Why do I keep finding reasons to upgrade perfectly functioning equipment 😆

[Oh Crap]

How yah all
As the title says everything is perfectly functional BUT I'm upgrading my control panel so I can go fully electric. I run a 3 vessel herms setup, 3pumps, 3kw HLT and Currently my kettle is on gas while the rest are PID controlled or monitored (2PID's in case of needing the 2nd like now)
The question is about kettle element , I want to put in a 5 or 5.5kw element. I am putting in a selector switch to switch between elements so only one can be in use at a time.
When I built the original control panel I got put in a separate circuit, the breaker is a multi9 c60a b20 but I can't  find weather it's suitable for what I want to do...any idea 😇😇

[DEMPSEY]

Because you are a perfectionist

[Shanna]

How yah all
As the title says everything is perfectly functional BUT I'm upgrading my control panel so I can go fully electric. I run a 3 vessel herms setup, 3pumps, 3kw HLT and Currently my kettle is on gas while the rest are PID controlled or monitored (2PID's in case of needing the 2nd like now)
The question is about kettle element , I want to put in a 5 or 5.5kw element. I am putting in a selector switch to switch between elements so only one can be in use at a time.
When I built the original control panel I got put in a separate circuit, the breaker is a multi9 c60a b20 but I can't  find weather it's suitable for what I want to do...any idea 😇😇

As an owner of a system that has a 5.5kw heating element in a HLT I would caution against using one unless you have very large volumes of water e.g. > 50 litres and your only going to use it to heat water. In the past I have used the same element to boil wort and it was a disaster in terms of efficiency as I had no way to regulate the power. It basically reached boiling and I lost a load of wort to evaporation. I would recommend having two 2.7KW heating elements and get some form of adjustable relay that you can use to dial the power up/down as required. My own systems boiler is two * 2.7KW heating from bakker electrical. They are 13amp elements so there is no fancy wiring required.

Shanna

[Oh Crap]

How yah all
As the title says everything is perfectly functional BUT I'm upgrading my control panel so I can go fully electric. I run a 3 vessel herms setup, 3pumps, 3kw HLT and Currently my kettle is on gas while the rest are PID controlled or monitored (2PID's in case of needing the 2nd like now)
The question is about kettle element , I want to put in a 5 or 5.5kw element. I am putting in a selector switch to switch between elements so only one can be in use at a time.
When I built the original control panel I got put in a separate circuit, the breaker is a multi9 c60a b20 but I can't  find weather it's suitable for what I want to do...any idea 😇😇

As an owner of a system that has a 5.5kw heating element in a HLT I would caution against using one unless you have very large volumes of water e.g. > 50 litres and your only going to use it to heat water. In the past I have used the same element to boil wort and it was a disaster in terms of efficiency as I had no way to regulate the power. It basically reached boiling and I lost a load of wort to evaporation. I would recommend having two 2.7KW heating elements and get some form of adjustable relay that you can use to dial the power up/down as required. My own systems boiler is two * 2.7KW heating from bakker electrical. They are 13amp elements so there is no fancy wiring required.

Shanna

Cheers for that.
Would the PID not control the power? As in when it reached boiling should it not dial back the power?
Or would switching the pid power to manual work (adjust to lower percentage).
OR could I use both power THEN switch to gas when it starts rolling?
Sorry for the daft questions

[pob]

Use an ArdBir to dial back power on the boil; it uses a SSR on each element & you can turn power down 1% at a time, e.g. 80% on the 2 x 2.7Kw would give ~4.3Kw. Dead handy having it variable as opposed to fixed, as depending on weather, wort gravity, boil size where you might vary between 75-80% on the day.

You could also use that on the single 5.5Kw (with a suitable rated SSR & wiring) & reduce power to rolling boil rather than boil over.

[Shanna]

How yah all
As the title says everything is perfectly functional BUT I'm upgrading my control panel so I can go fully electric. I run a 3 vessel herms setup, 3pumps, 3kw HLT and Currently my kettle is on gas while the rest are PID controlled or monitored (2PID's in case of needing the 2nd like now)
The question is about kettle element , I want to put in a 5 or 5.5kw element. I am putting in a selector switch to switch between elements so only one can be in use at a time.
When I built the original control panel I got put in a separate circuit, the breaker is a multi9 c60a b20 but I can't  find weather it's suitable for what I want to do...any idea 😇😇

As an owner of a system that has a 5.5kw heating element in a HLT I would caution against using one unless you have very large volumes of water e.g. > 50 litres and your only going to use it to heat water. In the past I have used the same element to boil wort and it was a disaster in terms of efficiency as I had no way to regulate the power. It basically reached boiling and I lost a load of wort to evaporation. I would recommend having two 2.7KW heating elements and get some form of adjustable relay that you can use to dial the power up/down as required. My own systems boiler is two * 2.7KW heating from bakker electrical. They are 13amp elements so there is no fancy wiring required.

Shanna

Cheers for that.
Would the PID not control the power? As in when it reached boiling should it not dial back the power?
Or would switching the pid power to manual work (adjust to lower percentage).
OR could I use both power THEN switch to gas when it starts rolling?
Sorry for the daft questions

Not sure how the PID would work with a 5.5KW element. Theoretically it should work. I have a 32 AMP STC that I used with mine but I only use it as a HLT, it works really well as it allows me to maintain a minimum temperature. Not sure that mixing gas and electric is a good idea but that is my own prejudice about gas more than anything else. If I was to start over I would definitely go with 2 * 2.7KW heating elements in my HLT as there is no special wiring required & its standard sockets and leads that are easier to pick up. Only for my brother is an electrician and he was able to do all of the wiring I would not have bothered.

Shanna

[imark]

Don't think pid will easily be suitable for this application. As recommended by pob you should use something like ardbir (think craftbeerpi might work too) or a manual controller for your kettle element to manage the power.

[molc]

Your looking for pwm rather than pid ready for boil control, which is what Pob was describing. If you're building your own craftbeerpi should do it all