Help with homemade RIM idea

I was looking at a coffeemaker today and saw that it has a heating element. I ripped the coffeemaker apart (it was a very cheap one) and was wondering this...

Could I use this temp control?



Like the #7051, our Digital Temp Controller operates by overriding the internal thermostat in a refrigerator or freezer and gives the brewer greater control over the fermentation. Unlike the #7051, however, the digital controller has a digital display with adjustable differential. It can be used to heat or cool a fermentation environment - when hooked up to a refrigerator, it turns the compressor on when the ambient temperature rises above your programmed temperature; when hooked up to a heater, it activates when the temperature drops too low. A sensor probe monitors the temperature inside while the readout displays it in either Fahrenheit or Celsius. This is the ideal choice for lager brewers who include a diacetyl rest in their fermentations or for ales like altbier or Kolsch that require fermentation temperatures in the low end of the ale range.

Features a wide setpoint temperature range (-30° F to 220° F) and differential adjustment (1° F to 3° F). The temperature sensor is a 1.94 inch thermistor on an 8 foot cable.


The heating element is very simple, it's hooked up to a switch and wires running directly to the element. I didn't know if it was going to work or not.

Here is the heating element.



Basically I was going to have it recirculate like a normal RIMS setup. Comments would be greatly appreciated.

I had the same exact idea last fall and I have a coffee maker to sacrifice under my sculpture right now. I even have the same controller. The only problem I can think of is if the A419 will respond fast enough not to burn the wort. I'm subscribing to this post and will lend a hand if I can.

interesting idea here keep us posted how this works out.

Yeah, I am hoping that it won't scorch the wort. I think it might be a low enough watt element to do that, but these things heat up very fast, within seconds.

Do you guys thing that the Digital Temp Controller will actually regulate the heat for the element? I was hoping that it would, because it would be a waste if it didn't.

I'll also need a pump to help recirculate the wort.

Thanks for the input, I will stay posted for more.

It wont regulate the temp of the element itself... but it will turn it on and off based on the temp of the wort that is flowing past the element.

I dont think there is an effective way to control the actual temp of a resistance element, because you are talking fractions of a second.


Also, I am not sure what the watt rating is of these elements, but one thing to consider. It is not the total wattage of the element that you need to be concerned about when you start discussing scorching wort. It is the watts/square inch of surface area. I have a 5500W element that is ultra low watt density because it is folded over and rippled (VERY large heating area).

These elements look VERY small, so even a weak element 500-1000 watts, of this size, would have a large watts/square inch surface area ratio, making it a high watt density element and a concern for scorching.

Preliminary reasearch shows that you are looking at 1000W for a coffee maker... Id say that is a VERY high watt density element. If you are concerned about scorching wort, this element would be about as bad as you can get if it is nearly 1000W.

Ok. I wanted to do step infusion mashing. Can somebody point me in the right direction for a recirculating system. I am mainly looking for a temp controller, heating element, and pump. Just a really simple setup. I already know what pump I'm going to get, I just need specs and possibly links on gear.

mdelany said:

Ok. I wanted to do step infusion mashing. Can somebody point me in the right direction for a recirculating system. I am mainly looking for a temp controller, heating element, and pump. Just a really simple setup. I already know what pump I'm going to get, I just need specs and possibly links on gear.

Click to expand...

You said that you want to do step unfusion mashing, but that you want to recirculate. So I presume what you mean is that you do not want to do infusion steps, but want to do direct heat step mashing using a heating element, a RIMS.

My system, that I have multiple build threads posted on, is a typical HERMS. I used an electric HLT, a 25' copper coil, a 1500W element in the HLT and a JC A419 to control the temp of the HLT. I use a March pump to recirculate everything (basically the only pump that will do the job).

If you would like to build a RIMS, Id suggest getting a 4500W, 240VAC element at a hardware store, constructing a small (1.5" ID) tube in which to install the element and allow the wort to be pumped through the tube for heating, returning to the MLT. Youd probably be better off controlling it with a PID and SSR/heat sink combo, just because the PID is more intuitive than a typical on/off controller. Run the 240VAC element on 120VAC to make it ultra low watt density, and you are good to go.

4500W element (any hardware)
Rims heating tube (parts from any hardware)
PID (Auber Instruments online)
SSR/Heatsink (Auber Instruments online)
March Pump (Northern Brewer, Austin Homebrew Supply....)
NEMA electrical box for the controls (any hardware)

Do a search here for RIMS Build of HERMS build, you should get a plethera of information.

Thank you, I appreciate it. I was considering doing the recirculating for a more fluid temp and also I heard you can achieve higher efficiency. Is this true?

You can maintain a much more accurate temp with a heated recirculating system... but a cooler MLT will do a pretty good job alone.

I dont know if you recieve much better efficiency with a recircualting system. I think it has more to do with your process (sparging) and your grain crush. I used to get 80% without any recirculating, then it went down to 70% with my HERMS and a horrible LHBS crush.

You could always use a household light dimmer to turn down the heating element too. Just make sure you get one big enough to handle the power the element draws. You could also get a smaller thermocouple so it responds faster to the wort temperature. What idea's did you have for a pump?

I was going to get a standard food grade pump from northernbrewer. I was also thinking about getting a minibrew MLT.

How hard would it be to wire the dimmer switch. Would I wire it to the switch that is already built in to the coffee pot?

I'm going to have to say that if you aren't sure how to wire the switch up that you should ask someone to show you. You're dealing with electricity and could hurt yourself pretty good. All that aside, remove the coffee maker switch, use a GFCI outlet, and then wire the element and dimmer switch up in series. If you have any questions I'd make sure you get someone who knows what they are doing to do it for you.

I have yet to see anyone successfully wire a dimmer switch to an element. FIRST, you need to determine the actual wattage of the element to determine the rating of the dimmer switch. Also, are you going to try to use the dimmer to control the temp? Or just to reduce the wattage of the element, and still use a temp controller to turn it on and off?

Sometimes the dimmers that are required are nearly 100-150 bucks since you are talking about handling 1000W or so at 12A. Why not buy a PID for $45 and an SSR for $20?

There has been much conjecture about using dimmers in the past, and like I have said, due to cost and other technical issues, people end up using PIDs and SSRs since this is what they are good at.

IMHO, by the time you part out this coffee maker, try to wire up dimmer to control the wattage and such and buy a temp controller, you could have purchased a $10 4500W heating element, $45 PID and $20 SSR. The JC A419 will run you nearly $90 alone anyway.

Keep in mind that if you are winding down the power to an already anemic (1000W) heating element so that you do not scorch your wort, you are now looking at issues with being able to effectively heat the wort.

Thanks for the replies guys. It looks like this experiment isn't going to work out too well. I'll probably just build a HERMS setup, do some research. If I need more help I'll just post a new thread.