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15 gallon router speed control, heating element ??
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Offline gascan  
#1 Posted : Wednesday, January 23, 2013 1:43:37 PM(UTC)
gascan


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"Hi I am new here and I don't know squate about electricity. I can change a light bulb, but I always have to call someone to help me with wiring stuff.

I read around quite a bit and am trying to find a good for a router speed controller and an appropriate wattage on the heating element. I've noticed that some have LOW MED and HIGH settings. I would prefer to find one with more than 3 settings.

I have the brewhaus 15 gallon high capacity distiller on the way, I have two NPT's installed on it BigGrin. I want to run it in both reflux and pot still modes. I've read on other forum sites that the RSC doesn't work well with Pot stills, but only works well with reflux stills. I'm basically at a loss and that is why i'm finally posting on a forum. I've seen the very expensive phase angle controller boxes and I'm trying not to go that route. I would prefer to stay with 110V. I have 220 but would need to unplug my dryer and run a long extension cord to my garage. But you know, if I have too I will.. However, I haven't seen any 220v router speed controllers.

Does anyone with a 15 gallon boiler have a specific Router speed controller and heating element combo that they would recommend? (And Please tell me the brand) I've seen that people seem to be having success with the MLCS (if I wrote that correctly) Router speed controller.

Also, since parts are interchangable with the threaded NPT's I am wondering if there is an RSC / Element combination on 110v that would work well for a Pot still and maybe another combination that would work well for a Reflux. Just a guess on that question.

I appreciate anyone's response in advance because this single topic has been my biggest obstacle.. for about a year. Now that i've made the plunge, This is really the last piece of the puzzle, equipment-wise that I have to figure out. Confused

Thank you,
Gascan"
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Offline heeler  
#2 Posted : Wednesday, January 23, 2013 10:50:23 PM(UTC)
heeler


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"
Originally Posted by: gascan Go to Quoted Post
Hi I am new here and I don't know squate about electricity. I can change a light bulb, but I always have to call someone to help me with wiring stuff.

I read around quite a bit and am trying to find a good for a router speed controller and an appropriate wattage on the heating element. I've noticed that some have LOW MED and HIGH settings. I would prefer to find one with more than 3 settings.

I have the brewhaus 15 gallon high capacity distiller on the way, I have two NPT's installed on it BigGrin. I want to run it in both reflux and pot still modes. I've read on other forum sites that the RSC doesn't work well with Pot stills, but only works well with reflux stills. I'm basically at a loss and that is why i'm finally posting on a forum. I've seen the very expensive phase angle controller boxes and I'm trying not to go that route. I would prefer to stay with 110V. I have 220 but would need to unplug my dryer and run a long extension cord to my garage. But you know, if I have too I will.. However, I haven't seen any 220v router speed controllers.

Does anyone with a 15 gallon boiler have a specific Router speed controller and heating element combo that they would recommend? (And Please tell me the brand) I've seen that people seem to be having success with the MLCS (if I wrote that correctly) Router speed controller.

Also, since parts are interchangable with the threaded NPT's I am wondering if there is an RSC / Element combination on 110v that would work well for a Pot still and maybe another combination that would work well for a Reflux. Just a guess on that question.

I appreciate anyone's response in advance because this single topic has been my biggest obstacle.. for about a year. Now that i've made the plunge, This is really the last piece of the puzzle, equipment-wise that I have to figure out. Confused

Thank you,
Gascan

Gascan, I dont think there is a RSC'er that will work with 220 but you dont have to use 220, you said you had 110 and that will do nicely.
There is no absolute combo for a controller and a element, I use a 220 4500watt element with 110/30amp circut and it works fine.
You mentioned interchangable parts from pot/reflux. with elements, there is no such thing really. The diff. between the two is the tower not the boiler. Change the tower and you go from reflux to pot......of course you may run the heat differently but heat is heat. Turn it up or turn it down, its just that simple.
I'm sorry I cant tell you a for sure name on a RSC'er but there are several to choose from. I can adjust mine from on,(full) and then set to adjustable and it has a knob that turns the adjustable setting up or down. So, it's on in the full mode or set in the adjustable mode and you can adjust the wattage from the knob. Works very nicely with 110 volts."
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Offline Maddawgs  
#3 Posted : Thursday, January 24, 2013 12:50:56 AM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: gascan Go to Quoted Post
Hi I am new here and I don't know squate about electricity. I can change a light bulb, but I always have to call someone to help me with wiring stuff.

I read around quite a bit and am trying to find a good for a router speed controller and an appropriate wattage on the heating element. I've noticed that some have LOW MED and HIGH settings. I would prefer to find one with more than 3 settings.

