Beer Forum

For those of you that made a control panel, where did you purchase all the parts(panel, toggle switches, LEDs, waterproofing, etc)?

Local electronics store. You can buy some stuff from a big box retailer, and order from a place like DigiKey, but I find it helpful to be able to browse options.

earlier this year I was building upgrades for my audio studio and was having trouble finding exactly the switches I wanted that were 1) the correct color 2) the right price 3) the correct throw. it seemed like every where I shopped I could easily find "normal open" switches but very few stores stocked the "normally closed" variety. and if they did it wasn't the switch I wanted to use or could afford.

I was about to make do but remembered the strange of eBay. for example if you need bulk 20 sided dice you can find them bundled in a bag of 100. so I typed DPDT normally closed which revealed exactly what I was looking for. and for lots less.

example link

YMMV is the only cautionary thing I can say. shipping is often free. check to see where it's coming from if you are in a hurry as some of this is from Hong Kong. for my project I didn't care when it showed up.

Sourcing the electrical bits for my build from mouser, automation direct, mcmaster carr and alliedelec.com. ssrs and Heat sinks came from a Chinese eBay company.

Lowes and Radio Shack

+1
Lowes and Radio Shack! Except for the Auber instruments controllers (I'm thinking about adding their timer too!) My 2-way toggle switches, on-board GFI breaker and wire all came from Lowes. The three-way toggle used as a GFI bypass came from Radio Shack. I'm still looking for a cooler housing than the irrigation control boxes they sell at Lowes, but any housing will do for the meanwhile.
I decided against LEDs, they are just one more thing to go wrong.

I started up my control panel v2.0 a month or so back. My buddy (WhatsOnTap, here) convinced me to build it around an Arduino. Since I have gas burners, I really don't need PID functionality. What was a overly complicated system with all relays, switches, PIDS, and a liquid level board is now a pretty compact system. I think I'll be able to go down to an 8" X 8" X 3" box. The best part is that I've really localized and limited the high voltage stuff, and I now have LEDs for indicators. All the switches now operate off of low voltage, and I'll have one display instead of four. I got most of the small solder components at our local Fry's Electronics store. Other stuff I ordered online. Here are some in progress pix....




Mylo

Mylo wrote:I started up my control panel v2.0 a month or so back. My buddy (WhatsOnTap, here) convinced me to build it around an Arduino. Since I have gas burners, I really don't need PID functionality.
Mylo

I'm curious about this.

http://www.arduino.cc/

What do you use to ignite the gas and what type of temp sensors do you use and where do you locate them?