Yet Another eBIAB Build

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voltin

Beholden to the Yeast
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As if there are not enough eBIAB build threads, here is my take on an electric BIAB brewery. I am going to use a 4500W / 240V heating element in a 42qt aluminum Bayou Classic stock pot. After about a month of gathering parts I was finally able to start assembling everything.

So far I have drilled all the holes into the enclosure and dry fitted all the parts. I hope to start wiring everything up tomorrow and fit the pot in a few days. Thanks to P-J for the wiring diagrams he has provided that inspired the wiring, and Kal for his awesome electric brewery from which I have stolen many ideas. Finally without further ado here are the pics.

Front Panel Layout
layout.jpg


Power and RTD Probe Connectors Layout (Bottom of Enclosure)
layout-power.jpg


All the Parts Finally Gathered
panel-parts.jpg


The Front of the Panel Drilled
panel-holes.jpg


The Bottom of the Panel Drilled
panel-holes-2.jpg


All the Parts Dry Fitted on the Front
panel-dry-fit.jpg


The Power Connectors Dry Fitted on the Bottom
panel-power-dry-fits.jpg


Wiring Diagram (Inspired by P-J)
wiring-diagram.jpg


Not Pictured
The SPA GFCI Power
Pot, heating element etc.
 
All I can say it - WOW!

I'm blown away that I could have helped you in your adventure and am very pleased with it.

Your panel layout is wonderful

P-J
 
Are you going to do a parts list??

Here it is.....

Auber
2 Pole 40A 240V Coil Contactor(Meant to order 120V Coil)
External Heat Sink for 40A SSR
40A SSR
Illuminated Pushbuttons (2x Red, 1x Green, 1x Blue)
SYL-2352 PID Controller
2" 1/4 NPT RTD Sensor
RTD Panel Mount Connection
120V Buzzer

Various EBay Stores
Hoffman Fiberglass Enclosure HJ1210HWPL2LG
2 Pol 40A 120V Coil Contactor
P&S L5-15 120V Locking Flanged Outlet
L14-30 Locking Connector
L6-30R Locking Receptacle
L14-30 Locking Inlet
L14-30R 30A Locking Receptacle (To be installed in SPA panel)
L14-30P 30A Locking Plug

McMaster-Carr
1/8" ID Expandable Mesh Braiding (1x Black, 1x Blue for the Probe)
1/2" ID Expandable Mesh Braiding (Black - Element Power cable)
1/32" Diameter Stainless Steel Wire Rope (RTD strain relief)
5/8" ID Heat Shrink
1/4" ID Heat Shrink
3AG/3AB Panel Mount Staight Angle Terminal Fuse Holder (2x)
1 Amp Fast Acting Fuse
10 Amp Fast Acting Fuse

Lowes / Home Depot
5500W Water Heater Element
Ground Bus Bar
Terminal Strip
10 AWG Terminal set (Ring, Spade terminals)
14 AWG Terminal set
4/10 Cable (20 ft)
GFCI Spa Panel (Home Depot)
Various Screws and Tools

Amazon
44qt Bayou Classic Aluminum Stock Pot

Bargin Fittings
1" SS Locknut and O-ring Kit
1/4 NPT - 1/2" ID x 5/8" OD Silicone O-Ring
1" NPT - 1/35"ID x 1 7/16" OD Silicone O-Ring
1/2" Wash 304SS
1/4" NPS Locknut
Whirlpool / Side pickup fitting (Reusing my current Ball Valve)
Custom Recirculation Arm

Chugger Pumps
Chugger Pump with inline stainless steel head

Signs Banners and Tags
Panel Tags
 
Awesome build ! It's a perfect example of what I'm hoping to make !!
Thanks for everyone's work on this !
 
I hate to ask an extremely basic question. I'm planning to start BIAB and am very interested in going all-electric. I've seen several of these control panels, and I'm trying to make sure I understand how to operate one before I try to build it.

