Peco Boiler Custom Thermostat Upgrade...

Hi chaps

I'm very pleased to have received my BIAB kit today from HBC - great service from those guys and really good price.

I know a few guys on here have gone for this kit, and my decision to get it myself was based on recommendation from others - and I have to say my initial impressions are that its a great kit! I just need to knock up a bit of simple plumbing on the wort chiller - and thanks to the great advice from Spapro and others I shall have that sorted with cheap bits from B&Q in no time.

Now - the "issue" with this Peco boiler (not really an issue I guess - just a limitation) is that you don't get a thermostatic control of any kind. The element has two options : on and off! I suppose this is no great hardship as it just means monitoring the temp with a thermometer.

BUT - my work colleague was interested in the kit when it was delivered today, and he happens to be an electrician. He reckoned there'd be a simple system for customising the kit to add digital thermometer/thermostat function. And he's found a gadget on eBay which he is certain will do the business, for the sum of....wait for it...£6.23! The thing comes from China but delivery is free and it looks great. It has a temp probe which I am thinking will hang through the hole in the lid, and then it has a thermostatic control which just clicks the element on and off to maintain your chosen temperature. It'll heat up to 110 degrees, so it should be fine for maintaining the boil.

This is the device http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191064519125. My colleague is going to give me a hand making it all work when it turns up, and if it is a winner I can post full instructions on here if anyone else is interested in doing it.

This YouTube video shows it in action and explains the wiring if anyone is interested. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9qZQmn1JAQ[/ame]

Cheers!

That sounds good, there is a peco you can buy with a thermostat built in but its £50 more I think..

One thing I would do is test and calibrate the cheap thermo though, just because those cheap other Chinese thermostats people bought off here were a bit out

Covrich said:

That sounds good, there is a peco you can buy with a thermostat built in but its £50 more I think..

One thing I would do is test and calibrate the cheap thermo though, just because those cheap other Chinese thermostats people bought off here were a bit out

Click to expand...

That's a good shout Covrich, cheers. I wondered how accurate they'd be.

I did see that you can buy the Peco thermostat control which can be easily retro-fitted for around £65, here http://www.pecoservices.co.uk/digital-mashing-bin-upgrade-kit---eb2dk-31-p.asp.

No doubt this would work great too, but hopefully my solution will be as good, for a fraction of the price. Nothing ventured nothing gained I guess!

Interesting, let us know how you get on with it.

I assume your electrician will create a box that you can plug the 3-pin uk plug from the Peco heating element into - with the control panel from china installed and wired within the box. Take a look on here at STC-1000 which lots on here have used to control brew fridges - usually they box them into a connection box. Just thinking you need to be careful with electrical connections close to brewing liquids, sure your electrician has thought of that though.

This post is a good one I think about an STC-1000 build - not done it myself though:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=55965&highlight=STC-1000

Nice one Spapro yeah that STC-1000 looks pretty much the same as the unit I found on eBay.

That's a very good point about the exposed connections and brewing liquids. My plan is to mount the controller in some sort of plastic or metal box. I'm just trying to find out if the size of the controller is actually some sort of standard size (a bit like a car stereo) and if so, maybe I can source a housing which is made for the job - and if it is IP-rated for water-proofing then even better! Otherwise we'll make something from scratch that will hopefully do the job.

Will keep you posted!

Hi Tim,

good luck with it, may be worth building it to include 2 sockets, one for heat and one for cool. Although you won't be using the cool socket just now it would give you a good control unit to use with a brew fridge in the future, if you do ever put one together. Just thinking out loud.

Let us know how you get on - and some piccies are always good to see.

Spapro said:

Hi Tim,

good luck with it, may be worth building it to include 2 sockets, one for heat and one for cool. Although you won't be using the cool socket just now it would give you a good control unit to use with a brew fridge in the future, if you do ever put one together. Just thinking out loud.

Let us know how you get on - and some piccies are always good to see.

Click to expand...

That's a good point mate thanks for that - yes I'll def look to add the cool function too. As you say, its definitely worth doing now while I have the chance. Cheers!

Looking forward to see how this turns out.