Electrical Halp

MAGICMAGIC Doot DootFurniture City, Michigan Icrontian
edited January 2011 in Hardware
I am moving into an apartment soon that will cut off my ability to use a propane burner for brewing beer.

I would like to modify a brewpot with a 4500watt 220V heating element to boil approx 5-6 gallons water/wort. I am still waiting to hear back if we have a outlet in the apartment that can support 20 amps (I hope the stove is electric).

If I dont have any good outlets I might wind up using dual 1500w 120v elements in different outlets. TBD

Anyways, what I want to do is install a dial to adjust the watt output and control the heat. I am not savvy in electrical engineering so any help on this would be sweet. (Im looking at you Dras)

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    Paging Jeff.
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    That air conditioner under the window might be a 220V outlet also. (doesn't look like it from the picture, BUT it probably is a dedicated 20 or 30 amp 120V outlet, which might be able to feed both burners you talked about)

    You need a big rheostat / voltage regulator.
  • RootWyrmRootWyrm Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    http://www.aplussupply.com/lutron/athena.htm

    Like that 1500W 2-gang, Ryder? Past finding that one, we're now outside my area of expertise.
  • MAGICMAGIC Doot Doot Furniture City, Michigan Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    http://www.highgravitybrew.com/ProductCart/pc/EBC-II-Retrofit-306p3079.htm

    I found this unit and it looks to be exactly what I need. If someone identified the parts I need, and I could build it myself for cheaper I would be all over that.

    Nice build quality though, might just go with this.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    this looks pretty reasonable in terms of a controller.

    http://home.highertech.net/~cdp/boilnew/boilnew.htm
  • MAGICMAGIC Doot Doot Furniture City, Michigan Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    ! ! ! WARNING ! ! !
    DO NOT BUILD THIS IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
    Due to the high current at 240 VAC being controlled, this is definitely NOT a good first electrical project!

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    Challenge Accepted
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    Nailed it!
    death%20by%20electrocution%204.gif

    (the more important information than that warning is probably this)
    One may be thinking at this point that the switch can be ommitted 240 VAC and the attachment plug can be used instead as the disconnect. That's technically true, but I don't recommend it! Although pretty rare, SSR's can fail "on" due to a failure of the controller that's driving their low voltage side, voltage surges on the 240 VAC supply or inadequate cooling. If it fails "on", a switch is much safer to use to kill the power than pulling an attachment plug which is carrying a lot of current- perhaps a lot more than normal current if something has shorted! FWIW, a 20A circuit breaker will take seconds if not minutes to clear faults drawing much more than 20A. Also, a double pole switch must be used for the main switch- a single pole switch in one leg of the 240 VAC supply (like a 120 VAC circuit) will only kill one of the two "hot" 240 VAC legs. The one I use looks like a regular light switch and may require some shopping around to find. Make sure it's rated for at least 240VAC at 20A.

    Grounding conductors are not shown in the drawing above but they are MANDATORY! All of the exposed metal parts of enclosures with 240 VAC in them are grounded as is the keg itself- the later via a ring terminal and a SS sheet metal screw/lock washer in the lower rim of the keg close to the heater element.
  • jj Sterling Heights, MI Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    I might suggest a simpler way. Convert the plug to use the 110 outlet. This would give you about 1125W of heat, and you would only need a 15A outlet. It would take 4 times longer to get it to boil, but at least it's safe. The controls on the unit should work with a lower voltage.

    Only hitch I can see to this is the heat loss out of the boiler. You might have to put insulation around it to keep heat losses to a minimum.

    If this doesn't work then go to the dual outlet approach, but in order to get 220VAC the 2 outlets have to 180 degrees out of phase from each other. You can't simply take one outlet and combine it with another. If you have a multimeter you can check this. put you probes between each "hot" (black) line. If it reads 0, it's because they are the same phase. Really depends on how they wired your apartment. If all your outlets are on the same leg from the electrical box, you simply can't get your 220VAC
  • jj Sterling Heights, MI Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    Does your brewer control have a transformer in it. This may complicate things too.
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