I would greatly appreciate it if someone would go thru the steps of operating a single vessel BIAB with this control panel. I typed what "I" think they are below, so you might only have to correct me where I'm wrong.

On the panel, I see:
1. Main Power - turns the whole controller on/off.
2. Kettle Temp - assume you set the temp you want the kettle to be at.
3. Alarm - Turns on the alarm. I assume the little alarm at the top right corner sounds depending upon what you've set the alarm in the PID to be.
4. Element - Turns on the element - or causes the element to turn on when the PID tells it to.
5. Pump - Turns on/off pump.

Steps:
1. Turn on main power
2. Set the temp you want the strike water to be on the PID
-- Do you set the alarm to go off to alert you when the water reaches the set temp?
3. Fill kettle with desired amount of water
4. Press (Southern country folks say "Mash") the Element button.
5. When water reaches desired temp, add place the bag into the kettle and add the grain.
6. Set the PID to the temp you want to mash at
7. Press the Pump button to start the recirculating pump in order to help maintain mash temps. Stir mash occasionally
-- I assume that there's no timer, so you have to keep track of the time yourself
-- If you're doing step mashing, you increase the temp on the PID for each step and monitor the times yourself.
8. When the mash it over, set the PID to the mashout temp.
9. When mashout temp is reached,
10. Turn off pump
-- pull the bag. Squeeze, rinse, or whatever.
11. Set PID to boil temp
-- I won't worry about the end of the boil.
12. When it's over, press the Element button to deactivate the element completely, then press the Main Power button to turn off the system.

Questions:
1. Pressing the Element button causes the element to turn on only so long as the PID tells it to? or does it invoke a "manual mode" so that the element turns on regardless?
2. Does the Element button stay lit, or only when the PID has it activated?
3. Is the Pump controlled by the PID, or is it simply ON/Off using the Pump button?
4. I'm assuming that there's no "Timer" setting in this particular control panel.

Thank you very much for your time,
Keith
 
I hate to ask an extremely basic question. I'm planning to start BIAB and am very interested in going all-electric. I've seen several of these control panels, and I'm trying to make sure I understand how to operate one before I try to build it.

I would greatly appreciate it if someone would go thru the steps of operating a single vessel BIAB with this control panel. I typed what "I" think they are below, so you might only have to correct me where I'm wrong.

On the panel, I see:
1. Main Power - turns the whole controller on/off.
2. Kettle Temp - assume you set the temp you want the kettle to be at.
3. Alarm - Turns on the alarm. I assume the little alarm at the top right corner sounds depending upon what you've set the alarm in the PID to be.
4. Element - Turns on the element - or causes the element to turn on when the PID tells it to.
5. Pump - Turns on/off pump.

Yep that is correct for all of them.

Steps:
1. Turn on main power
2. Set the temp you want the strike water to be on the PID
-- Do you set the alarm to go off to alert you when the water reaches the set temp?
3. Fill kettle with desired amount of water
4. Press (Southern country folks say "Mash") the Element button.
5. When water reaches desired temp, add place the bag into the kettle and add the grain.
6. Set the PID to the temp you want to mash at
7. Press the Pump button to start the recirculating pump in order to help maintain mash temps. Stir mash occasionally
-- I assume that there's no timer, so you have to keep track of the time yourself
-- If you're doing step mashing, you increase the temp on the PID for each step and monitor the times yourself.
8. When the mash it over, set the PID to the mashout temp.
9. When mashout temp is reached,
10. Turn off pump
-- pull the bag. Squeeze, rinse, or whatever.
11. Set PID to boil temp
-- I won't worry about the end of the boil.
12. When it's over, press the Element button to deactivate the element completely, then press the Main Power button to turn off the system.

