Heatstick = awesome!

chase said:

I was using my 1500w element to warm up a mash. Some of the grain must have gotten stuck in it because after about a minute of stirring I started smelling and seeing smoke come out of the mash. I turned of the stick and pulled it out of the mash. It was glowing red-hot. After it cooled down I turned it back on and it started tripping the GFI. I started inspecting the element and noticed that it had cracked and that the metal had become really soft. I bent it with my hands.

Since I used JBWeld, I pretty much have to scrap this one. I'd like to find a way to make one so that the element can be reasonably easy to remove and replace. I may try silicone.

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I had a similar issue this weekend, but with my HLT. I have an element installed through the kettle wall, but needed to really goop the JBWeld to ensure that there was no leak. When it was time to turn on the pond pump for IC chilling, I accidently plugged in the element instead. Well there was no water in the HLT at the time, and I didnt notice until I heard a crackle and smelled the burning. I was disgusted in my idiocrocy, and havent really looked at it in detail yet (still mourning), but I do know that the GFCI trips everytime I plug it in, so it is toast. Maybe this time I will install it a bit more cleanly through the kettle wall.

I also thought about capping the hole in the kettle and building a heatstick that can be used in a variety of ways for brewing, not just in the hlt. We shall see.

I got a little more info on this issue after speaking to several hardware stores; thought I'd add it here as this issue really bothered me.

As a few people mentioned, it appears that most of the slip nuts available at Home Depot are zinc. The ones mentioned in this quote are actually chrome-plated zinc, which is the same as most of those you find on the market:

lazybean said:

While at the Home Despot i found a NSF (food Safe) 2part epoxy putty and also got a 1.5"to1.25" nut that holds the element perfectly. the linked images are HUGE, sorry.

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A few pages later, someone mentions finding chrome nuts at Ace (quote below). I researched the Ace brand product, and they are the same thing as those at Home Depot (chrome plated zinc), at 2X the price.

erykmynn said:

I bought the reducing nut at a local ACE. The one in the picture is from some random brand from Sacramento, but I believe the Ace brand ones are chrome as well.

The putty epoxy was much easier to work with. Only time will tell if it seals as well, but this is not outside of it's intended use.

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I finally went to a plumbing supply store and bought a chrome plated Brass nut. It feels totally different, probably about twice the weight. You can see the comparison of the three nuts here:


Original nut that came with my drain pipe, the Ace chrome plated zinc nut, and plumbing supply chrome plated brass nut here (L to R)

Finally, the idea of the JB Weld doesn't sit well with me, foodsafe or not, but I believe it is still the best option. I contacted the company to see if they recommended Waterweld instead, which is meant to be submerged and which is promoted as "drinking water safe" and they said it was no safer than JB. I'm going to stick with the original thanks to it's high heat index. On that note - be sure to get the original, not the fast-curing, as that one has a much lower heat rating.

Cheers to a GREAT thread!

A 1500W element should be able to maintain an 8 gallon boil, correct?

I have (2) 1300 watt sticks that plug right into my breaker panel. I use both sticks to initiate the boil [generally 7 gallons] which is rather violent. Using one stick afterwards will hold a pretty good boil for a while, but I usually switch back to 2 sticks. My guess would be 2KW to hold a good boil with 8 gallons.

I also wrap my kettle in a moving blanket to save heat loss. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info. That does help. I'm thinking I may go with a heatstick to reduce the amount of propane I'm using. Using burner and heatstick together then turning off the burner once the boil has started. I should be able to almost double the amount of batches I get from a single tank.

Here in Florida electricity is $.11 cents a KW/HR, so for me to run both sticks for an hour it's only $.29 cents! I'm sure that's way cheaper than Propane! In other parts of the country where electricity is more like 20 cents a KW/HR the bill would still be cheap at 50 cents an hour! Electric heating is 100% efficient and further gains can be made by insulating the boil kettle. Brewing in the summer time here I don't need any additional heat from a propane burner! I guess winter brewing up north the extra heat of the propane burner might be welcomed; But expensive.

mrgstiffler said:

A 1500W element should be able to maintain an 8 gallon boil, correct?

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If you have a 20 amp circuit, a 2000w element makes a considerable difference over 1500w IME.

wilserbrewer said:

If you have a 20 amp circuit, a 2000w element makes a considerable difference over 1500w IME.

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+1 I use a 1500W heatstick to assist my stove. I make 4.5 gal batches, so I am boiling 5.5 gal to start. After I reach a boil; I can turn the stove to low, but the heatstick alone is not enough to maintain a vigorous boil.

So, I bought a 2500w 240v element. I have a 20amp circuit and GFCI outlet nearby. Do I need to have a 240v outlet and plug like many appliances use? What would happen if I just use a 12 gauge, 20 amp cord and plug end?

Dadslackey said:

So, I bought a 2500w 240v element. I have a 20amp circuit and GFCI outlet nearby. Do I need to have a 240v outlet and plug like many appliances use? What would happen if I just use a 12 gauge, 20 amp cord and plug end?

