kevink

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I think this is what's going on. The 1" lock nut is welded to the big TC end cap. The element screws in from the other side of the end cap. The other side of the lock nut has a smaller TC ferrule welded to it. That ferrule mates up to a ferrule that's welded to the keg. It's a little hard to figure out because the smaller TC clamp is in the way, preventing you from seeing that the smaller ferrule is no attached to it's other half... I think.

thelorax121

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Do you have a link to the junction box that you are using? I am having a bear of a time finding weatherproof junction boxes with 1" hubs. Did you just drill one out? Thanks in advance!

Edit: Also, if you could post the solidworks file of your element I would be much obliged. I want to try and toy around with this idea myself, but have not mastered my component modeling skills...

sv_1

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Let me know if you have any q's

TheFlyingBeer

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I changed the design a little bit since the previous photo. I now drill out a blank stainless steel faceplate for the element. Much easier than drilling out the box and still very strong. Below is a model of BK assembly, it uses a bent 4500W low density element. I am hoping the bend will allow me to whirlpool and not have the element in the trub cone.



Here is the assembly in the image above and also a 2500W HWD and a 5500W RIPP element model. SW Element Models.zip

Another change I made was then potting the threads/face of the element in a flowable foodsafe RTV (Dow Corning 734). I haven't used these yet as the rest of my build is still underway. The goal is to remove any places for nasties to hide.

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On Deck: Imperial Stout, Belgian Strong Golden

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Airplanedoc

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You probably should have just posted a parts list.

I was just looking at your element connector, it is very similar to what I was planning. From what I read you used a 1.5" to connect to the keg. What size did you use for the electrical housing? Also what did you use for the electrical connector where it comes out of the cap?

Do you think the size you used is sufficient? If you were doing it over would you go bigger or smaller?

Thanks

cmj141

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Great job man!

This is exactly how I designed mine!
You could've made your life a bit easier and bought the special made ferrules online for your elements. There are two kinds though. There's the one I'm using which is basically a disc with a threaded hole in it. This is better than the other ones that cover more of the elements connection via coupling bc I read that ppl bought the disc one because it has more threads to screw into for a better seal.
I work at a huge winery and all we use Is tri clamps and ferrules. It's just the way to go. We then throw our clamps, gaskets and barb ferrules in the dishwasher. Clean up is a snap. (btw you guys are overly anal with cleaning. Not a bad thing. At my winery we pressure wash our giant tanks with a heated pressure washer and no chemicals. Just hot water over 200 degrees. It'll kill all bacteria, yeast and spores. Never had a bacteria problem.

I didn't get to read thru all the tread but for your MT, what kind of mash system are you going to use? I'm going with a false bottom and a mixer powered by an ice cream maker.

Question for everyone. The big breweries constantly mix their mash. What kind of mashing would this be? Rimm , herm or It a completely different technique since the grain is never in suspension ? It anyone knows the mashing process using a mixer and the sparging process please message me!!

clearwaterbrewer

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I threaded a 2" end cap like in that video, still deciding how to keep the wires dry and tidy, although for 20 batches, electrical tape has worked pretty good, lol..
I am thinking of welding a ferrule on to the dry side (short enough to get ripple element out after unscrewing) and then a mating plastic ferrule-with-cap fitting using longish machine screws to hold cover with cord-grip instead of a tri-clamp (bulky, expensive, would not be as sano and I can tell a helper to "remove all tri-clamps" and they won't get confused..)

Another thought is to turn a groove in the dry side of the end cap for an o-ring and go all plastic, but would need blind threads in end cap(6-32 or so)

sv_1

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I welded a 1.5" ferrule to the keg then-clamp, 1.5" short ferrule welded to 1"ss nut welded to 2.5"tc cap bored out to clear element hex,clamp, 2.5" short ferrule welded to 2.5" long ferrule,clamp, 2.5" cap bored out to fit appropriate size cord grip (this one was a 3/4" plastic, I'd buy the aluminum if I did it again) Inside I welded a bolt to use as a ground clamp.

The smaller one was 110v and smaller wire, so I used 2" ferrules. I'm sure you could squeeze the 10g wire into the 2" ferrules, but I was more comfortable with the extra room.

I thought about threading the tc cap itself to eliminate the nut, but I don't have my lathe yet...

The clearance is too tight for an element wrench, but it hasn't leaked being hand tight.

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Airplanedoc

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That is perfect, I had been trying to figure out if I wanted 2.5 or 3" to cover my electrical wiring.

Thanks

ohararp

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SV_1, just curious but how did you attach the ground cable to the inside of the 2.5" couplers that have been welded together?