OfflineOur club is investigating a new control system for our Compressor. We currently have a 3 stage compressor control with an older drum sequencer and a temp control run off the brine discharge temp. We got a quote to put in a Trend(brand) controller with the following data points. Ice room temp and RH, outside air, plus brine discharge and brine return, as well as air handler discharge temp. Our building is not exteremely well insulated with a huge arched roof.
We currently are able to get 25+ sec. ice but only ~15" curl on average. We recently had our rocks redone with granite inserts.
My main questions at this point are...
1. Do we have the right data points?
2. Is this going to make a huge difference?
3. What should we be paying for something like this?
Any input you have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
What exactly are you trying to acheive?
We would like to have more curl, Less frost, and a more reliable system. I think we should have at least 3 feet of curl on draws and at certain times when the planets align our ice is fantastic. We have had 26 sec ice with plenty of swing, then two days later it is straight again. I am inclined to believe that temp and humidity in the ice room are our biggest variables. Also I should had that we are a completely volunteer Ice group, with no formal training other than I once drove a Zamboni.
what is an older drum type sequencer ,elaborate more and maybe we can help.My first impression is it will be money poorly spent ,how costly is it and what exactly does it do.
A drum sequencer is a wheel with 3 cams on it driven by a stepper motor. We put in a brine temp on the setpoint controller and if it is lower than the actual the drum rotates clockwise and the compressor turns on. As the drum rotates cam 1 makes switch 1 and the compressor is in stage one cooling if the temp is not met the drum keeps turning slowly and stage 2 turns on, then stage 3 and the compressor is running full blast. as the setpoint gets met the drum runs counterclockwise and the compressor unloads stage 3 then 2 then 1. that is all the control we have on the compressor. We also have a thermostat that runs the ice room hvac. That is our control system. We would like to have a control system that controls ice temp , rh and room temp all in one closed loop controller. We feel that curling ice is a product of those variables. the cost is 13k american.
Who is your refrigeration company and what do they recommend? I have a CELCO 2200 that controls compressors by brine return temp and air temperature in the ice area. It is capable of night setback of ice and air temp and can control 8 different operating systems, as well as turn lights on and off at scheduled times. It is sold by CIMCO and i believe is $2800 Cnd.
If you're in Ontario, Gordon Wright has a fantastic controller system made by a company called Varaxis. The system is called "The Icemakers Mistress" and is specifically designed for curling clubs.
It's fairly pricy, however it's pretty much the top of the line controller out there.
You can find info on it here: http://www.varaxis.ca/index_files/Page841.htm