Blown Contactor

handlebarz · Joined: 09 Jul 2016 Posts: 3

So I purchased a complete control panel from another company, finally got some time yesterday to try and auto tune the PID and while it was getting the water near temp the internal breaker tripped. When I opened the control panel a puff of smoke came off one of the contactors and now there isn't any power going to the element.

It is a 30 amp controller, hooked up to a 5500 watt element. I did have it on a 50 amp dedicated circuit when it was on--could too much power have gotten to the controller somehow? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

**kal** · Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:59 pm Post subject:

The element/panel PULLS current so no, it should only be pulling 22.9 amps (5500/240). A 50A circuit can simply supply up to 50A if needed (before the breaker pops).

No different than how a regular 15A circuit in your house works. Plug in a lamp and it'll pull about 1A / 120W. Plug in a hairdryer and it'll pull about 10A / 1200W.

You should be contacting the company you purchased from as they should support their products and fix this for you given that it sounds like the panel is brand new (?). Doesn't sound like they tested it under load (something we always do with all the panels that we sell).

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Kal

handlebarz · Joined: 09 Jul 2016 Posts: 3

The company I bought it from said it was likely a loose connection from shipping it. I replaced the contactor and tightened everything else up--plugged it in and the first time it was going there was no problem, but I didn't have enough time to run it for very long--just wanted to make sure it was working. I got it going again and the same thing happened, the internal breaker tripped and the contactor was blown.

The guy I bought it from says it's likely something outside the controller causing the issue, but that doesn't make sense to me, either. The only thing I can think of on my end is that I have the RTD probe mounted in a tee fitting in my mash tun. I didn't have the pump recirculating through the HERMS coil while I had the element going--I was keeping my eye on the analog thermometer I have mounted in the kettle and it had only moved the liquor ten degrees (from 70 to 80). Could this have caused a spike in the voltage going to the coil and burned it out?

**kal** · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 7:44 pm Post subject:

handlebarz · Joined: 09 Jul 2016 Posts: 3

No real sign of external damage on either of the contactors. I've attached a photo of the first one that went.

**kal** · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:14 pm Post subject:

No obvious signs of damage. I'm assuming this a pre-built panel from ebrewsupply.com?

They should work with you to troubleshoot the issue and get this fixed to your satisfaction given that you purchased the panel new and (I'm assuming) under warranty.

Good luck!

Kal

**kal** · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:09 pm Post subject:

Did you manage to get this resolved?

We have industrial quality DIN rail contactors if required - the same ones we use in our pre-built panels. Below is an example picture from a panel we recently sent out. If interested email us at sales@TheElectricBrewery.com. Cheers!

Kal

ElectricJosh · Joined: 21 Jul 2016 Posts: 6 Location: Woodland Hills, Ca

I have an older system that has never been mounted properly. We do move it from place to place and over the last couple years it seems that the terminal on one of the solid state relays loosened up. Not enough to disconnect, but enough to arc. Same smoke and result, melted relay. Not sure if this is the same issue but if it similar we just replaced the relay and I provided instructions to either permanently mount the box, or to regularly tighten the connections. Maybe both...

As a side note, the screw was only out about half to 3/4 a turn resulting in the arc.