thebottle Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Having trouble figuring out exactly how to wire my control box. I have 2 - 5kw Heating elements that need to be wired to a 10kw Control Box. The electrician that wired the box to the Electric Panel isn't sure either, so that doesn't really reassure me. Any help on this would be great, thanks. Picture attached with inside of box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyspirits Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Lots of white wires in the box. Im hesitant to even guess. It appears there are only three wires coming into the box -- two hots and a ground? Where are you located? Really need a proper schematic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard1 Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 I would call for yet another opinion...... Not a good looking box. Besides you only have a single SSR. Your elements have all been connected together for single phase operation. So unless your SSR is big enough for two elements, I would re-examine the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedd Haas Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Also, there doesn't appear to be a heat sink on that SSR, which means it is likely to self-destruct. OP, for your safety, I suggest you start over with someone who is qualified to build a control panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson bay distillers Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 personally i cant afford an electrician so we raised one lol he has his red seal i ll forward him this thread and see if he can venture a guess . tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard1 Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 I bought a 30A 3 phase 380VAC, phase angle power controller the other day for my continuous column still that I am busy building. Nice because it has both 4-2mA input control as well as a manual pot control. Of note is the size of heat sinks that they come with and also the air flow requirement for panel cooling and this then all relate back to large panel sizes /volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebottle Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 Met with Electrician yesterday and we figured this out. First off we found a wiring problem, the ammeter didn't have a current carrying wire passing through the sensor, we fixed that. Next, we were able to determine where exactly the heating elements got wired. Everything is good to go now. Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lenerz Posted September 26, 2017 Share Posted September 26, 2017 Did you put a heatsink on that SSR? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebottle Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 There is a heat sink, was hard to see from original pic so I attached a new pic. However, there is not a cooling fan in this box so I'm considering add one. Thoughts on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dehner Distillery Posted September 27, 2017 Share Posted September 27, 2017 yes add a fan. That is going to build some heat. I would also say make sure the sensor is on the upstream side of the ssr that is controlled, It might through your sensor off do to the line pluse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernhighlander Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 The class 1, division 2 hazardous environment extends 6 feet around the still and 3 feet off of the floor. If you have an electrical enclosure inside that area, that has an arcing mechanism within it, then the enclosure must be in an explosion proof enclosure. If you have an electrical enclosure inside that area, that does not have an arcing mechanism inside, then that enclosure must be wash down rated, NEMA4. If you have an electrical enclosure outside of the class 1 division 2 area, that is still in the same room as the still, then that enclosure must be wash down NEMA4. A NEMA4 enclosure is liquid, dust and vapor proof, which means that it must be sealed up tight. If you vent that enclosure with a cooling fan, which will pull air in one vent and out another, you are creating a very dangerous situation. if ethanol vapor get's into the air and gets drawn into that electrical enclosure you may have a fire or explosion that could cause accidental injury or death. The contactor is the arcing mechanism. This is propitiatory information, but I am going to give it out to help make sure that no one gets hurt. We use oversize heat sinks for our SSRs. Our very over sized heat sinks mount on the outside of the enclosure, while the SSRs are mounted to them on the inside of the enclosure. Our enclosures are sealed up tight. If a distillery equipment vendor sells you an electrical control panel that has a cooling fan in it, then they do not know what they are doing and they are creating a very dangerous situation. Another fire has occurred at a distillery http://www.10news.com/news/husband-and-wife-distillery-catches-fire-in-spring-valley We mus all do our best to keep things as safe as possible in our industry. Just so everyone knows, the still in the above link is not one of mine. We sold them a still, but it was still in transit for delivery when the fire occurred. Please keep Trent and his wife in your thoughts and prayers. This can't be an easy situation for them. I wish them a speedy rebuild, and I hope they get back in business very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebottle Posted September 28, 2017 Author Share Posted September 28, 2017 Thanks for this info! I guess I don't have to worry about cutting that hole in the box this weekend. Over-sized heat sink, that's a good idea, thanks for sharing. You got me thinking of other possible safety issues now. The box has the EMT conduit coming from the panel, which is about 30 feet away from the still. Should i seal the locations where the conduit comes into the box and where the 2 heating elements come into the box? Could I use gasket sealant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernhighlander Posted September 28, 2017 Share Posted September 28, 2017 You you should seal those locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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