Operating the 240V/30amp Brewing Power Controller

 1. Plug the large BPC plug into a 'NEMA 14-30' four prong receptacle on a 240V/30amp circuit. For most homes in North America, this is the same receptacle as is found behind an electric clothes drier. If you want to connect to a stove receptacle (NEMA 14-50) an adapter can be purchased here. 

2. To control power to the element with an Electronic Temperature Controller (ETC), for example during mashing in order to control the temperature of your mash, or during fermentation to heat your wort/beer, connect the small 'contactor' cord at the back of the BPC to the heating socket (marked with an 'H' on the white controllers and a red flame on the black controllers) on the ETC, and plug the ETC into a wall receptacle or one of the sockets on the BPC. The small cord lets 240V power through to the element by opening and closing a 'contactor'. The ETC is very useful for controlling the temperature during mashing, but not as helpful to control your boil (see step 5 for that).

 3. If power will not be controlled with an ETC (e.g. during the boil), plug the smaller BPC 'contactor' cord directly into a wall receptacle. This will close the contactor inside the BPC and allow power through to the element.  For safety, when not using the element, the smaller contactor cord should be left unplugged.

4. Plug the heating element plug into the box and twist to lock it. **It is recommended for additional safety that you have a GFCI on your breaker box, or install a spa GFI in between the breaker and the BPC.

 5. To manually control power to the 5500W 100% stainless electric immersion heating element after plugging the small power cord directly into a socket, rotate the dial on the front of the box. (Pushing the dial in will turn power on and off.) The dial is a digital controller that can precisely regulate the power to the element as a percentage of output; turn the dial to 100% and the element will produce full wattage; rotate it to 50% and the element will only effectively produce half wattage. This is especially useful during boil, when you may want to limit the boil during hot break, or if you want to control the amount of water you want to evaporate—a lot of water to evaporate and you want a high boil, only a little water and you want a low boil. It is also very useful for heating the fermenter during fermentation where the full 100% will scorch the yeast on the element. During fermentation it is recommended to set the power output to less than 3%.