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Downgrade from 50A to 30A

 
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kbower090




Joined: 03 Jul 2022
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:42 pm    Post subject: Downgrade from 50A to 30A Reply with quote


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Hello, new to the electric brewery! I was just given a 1/2 barrel system that is wired for a 50A circuit... I already have a 30A outlet and would like to change the power cord to the control panel for 30A as opposed to 50A. I understand I will not be able to run multiple heating elements at one time and do not anticipate this being an issue for me. Other than changing the power cord, is there anything else I need to update for conversion? Thanks in advance for the help!
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kal
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Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11114
Location: Ottawa, Canada

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


PostLink    Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Can you confirm which of our 50A control panels you have from the ones here?: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/collections/control-panels

What heating elements and pumps are being used?

Just want to confirm what you have as what can and can't be done may depend on that and I don't want to make blanket statements/make assumptions. Cheers!

Kal

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kbower090




Joined: 03 Jul 2022
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2022 4:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the quick reply and help! It is a 50a back to back set-up. The pumps are 115v and the elements are 5500w, one in boil kettle and one in hot liquor tank.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11114
Location: Ottawa, Canada

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


PostLink    Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for confirming!

While it will work to plug our 50A Electric Brewery Control Panel for Back to Back batches into a 30A circuit, for safety reasons I would caution against it. Reason being the two elements are independently controlled in the control panel. All it would take is one flip of the switch to fire both and you would overload the power cord / wall circuitry / breaker in the your building's electrical panel. The breaker should trip, but you shouldn't purposely use something that could very easily overload a break panel circuit.

It would be much safer if you upgraded that circuit to 50A and changed the wall receptacle.

If you do choose to proceed you would change the power cord to 50A connector on the panel side and 30A dryer plug on the wall side. Parts:

https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/locking-grounded-california-style-female-connector-125-250vac-50a
https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/4-wire-dryer-cord

No other changes are required.

Cheers!

Kal

_________________
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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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kbower090




Joined: 03 Jul 2022
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 3:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Kal, would it be relatively "easy" to change out the 2 switches for the elements to a 3 position switch on the 30A control panel to resolve the potential of overloading the circuit? I ask because the best quote I received to rewire for a 50A breaker (replace 30A for 50A, run new wire in conduit and new outlet) is $1400. Figured this would be a more economical solution?
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11114
Location: Ottawa, Canada

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


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, you could replace one of the two ELEMENT ON/OFF switches with a 3-way ELEMENT SELECT (BOIL/OFF/HLT) instead.

3-position switch is here: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/collections/switches/products/3-position-maintained-selector-switch

You'd rewire based on our Standard 30A Electric Brewery Control panel wiring instructions on our website:
https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/building-your-brewery

To avoid confusion I'd recommend removing the unused switch and plugging it with a 22mm panel plug: https://amzn.to/3R8nfqq

You could also change the panel tag to make it clear how it works.

Cheers!

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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kbower090




Joined: 03 Jul 2022
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2022 7:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Kal, thanks again for the previous info. So I finally got around to rewiring the panel and outlet. When I plug into the wall, the GFCI instantly kicks (SBSG LC-220D). The outlet tests fine with my meter. Any ideas other than potentially a faulty cord, which is brand new?
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11114
Location: Ottawa, Canada

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


PostLink    Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2022 9:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi! Something is most likely miswired somewhere. If the 30A GFCI breaker is newly wired it could that that is miswired. If not, most likely the control panel and/or power cord. The GFCI breaker may also be faulty.

EDIT:

There's some missing details here too that help troubleshoot. For example, I don't know if you ever tested/used the panel before rewiring anything. Did it originally work as a 50A panel? Was a pre-assembled panel built by us? (Post a picture if you like).

Same question for the power cord.

Cheers!

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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kbower090




Joined: 03 Jul 2022
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to confirm, I didn't do anything with the 50a GFCI breaker on the spa panel, but did change the power cord to accommodate the 30a outlet. This set-up was given to me from a guy that no longer used it... He said it worked fine the last time he used, but that was a few years ago. He gave me the electric brewery guide he printed out to reference when building and is from 2013. I was not able to test at all since I do not have a 50a circuit available. Can't figure out how to post pics, keep on stating file is empty?
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kbower090




Joined: 03 Jul 2022
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here are some pics.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JggNQXodso2xQQnK8
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11114
Location: Ottawa, Canada

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


PostLink    Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 2:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the pics.

There's unfortunately been some confusion here.

Previously I asked: "Can you confirm which of our 50A control panels you have from the ones here?: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/collections/control-panels"

You responded "50A back to back control panel". I understood that to mean it was OUR (TheElectricBrewery.com) 50A back to back control panel.

But your pictures shows that it is not one of our designs. Not even close I'm afraid. Looks completely different and has different parts, doesn't use PIDs (it uses BCS), has 4 SSRs instead of 2, doesn't appear to have a safe start interlock, etc etc etc. Since yours is something completely different and custom from our panels, any wiring would be completely different too and how to modify or how it's powered may also be different.

So everything I wrote above is no longer true.

That doesn't mean you can't do what you want, but you will have to ask whomever built this custom control panel for direction as nobody else would know how it is wired or works exactly without more details, wiring diagrams, and so forth.

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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kbower090




Joined: 03 Jul 2022
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey man, sorry for the confusion and didn't intent to mislead you and appreciate your help. Just trying to figure this all out with little working knowledge of these systems. The good news is that I was able to figure out the issue, the emergency shut of switch was depressed and the noise I was hearing was the GFCI engaging not tripping. Power is on and am now figuring out how to access the bsc-460 brewery control system on my wifi. Thanks again and keep up the great work!
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11114
Location: Ottawa, Canada

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


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2022 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great! Glad to hear you were able to figure it out. Sorry again for the confusion. Happy brewing!

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
Back to top
View user's photo album (21 photos)
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