I have the brewhaus 15 gallon high capacity distiller on the way, I have two NPT's installed on it BigGrin. I want to run it in both reflux and pot still modes. I've read on other forum sites that the RSC doesn't work well with Pot stills, but only works well with reflux stills. I'm basically at a loss and that is why i'm finally posting on a forum. I've seen the very expensive phase angle controller boxes and I'm trying not to go that route. I would prefer to stay with 110V. I have 220 but would need to unplug my dryer and run a long extension cord to my garage. But you know, if I have too I will.. However, I haven't seen any 220v router speed controllers.

Does anyone with a 15 gallon boiler have a specific Router speed controller and heating element combo that they would recommend? (And Please tell me the brand) I've seen that people seem to be having success with the MLCS (if I wrote that correctly) Router speed controller.

Also, since parts are interchangable with the threaded NPT's I am wondering if there is an RSC / Element combination on 110v that would work well for a Pot still and maybe another combination that would work well for a Reflux. Just a guess on that question.

I appreciate anyone's response in advance because this single topic has been my biggest obstacle.. for about a year. Now that i've made the plunge, This is really the last piece of the puzzle, equipment-wise that I have to figure out. Confused

Thank you,
Gascan

Hi Gascan,
I have the same kettle with two npt's. I use the heavy duty 20amp version mlcs rsc (very common choice on this forum). I use 2 110v 2000w reliance elements. If I did the math right my draw is 16.7amps (2000w/120v) or 18.2 (2000w/110v) run on a dedecated 20amp circuit. On my sacrificial run with my rsc controlled element at full on for just over 3 hours the rsc was warm to the touch but not hot. With both 2000w elements on it took about 45 minutes to heat up about 9 gallons. Hope this helps you out.
Maddawgs
.
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Offline gascan  
#4 Posted : Thursday, January 24, 2013 5:56:40 AM(UTC)
gascan


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"Thank yall very much,
Maddawg, I had found on another forum where someone had taken the MLCS 20 amp apart and attached a heat sink to it. I'm guessing it's not neccessary since you said it was warm and not hot as some can get. Do you think attaching a heat sink would be neccessasry based on your experience with it?

Is that RSC fully adjustable through a full range of power? as in, does it going up in small increments when you turn the knob or does it click to just 3 settings ""low, medium and high"" I think I'll go with that setup.

One more question.. The cord from the RSC should have a ground to it correct? Looking at all of the heating elements I'm only seeing two connections. Is the ground wire attached to the boiler? If so, how do did you attach that part.

I really appreciate everyone's help.

Gascan"
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Offline dieselduo  
#5 Posted : Thursday, January 24, 2013 6:08:57 AM(UTC)
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i dont need a heat sink on my mlsc 20 amp. The ground is attached to the boiler by putting a hose clamp around the npt fitting and attaching the ground wire to that. Scotty has a picture of it somewhere on the forum
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Offline Maddawgs  
#6 Posted : Thursday, January 24, 2013 8:19:48 AM(UTC)
Maddawgs


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Originally Posted by: gascan Go to Quoted Post
Thank yall very much,
Maddawg, I had found on another forum where someone had taken the MLCS 20 amp apart and attached a heat sink to it. I'm guessing it's not neccessary since you said it was warm and not hot as some can get. Do you think attaching a heat sink would be neccessasry based on your experience with it?

Is that RSC fully adjustable through a full range of power? as in, does it going up in small increments when you turn the knob or does it click to just 3 settings "low, medium and high" I think I'll go with that setup.

One more question.. The cord from the RSC should have a ground to it correct? Looking at all of the heating elements I'm only seeing two connections. Is the ground wire attached to the boiler? If so, how do did you attach that part.

I really appreciate everyone's help.

Gascan

Hi Gascan,
Yes a few people have gone the route of adding a larger heatsink. My sacrificial alcohol run was also my test run to see how everything worked. Part of this run was to test out the rsc and make sure it worked as it should. Initially I though I had a bad rsc as when I swithced it to variable my column temp dropped dramatically. I ran the rsc un full for the rest of the run. After thanks to a helpful test Jb suggested I found that the rsc worked and that when switched from full to variable turned to full you are actually at about 75% of full and then have constant adjustment down to zero. So it is not just high, med, and low. The other part of the test on the rsc was to see if it generated excessive heat and would need the heatsink mod. I'm no electrician but I think as long as you are not exceeding your amp rating (and have some leeway) you wont have a heat issue. Dieselduo is correct, when you wire up you element white and black go to the go to the element terminals and green grounds to the kettle. I use the same method with the green ground wire clamped via a hose clamp.
Hope this helps you out.
Maddawgs
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Offline ratflinger  
#7 Posted : Thursday, January 24, 2013 5:09:42 PM(UTC)
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I run a 4500w element with 240v until the kettle heats & then I have a jumper that adapts my Nema 6L30 plug to a std 15a plug. I use the the same RSC I did with my 1500w hotplate, but I don't need the variable on it, I just use it as an off/on switch. In pot mode I strip as fast as possible & In reflux mode the water controls everything nicely - I never have to fool with power except the switch between 240v & 120V. The 3" column won't handle the steam generated by the element while on 240v.
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