BLING BLING Electric HERMS Conversion

CornyKegs 728
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Pol - did you every try changing the cycle time. Noticed in the manual it says to stay with 2 for a SSR. Just curious -
 
yellow said:
Pol - did you every try changing the cycle time. Noticed in the manual it says to stay with 2 for a SSR. Just curious -
Click to expand...

Yes, somewhere on HBT here I have the exact settings that I used. Though I have no idea where. I used a 1 sec. cycle
 
Pol:
About cleaning the kettle:
I would imagine after initially scrubbing the pot down, that a clear water boil and a Star San soak with enough Star San to get the liquid level a few inches above the heating elements. Maybe repeat the same process on brew day just to be sure.

What do you do?

Have you found any negatives with brewing electrically?

Dirt, caking, element failure, bugs hiding in the small places of the thread and gasket seals around the elements?
 
Pol:
About cleaning the kettle:
I would imagine after initially scrubbing the pot down, that a clear water boil and a Star San soak with enough Star San to get the liquid level a few inches above the heating elements. Maybe repeat the same process on brew day just to be sure.

What do you do?

Have you found any negatives with brewing electrically?

Dirt, caking, element failure, bugs hiding in the small places of the thread and gasket seals around the elements?

Additionally:
Using the Ultra Low Watt Density elements do you notice that you get darker beer from more caramelizing?
 
Cliff897 said:
Pol:
About cleaning the kettle:
I would imagine after initially scrubbing the pot down, that a clear water boil and a Star San soak with enough Star San to get the liquid level a few inches above the heating elements. Maybe repeat the same process on brew day just to be sure.

What do you do?

Have you found any negatives with brewing electrically?

Dirt, caking, element failure, bugs hiding in the small places of the thread and gasket seals around the elements?

Additionally:
Using the Ultra Low Watt Density elements do you notice that you get darker beer from more caramelizing?
Click to expand...

Cleaning the kettle and plumbing, easy.

Starts with a "warm" 5 gallon water volume and a brush to knock the majority of the hop junk off etc. Then I pump it dry. Then I load 5 more gallons of water in, 1oz of Oxi Clean and heat to 150F and let the pump recirculate it through the plumbing. The PID maintains that temp... I come back a few hours later. Drain, it is done.

No bugs, really pretty simple. I liked the adjustable pick-up tube for the CIP
 
You don't rinse afterwards? I rinse out the kettle, fill with enough water to cover the element, add oxy and heat/recirc for 10 minutes. Then I dump it all, rinse the kettle, fill with hot water and pump that through everything to push out the oxy solution.
 
Well, I do rinse.

Forgot, I have to be very detailed.

I rinse with a Star San solution afterward (some things didnt completely drain) and I thought it may help keep critters from growing.

The new rig, not sure how I am going to clean it yet, but I know I wont be carrying the kettle, that I do know.
 
The Pol said:
but I know I wont be carrying the kettle, that I do know.
Click to expand...

Don't give up now! After a few brews of carrying that around you'll be jacked!

Just think of the upsides. You can create your own workout DVD's "The Pol's Brew Man Workouts". With just the proper gear you too can extraordinarily strong while brewing!:ban:
 
The Pol said:
I rinse with a Star San solution afterward (some things didnt completely drain) and I thought it may help keep critters from growing.
Click to expand...

I've been tempted to do the same but fear leaving acidic solution in the copper bits. I'm coming up on a full year of brewing on the CB-20 and think I'll tear down the pump/chiller bucket soon to have a close-up look at things. I'm particularly interested in what the insides of the March look like after a year of CIP cleanings...
 
jkarp said:
I've been tempted to do the same but fear leaving acidic solution in the copper bits. I'm coming up on a full year of brewing on the CB-20 and think I'll tear down the pump/chiller bucket soon to have a close-up look at things. I'm particularly interested in what the insides of the March look like after a year of CIP cleanings...
Click to expand...

This is one reason (one) that I used SS on the new build. I cant see inside the copper coil, I dont know what is going on in there, I dont know what the state of the thing is.
 
The Pol said:
Cleaning the kettle and plumbing, easy.

Starts with a "warm" 5 gallon water volume and a brush to knock the majority of the hop junk off etc. Then I pump it dry. Then I load 5 more gallons of water in, 1oz of Oxi Clean and heat to 150F and let the pump recirculate it through the plumbing. The PID maintains that temp... I come back a few hours later. Drain, it is done.

No bugs, really pretty simple. I liked the adjustable pick-up tube for the CIP
Click to expand...

Sounds like a charm

I asked a vendor ( who claims to also do custom work) about installing 1" flanges for electric elements even offered to give them a drawing with an authorization and release and they dopes told me they wouldn't sell it to me because they think it'll be sloppy.

I found a 60 quart 1/4" thick (yes #1 gauge) Aluminum stock pot that I can modify myself for $145.

I'm planning on building a system that will incorporate a Recirculating HERMS mash processor and want to also eliminate as much open air my brew sees through out the process.
I've always brewed in the kitchen but will be relocating to a less clean location. I prolly will end up using UV lamps to kill atmospheric molds and mildew.

The location is a old cellar so a propane fired kettle is not a desirable option, and at 1 - 3 Gees a pop an induction coil is also off the table.
That leaves water heater elements.
 
Woohoo, Scored a free 9.75"x8"x5.75" steel control box from work today. I know you said it was cramped in your 8x8x4 but this is free and I gots small hands:) These are internal wall to wall measurements.
 
