D-Hutt

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But just in case there are some morons reading this: do not EVER plug in your heatstick dry - it WILL cause a nuclear explosion and you WILL disintegrate in nanoseconds.

Pixalated

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That's a bit dramatic

worthogs

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Heatsticks with no jb weld.

I rounded the nut on the heater element and this allowed it to slip back in the metal drain pipe which then allowed the 1 1/2" to 1 1/4" drain pipe nut to seal on the gasket. Heater element was first pushed through the gray gasket and was able to use a 1" copper female pipe thread fitting to draw the heater element to the gray gasket. My only concern is the gray gasket and may replace with a silicone high temp food grade gasket.

Haven't done a full brew session yet but did bring 7gal of 120º starting water to boil in 35 min using both 2000 watt sticks. Heat rose at a rate 10º every 4 min.

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federaleigh

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How is this working out for you? Any leaks? Did you keep the gray gasket or go with a new one?

worthogs

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Finding a gasket was not easy. I ended up using a 1" Tri Clover Gasket Silicone.

Here's the link:
http://www.brewershardware.com/1-Tri-Clover-Gasket-Silicone-TC10SILGASKET.html

I had to alter it so I didn't get leaks. The copper fitting I used I ended up cutting the excess copper off the fitting so I basically just had a copper nut that screwed onto the stick. What I had left over was used as a punch for the center of silicone gasket. I sharpened the copper pipe fitting end and centered it on the gasket and used a hammer to punch out the center hole so that it fit snugly over the heating element. I also had to carefully cut of the raised ring that runs on both sides of the gasket so that it was flat on both sides. The reward off all this is that I now have a stick I can take apart and replace elements if I need to.

I have brewed 7 12 gallon batches so far with no problem.

Rhuarc

Recipes 

I have not read the entire 53 pages in this thread, but do have a question. What is your average indoor stove element? I would love to build one of these 2000W sticks to be able to compliment the electric stove using a 10g pot. Has anyone tested boil times for 7g water using both the stove element and a heat stick?

__________________
Primary - SMaSH IPA (first AG)
Secondary -
Bottle Conditioning -
Bottled - Pumpkin Ale, Russian Imperial Stout, Coffee Porter, Scottish Ale, British Mild, Simple Hefe, Caribou Slobber

Pixalated

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I brew in a bag, and I can bring 8 gallons to mashing temps in under 30 minutes. After mashing it takes under 30 minutes to bring it to a boil. My pot is wrapped in reflectix which helps a lot.

Rhuarc

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Is this using an electric stove and heating element?

__________________
Primary - SMaSH IPA (first AG)
Secondary -
Bottle Conditioning -
Bottled - Pumpkin Ale, Russian Imperial Stout, Coffee Porter, Scottish Ale, British Mild, Simple Hefe, Caribou Slobber

Pixalated

Recipes 

Yes, I have the electric element on and the heat stick.

After the wort comes to a boil, I can shut off the stove and still maintain a vigorous boil. This slows down my evaporation a bit.

NBABUCKS1

Recipes 

Not sure how to search the thread but...

I did my first boil last night w/ my 2000 watt stick in my keggle. It Boiled, but it was not vigorous. If I put two heat sticks in there it is vigorous, but w/ one it's a light boil.

Will insulating w/ that metallic bubble wrap help enough to make for a more vigorous boil? Or is it a waste of money?