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Cycle time, SSR, and you

 
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 2:27 am    Post subject: Cycle time, SSR, and you Reply with quote


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Hey all,

I recently installed the steam condenser and read a few threads on HBT about the condenser and the best manual percentage settings. The one thing that stuck out to me is the way that the boil "pulses" at lower manual percentage. Ideally, the boil should be consistent. I read the manual and checked my settings for my cycle time and it was at 12 seconds. Setting manual with 50% resulted in 6 seconds on, 6 seconds off which stopped the boil for at least 4 seconds - not good. I set the cycle time (t) to 2 and the Proportional Constant to (P) to 1 and the manual percent to 42% and it's staying at a really nice consistent boil (note only 7 gallons of water in the kettle). Will this short cycle time ruin the SSR or other components?


TL;DR; will setting the cycle time to 1 or 2 seconds be too stressful on the stock SSR and/or other components?

Thanks,
perogi.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 11:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

According to the manual, the default cycle time (the 't' setting) in the SYL-2352 PID is 2 if an SSR is used. That's what we use/recommend in the build instructions. Works great. 12 would definitely be too high and cause pulsing.

SSRs are meant to switch on/off fast - that's their purpose. They're a solid state switch with no moving parts so nothing wears out. Switching every second or two is not too fast for them. If you built to our design, nothing else is being switched on/off as the element goes on/off. There's nothing mechanical switching, so nothing wearing out. We have commercial breweries using this design and boiling almost every day (some brew 2-3 times/day) for many years now, non-stop.

Links:

40A SSR: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/products/40-amp-ssr-12v-dc-input-240v-ac-output
SYL-2352 PID: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/products/syl-2352-pid-temperature-controller

Kal

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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 10:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Kal! I was hoping that was going to be your answer.

I checked for the 't' setting to be a 2 for the PID above and I think I found it here.

I was confused why the default values were changed and then I performed auto-tuning on that PID. Sure enough they changed. I forgot that I moved my set up to have the boil kettle on the right when I moved my brewery so this PID used to be my HLT PID.

Note to others to check your PID settings for your BK and make sure that the "t" is set to 2. From other forum posts they mentioned to set your P to 1 but ymmv.

Thanks again Kal for setting my mind at ease.
perogi.
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kal
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Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good luck!

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Who needs luck when you have a Kal Klone? Smile
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kal
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Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok then, good beer instead! 😉

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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View user's photo album (21 photos)
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