Projects at home!

VAN said:

Do you have a CIP (clean in place), and can you share what you've done?

My old man use to make beer at home and I've seen some automated stuff but I've never really pulled the trigger on trying to make it.

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I don't, but its on the list of upgrades. I'm going to add a ball valve on the bottom of the boil kettle (keg on the left) so I can drain and rinse and not have to disconnect and pickup. That the only one that is a real PIA to clean. My mash tun (cooler in the middle) I could add a tilt frame, but usually I clean out the spent grains and give them to someone who has goats, then rinse. The plastic is pretty light and my thermocouple goes through the lid so I don't have to worry about disconnecting to clean. This was my old setup before I moved and was still in the test and tune process. I use 5500 watt ULWD heating elements and a SSR to cycle the duty cycle from a PID instruction. You can see on the panel where I used physical PID's before I automated it.

I have learned more and become more of a perfectionist since my last set up so I'm excited to get everything setup and going again. I finally finished building my new garage. I just finished up installing my meter base and panel, have a little conduit to run and I'll be ready for my final inspection, then I can start to set it all back up.



The best part of it all.

^^^ ^^^

That's awesome dude, thanks for sharing.

BobB said:

The Click PLC software is actually quite good and you can do online editing with the new Ethernet processors I hear and they are cheap.
The software for the new AB 800 series is painful and if you want to do anything useful you have to buy the full version - do not ask - just finished a job with them. Never again! LOL
Finish my project for an automated orchid growing shade house system that I started 6 years ago - been too busy since - very busy now as well. Booked for the next 4 months.

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I agree. The new Allen Bradley 800 series are junk, IMO. The software gets better, but is still too clunky and tries too hard to look nice rather than function well.

The Click software isn't too bad. Not great, but good for free.

I converted our clothes tumble dryer when it broke and was heading for the scrap yard.
It was a secret annoyance that my wife always put it to full heat and the timer to max.
The clothes came out scalding hot.

I had all the plc stuff and sensors so made it a project for free.

It became quite scientific. I had a moisture and temperature sensor in the exhaust pipe and a temperature sensor inside the dryer.
I had a flap switch attached to a pot for airflow that told me when the fluff filter need cleaning (reduced airflow)
It had three heater elements that I turned on at the start of the cycle then I monitored the temperature and moisture levels
I noticed as it was running that the temperature would stay steady for a while then it would start to rise again.
That was time to turn an element off
The same for the next element at a lower temp.
When the moisture came down to near zero I would run it cold for a while then put a 'cycle complete' lamp on.

One button started it all in automatic and no matter what was put in, it dried them perfectly

I like that dryer upgrade!