It's Alive!

After somewhat of a hiatus from working on my brewing system (thank you overtime), I have finally made progress!  The outlets I need are now installed in the garage so I was able to test the control panel.  It was very satisfying to finally see the lights come on.  When I first turned the key, the amp meter didn't work.  I had a moment of panic as I remembered all of the build threads that I read that had a blown or defective amp meter.  I shut it off and took it back in the house to inspect the wiring.  The problem was staring me right in the face.  One of the power wires for the amp meter had come loose.  I reconnected it and powered back up and the amp meter was working perfectly.

I ran through some tests on the control panel and everything checked out as working except the boil temperature probe and the pumps.  The pumps just have not been tested because I still need to get them wired properly.  The boil temperature probe was another easy fix because I just had a bad solder job.  That means that I successfully wired the panel with everything going to the right place.  I am very proud of that.

With my new found momentum I also made all of the hoses that I need and finished the MLT.  The hoses were very simple to put together.  I don't know why I waited so long to make them.  It was just a matter of clamping quick disconnects to the ends.  The last step for the MLT was to attach the hose in that will return the wort to the mash tun during recirculation.  This also only required clamping a hose in place.

I also started to work on the control panel mount, but quickly learned that I did not receive the correct mount.  I need to send it back tomorrow and order the right one.

So revisiting the list of what I needed to finish:

• Have the outlet installed
• Finish brew stand (wood shelves, control panel mount)
• Pump cord rewire
• Wire heating elements
• Recirculating coil install
• Counter-flow chiller assembly
• Make hoses with quick disconnects
• Ventilation hood

I'm feeling really good about finishing this up in the next week or two.  It may come down to just being able to get the right parts in time.