Input for my new rig

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vraftsman

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So I'm just getting into all grain and have put together an all electric 3 keggle setup. Used it once so far and it went relatively well but nothing has it's own place so I'm building a stand and want to get some community input on what I have so far and some thoughts for down the road.

pictured here is the setup so far.

imag0542-60398.jpg


-5.5' long, ~24" deep including pumps/valves sticking off the front and only 22" high so that it's still easy enough to get into the top of the kettles.
-When set down it is supported entirely by the 4 legs, but the wheels are at the same level so that picking up the opposite end works like a wheelbarrow and it's more mobile.
-I put the pumps on a slight angle in the theory that they will retain less water after cleaning.
-I still need to mount the control box mostly upright in that location so any little splash or whatnot will dribble off and leave me a little table room.
-I'm considering adding a gutter on the front to catch anything lost when connecting/disconnection hoses. I would add one below the pumps too and it would all drain to a small holding vessel underneath. I think this would make catching any accidents possible and cleaning easier too.
-I use beersmith and thought a small laptop table with a swing out arm would be nice to have attached.
-I guess I should add that I want this to be kind of a hybrid system. I want the ability to take it wherever to brew, which won't necessarly have the 220V dryer outlet, so I will need to add a wiring option and selector to run the 220V elements on 120V which will drop them down from 5500W to 1375. I am hoping that this would be enough for the HLT to maintain temp, and thought I could supplement the BK with a propane burner, (obviously need to change the table a little for that.) This way I can still get to a fast boil with the propane and fine tune the boil rate with the PID. Anyone done anything like this before?
-Considering things like a built in 6" vertical PVC tube for mash paddle and spoon storage or a sanitizer bucket built in below the control box.

I just have too many ideas and thought surely someone here has experience with one or two of these question marks and will give a push one way or the other.

Thanks for the input!
 
I don't run an all electric system. But I do have a 120v RIMS tube with a 1440 watt element. It can take my ground water all the way up to mash temp. I tried it with 50F water and it was no problem. So I think you can definitely maintain sparge temp with 120V power.
 
One word of advise: those pump heads will not be happy oriented like that. Horizontal with the input at 9 o'clock, or vertical with the input at 6 o'clock, are preferred from a headache-reduction aspect. Then look into CIP...

Cheers!
 
One word of advise: those pump heads will not be happy oriented like that. Horizontal with the input at 9 o'clock, or vertical with the input at 6 o'clock, are preferred from a headache-reduction aspect. Then look into CIP...
p
Cheers!

Is the orientation so that all the air is pushed out of the pump head?
CIP?
 
vraftsman said:
Is the orientation so that all the air is pushed out of the pump head?
CIP?

Sorta, yes... Air bubbles rise so in their current configuration any air will get trapped in the top of the pump head instead of rising out and up the tubing. They'll end up with priming/cavitation issues, scream at you and wear out quick.
 
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