Arsenal City Brewing - E-BIAB Build

After much help from these forums, and my pre-build thread found here, my build is complete!

It is a 20 gallon, 5500watt Camco powered, Auber PID controlled BIAB Brewery.

It seems I can do 10 gallons final product of a high gravity brew on it. I think I could kick it up to 12 or 13 with lower gravities.

First, I will show my plans. Attached is the brewery layout, and the electrical diagram (Thanks PJ!). For more detail, see the thread above, or ask questions here!

Got my pot and a whole big delivery of goodies! I think it was a good idea to do electric brewing. I dont think this will heat very well on my stove!

Started work on my control panel. Never wired anything before... it's pretty tough on your fingers! Especially the 10gauge wire.

Built the stand. I had a few freinds who had about 28' of 2x2 steel, with holes cut out in it. I "don't know" how they got it, but it works really well for my uses. I cut it into lengths (ugh that was a pain), and then fitted it with 5.5" carriage bolts, lock washers, and nuts.

Marked the holes, and used a Milwakee Holesaw to make my cuts. This was the first one. Did NOT use enough oil. I cannot reccomend that enough. Every hole afterwards took 1/4 the time with the proper amount of cutting oil. Third pic is a dry fitting of bulkheads and components. And finally a view of the heating element in place.

I made 4 holes for 1/2" bulkheads (Pump Out, ThermoProbe/Sightglass, Recirc In, Chiller In), and one for the Camco Element.

Lessons learned here. Get the exact right holesaw/stepbit/punch. My HD, Lowes, Ace did not have the exact right hole punch for my element, so I went the closest size smaller. Ended up dremmeling out my hole for at least an hour. Kept it round, and ended up with a good seal... but it was a PITA.

I then used the dremmel and a file to clean up any burrs from my holes.

Some electical done...

Added the GFCI to the wall, and wired it to my 30amp drier cord.

Wired my GFCI to my Control Panel.

And a view of my Control Panel Wiring.

And finally, completed system!

I've also made some improvements to this... and I'll get some pictures of those later.


Please fire away with comments, concerns, or questions!

Consider putting an outlet on the spa panel for the brewery control box. Probably $20-30 for the outlet and connector.

I would also use a 4-wire dryer cord or similar for an extra $20.

jCOSbrew said:

Consider putting an outlet on the spa panel for the brewery control box. Probably $20-30 for the outlet and connector.

I would also use a 4-wire dryer cord or similar for an extra $20.

Click to expand...

Its a good call on the outlet/connector. I didn't think I would need it, but it would be very nice to move it out of the way. It's on my list of improvements.

Why a 4 prong cord tho? It's a 3 prong cord with an extra 10gauge wire for ground. Besides asthetics, what's the benefit there?

What kind of kettle is that?

rpryor said:

What kind of kettle is that?

Click to expand...

It's a 20 gallon aluminum stock pot. Super thick walls. I can look up the mfg if you'd like, but I'm stuck at work now...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B05H3QS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Winco ALHP 80qt Stock Pot

sicklesr said:

Why a 4 prong cord tho? It's a 3 prong cord with an extra 10gauge wire for ground. Besides asthetics, what's the benefit there?

Click to expand...

You have a 4-wire power source. If you want a disconnect at the spa panel, you need a 4-wire outlet and 4-wire power cord. There is no point in having the outlet if the GND is hard wired.

I am not an expert on code, but if you have the brewery controls hard wired then it has to meet NEC code. If it has a cord, then it is an appliance. Inspectors and insurance companies care about this stuff.

FYI, I have the 40qt Winware AL kettle. Works great for 5 gallon BIAB, it's cheap, and easy to modify.

jCOSbrew said:

I am not an expert on code, but if you have the brewery controls hard wired then it has to meet NEC code. If it has a cord, then it is an appliance. Inspectors and insurance companies care about this stuff.

Click to expand...

Gotcha. I need a plug to disconnect the control panel from the spa panel for it to be an "appliance". I thought that since I had a plug on the input side of the spa panel it would be the same.

Either way, I think it will be of use to have that disconnect. I'll spec some things out and run them by the sparkys here.

Thanks!

Are you keeping the bag off the element some how?

Also It looks like the pump in and out to the kettle is up top. Do those go inside or outside of the bag? Wondering if the pump generates enough suction to pull the bag into the inlet?

Currently not keeping the bag off the element. I've had no problems with melting the bag or any flavors while mashing...

The pump out from kettle is on the bottom, and the two ports on the top are different returns. The QD is the Chiller Return, and the normal return is the Recirculation Return. The pump has a 3way ball valve to select which patch to go thro!

I've since bought a home, and have completed moving and my intitial "honey-do" list. Now it's time to set up the brewery...

Only problem is, I've moved to a home with a 3 prong dryer outlet. As you can tell, i'm set up for 4 prong. How hard would it be for me to change my setup t accomodate the 3 prong outlet? I got the design from PJ, and I'm not sure how to change it...

Check the wiring to the dryer outlet with the power off. It's unlikely, but if you have 4 wires in there, and you can verify that the ground works, then you can change over to a 4 prong outlet. Note that if you are using an existing dryer set up for 3-wire, you would have to change the plug to 4-wire and likely remove a bonding strap connecting neutral to dryer chassis.

If you only have 3 wires, then you would change out the plug to your spa panel to fit the outlet, and rewire the spa panel for 3-in, 4-out. Recognize that you don't really have a true ground in that case, but it will certainly work.

Always appreciate the help. I'll check my outlet when I get home.

Two questions:
1- If there is a bare (or green) wire attached to the recepticle in there, how can I "test" it? I've got a multimeter, I'm just not sure what to check for.

2- If there is not, and I need to stay with 3 prong, would this diagram be correct? (Yellow - Neutral, Blue - 110 Hot, Red 110 Hot)

Wait. Is it as easy as this???

sicklesr said:

Wait. Is it as easy as this???

Click to expand...

Yes, but a true ground is preferable.

As for testing the ground with a multi-meter, I am no expert, but I would expect that if you get 120v (or thereabouts) between hot and ground, for each hot wire, then you have a good ground. You should also get 240v between the two hots, 120v between each hot and neutral, and 0v between neutral and ground. Someone else can chime in if there is a better way to do it.