I haven't had time to finish up this build let alone brew with it yet. (Damn Grad school.) But everything up to 11 looks good. After the mash out I would set it to just below boiling (water boils at around 206 here, so probably 200) with an alarm, to make sure I am there in case of a boil over. Once it reaches just below boiling switch the PID to manual mode and run it at 70-80% (again not sure on this.) That should be a enough to keep it at a boil. Then about 5 minutes before the end of the boil, hook the pump up to my CFC and run it with boiling wort to sanitize. At "flame out" hit the element power button to kill the element. Run the pump through the CFC until I get down to pitching temps.

Questions:
1. Pressing the Element button causes the element to turn on only so long as the PID tells it to? or does it invoke a "manual mode" so that the element turns on regardless?
2. Does the Element button stay lit, or only when the PID has it activated?
3. Is the Pump controlled by the PID, or is it simply ON/Off using the Pump button?
4. I'm assuming that there's no "Timer" setting in this particular control panel.

Thank you very much for your time,
Keith

1) That is correct. The element button is what actually connects the SSR and 2nd hot leg to the element. Without it no power flows to the element. Manual mode is handled by the PID.
2) The element button says lit as long as it is depressed (meaning the element has the capability of having power to it.)
3) The pump button just turns the pump on (rather it powers a 120V socket, which could be anything.)
4) Nope no timer. I thought about adding one it, but I have an iPhone for that.

Hope that helps.
 
Here it is.....

Auber
2 Pole 40A 240V Coil (Meant to order 120V Coil)
External Heat Sink for 40A SSR
40A SSR
Illuminated Pushbuttons (2x Red, 1x Green, 1x Blue)
SYL-2352 PID Controller
2" 1/4 NPT RTD Sensor
RTD Panel Mount Connection
120V Buzzer (Should have ordered the DC version)

Why do you say you should have gotten the DC version of the buzzer? Wouldn't that require a separate 12v power supply?

Also (and I'm putting on my dunce hat here for a second), but why the contactors? Are they simply to convert the 240v to 120v to power the illuminated part of the switches or is the main reason they're there for safety? I've never done any of this type of wiring (my system is a 120v Countertop Brutus clone that just uses regular light switches) and I'm doing my research on upgrading.

Great looking build so far! :mug:
 
Yep that is correct for all of them.

I haven't had time to finish up this build let alone brew with it yet. (Damn Grad school.) <snip>

Hope that helps.

Thanks. It helps a lot. I was trying to figure out how all this worked together. As you can see, I just started a couple threads in anticipation of my own E-BIAB build. Your control panel seems to be the closest to what I'm after. It's very similar to johnodon's, so I'm trying to get it figured out.

I can relate to the grad school getting in the way of a hobby. I managed to get my pilot's license during my junior year of college. During Medical School, I only flew a few times - mainly after exams. In some spare time, I read up on another hobby I hoped to develop (having a pipe organ in my home). I never got back into flying since I got married at the end of med school. With a wife, I couldn't justify the expense of joy-flying on an intern's salary. 25 years later, I was able to start on my pipe organ hobby. Now, it's beer making. Always a money-drain somewhere.

Good luck with the grad school - and your electric brewing build.

Keith
 
Why do you say you should have gotten the DC version of the buzzer? Wouldn't that require a separate 12v power supply?

Also (and I'm putting on my dunce hat here for a second), but why the contactors? Are they simply to convert the 240v to 120v to power the illuminated part of the switches or is the main reason they're there for safety? I've never done any of this type of wiring (my system is a 120v Countertop Brutus clone that just uses regular light switches) and I'm doing my research on upgrading.

Great looking build so far! :mug:

Actually you are right, after re-reading the documentation it seems the alarm relays are "'dry' single pole switches" which means the PID does not supply power to the relay. So it seems I made a fortunate mistake by purchasing the 120V buzzer.

The contractors are there to physically disconnect the power from the element, and control panel. They are very similar to light switches, except that the current does not run through the switch, instead the switch complete a circuit through an electromagnetic coil which pulls the contact inside the contactor to complete the higher power circuit. The advantage of this is that contactor can generally handle more amperage than a simple switch (the Auber switches are rated at 10A for example.)
 
