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Finished my Control Panel

 
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coffeediver




Joined: 18 Dec 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Kiowa CO.


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:01 am    Post subject: Finished my Control Panel Reply with quote


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I finally finished my control panel tonight. Hopefully will get to plug it in this weekend. Still have to hook the electrical up to my service panel. The wire is run and the receptacle is in just was waiting to get closer to finishing the CP.'

Still have to get my sink and drain hooked up before I can do water tests and a few more fittings that I was missing have not arrived.

Barry

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Stuttgarter




Joined: 20 Dec 2010
Posts: 53
Location: Stuttgart, Germany


PostLink    Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Coffeediver,

How about some pictures of your latest work? I need a little inspiration to keep going on mine.

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coffeediver




Joined: 18 Dec 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Kiowa CO.


PostLink    Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got the power run to my man cave today. Hooked up CP and fired it up, alarm light flashing, alarm beeping, all PIDs flashing, volt meter flashing and started to smoke, Then I turned it off. Will have to go through wiring again.

Barry

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crush




Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 706
Location: Telemark, Norway


PostLink    Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

oh sh*t! I really feel for you. I hope the PIDs are still ok.
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rosenjm




Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 249
Location: Ballston Spa, NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Flashing? That is odd as there is not a flashing power supply in there (or there shouldn't be). Was it a cyclic flash (like a clock) or random? The alarm and buzzer should get an input from the PIDs, the PIDs and volt meter get input from the hot bus, which also powers the PIDs. Check your hot bus and make sure you don't have a loose connection and make sure you 7a fuse to the hot bus it connected to the correct post on the main power contactor. Did you hear the main power contactor close when you applied power? Did it cycle at all, maybe in time with the flashing?
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crush




Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 706
Location: Telemark, Norway


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wonder if coffeediver is janking our chains, or pulling or taps in beer parlance, so to speak Smile
After feeling total empathy for his situation, and hoping that I wont be there in a few weeks, I thought afterwards that the flashing sounded a bit strange, and maybe it worked flawlessly first time and that he's just having some fun with us!

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rosenjm




Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 249
Location: Ballston Spa, NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I hope that is true. I have fantasies about mine working first time up. Problem is, I have too much experience to believe it will happen. Smile
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coffeediver




Joined: 18 Dec 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Kiowa CO.


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

not jerking any chains, I am going through it now
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coffeediver




Joined: 18 Dec 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Kiowa CO.


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK, two problems that I found. I did have the amp meter wired backwards. I did not read anything wrong, I just screwed it up, think roll-over, it is is probably shot. The wiring on the volt meter was correct but since it is the one that produced smoke, I was thinking that maybe I had some loose strands from the stranded 18 gauge wire that I forced in the connections maybe had touched so I cleaned them up.

I also found that except for that first power up, now the power on light will not work. Might have something to do with the fact that is says 12v and not 110v?

The timer seems to power up fine and the PIDs are flashing numbers first and then what looks to be the word "oral" or something similar. I have not yet read the manual on the PIDs so don't know if that is normal on first power up.

Barry

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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: Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

coffeediver wrote:
OK, two problems that I found. I did have the amp meter wired backwards. I did not read anything wrong, I just screwed it up, think roll-over, it is is probably shot. The wiring on the volt meter was correct but since it is the one that produced smoke, I was thinking that maybe I had some loose strands from the stranded 18 gauge wire that I forced in the connections maybe had touched so I cleaned them up.

It's very easy and very likely that the volt meter will be fried if connected incorrectly since you're playing with 5VDC and 240V AC.

[qutoe]I also found that except for that first power up, now the power on light will not work. Might have something to do with the fact that is says 12v and not 110v?[/quote]
Most likely.

Quote:
The timer seems to power up fine and the PIDs are flashing numbers first and then what looks to be the word "oral" or something similar. I have not yet read the manual on the PIDs so don't know if that is normal on first power up.

That's normal when there's no temp sensors connected.

Kal

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coffeediver




Joined: 18 Dec 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Kiowa CO.


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just ordered a new volt and amp meter and a new power on light, this time I made sure I checked the 115v.

Thanks for the info on the PIDs, that what I was thinking, just needed confirmation.

Barry

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silverspoons




Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 555
Location: Webster NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:33 pm    Post subject: now i'm nervous Reply with quote

OK,, now you guys are making me nervous. plan on flipping the switch for the first time this weekend. i'll go over the wiring again. have read the PID manual 3 times, i'm pretty sure what setting have to be changed but i'll post my questions before in case there experience out there.

i was planning on attaching the temp probe and putting it in a glass of hot water as a test.. the other big moment also comes this weekend when i punch those holes in my kettles.

sleepless nights coming!
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rosenjm




Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 249
Location: Ballston Spa, NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hear you man, I've already double checked everything and probably will again before I light it off for the first time. I'm interested in what you think needs to be changed on the PIDs. I've gone through the manual a few times too, hopefully we came up with the same thing.

Don't sweat the kettles. I was freaked out over it, but it ended up being totally anticlimatic. I used a nail punch to dent the kettle and then drilled a pilot hole with a 1/8" bit, then followed with the step bit. I'm not sure if the 1/8" pilot hole helped or not, but it worked. After that it was all easy with the punch. Once you do the first one, you're golden!
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silverspoons




Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 555
Location: Webster NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 11:35 pm    Post subject: program PID Reply with quote

only going from memory here, still at the office, but, the boil kettle PID needs to have the manual option available, and the type of probe need to be set.

i'm not too sure about this auto setup function. your thoughts?
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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: Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

STill need to write this on the site, but the only things I changed on the PIDs are:

Sn=21 (RTD probe)
Pb = ? (temp offset for the probes - every one will be different - based on calibration)
FILT = 5 (to avoid temp oscillations)

The Boil PID also has "A-M" set to 0 to allow for manual mode.

That's it!

Kal

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silverspoons




Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 555
Location: Webster NY


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:27 pm    Post subject: PID program Reply with quote

Thanks Kal, i knew there wasn't much to do.

another question: in my control panel i didn't put amp and voltage meters but still installed the 50 amp shunt.. was that not necessary without those meters?

looking at pics of others without meters i don't see the shunt.

thanks
again
silverspoons
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crush




Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 706
Location: Telemark, Norway


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hi silverspoons, If you are not using the ammeter, you don't really need the shunt. The shunt is there to provide a known resistance, and by measuring the voltage drop across it, the ammeter can determine the current flowing through it. (The ammeter is really a voltmeter with some logic to covert the measured voltage differential across the shunt into amps.)

It doesn't matter that you've installed the shunt without the ammeter, just leave it there, it wont do any harm, apart from maybe take up a bit of space in your panel. It may even help, by providing some extra terminals.

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coffeediver




Joined: 18 Dec 2010
Posts: 174
Location: Kiowa CO.


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Kal for moving this thread to this topic, it is a better fit.

Ok, so I know I said I was finished but I decided after the fact to include the safe start interlock and I finished that tonight. I did not install the new backing piece, I just use a few dabs of JB Weld to glue the socket to the inside of the door in the same spot that Kal put his.

Barry

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