys of my own questions does help me more......anyhoot thanks in advance.
Charlie

[StillerBoy]

Starting to look good Oldvine..

Can I place an order for one...

Mars

[Oldvine Zin]

Starting to look good Oldvine..

Can I place an order for one...

Mars

Sure - I'm thinking about making the next one all copper, no plastic box.


OVZ

[Oldvine Zin]

Did a little more wiring today, hope to have it finished and tested tomorrow.

OVZ

[Oldvine Zin]

Finished wiring today, now I just have to update the plugs on my heater and pump.

I hope to fire it up tonight - also hope that the magic smoke stays inside!

be safe
OVZ

[OtisT]

Looking great OVZ. You do nice work.

I especially like the analog gauges. The display on both of the digital meters I have tried went bad. I have ditched the digital meters and I am planning to throw on an analog Amp meter.

My fingers are crossed for your test firing tonight. Otis

[Expat]

Just WOW!

OVZ this is an impressive piece of work!

[Oldvine Zin]

Still working out some bugs

Powered up fine (all the smoke stayed in) and all the lights functioned proper but under load the main GFCI would pop with the 110 volt side loaded. Went through all the wiring and it all looked proper After a lot of head scratching I tried attaching a load directly, (bypassing my controller) to the main GFCI. Same results on the 110 vac devices, so an unbalanced load was popping it-- defective breaker, seemed like the neutral wasn't being properly measured. Replaced the breaker with a new one and that solved that problem.

Turned the element on and it popped the F@#%&ing new breaker. After rechecking all the connections again determined that they were OK so WTF? I measured the resistance between the element's hot"s and ground and discovered a few K ohms to earth - so maybe that's the cause (something that the previous non GFCI did not detect?)

I ordered a new element today and should have it by Friday, I hope that that was the issue.

Trying to be safe
OVZ

[sambedded]

If you have 5 ma trip current breaker it will be enough to have around 20KOhms between hot and ground to trip it.

[StillerBoy]

Lookin good OVZ..

I've wired a few of these controllers, and wiring does take some time.. I take the time to add solder all the end end of the wire where they are screwed in, and quick connect all other connections for quick change of a defective item..

Mars

[Oldvine Zin]

Lookin good OVZ..

I've wired a few of these controllers, and wiring does take some time.. I take the time to add solder all the end end of the wire where they are screwed in, and quick connect all other connections for quick change of a defective item..

Mars

I'm with you on that but I use crimp ferules on all the wire ends to terminal block connections, I didn't have the ferules for the 8 gauge wire so I did tin them with a solder pot and flux. The bitch was everything in the controller box was fine - just that the GFCI at the main was defective as well as my element

OVZ

[Oldvine Zin]

The new element showed up today, this is the one I ordered : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075K ... UTF8&psc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
I really like the integrated L6-30 plug and I had already wired that connector to the panel. I'll prob also order replacement Camco element for my other as a spare.

Put the new element in fired up the controller and every thing works as planned I feel much safer now that I have a GFCI in the system, the regular breaker kept sending current to the damaged element with my old setup.

My only complaint ( it's minor) with that element is there seems to be a little contamination from the machining process. Tomorrow I'll heat it up with some vinegar water, then some watered down heads for cleaning.

Be safe
OVZ

[Oldvine Zin]

All fired up for a new year run


Happy new-year everyone
OVZ

[Bushman]

Nice, not sure what all the knobs a switches are for but can guess that maybe you have more than one heater element thus you can shut one down after reaching temps.

OK after reading previous posts I notice a fan as well. Helps to read a few posts up

[Oldvine Zin]

Nice, not sure what all the knobs a switches are for but can guess that maybe you have more than one heater element thus you can shut one down after reaching temps.

:

OK lots of bling in that controller, the left side is the element control, center is the control for my 220 vac cooling pump , and the right is a 110 vac control for either my little chugger pump or the fan on my water cooler. Both have a on/off switch and a momentary.
It might seem like an overkill, but pre controller I would turn them on/off by unplugging them sometimes standing in a puddle of water

Mashing today I really enjoyed having switches and everything GFCI protected

Happy new-year
OVZ

[Oldvine Zin]

I had a chance to do a few runs with the controller. So far I really like it, it's so nice to have all the control at a central panel. No more plugging and unplugging to turn things on and off, plus with the ground fault protection I feel a bit safer now.

I did play around with the coarse an fine adjustments, wow that's a lot of control. Since I was doing stripping runs with Lindzy my 4" stripper I really didn't need that kind of adjustments,(she loves to run at full power), where as Ana my flute prefers a little more control to run properly. Should be doing a gin run with her soon.

Thanks for all the advice
OVZ