Thanks. It helps a lot. I was trying to figure out how all this worked together. As you can see, I just started a couple threads in anticipation of my own E-BIAB build. Your control panel seems to be the closest to what I'm after. It's very similar to johnodon's, so I'm trying to get it figured out.

I can relate to the grad school getting in the way of a hobby. I managed to get my pilot's license during my junior year of college. During Medical School, I only flew a few times - mainly after exams. In some spare time, I read up on another hobby I hoped to develop (having a pipe organ in my home). I never got back into flying since I got married at the end of med school. With a wife, I couldn't justify the expense of joy-flying on an intern's salary. 25 years later, I was able to start on my pipe organ hobby. Now, it's beer making. Always a money-drain somewhere.

Good luck with the grad school - and your electric brewing build.

Keith

Thanks for the kind words. I know the feeling, between grad school and work, it is tough to find time to work on and play with my toys :). Good luck with your build and let me know if I can be of help.
 
Actually you are right, after re-reading the documentation it seems the alarm relays are "'dry' single pole switches" which means the PID does not supply power to the relay. So it seems I made a fortunate mistake by purchasing the 120V buzzer.

The contractors are there to physically disconnect the power from the element, and control panel. They are very similar to light switches, except that the current does not run through the switch, instead the switch complete a circuit through an electromagnetic coil which pulls the contact inside the contactor to complete the higher power circuit. The advantage of this is that contactor can generally handle more amperage than a simple switch (the Auber switches are rated at 10A for example.)

Thanks for the reply. I've seen the contactors in many builds and read a few "reasons why" but it just never clicked. I think I have a pretty good understanding now.
 
This is great, can you show some pictures of inside the control panel. Also, do you recirculate during the mash?
 
atbilli said:
This is great, can you show some pictures of inside the control panel. Also, do you recirculate during the mash?

I just finished up the wiring this weekend. I will get some photos of the inside up tonight. I haven't had a chance to brew on this system yet (still need to finish up the wiring and enclosure for the element,) but I do plan to recirculate during the mash.
 
As promised here are some more pictures:

PC120591.JPG

Close up of the front panel with all of the controls lit up.

PC120583.JPG

The insides of the control panel. The switches, PID and alarm on the left, the SSR on top, the contractors, terminal strip and outlets on the right.

PC120585.JPG

Attached to the top is the SSR (screwed and thermal pasted to the heatsink). In the top left of the subpanel is a terminal strip, which feeds the hot and neutral lines for the 120V stuff. Below that is the ground bus bar that services all the ground runs. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the paint on the subpanel has been sanded off so the bus bar is in direct contact to it, grounding the subpanel (the only metallic part of the panel.) On the far right is the main power contactor. Just above the 120V and 240V outlets is the element power contactor. Also on the bottom left of the photo against the bottom edge you can see my hack job of securing one of the fuses holders with silicone, because I did not measure properly. (Remember measure twice cut, once....:p)


PC120586.JPG

Close up of the backside of the front panel. On the top, from left to right the alarm, PID and main power button. Right below the PID is the alarm button. The bottom row is the pump and element buttons.

PC120592.JPG

A bottom view showing the power cord coming from the GFCI spa panel (not shown) which is connected to a dryer outlet and the probe going to the kettle RTD sensor.
 
Thanks for the pictures, this is exactly how I want to setup my control panel. I will be interested on how your first brew day goes.
 
I just wanted to confirm the panel layout. Also, did you update your wiring diagram to reflect any changes you made to the control box?

Panel_confirmation.jpg
 
I just wanted to confirm the panel layout. Also, did you update your wiring diagram to reflect any changes you made to the control box?

That looks correct. I did not make any changes to the wiring during assembly, so the diagram should match the build exactly.
 
