Variable input controllers for elements

[Ciderhead]

A nice man from Ebay, Chinese Division sent me a 3,800w and 10,000w controller for my HLT and boiler today




TT with iPhone

[Shanna]

"Danger Will Robinson!"

You had to do an one up on yours truly by going and getting a 10K controller ;-).

How big is the element in your HLT?

Shanna

A nice man from Ebay, Chinese Division sent me a 3,800w and 10,000w controller for my HLT and boiler today




TT with iPhone

[christhebrewer]

What's wrong with the 3k STC?

[Ciderhead]

You had to do an one up on yours truly by going and getting a 10K controller ;-).

How big is the element in your HLT?

Thats a very personal question , tbh I don't need it as I have 2 of the 3.8KW dimmers and they would be fine but I know I will use it. 

[brenmurph]

Ive one of them as well cider... havnt installed yet, but same reason, in summer dont meed full whack and when Im mashing I need a gentle heat with the pump to prevent caramelisation the  element.

[Shane Phelan]

Are these units reliable?

[Garry]

I bought one too. I was going to hook it up to a motor for the grain mill. I haven't tried it yet. I must say that the built quality doesn't look inspiring but at the price, you can't complain.

[Ciderhead]

Ive one of them as well cider... havnt installed yet, but same reason, in summer dont meed full whack and when Im mashing I need a gentle heat with the pump to prevent caramelisation the  element.

especially with 90min pilsner boils

[brenmurph]

As reliable as some of the rubbish we buy from Irish suppliers , especially Aldi,  lamps with faulty batteries, lawnmowers with faulty, starting coils, and Iphones from Apple which get relplaced 5 times in the first year

[Shane Phelan]

I'm just a bit hesitant about them as I wouldn't be too impressed if I had to rewire one of those mid-brew.

The price is excellent though, it would probably cost €20 to get all those components in farnell.

[brenmurph]

Im a huge fan of the chinese, if u saw my ebay account with hundreds of transactions, alixpress who are hugely reputable, and happydeal.com. I can safely say thateverything Ive bought is superb and nothing has ever let me down.
I have led lights all over my house at pennies and top of the range tablets with features unheard of in Ireland that is flawless. Not forgetting my stc's, conrny valves, regulators, t-balls and tons of other brewing stuff all from china and no complaints. 

[Will_D]

I bought one too. I was going to hook it up to a motor for the grain mill. I haven't tried it yet. I must say that the built quality doesn't look inspiring but at the price, you can't complain.

May not work Garry.

A lot depends on the motor:

Most AC motors are not controllable at all - they just run a a constant speed

DC motors are more likely to controllable by either applied voltage or PWM

I believe these are PWM controllers and only work on a resistive load - like a light bulb or a heater element

[Stitch]

I bought one too. I was going to hook it up to a motor for the grain mill. I haven't tried it yet. I must say that the built quality doesn't look inspiring but at the price, you can't complain.

May not work Garry.

A lot depends on the motor:

Most AC motors are not controllable at all - they just run a a constant speed

DC motors are more likely to controllable by either applied voltage or PWM

I believe these are PWM controllers and only work on a resistive load - like a light bulb or a heater element

Nearly every AC motor is controllable. PWM will achieve this - basis for Inverters/Variable speed drive
Will be ok for heating but not for lighting. Triac output blocks the negative phase of the cycle.

[Ciderhead]

This is how it ended up, another box, just for tubes benefit 

I do need this one to be portable as I use different sockets for each element.




And connected a domestic kettle to have a play with







What you can't see are a few holes drilled on the side of the lid to allow for ventilation of the heat sink I will monitor and if it gets very hot I will put in a computer fan.

[Will_D]

Where did you get the V/A display from?

Uber Cool - I need about 10 of these. Blue is soooo cooool. Red Leds are soooo yesterday!