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Home depot sells a double pole light switch supposedly capable of handling 30 amps... I think I'm gonna hardwire my panel to that, and from the switch to the element for my HLT until I can afford the funds of the pid/ssr for the HLT/MLT.

Just gonna keep an eye on the temp and pump it into the MT. Beats unplugging the cord I'd your hand gets wet. Seems safer to me.

My goal is to use the heatstick during the boil - to at least reduce the amount of propane used. I'm not worried about my HLT at all, it only drops a degree per hour. I am also building a 1500w/120v version - which seems safer to me, but not as aggressive. My biggest batches start out at 13.5 gallons.

I just went to Lowes and bought all the stuff to make one of these, but I'm kind of bummed that the total came to $48 with tax. That's just too much for parts to make something homemade which I might even screw up. I think I will take it all back. I'm bummed because I was hoping I could use this to maintain my 5-gallon boil instead of running propane for an hour, and I could use it to heat up my BIAB sparge water, but $50 is pushing it. I hear people claim they did it for $30, but I don't know how.

1500W Element $10
10 foot 14/3 cord $14
12" Brass pipe thing $7.50
JB weld $6
1 1/2 twisti to 1 1/2 glue PVC connector $2.50
PVC cap $.83
PVC street elbow $1.56
Brass screws $2.40

Some guys probably have a line cord and select the Zinc/Chrome pipe and fittings, not sure what the brass screws are for. That would bring the cost back into the $30 range.
Anyway, you will save so much on Propane that the $48 will seem like chump change after a short time. 1500 watts will keep a boil going, however, if you want a vigorous boil just a little propane will be necessary. You are on the right track and your $18 extra overhead for the heat stick is only one tank of Propane.

After reading through this gigantic thread, it seems a 1500W stick won't keep a 5 gallon batch (from a ~7 gallon boil) boiling by itself anyway, so I might as well hold off until I can afford to run 50A 240 to the garage. I have a feeling my cheap burner is pretty inefficient when it's turned way down.

two 1500 sticks work if you have two separate lines in the garage. It takes a while, but I can do 10 gallon batches with them.

I think the $30 price is back when things were cheaper. I think my first one cost about that to build, but the second one (and one I made for another person) cost close to $50

Mine certainly wasn't $50. It ended up around $30 when I built it a few months ago. The 2000w element can boil 7 gallons on it's own. But it splashes too much for my liking.

My first all electric brew day, and yes, heatstick=awsome!

Two 110 2000 w heatsticks

CGVT said:

My first all electric brew day, and yes, heatstick=awsome!

Two 110 2000 w heatsticks

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Give us some details on how the brew day went!

I'm still in the middle of it-20 minutes left in the boil, but it has been soooooo much better than propane.

I built one stick with a 90 degree angle and an elbow so I could hang it, the other is straight. I have light switches on both so that I can turn them off without unplugging them. I mashed in and my temp was a little low so I used the straight stick to bring the temp up. I stired the mash-no apparent scorching. I used it a couple of times during the mash. It was kind of a poor man's RIM. Ha! I heated my sparge water with the other stick.

It took about a half hour to get my wort to a boil but I can maintain a 7 gal boil with one in my 10 gal kettle. I have used both for most of the boil because it more vigorous. When I approached hot break, I just turned one off.

It is so freaking quiet! And there is so much less heat.

If you haven't built these. Do it. Now!

I've used mine in my mash several times with no problem. But the last time I did, my mash was thicker than normal and it scorched pretty bad even with constant stirring. So be careful if you go thicker than normal, like 1.1 lb/qt.

seabass07 said:

I've used mine in my mash several times with no problem. But the last time I did, my mash was thicker than normal and it scorched pretty bad even with constant stirring. So be careful if you go thicker than normal, like 1.1 lb/qt.

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Thanks for the warning. My mash was pretty normal, maybe a bit thin.

I am absolutely happy with the results so far, though.

Been meaning to post here for a couple weeks.. I built one for my stove top brews and absolutely love it. With the 1500w stick I now run 5 gallon brews on my stove and keep the propane in the garage.

Please pay attention to all the warnings when building these. I've seen first hand at work the awesome power of uncontrolled electricity and even the smallest amounts can be very dangerous.

So ive skimmed this post, but am a little confused. How do you control the output on these sticks? Or is there just two settings on/off? I have 2 GFI outlets in my garage but they are 110v can i use those outlets?

Thanks!

The only way to control the output is to build some kind of PWM controller with a relay. I think most people just use them at 100% and employ their internal fat-based controller.

cobolstinks said:

So ive skimmed this post, but am a little confused. How do you control the output on these sticks? Or is there just two settings on/off? I have 2 GFI outlets in my garage but they are 110v can i use those outlets?

Thanks!

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If you are looking for control, check out the electric brewing section of the forum. You will find all those details in there on how to properly do it..

Please read the instructions carefully, depending on your breaker amperage and wire gauge thickness you may not be able to support the amp draw for two heat sticks.