I am the first to admit I feel asleep during circuit&#8217;s class, but I&#8217;m trying to follow your wiring diagram and link it back to your control panel pictures. I notice on one of your picture that you have a wire (white) connecting the Power inlet and the Pump Power outlet. I don&#8217;t see that direct connection on the wiring diagram. Am I missing something? Unfortunately being a mechanical engineer is not helping me when it comes to wiring a control panel. I may just be over cautious here, but I want to 100% understand before start ordering and building my panel.
 
Since it is a neutral, and we are only switching the hot legs, we can make that connection. If you look on the wiring diagram, you can trace back the white (on the diagram neutral is yellow) wire back to the inlet. It just branches in a couple of places. While the diagram matches the wiring of the panel, the component locations won't match.

EDIT: I also should mention that if you look closely at the inlet you will see two white wires, a small one (12 or 14 AWG can't remember which) that services all of the switches and lights and a large one that services the pump outlet. I did this to simplify the wiring.
 
Actually you are right, after re-reading the documentation it seems the alarm relays are "'dry' single pole switches" which means the PID does not supply power to the relay. So it seems I made a fortunate mistake by purchasing the 120V buzzer.

I don't understand this. Does the PID have a feature that controls the buzzer and just knows it should "buzz" when the target temp is reached? (Does it keep buzzing until you "un-mash" the button? What does the "buzzer" button do? Does it just make the connection so that feature of the PID will work?

(ie: If you don't "Mash" the buzzer button, everything still heats up but when it reaches the target temp, all you hear is basement crickets?)

....and while I'm at it... what about the contactors? I see 2 in your wiring diagram and that you said you "wish you ordered 120v" for the one that is listed as 240v... Did you have to replace it? Looks like they are the same price...

One more thing -- If I don't use a pump, can I cut out the 10A/120v lower section (fuses, power button, etc) from the diagram and just use the top 2/3 of it?
 
I don't understand this. Does the PID have a feature that controls the buzzer and just knows it should "buzz" when the target temp is reached? (Does it keep buzzing until you "un-mash" the button? What does the "buzzer" button do? Does it just make the connection so that feature of the PID will work?

The alarm relay on the Auber PIDs remains open for as long as the alarm condition persists. In the case of a high temperature alarm, once the high temperature is met the relay will stay open until the temperature is below that alarm. For example lets say I have a high temperature alarm set to go off when my water reaches 165*F. Once the temperature hits 165*F the alarm relay will close and the alarm buzzer will go off. It will continue to go off until the water temperature is 164* or lower.

This is what the alarm button is there for. The alarm button is pressed to close the circuit between the buzzer and the PID, so that when the alarm relay closes the buzzer will go off. When the alarm goes off, I can tend to whatever step comes next (in the example above, add the grain), and disable the annoying alarm buzzer. The button is the only way to disable the alarm, as the PID has no way turning it off without resetting the alarm temperature.

(ie: If you don't "Mash" the buzzer button, everything still heats up but when it reaches the target temp, all you hear is basement crickets?)
Well in my case they would be apartment kitchen crickets....but ya.

....and while I'm at it... what are the "contactors" for? I see 2 in your wiring diagram and that you said you "wish you ordered 120v" for the one that is listed as 240v... Did you have to replace it or was it just more expensive?
Think of the contactors as big light switches, however instead of your finger flicking the toggle switch an electromagnet flicks it when a current is run through it. In this case this current is caused by a circuit being completed when the little illuminated button is pressed. The reason why contactors are employed is because the panel as a whole pulls around 30 Amps. This is WAY too much current to run through one switch. The contactors, on the other hand, are built to handle this large amount of current.

Honestly, because we are already running 240V service to the panel and the Auber switches are rated for 240V it doesn't matter which coil voltage we use for the contactors. In the case of the 240V coil contactor both hot legs are used instead of a hot and neutral for the 120V coil contactor. If we did not have 240V service or the switches weren't rated for 240V the contactor would have had to been replaced. The 240V coil contactors might be more expensive, but my guess would be probably not by much. In this case I just modified the original design.

