Adapting a control panel for 4 x 5500W elements

[hopgoblin]

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Hi,

I want to be able to boil 500 liters of wort and, by my calculations, that's 4 elements. Can anyone think of the best way to adapt the proposed 50A back to back batch control panel to do this? I haven't purchased anything yet. Just inquiring before purchase.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

[Ozarks Mountain Brew]

you can only control 2 elements at the same time with 50 amps, your probably looking for a 3 phase set up

[kal]

The 50A back to back control panel is meant for controlling two kettles independently (boil and HLT) so that you can be boiling one batch while heating water for the next batch.

At 500L (about 132 gallons) you'd definitely want more elements in a kettle, and 4 would probably make sense. Our 50A control panel for 30+ gallons drives 2 elements in the boil and 2 in the HLT. To add more power one option that many brewers use is to use our 50A control panel to maintain hot liquor temperature and boil, but temporarily add extra power with one or two separate 5500W heating elements on a separate 30-50A circuit. All that is required is one or two 30A outlets and a breaker box located near the kettles to turn them on and off. Any electrician can wire this up. These breakers control the separate elements with the breaker box and turn them on to heat up the hot liquor tank water faster or to get to boil faster. Once close to target temperature, they're turned off and then the heating elements driven by our 50A control panel are used to maintain temperature/boil. While maybe not as elegant, this is a more cost effective solution than building one massive control panel to handle more than 50A of power.

We're also in the planning stages of building a 50A "booster" panel (please don't ask about cost or timeline but we're hoping this year... ). The thought is a smaller, simplified panel with no PIDs, simple ON/OFF switches for controlling up to two additional elements manually. Again, depending on batch size, these either stay on throughout the whole brewing process if dealing with large batch sizes, or are turned on during ramp periods where faster heating is required. The main panel would handle maintaining temps and boil intensity. This panel would require its own separate 50A GFCI circuit.

Welcome to the forum!

Kal

[kal]

The 50A back to back control panel is meant for controlling two kettles independently (boil and HLT) so that you can be boiling one batch while heating water for the next batch.

At 500L (about 132 gallons) you'd definitely want more elements in a kettle, and 4 would probably make sense. Our 50A control panel for 30+ gallons drives 2 elements in the boil and 2 in the HLT. To add more power one option that many brewers use is to use our 50A control panel to maintain hot liquor temperature and boil, but temporarily add extra power with one or two separate 5500W heating elements on a separate 30-50A circuit. All that is required is one or two 30A outlets and a breaker box located near the kettles to turn them on and off. Any electrician can wire this up. These breakers control the separate elements with the breaker box and turn them on to heat up the hot liquor tank water faster or to get to boil faster. Once close to target temperature, they're turned off and then the heating elements driven by our 50A control panel are used to maintain temperature/boil. While maybe not as elegant, this is a more cost effective solution than building one massive control panel to handle more than 50A of power.

We're also in the planning stages of building a 50A "booster" panel (please don't ask about cost or timeline but we're hoping this year... ). The thought is a smaller, simplified panel with no PIDs, simple ON/OFF switches for controlling up to two additional elements manually. Again, depending on batch size, these either stay on throughout the whole brewing process if dealing with large batch sizes, or are turned on during ramp periods where faster heating is required. The main panel would handle maintaining temps and boil intensity. This panel would require its own separate 50A GFCI circuit.

Welcome to the forum!

Kal

[hopgoblin]

Thanks Guys! These are good things for me to consider

[Firebrewmedic43]

Check out bubbas barrels out of knoxville tn. The have a 6 kw 240 element among other heat configurations.

[JSB]

[kal]

Anything is possible! All will be revealed in due time... I've already said too much.

Kal

[kal]

Anything is possible! All will be revealed in due time... I've already said too much.

Kal

[hopgoblin]

Your killing me Kal!!