Was hoping to use this to manually adjust boil, but having some trouble understanding wiring it.
Anyone use this? If so how to wire it? I connected it to one leg of circuit in and out, and that seemed to have no effect on voltage ( with a multimeter). I did not connect anything to com. Should maybe the other hot come in and out com? Perhaps that is not a good way to test it?
thanks for any help.
Mack
From the look of the wiring diagram you are coming in with one hot leg and simply “breaking” that leg and continuing it through. COM is for a neutral
thanks… right but I have no neutral, only a ground
I would guess it’s an potentiometer. Simply an variable resistor. If that is the case the out wire voltage can be controlled. Smaller versions used to be used for volume controls. Been a long time since basic electricity class though.
Yes. I agree. It only breaks one leg of the 220volt lines. If you have no neutral I guess you would not use the COM connection. But this may be what you have already tried.
whats the diagram on the side show? Sneezles61
It shows what I have stated. One leg of 120v feed through the terminals, the other passes through.
Well thanks to all for trying to help. To close this properly, I think what is happening after reading some other forums is that the SSVR may be actually working but since there is no load, my multi meter is not sensing the changes made to the sine wave, essentially, it thinks things are the same
but when actually under a load, the voltage is being modified. Guess I will have to test it under real conditions when i get my kettle drilled and element mounted.
Since it is designed as a motor speed controller I think your thought processes are likely correct.
Don’t use this!
I tried to do the same thing… the problem is, it’s made for non-American 220vac. Or, to better phrase it, it is used for 220vac that you don’t have in your home. It is made for one hot leg, one neutral, and one ground. It’s a scr, so basically a potentiometer and a rectifier bridge.
Your home has two different legs of 120vac, so your power supply for 220vac is between two hots of 120vac. You would actually need two of these, one for each leg of 120vac. Trying to use this one will not change anything, you’ll only waste time and money.
Aw… inter-national power supply… not US… Makes sense as to why the terminals are as they is… Sneezles61
Yea. It can be done in America easily, I do it for work a lot. You can certainly buy a transformer that will turn 120vac to 240vac, and that will make one hot and a neutral. But that’s not a cheap method, and you’re going to need a high kilowatt setting and big gauge wires to make it work. To get 10kw of 240vac, you’d need a 10kw transformer (weighs over 200 pounds) and you’d need more than 80amps of 120vac to make 10kw of 240vac.
Long story short, the scr is a cool device, it’s basically a high powered dimmer switch. But, unless you are looking to use it for a 120vac supply (which it can certainly do) your house won’t have the necessary electricity to make it work.
Hello…Simply an variable resistor. If that is the case the out wire voltage can be controlled. Smaller versions used to be used for volume controls. Been a long time since basic electricity class though.
Hi…the simplest method would be to use a Triac instead of a full SCR bridge.With the Triac you just use place the bridge on the output and feed the motor from the DC side.There are plenty of Triac designs out there on the web, just that you do not have the refinements that a SCR bridge type has such as the KB or
T.M. controllers for accell and current limit etc.
To anyone who finds this thread.
Yes it works perfectly. One leg of 120v feed through the terminals, the other passes through.
I found it to be unreliable since this is not proper engineering, and not using the equipment as intended. I found great success using a variac
Just saying… I have been using one since 2017… I’ve not any issues… I do see the SCR on arc welders…
Perhaps that it’s not in constant use day in and day out it does as its suppose?
Sneezles61
In all honesty it’s probably safe and fine. But in theory, the 230vac in your house (if you’re American) is sort of a “weird” 230. 2 hot legs are not the most efficient method. So to use the scr here to modify one of the hot legs while keeping the other normal, that is even less efficient. It will work. It makes my engineering brain scream a little.
Back when I made my controller, I did have the option to use PID and SSR… I chose not to… Seemed it would be so much a clone to the electric brewery… And the degree of research for a left handed carpenter… 
Alls good though… There’s more than one way to brew a beer… Wouldn’t you agree? 
Sneezles61