EDIT:
One more thing -- If I don't use a pump, can I cut out the 10A/120v lower section (fuses, power button, etc) from the diagram and just use the top 2/3 of it?
That wouldn't be a problem.
 
So after getting back from spending time with the family over the holidays, I was finally able to make some progress on this project. Before the break I drilled out the hole in the single-gang electrical box and cover and JB-weleded them together. Also before I left home, I ran an electrical test on my panel and found that my buzzer was defective. It would only buzz if I tapped it. Auber Instruments was very responsive and replaced it ASAP. Today I wired up the element, and mounted to to the kettle through the element box (a la Kal) and replaced the buzzer.

I also ran a water test today, and auto-tuned the PID. Everything worked well and according to plan. Tomorrow I brew for the first time on the new rig. I will be sure to get some pics of tomorrow brew session.
 
So started today around noon today. Got all the equipment set up and the water in pot. Not sure exactly how long it took to get to strike temperature of 163*, but I am thinking it was about 10 minutes. Mash in without a problem and I am currently mashing.

So far though, I have found that I am probably going to need to get the pump soon rather than later. There seems to be a fair amount of striation in the kettle, and I made sure I stirred the strike water furiously before mashing to even it out. When this happened it dropped about 5-8*. The mash temperature is also fluctuating. I noticed my mash temperature was a little low so I turned the element back on and it quickly jumped up 4*.
 
Well today's brew day ended in an epic fail. The equipment worked perfectly. I had a few overshoots, but I hit my numbers almost spot on. The fail part was my use of whole hops. This is the first time I have ever used whole hops, and I did not have a hop spider or a hops bag that was large enough. So, I just tossed them in.......VERY bad idea. The whole hops clogged EVERYTHING up. The ball valve on the kettle, the tubing to my CFC, my stainless steel racking cane (that I was using as a back up). In the end I decided to stick my washed and sanitized grain bag into the fermeter and dump the wort into the bucket. I am in the process of cooling it in my keezer.

In hindsight, using the grain bag and steamer basket as a hops spider would have solved all my problems. I will probably do that in the future. Ohh well at least I made (possibly...probably infected) beer.

Here are the promised pics:
2012-01-08%25252018%25253A51%25253A29%252520%25252B0000.jpg

2012-01-08%25252018%25253A52%25253A18%252520%25252B0000.jpg

2012-01-08%25252018%25253A51%25253A48%252520%25252B0000.jpg

2012-01-08%25252018%25253A52%25253A46%252520%25252B0000.jpg

2012-01-08%25252018%25253A53%25253A27%252520%25252B0000.jpg

2012-01-09%25252002%25253A36%25253A14%252520%25252B0000.jpg
 
I am trying to decide on how I wanted to filter hops, either with a spider/bag or the hop-blocker that Kal sells.

Otherwise, nice system!
 
Interested in pictures of your element mounting.

I almost have my wiring done in the panel but am still mulling over the element mounting.

Nice looking build!
 
The element is mounted almost exactly like Kal's. The only differences are that I do not have a washer or o-ring between the kettle and electrical box (didn't have the room), and I used a single gang (rather than a double) weather-proof electrical box. I still need to silicone the inside of the box, I just wanted to make sure everything worked properly first.
 
I am trying to decide on how I wanted to filter hops, either with a spider/bag or the hop-blocker that Kal sells.

Otherwise, nice system!

While I was picking up my ingredients from my LHBS I also picked up a Sure Screen filter. However, when I got home I found that it did not fit the side pickup tube that I purchased from Bargin Fitting. Even then I am not sure the sure screen would have saved me. The whole hops clogged up everything, including the the little filter cap on attached on my stainless steel racking cane. The more I think about it the more I like the grain bag and steamer basket hop spider idea.
 
The element is mounted almost exactly like Kal's. The only differences are that I do not have a washer or o-ring between the kettle and electrical box (didn't have the room), and I used a single gang (rather than a double) weather-proof electrical box. I still need to silicone the inside of the box, I just wanted to make sure everything worked properly first.

I'm confused how is the element sealed without the O-ring? Did you silcone or jb Weld up the crap of joint? Also did your element have short threads, and thus could not accommodate the oring and washer?
 
I'm confused how is the element sealed without the O-ring? Did you silcone or jb Weld up the crap of joint? Also did your element have short threads, and thus could not accommodate the oring and washer?

Sorry for the confusion. My element is mounted through the electrical box and electrical cover. The cover has a small hole (large enough for the threads to fit through, but small enough for the locking nut at the end of the threads doesn't), and box has a larger one (this one doesn't matter as much.) The cover and box are JB-welded together, nothing holds the element to the box. The element is then feed through the hole in the kettle, where it is secured from the inside with an o-ring and a stainless steel locking nut. (The o-ring is on the inside between the wall of the kettle and the nut.)

I attempted to use the black o-ring (?) that comes with the element on the outside of the kettle, but I could only use on or the other and the black one alone leaked. I am thinking that my element's threads are shorter. I picked up my element from Home Depot, and they did not have the one he recommends.

Hope that helps.
 
The element is mounted almost exactly like Kal's. The only differences are that I do not have a washer or o-ring between the kettle and electrical box (didn't have the room), and I used a single gang (rather than a double) weather-proof electrical box. I still need to silicone the inside of the box, I just wanted to make sure everything worked properly first.

Pics?

What Kal has done is just incredible so I hope people (especially him) don't take this the wrong way, but that method of mounting a heating element sucks. Really there is no good way to mount an element. If only the threads came off the back of the element and were about an inch long we would be in fantastic shape. The Kal method is just one of the many crappy ways to do it. Again, thank you Kal for everything you have done here, not your fault as an unorthodox use for a heating element requires and unorthodox method to mount it.

I think I may use the Kal method for now, that is until I find a better way to do this.
 
Pics?

What Kal has done is just incredible so I hope people (especially him) don't take this the wrong way, but that method of mounting a heating element sucks. Really there is no good way to mount an element. If only the threads came off the back of the element and were about an inch long we would be in fantastic shape. The Kal method is just one of the many crappy ways to do it. Again, thank you Kal for everything you have done here, not your fault as an unorthodox use for a heating element requires and unorthodox method to mount it.

I think I may use the Kal method for now, that is until I find a better way to do this.

I will get some for you tonight. Of the methods I have seen, his seems to be the cleanest. It also makes it easy to replace the element, in the inevitable case that is dry fires, etc. It does take a little trickery to get it working properly though.

The only way I think that could be better is if you welded a threaded connector to the kettle so that you could screw the element in and then secure it from the inside. But this was the easy (relatively....), and protects the electrical connections. Overall I am pleased with it.
 
I will get some for you tonight. Of the methods I have seen, his seems to be the cleanest. It also makes it easy to replace the element, in the inevitable case that is dry fires, etc. It does take a little trickery to get it working properly though.

The only way I think that could be better is if you welded a threaded connector to the kettle so that you could screw the element in and then secure it from the inside. But this was the easy (relatively....), and protects the electrical connections. Overall I am pleased with it.

There are so many problems with all methods.

The Kal method, and those like it require silicone to prevent leakage. Not a reliable seal by any means. Plus it does not at all guarantee a good ground. This is the most troubling part about the method. In my opinion it is a must to verify a good ground path with a multimeter. Plus you have to redo the silicone every time you take the element out.

Welding a fitting to the keg is a much better solution except it requires that a ground be welded or bolted on the kettle. This method is very easy with keggles but much more difficult for us with Blichmann's or turkey fryer pots. It also requires that the wires are potted or covered in some reliable manner.

I just wish someone made elements with threads going toward the rear. Man would that make things easy.
 
There are so many problems with all methods.

The Kal method, and those like it require silicone to prevent leakage. Not a reliable seal by any means. Plus it does not at all guarantee a good ground. This is the most troubling part about the method. In my opinion it is a must to verify a good ground path with a multimeter. Plus you have to redo the silicone every time you take the element out.

Welding a fitting to the keg is a much better solution except it requires that a ground be welded or bolted on the kettle. This method is very easy with keggles but much more difficult for us with Blichmann's or turkey fryer pots. It also requires that the wires are potted or covered in some reliable manner.

I just wish someone made elements with threads going toward the rear. Man would that make things easy.

I actually haven't put the silicone on my element yet, and it has not leaked at all. I think the silicone is just there for insurance. I did verify that I had a ground on the kettle before powering up the system. I will verify that again when I pull it back out. I do agree, however, that not having a ground attached directly attached to the kettle is a little bit disconcerting.
 
I actually haven't put the silicone on my element yet, and it has not leaked at all. I think the silicone is just there for insurance. I did verify that I had a ground on the kettle before powering up the system. I will verify that again when I pull it back out. I do agree, however, that not having a ground attached directly attached to the kettle is a little bit disconcerting.
I agree that silicone is just there for insurance. I have used the Kal method without the silicone for about 20 batches. No leaks. The silicone is not required for a good seal. I test the ground prong on the cord for continuity with the kettle before each batch.
 
I agree that silicone is just there for insurance. I have used the Kal method without the silicone for about 20 batches. No leaks. The silicone is not required for a good seal. I test the ground prong on the cord for continuity with the kettle before each batch.

I have not noticed any leaks in the two brew sessions, I have already done. However, I did notice, during my pre-brew checklist, that this time I did not have a good ground on the pot, even though I did last time. I am not sure what caused the change. For this session I temporarily ran a ground wire to a screw on the box cover. I will have to remedy this for the future though.

Today's bew was a big beer with 17 lbs of grain and a 1.083 OG. All of the grain fit nicely in the kettle, I probably could have gotten an even 20 lbs in their. I had some issues with hitting my numbers this time around, though. I ended up boiling off about 1-1.25 gallons more than estimated, so I ended up with only ~4 gallons in the fermenter. I hit the estimated OG though, which means my mash efficiency sucked.

All things considered though it was a successful brew day. Much better than last week's. I also tried my steamer basket + big grain bag "hop stopper". It does not work very well for pellet hops, because the boil causes the bag to bubble up. I think this would probably work better for whole hops since they will soak up more wort and weigh down the bag. I will test it the next time I use whole hops.
 
So after my last brew session, I decided it was time to get a pump. I had been eying the Chuggers for a while, and when they came back in stock I snagged one.

Along with the pump I also ordered a whole new set of fittings and a custom pickup tube from Bargain Fittings. The pickup tube is removable and sits over the side of the kettle. I got the idea from another thread here. Here are some pics:

Outside Portion of the Whirlpool Fitting (I bought the wrong camlock so I have to stretch the tube over the threads of the elbow.)
2012-02-02%252002%253A40%253A46%2520%252B0000.jpg


Whirlpool Fitting inside of the Kettle (Sorry for the crappy pic, the steam kept fogging the lens.)
2012-02-02%252002%253A41%253A19%2520%252B0000.jpg
 
All things considered though it was a successful brew day. Much better than last week's. I also tried my steamer basket + big grain bag "hop stopper". It does not work very well for pellet hops, because the boil causes the bag to bubble up. I think this would probably work better for whole hops since they will soak up more wort and weigh down the bag. I will test it the next time I use whole hops.

Grab a couple all stainless nuts or something and toss 'em in the bag.
 
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