VTBrewer
Well-Known Member
Anybody have or willing to fashion a couple of heatsticks for a fair price? I'm not handy, and the stir plate I made today maxed out my DIY for 2009.
Shipped a heatstick to VTBrewer today and listed them on Ebay as well. Search "1500 Watt Heatstick' if you'd like
Have you priced the parts to make one of these lately? I have to tell you, I was very surprised that it cost as much as it did to make one of these.... about $40 in materials from Home Depot.
Might want to look into getting some sort of insurance if you are going to be selling them. A really good disclaimer if nothing else.
Well, I'm madly researching other sources, but haven't found any that are cheaper, even online. The largest expense is the metal tube. Next is the wire, and then the epoxy. The element itself is still quite reasonable. If I succeed in finding lower prices I will reduce the "Buy it Now' accordingly. I'm not out to make a killing on these (if I were I think I'd be getting more than $10 labor to make one, and would be charging a packaging fee with fixed and inflated shipping costs)
Ebay also charges me $6 when (if?) one of these sells, so that means I don't make $5 on these. Still think it's "nucking futz"?
I thought that too... electricity + water. We are using this stuf for a purpose for which it is not intended, tested or approved. If you sell to an idiot, or a small leak occurs... someone might get lawsuit happy. It is the American way.
I just bought two of these from a supplier in Canada. I think they are a pretty good deal -- the pair were $90, including shipping. So about the same cost as making them yourself (yes, those parts are getting expensive).
Here's a picture.
I plan to use them in my HLT to bring strike water and sparge water up to temp. I will also throw them in the boil kettle to get things moving a little quicker, too.
I only have 15 amp circuits to work with, so I thought 1000 watts each was about all I can manage. I have two circuits in the garage and two on my kitchen countertop, so these should work well for brewing in either location. I really like the stainless guard around the heating element to help prevent me from burning a hole in my cooler.
I believe they have an auto-shutoff, which is a nice safety feature as well. I am not sure if you can boil water with these or not, but I don't need them for anything hotter than about 180 F. Seemed like a good deal.
Hey Flyguy where did you get it. (PeevyMart?) I've been thinking of making making one but this seems cheaper and easier.
Thanks
Rudeboy
I got two of them from SMB Manufacturing in Ontario. The total cost, including shipping and GST was $88 and change. They actually just arrived today.
Note that their online order system doesn't work well. I actually had to call in the order and give them my credit card in the end. They guy I spoke to was really nice, and apologized for the website. Apparently it is in the process of being re-done.
I picked up one of those, tried it on one batch, and returned it. It's impact was negligible... with two you might be on to something. I just think 1000w is too low (unless you are doing small batches).
Our homebrewer from Alaska also tired these I believe with the same response to them as myself.
Just my .02.
I just built a ~950W 110V low-density heatstick from a 4.5kW 240V element, and by itself it really doesn't do much. What I really wanted it for, though, was to just give a minor boost to the boil to keep it rolling (my stove seems to max out around 212 F on 7 1/2 gallons, it'll boil but not vigorously), and maybe as a way to gently heat the mash. With my stove on max, the 2kW sticks I had were way too much power and also had high-density elements so they would sometimes scorch the wort.
I've tested it in water, and it does heat, albeit slowly. Granted, that's what I was aiming for. By itself it likely couldn't get water over 170 or 180 or so, but I made it to use with a stove that's providing the bulk of the heat.
My new stick:
It's a weird shape, but it fits in my Boilermaker with the bottom of the "foot" resting on the bottom of the pot and the handle against the rim.
So it is true? Scorched wort? Some ppl swear it never happens. Was it noticeablu schorched, or was it more or less a darkening of the beer?
I just bought two of these from a supplier in Canada. I think they are a pretty good deal -- the pair were $90, including shipping. So about the same cost as making them yourself (yes, those parts are getting expensive).
Here's a picture.
I plan to use them in my HLT to bring strike water and sparge water up to temp. I will also throw them in the boil kettle to get things moving a little quicker, too.
I only have 15 amp circuits to work with, so I thought 1000 watts each was about all I can manage. I have two circuits in the garage and two on my kitchen countertop, so these should work well for brewing in either location. I really like the stainless guard around the heating element to help prevent me from burning a hole in my cooler.
I believe they have an auto-shutoff, which is a nice safety feature as well. I am not sure if you can boil water with these or not, but I don't need them for anything hotter than about 180 F. Seemed like a good deal.
If I had too much protein in the wort, like when I used rye and had a badly stuck mash, I got scorching from hell. I mean there was sizzling black crud on the element.
Curious - are you doing full boils?
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