IrregularPulse said:
Woohoo, Scored a free 9.75"x8"x5.75" steel control box from work today. I know you said it was cramped in your 8x8x4 but this is free and I gots small hands:) These are internal wall to wall measurements.
Click to expand...

I went with the 8x8x4 in spite of what I'm sure is sound advice. We'll see how it goes this weekend...

Wish I could have gotten one for free!
 
Those smaller boxes work, obviously... they just have to be laid out well and you have to cut the screw mounting flanges off all of the outlets in the box. Notice how mine arent affixed with screws? That is why, no room for the flanges.

Good luck fellas. Wish me luck with my 100% virtual control panel on the new build. I HATE building panels... :D
 
smellysell said:
I went with the 8x8x4 in spite of what I'm sure is sound advice. We'll see how it goes this weekend...

Wish I could have gotten one for free!
Click to expand...

It can be done. It is hard to make it look nice. As you can see mine is a bit cluttered but. It works. You just need to plan it out before going to town.

IMG_03134.jpg
 
pp270 said:
POL might you post a schematic of your control box?
Click to expand...
I dont currently have one, I dont even own this rig anymore. I think someone else may have drawn one up? Id like to draw one, but I am a little task saturated at the moment.
 
Pol,
If you re-doing your old HERMS system and wanted an integrated control panel, would you go with a BCS, 2 PID's, or the way that you built the original system.
Also, would you have gone 220 for the HLT?

Thanks,
Eric
 
egurney said:
Pol,
If you re-doing your old HERMS system and wanted an integrated control panel, would you go with a BCS, 2 PID's, or the way that you built the original system.
Also, would you have gone 220 for the HLT?

Thanks,
Eric
Click to expand...

I would go for the largest 240VAC element that I could find that is 7" long. I would use the BCS at this point and make it all virtual control.
 
That's what I was thinking.
Would you recommend changing the HLT to a SS Pot in order to use a bigger element?
 
egurney said:
That's what I was thinking.
Would you recommend changing the HLT to a SS Pot in order to use a bigger element?
Click to expand...

Um, I like the coolers... very well insulated. Depends on how much volume you need to keep in the cooler to keep it submerged.
 
I agree, I'm just not having a lot of success finding a 240V element that is 7". Is that the max size you think is possible in a 10G cooler?
 
egurney said:
I agree, I'm just not having a lot of success finding a 240V element that is 7". Is that the max size you think is possible in a 10G cooler?
Click to expand...

You can fit a large element in there, jut depends on how much water you need to keep it submerged really.
 
So where do you think the trade-off advantage lies. More water to heat with bigger element or less water and smaller element.
I guess I 'll have to do the math and see what works best.
Do happen to remember how much water you needed to cover the 7" element?
 
egurney said:
So where do you think the trade-off advantage lies. More water to heat with bigger element or less water and smaller element.
I guess I 'll have to do the math and see what works best.
Do happen to remember how much water you needed to cover the 7" element?
Click to expand...

I needed 3.6 gallons to submerge the 7" element.

I mean, it is up to the individual as to what they prefer. You'd have to work out the issues with having that much water in there at all times to submerge a larger element. Depends on the individual.
 
I needed 3.6 gallons to submerge the 7" element.

I mean, it is up to the individual as to what they prefer. You'd have to work out the issues with having that much water in there at all times to submerge a larger element. Depends on the individual.
Click to expand...

What kind of issues are there with having extra water in the tank?
 
egurney said:
What kind of issues are there with having extra water in the tank?
Click to expand...


Um, having to refill the HLT whenever you pump water from it to keep the element submerged. Remembering to turn off the element when you transfer from the HLT so that you dont start the cooler on fire... etc.
 
Excuse my naivety...
Except for pumping out at strike and sparge, when else do you need to pump water out of the HLT? Can't I turn off the element at those points?
Maybe I'll put a float switch to turn the element off if the water level gets too low.
 
The Pol said:
Um, having to refill the HLT whenever you pump water from it to keep the element submerged. Remembering to turn off the element when you transfer from the HLT so that you dont start the cooler on fire... etc.
Click to expand...

Yes, IMHO it is always nice to have the element require as little water as possible so that you do not need to have a large water contingency in the HLT to submerge it.
 
Cool, at least I'm understanding the issues for my design. I'll try and keep it as short as possible...
 
Why don't you just coil the element so that it is submerged by say, half a gallon of water?
Click to expand...

How would I go about doing that? Are the elements flexible?
 
egurney said:
How would I go about doing that? Are the elements flexible?
Click to expand...

Some are, some are not, depends on the type and how crazy you get with bending. Dont forget, you cant get too creative because you also have a coil in there that you do not want it to interfere with.
 
the breaker is gfci protected as they do not make 30 amp recpts gfci protected because most of the time they r appliances circuits. So your protection comes from the breaker I am an electrician, You did a good job most people just put a regular breaker in. twist locks r a good option because they can't b unplugged but u prob. have to make up your own cord end then because they use a special head on them.
 
i never advise anyone to do any thing i just put my knowledge out there to do what one wants to. no i would not go male to male. As for the gfi cord and the neutral problem (not sure how to copy post ) They problem i would assume is that your gfci is in the cord. If you r neutral is not hooked up in any gfci it will trip that's what it's made to do. If you have a gfci breaker your getting your neutral from the bar u hook it up in at the panel
 

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