I put inline light swithes on mine. It is only on off, but I've found that two 2000w (110) will get a vigerous boil in my 10gal pot. Once I get to a boil I can use one for a moderate boil. I put the switches in so that if it looked as if I would boil over, I could just hit the switch rather than fumble with an extension cord and unplug the stick. Once I passed the hot break stage, I turn them both back on for my boil.

It works great.

Heatstick=Awsome!

this video shows them working (after the hot break) in about 6.5 gallons (double click on the picture for the vid)

Today I tested my new 1500W heatstick.

After about 1.5 hours in 200+ F water (heatstick wouldn't hold boil by itself) the element has discoloration (golden color) and has many white spots.

The base of the stick (except the actual element) is covered by a liberal layer of waterweld (JB Weld's drinking water safe epoxy).

Do other folks see discoloration on the heating element?

Bill33525 said:

I have (2) 1300 watt sticks that plug right into my breaker panel. I use both sticks to initiate the boil [generally 7 gallons] which is rather violent. Using one stick afterwards will hold a pretty good boil for a while, but I usually switch back to 2 sticks. My guess would be 2KW to hold a good boil with 8 gallons.

I also wrap my kettle in a moving blanket to save heat loss. Hope this helps.

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Bill33525, how do you plug right into your breaker panel? What type part do you use to do that?

kehaar said:

Do other folks see discoloration on the heating element?

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Yes

After reading thru all the pages, I have some questions:

1. The outlet next to my stove and the outlet on my back porch where I brew is serviced by a 15AMP circuit (non-gfci, but I can easliy fix that). What's the recommended wattage on a heating element I can use on that circuit for 15Amp 120V?

2. I only plan to use this thing to heat up mash and sparge water. Will the recommended wattage for a 15A 120V circuit be enough to heat up about 4-5 gallons of water to 180ish? I will boil outside using my turkey fryer.

3. Should I use 14guage wiring or 12guage wiring based on the capacity of my circuit?

4. This might seem kind of far out there, but what if I grounded the pot by using an alligator clamp, clamped onto the pot, (simliar to one used to jump start a car) run heavy guage wire to the ground wire in the heat stick and then connect that to the ground wire already in the cable? Would this make it safer? (sorry if that sounds confusing, but basically "connecting" the pot to the grounded portion of the GFCI plug)

Thanks!

1. The outlet next to my stove and the outlet on my back porch where I brew is serviced by a 15AMP circuit (non-gfci, but I can easliy fix that). What's the recommended wattage on a heating element I can use on that circuit for 15Amp 120V?

Click to expand...

1500W

3. Should I use 14guage wiring or 12guage wiring based on the capacity of my circuit?

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14ga should be sufficient, but you can never use too big of wire.

4. This might seem kind of far out there, but what if I grounded the pot by using an alligator clamp, clamped onto the pot, (simliar to one used to jump start a car) run heavy guage wire to the ground wire in the heat stick and then connect that to the ground wire already in the cable? Would this make it safer? (sorry if that sounds confusing, but basically "connecting" the pot to the grounded portion of the GFCI plug)

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Sounds like a good idea if you think it's necessary/worth it.

This file will help.

change the file name from .pdf to .xls can't attach .xls files here.

sorry, i need to post it online first I will give the link in a minute.

Okay this should work, let me know if it doesn't. I can post it as a .xls on dropbox. It was too big to upload here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50140910/ElectricHeat.xls

rellot said:

Okay this should work, let me know if it doesn't. I can post it as a .xls on dropbox. It was too big to upload here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50140910/ElectricHeat.xls

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I'll give it a try tomorrow at work as I don't have Excel on my home computer. What exactly does it do?

So I did some calculations real quick here:

For me to raise 4.5 gallons of water from roughly 60F to 180F requires 4,509 btus. My 1500Watt element produces 5,121 btus equivalent. In theory, that element should raise my water temp to 180F in less than an hour...does this sound right?

open office will open it as well for free -- google it

it's just a spreadsheet someone put together that has helpful calculations on it for the questions you are asking.

rellot said:

open office will open it as well for free -- google it

it's just a spreadsheet someone put together that has helpful calculations on it for the questions you are asking.

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Awesome spreadsheet, thank you!

Another question I thought of; it might be cheaper for me to purchase wire/cable by the foot with seperate plugs instead of buying a whole extension cord and hacking it up. would going this route still be ok or is an extension cord the appropiate gauge better?

Also, lets say I want to wire this to a switch in line? Possible?

Thanks!

rellot said:

Okay this should work, let me know if it doesn't. I can post it as a .xls on dropbox. It was too big to upload here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50140910/ElectricHeat.xls

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Great spreadsheet! Thanks!

depends I guess, check the prices in your area. it has always been cheaper for me to buy an extension cord. The cord is cheaper, but the ends make the price more.

some people put a switch on the line, but I just unplug, i've never had a problem with that method, my outlets are right by the brew kettle.