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I never measured the temperature in the hex but I would usually use the hex to heat the strike water while I was conditioning and milling the malt. I never ran into any issues with that and I could be sure everything was running right before I mashed in. Channeling is always a concern so I...

Yeah, at least with the plastic cooler sitting on my wooden stand, the worst thing that can happen when the ground lead pops loose is that it shorts out the hot lead and trips the GFCI. Still, do it right. Please.

Th power cable is routed through a hole in the side of the cooler (running through the insulated bottom). The ground lead is wedged up against the nut. A zip tie is wrapped around the brown casing and keeps the ground lead from popping out of place. I can't advise anyone to do it that way. Do it...

I attached it to the nut that's underneath the black plastic piece. That's actually the outside shell of the element and would be the same grounding point as attaching it to the body of a steel pot.

Correct. Just make sure that all the wires, outlets and power cords you use can handle the current.

No idea about the pH. Once I got a new bag of grain everything started coming out the right color again.

I got to the bottom of the bag of grain, eventually. ;) I never figured out why that bag of grain was so dark. The LHBS sort of shrugged their shoulders when I asked them what they thought. I tried various recipes, too. They all tasted fine.

I use Avery 6465 labels on a laser printer. The labels are full sheet so you can put as many labels per page as you like and cut them to size. I do 16 per sheet to save costs. Cutting the labels is the most tedious part but they stick to the bottle much more reliably than milk and don't come...

Ignore BeerSmith's projected FG. It's meaningless, especially with 3711.

Exactly. The controller turns the fridge on and off as needed and the thermostat in the fridge is set to the coldest setting.

I'm using a Love TS2-010 with a TS-5 probe. It's mounted in a small project enclosure. The back of the enclosure has an IEC socket with a computer power cord to the mains and a regular socket to plug the fridge into. The probe gets taped to the fermenter.

I used a Dremel with a router bit and then cleaned it up with a file. It was really messy and noisy but I haven't figured out a better way.

The output side of the HERMS or RIMS is the best place to put the temperature probe. Placing it in the mash tun or the mash exit would lead to overshooting.

The Love controller can handle 16A, which is enough for the 1500W heater element I'm using. I think the PID would need an SSR, plus a little more know-how to configure. I don't think either would be the wrong choice, but I opted for price and simplicity.

Correct. Of course I've thought of monitoring the temp of the mash. I have a separate thermometer with the probe inside the mash tun. That doesn't mean it's the right place to control the heat exchanger. If you did, you'd constantly be overshooting your temps. Think about it.

The heater is controlled by the Love. The pump is manually switched. The temperature probe is in the return line from the heat exchanger to the mash tun.

The neutral line is just to make the lighted rocker switch work. You can do without that if you want. Receptacles can be split by breaking off the tabs connecting the two outlets. Once that is done they can be controlled independently.

I concur. No sugar needed with 3711.

I have 4 of them now and they're all holding up OK. Perhaps a little noisier than when they were now but I should probably blow the dust out of the fans one of these days. Try Craigs List, especially if you're in a college town.

Definitely. I use a vinator to sanitize and store the bottles in my dishwasher. Works great.