Brent
03-14-2012, 08:55 PM
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got a new budget priced CDL auto draw off through our local dealer, Atkinson.
CDL calls it their "hobby" draw off because it is made with a 1" valve rather than 1-1/2 or 2". It is anything but a hobby
unit.
This consists of an Omron programmable controller, a commercial grade Italian operator (motor drive), and a stainless steel butterfly valve.
The unit was priced at $ 950. I had it prepared with Tri-clamp sanitary fittings, got 2 stainless 1" ball valves and 2 stainless 1" MPT to Tri-clamp
adaptors for a total of $ 1250. Add to that the stainless spout. This gave me the capablility of moving the rig to opposite sides to reverse the flow.
The unit performed flawlessly, unlike the one I had previously, which went off on a tantrum every one in a while and tried to empty the pan on me.
The displayed temp and temp setting are in 1/10th degree increments, but internally it is operating at higher resolution. For example if I set the draw to trigger at 218, the first time the displayed temp hit 218 nothing happened, but after another 15-30 seconds, the output light turned on and you could hear the motor on operator jog, and the manual valve lever would move a bit ... but the display still said 218.0. Another bit longer and the drive would start again and the operator opened enough for a drizzle to start coming out. Another 30 seconds later the displayed temp would trip to 218.1 and the motor would open the valve another little bit and the flow increased slowly. Because I am running wood fired the temperatures in the firebox fluctuated a fair bit. If the fire was really ripping the displayed temp would go up 1-1/2 degrees above the set and the 1" valve was almost wide open. I did quickly learn that adding small loads of wood and keeping the fire in a tighter range gave me better draws. So when I wasn't fighting filtering etc and had the temp stable, there were times when I got draws that ran in a drizzle lasting 10 to 12 minutes. The unit was sensing very fine temperature changes and when the syrup temp had peaked, it sensed the drop in temp and often started closing the vavle even before the display showed the downtrend.
If you were running an oil fired rig getting a continous draw would seem like it was going to be pretty easy, but I think the GPH would need to be close to what our rig does. This year we never turned on the bubbler in the SteamAway because I could not keep up with the filtering. Turning on the SteamAway would only increase the frequency of draws and compound the filter management ... but thats another problem.
At this price point, with no-home brewed or basement project components, a PLC the you or I could re-program if we wanted, I think this is a rock solid product. Your mileage may differ.
CDL calls it their "hobby" draw off because it is made with a 1" valve rather than 1-1/2 or 2". It is anything but a hobby
unit.
This consists of an Omron programmable controller, a commercial grade Italian operator (motor drive), and a stainless steel butterfly valve.
The unit was priced at $ 950. I had it prepared with Tri-clamp sanitary fittings, got 2 stainless 1" ball valves and 2 stainless 1" MPT to Tri-clamp
adaptors for a total of $ 1250. Add to that the stainless spout. This gave me the capablility of moving the rig to opposite sides to reverse the flow.
The unit performed flawlessly, unlike the one I had previously, which went off on a tantrum every one in a while and tried to empty the pan on me.
The displayed temp and temp setting are in 1/10th degree increments, but internally it is operating at higher resolution. For example if I set the draw to trigger at 218, the first time the displayed temp hit 218 nothing happened, but after another 15-30 seconds, the output light turned on and you could hear the motor on operator jog, and the manual valve lever would move a bit ... but the display still said 218.0. Another bit longer and the drive would start again and the operator opened enough for a drizzle to start coming out. Another 30 seconds later the displayed temp would trip to 218.1 and the motor would open the valve another little bit and the flow increased slowly. Because I am running wood fired the temperatures in the firebox fluctuated a fair bit. If the fire was really ripping the displayed temp would go up 1-1/2 degrees above the set and the 1" valve was almost wide open. I did quickly learn that adding small loads of wood and keeping the fire in a tighter range gave me better draws. So when I wasn't fighting filtering etc and had the temp stable, there were times when I got draws that ran in a drizzle lasting 10 to 12 minutes. The unit was sensing very fine temperature changes and when the syrup temp had peaked, it sensed the drop in temp and often started closing the vavle even before the display showed the downtrend.
If you were running an oil fired rig getting a continous draw would seem like it was going to be pretty easy, but I think the GPH would need to be close to what our rig does. This year we never turned on the bubbler in the SteamAway because I could not keep up with the filtering. Turning on the SteamAway would only increase the frequency of draws and compound the filter management ... but thats another problem.
At this price point, with no-home brewed or basement project components, a PLC the you or I could re-program if we wanted, I think this is a rock solid product. Your mileage may differ.