Electric Brewing Controller

[spankster301]

Might be the wrong place for this (Moderator: If so, please move to appropriate location). I purchased this controller (was on a budget) and am having issues. Does anyone know of a company or brewer that can repair this controller? Never worked right from the beginning but I bought it before I was completely set up so the warranty had passed. The pump receptacles never worked and the HLT receptacle stopped working after a couple of brews. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[jekeane]

Have you opened it up to see if there is anything obvious going on in it? I bet if you popped it open and took some good pictures there are people that could point you in the right directions.

 

[berrywise]

Have you tried turning it 90 degrees clockwise to see if that make a difference?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I can fix it where you at

 

[spankster301]

I am in Upstate SC near Clemson, SC.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

In that case just take the lid off and take pictures at a few angles, I, "we" will guide you, its a wire lose or a bad switch Im thinking

 

[spankster301]

Here are some photos of the controller. The specific problems I am having are: 1- the outlet for the pumps does not work, 2 - either the outlet for the HLT does not work or the switch does not work, 3 - the "active" yellow light for the HLT is constantly on. Hope this helps and thanks in advance for yours.

 

[spankster301]

Last three pics

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

looks like some wires to the outlets could be loose, not sure but Im guessing its 120v only, I don't see any contact switches, if it where me i would use a meter and track down the issue buy testing every source inside and out while powered on

 

[dyqik]

Looks like it's 240V to me - there are two black twist-lock 30A connectors on the base, fed by red and black wires, while the 120V outlet is fed by black and white wires. Hopefully the maker was sane enough to use consistent coloring for the hot and neutral phases.

For the pump outlet:

I really don't like the look of the twisted strand cables into the push-in connections on the 120V outlet. They should only be used with solid core cable. Try pulling on them /releasing them (power off), and moving them to the screw terminals on the sides, which should cope better with stranded wire, or (better still?) crimping on fork terminals to fit to the screws on the outlet.

Before you test with the power on to track continuity, you can check some things with the power off. Use a multimeter to track back from the pump outlet and HLT outlet to the switches/SSRs to check for continuity. I bet the pump outlet is a bad connection at the outlet.

I can't really see enough to work out what's going on with the HLT output.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I wouldn't use any 240v panel without magnetic contact switch, its not going to blow up but its not 100% safe

 

[rudylyon57]

This box sure looks cleaner on the exterior than interior. I might be way off base but it looks like stranded THHN wire has been pushed into sockets intended for solid wire. In fact one of those terminals almost looks like the wire is about to drop out. Maybe give some of those a tug here and there to see if connections are secure.

 

[dyqik]

This box sure looks cleaner on the exterior than interior. I might be way off base but it looks like stranded THHN wire has been pushed into sockets intended for solid wire. In fact one of those terminals almost looks like the wire is about to drop out. Maybe give some of those a tug here and there to see if connections are secure.

Even if they don't pull out with a tug, the contact may be being made with only one strand of wire. Now, for a <1A pump, that's probably not immediately a problem, but it's certainly not good.

 

[jeffmeh]

For the always lit led, that may not be an issue. Because of SSR leakage, you really need to test that with a load on the circuit.

 

[jddevinn]

I don't like the look of some of those connections. Like the others have said I would take a meter and start tracing connections to see what's wrong.

I'm in Charlotte, on the north side of town, if you feel like taking that much of a drive we can hook it up in my brewery and see if we can trace down the issue(s).

 

[steveoatley]

Why not contact the guy who built it ?

http://brumatic.com/BRU-matic-DBC-2PM30-DBC-2PM30.htm

He is also a HBT member

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/member.php?u=181321

straight to the horses mouth - so to speak

Steve

 

[jddevinn]

Why not contact the guy who built it ?

http://brumatic.com/BRU-matic-DBC-2PM30-DBC-2PM30.htm

He is also a HBT member

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/member.php?u=181321

straight to the horses mouth - so to speak

Steve

Join Date:

01-14-2014
Last Activity:

01-14-2016 6:27 PM

I'd guess he's not checking messages on this site.

 

[steveoatley]

Join Date:

01-14-2014
Last Activity:

01-14-2016 6:27 PM

I'd guess he's not checking messages on this site.

Look at his last post #6 in this thread

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=569516

he is offering service to the Box he sells.....?!

just my 2 cents
S

 

[jddevinn]

Look at his last post #6 in this thread

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=569516

he is offering service to the Box he sells.....?!

just my 2 cents
S

Opps I read that as join date and last active date being the same... not several years different!!!

 

[r8rphan]

I'd look at all those wires just jammed under the individual screw terminal on the breaker too.. Definitely not the best way to do things...

and like others have said, move the wires on the receptacle to the screw terminals (and use a crimped on spade lug).. I won't use those stab in connections even with solid wire.. They are nothing but problems and I wish they'd outlaw them....