Control Panel (Part 1)

STEP 12: Install tags

Electrical panel tags were used to label the various parts of our control panel. It is an inexpensive way to helps give the panel a finished professional look and also makes it safer to use. Before flicking a switch the labels are a confirmation that we're actually going to turn on the pump or element that we expect.

When properly tagged, controls or indicators should be self-describing. What this means is that it should be obvious to the user what the switch or control will do without having to ask, refer to a manual, or simply try it out. For example, for the switches we do this by using two lines of text on the tags: One line to describe what the switch controls (ex: "WATER PUMP") followed by a second line describing what each of the switch positions does (ex: "OFF - ON"). The end result is a panel that anyone slightly familiar with the brewing process should be able to look at and understand without having to ask any questions.

All of the tags have a black face with white lettering, Arial upper case center aligned text, adhesive backing, bevelled edges, no holes, and are 1-3/4 x 1/2" in size.

There are 27 tags in total with the following text:

VOLTS
AMPS
ALARM
POWER
OFF - ON
ELEMENT ON
ELEMENT SELECT
BOIL - OFF - HLT
ELEMENT ON
RESET
BOIL TEMP
MASH TEMP
HOT LIQUOR TEMP
TIME REMAINING
ALARM
OFF - ON
ALARM
OFF - ON
ALARM
OFF - ON
ALARM
OFF - ON
WORT PUMP
OFF - ON
WATER PUMP
OFF - ON
BOIL PROBE
MASH PROBE
HOT LIQUOR PROBE
BOIL
HOT LIQUOR
WORT PUMP
WATER PUMP
15A/120V
30A/240V

A 4x2" black aluminum tag with our Electric Brewery name and logo fills in the empty space at the bottom center of the control panel. 1/8 x 1/2" stove bolts and matching stainless steel cap nuts hold the nametag in place and give it an industrial look that matches our Blichmann kettles.

Below are links to download the original logo in Photoshop and JPG image formats (if you wish to use it) so that you may change the year and location to suit your own brewery: