Ultimate Heatstick 240 Volt

I've been looking for a way to build a 240 volt heatstick for the boil kettle in my eherms rig. I wanted it to have a replaceable element so this is what I came up with. It's made mostly from parts from StPats and a couple from Mcmaster.
StPats
2 - 2" weld on ferrules, $8 ea.
2 - 2" silicone gaskets, $1.50 ea.
2 - 2" tri-clamps, $7.50 ea.
2 - 2" end caps, $5 ea.
Mcmaster
1 - 316 stainless elbow ½" $6.10
1 - ½" ss pipe, 18" long $18.65
1 - alum cord connector $6.44

1 - 5500 watt ripp element, $18

The two ferrules are welded together , drilled a hole in the top and welded on the 18" pipe. The hardest part was drilling and tapping the end cap to thread the element into. We were able to chuck it into my friends big metal lathe. He just happened to have a 1 5/32" bit which is the exact size needed for a 1" NPT tap. I have a few more things to do to finish it up, wire it of course, weld on a small bolt inside for the ground wire.

Cheers
Mike

That looks pretty sweet.

Question, why did you spend all that $$ instead of just mounting it in the kettle?

Looks OK, but you ARE going to install a 240v GFCI breaker for this, right???

A couple reasons, I love my immersion chiller and didnt like it sitting on the element. Plus less stuff in the way for whirlpooling. I also plan on using it to heat my strike water. And yes my rig is GFI protected.

airbalancer said:

A couple reasons, I love my immersion chiller and didnt like it sitting on the element. Plus less stuff in the way for whirlpooling. I also plan on using it to heat my strike water. And yes my rig is GFI protected.

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Congratulations are in order with you using a cgb instead of a bunch of silicone like so many have posted on this forum with cords coming out of bell boxes or any other openings. Done correctly and safely.
Making it portable, removable and simple plus a safe and functional heating project.

That is pretty sweet +100 on having friends with machining tools!

Nice!
That looks very well made.

That's a nice job. I always envisioned a 240 w heatstick to resemble one of those huge orange rubber tubular things I have seen the power company use on high voltage lines. Any merit in sliding a piece of silicon tubing over the handle, or is that like belt and suspenders?

Hmmm... got me thinking. I've been thinking of getting some nicer pots and really didn't want to drill them.. I could probably build one out of just SS pipe fittings as well to avoid the welding. but then how'd I mount the element..

Anyway I like it. I'm gonna think of a way to copy it without welding....

The first brew with the new heatstick was a success. It worked like a champ. I was able to heat my strike water with it using the PID then move it to the boil kettle and put it in manual mode. Kept a really nice boil at 60%.

Cheers
Mike

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC8_0faU9Gg]YouTube - EHERMS 240 volt Heatstick[/ame]

I saw a Boilermaker pot in person for the first time today and was smitten. I really want one but don't want to drill a big hole in the side. So you think you could possibly build some for folks for adequate compensation?? I looked at various non-welded ways of doing this and they all just didn't seem very good. Yours look very clean.

That makes all my propane burners look barbaric.

Electricity is CLEAN... looking and operating.

I woudnt mine doing the welding, but you will need to find somebody to drill and tap the hole in the endcap for the element.

Mike

airbalancer said:

I woudnt mine doing the welding, but you will need to find somebody to drill and tap the hole in the endcap for the element.

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Another challenge... Sigh - but I can buy and build about 8 of my aluminum BK's for the price of one boiler maker, so it may just be a pipe dream...

I am liking this project the more I think about it airbalancer.
A modular electric heating element that can multitask on a brew day without locking you into using electrical is a nice selling point for me.

Cheers
BeerCanuck

Did you do anything special to bend the element apart like that?

I just bent it over the arm of a chair I was a litle long to fit into the kettle so I shortened it up a bit. Then I spread it out so hops wouldnt get wedged in between.

Cool, I was afraid it would hurt it to bend it out, I've had hops get stuck in mine so I think I'll bend it out like you've done.

Hope I'm not hijacking here....

I currently have some heatsticks put together using jbweld, chrome drain pipe and pvc handle. I've recently been noticing that the stuff (jbweld) seems to get thinner every batch. In the interim I've been looking around for a stainless solution for a heatstick and stumbled upon this thread. This is nice, but it requires some welding which I'm not particularly keen on. I have been juggling some part configurations around from mcmaster thinking of doing it weldless and came up with this list below. I wondered if anyone thinks it would be a problem and/or has any other ideas?

1/2" x 36" 316L stainless pipe - 4816K42
1/2" 316 stainless elbow - 4452k414
1-1/2" x 1/2" 316 stainless nipple - 4548k172
1" to 1/2" reducing coupler - 4452k817

And of course an element threaded on to the above 1" coupler.

I don't see how you could make it work with threaded fittings because the element would be screwed in from the wrong side.

Oh haha, you are right... Hmm back to the drawing board. I guess I overlooked that thinking about this stuff at work.

I am just beginning to think about moving my brew set up from the kitchen to the basement in a dedicated room and as such am thinking about converting my BK to electric. I really like this build and am thinking about possibly going down this route, but I am completely lacking in knowledge of the controlling end. I was thinking of just running manual with on and off, but then I saw Airbalance's comment about only running at 60% and was wondering how this is achieved. Can anyone point me in the right direction for some basics on controlling the electric heat supply? I am sure there must be a thread (numerous threads) but I am not finding them. Thanks.

This can be soldered as well; I'm sure it would still look really nice.

k1200rsvt said:

I am just beginning to think about moving my brew set up from the kitchen to the basement in a dedicated room and as such am thinking about converting my BK to electric. I really like this build and am thinking about possibly going down this route, but I am completely lacking in knowledge of the controlling end. I was thinking of just running manual with on and off, but then I saw Airbalance's comment about only running at 60% and was wondering how this is achieved. Can anyone point me in the right direction for some basics on controlling the electric heat supply? I am sure there must be a thread (numerous threads) but I am not finding them. Thanks.

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Just to answer this:

You can control it using a PID or with a PWM circuit. Basically all the PWM does is turn the element on/off at given intervals, whereas the PID turns it on/off based on some present condition (in this case, it's usually temperature).

Looking at this again, you could do an all triclover version too. You wouldn't have to tap the endcap for the element, you could just drill a hole and use a weldless kit.

Love this idea. One of the biggest reasons moving to electric has stalled for me is I really didn't want to drill a hole into my beautiful Blichmann; but I also wasn’t sure about a 240V heatstick. I have a question for airbalancer though: in your brewery pictures you have this heatstick mounted/clamped to the side of your brewpot; what did you use to do this?

I used a couple of stainless shaft collars and welded them together, one goes around the heatstick and the other holds the piece of 5/16" SS round bar that I bent into shape with a torch. I replaced the set screws with thumb screws for adjustment. When its in the kettle it is against the side but its all polished stainless so no scuffing.

Mike

Thanks airbalancer.

Dude!
Thats brilliant!

I like the portability of this, I might do this for my next system (1 vessel, BIAB, no-chill). It would make it easier to use a immersion chiller when I want to (IPAs) and also allow me to heat water in other things for random other projects. Just seems overall more versatile.

ScubaSteve and other builders: Sorry to hijack this thread, but would it be possible to post a McMaster part # list for the heat stick using tri-clover parts? What I don't want to do is have a garage full of parts that I "thought" would do the build!
Wespectfully,
Walt

ScubaSteve said:

Looking at this again, you could do an all triclover version too. You wouldn't have to tap the endcap for the element, you could just drill a hole and use a weldless kit.

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Has anyone tried an all triclover version? I am getting ready to become an apartment brewer and I need to convert everything over to electric. This seems like the best way without permanently altering my equipment. Thank you in advance.

Digging up an old thread, instead of drilling or tapping anything, couldn't you just thread the element into a 1.5"x 1" female triclover? I know they are a bit different thread designs but heard you can thread the element in pretty far and is water tight.

Did one of these but slightly different. Here's the link: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/triclamp-heatstick-392172/#post4932279

Looks good, I like the design.
Mike

Very nice design! I've still yet to use mine (airbalancer welded one up for me a year or two ago) but I just actually got my larger kettle all setup so it will see use very soon! Thanks again airbalancer!

airbalancer said:

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Hi Airbalancer,
Did you just bend the element so it would fit inside the keg?
Are the elements robust enough that it won't compromise the integrity of it?
Thanks,
Dan C