Hot Water Tank - any ideas?

I have built and been using a rubbermaid cooler reterofitted with a hot water heater element and I can't seem to stop water from leaking out of the bottom - can't seal the element to the bottom of the tank. I have made SS plates, caulked the crap out of it and then covered it with a food-grade, high temp epoxy. I can't imagine how water is still getting through, but after using if a bunch of times a new leak has developed and i'm ready to try another water heating strategy.

Does anyone use electricity to heat their water instead of propane? It is definately more convenient and less costly, but the actual hot water heater may require more thought.

My next attempt may be an all SS tank with a coupling in the bottom to receive the element, but I can't figure out what size/type of coupling. Has anyone figured out what can be used for a coupling to thread a water heater into it? I'd like to avoid using the element mounting piece that can be purchased because it isn't SS and it also presents a further problem of sealing that piece to the tank.

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

What if you put water in your cooler close to the top, dyed it with red food coloring, and submersed it in 3 or 4 inches of water. Where you see the dye leak out, that's where your leak is.

Google HERMS and RIMS. You could even try "Electric HLT" and get some good hits.

Lot's of people have converted Sankes to electric tuns with great success.

If you are not sealing entirely on the inside liner it will always leak badly. If you are sealing on the inner liner there must be something wrong with the seal.

I would use dye to check where it leaking from, personally I like green dye, I blame it on my Irish blood.
I was freaking out over the same issue, then I realized that the leaks were coming from the outgoing pipe and wicking up to form the drips. Adding some plumbers tape on the inside seal and outside seal fixed it. Now the only leaks I get is when I forget to close the valve.
(Don't laugh, it happens a lot).

I have a stainless kettle that I converted to an HLT. I got a SS 1/2 coupling from McMaster and soldered it on, then made a SS box out of sheet to keep the connections dry. Not pretty but it works.

Going off of memory I think it was a 1" NPT, and it works like a charm, no leaks whatsoever.



Edit: I don't know if it makes a difference, but I used a 2000w 120v element I picked up at Home Depot.

Thanks for the replies. I am damn sure the leak is coming through the hole in the bottom of the tank. The water finds a way and the heating/cooling exaserbates the problem. I elevate the tank on a couple of blocks during heating and can see water (and smoke) drip out the bottom. No die necessary - I just need a way to have positive shutoff.

Like MrNate did, i will probably end up with a ss vessel instead of the rubbermaid. Weld the ol' girl and use a correctly sized coupling to seal the pig off.

Kauai - is your tank ss or other?

Anyone else have some 1st hand experience to share? A design perhaps?

Check out this link.

http://powersbrewery.com/

He has plans and instructions for an electric HLT.

you could try one of those heatsticks, but it sounds like you might need a new cooler.
http://hbd.org/pcalinsk/HeatStk3.htm
http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm
never built or used one myself...

AN_TKE said:

Anyone else have some 1st hand experience to share? A design perhaps?

Click to expand...

The one thing I did that I have really found useful is that I made a plug so that it was modular in a sense. I ran a waterproof power cord about 2' long from the box on the HLT to a 20a plug - the kind that's designed to mate with a waterproof recepticle so when they plug together the whole assembly is sealed off. I think they use these in marine docking applications.

Anyway, it's pricey, but it makes breakdown and cleaning a whole lot easier. Plus it then allows me to plug any other heating device that draws less than 20a into my HLT temp controller. Which is useful, for example, for plugging in a crock pot and maintaining a perfect sour mash. On the flip side, if the controller were to go bad I could always run an extension cord from the HLT to a switched 20a wall outlet and control the cycle manually.

You can kind of see what I mean in this shot of the controller - the power recepticle is at the end of the yellow power cord on the right: http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee226/nutkeis/Brewing/IMG_0949.jpg

Here's the 1/2 coupling poorly soldered on. You can see the crock pot I use for sour mashing in the background:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee226/nutkeis/Brewing/IMG_0962.jpg

that is a good idea to put the element on the side so you don;t have to heat so much water if you don't want to - not limited by submerging the height of the element.

The 1" coupling does work perfectly also - which opens up endless configuration possibilities.

thanks.