New RIMS connection enclosure from Brewershardware

Have you guys seen this?

https://www.brewershardware.com/TC15F10NPSCOV.html

I haven't seen any other posts about it yet.

Since I'm re-thinking my whole brewing process in light of my recent back surgery and inability to lift any full vessels for the next couple months I decided to pull the trigger on the clover RIMS tube. That and dismantling my pipe-bomb RIMS every few brews to clean the element got old after the second time. When I went on there I saw their new cover for the electric connections. I decided to go with that option to see how it works. I've got high expectations since everyone here raves about Derrin's work. If it's half as well built as the picture looks I'll be stoked.

On a side note, when the new hardware gets here I'm going to be selling off my current 2" setup without the adapters, element, plug or sensor. What do you guys think a fair price would be? It's basically a lightly used 2" RIMS sized to fit a 5500 ULD element, 1/4 temp sensor and 1/2 IO, with a single gang box, strain relief, and 10' 10-2 cord with braided cover w/ bare leads. I'm not selling the element or plug because I don't want any liability issues if the buyer zaps themselves.

Shoot, maybe I should have waited to post that...

It'll be just my luck my order will get lost in the shuffle and I won't get one on the first shipment.

That is awesome for so many reason. Beautiful construction, excellent design, and just straight up pimp.

Good job Derrin. I might have to order one when I get my Brewtroller finished.

Jeff

Oh man, I just finished putting in my element. I wasted so much time changing out parts and still not satisfied. Might have to get one after the reviews come in.

One thing that would be nice - a tubular insulating material around the element connections.

A little pricey but I have to say well worth it. I am gonna have to get me one of those bad boys. I think Derrin has a winner.

jfenton78 said:

That is awesome for so many reason. Beautiful construction, excellent design, and just straight up pimp.

Good job Derrin. I might have to order one when I get my Brewtroller finished.

Jeff

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Yea, I nearly soiled myself when I saw it. It looks beautiful.

@samc - I was thinking bout insulating the connections, they seem to be a bit tight in there. I thought that bending crimp on spade terminals to 90 deg will probably be good enough. I'll post a full review and lots of pictures in a month or so when it arrives.

@sawdustguy - I was a bit hesitant on the price too when I saw it, but it's only a $40 addon when you buy the RIMS tube. When I saw that and how much cleaner it was than the connection box I currently have hanging off the end of my RIMS I couldn't resist. My only concern is that it says it is splash-proof in the description but not water-proof. It comes with a silicon gasket but I'm not sure if that's for the tri clover or the cap. If not I'm thinking that a silicon o-ring in the cap could be used to seal it. The other possible intrusion point would be the strain relief, which could be swapped out for an appropriately sized waterproof one from McMaster. I'll let you know when it arrives.

So, my new RIMS tube arrived and it looks just like the pictures on the interwebz.



The tube itself is beautiful, as many have posted before.

My initial impressions os the element adapter are a bit mixed, however. The worksmanship is top notch, just like everything else. The piece has been well made and beautifully polished. It is exactly as pictured on the website, so this review may not be a surprise. However, the grounding stud hole is placed a bit too close to the lip that the cap threads onto. This impedes the ability of the machine screw to sit flush with the side of the enclosure. Also, the enclosure is only tacked to the element adapter, and there is a significant gap between the two. I held a flashlight to the element side to show it here



Finally, the strain relief that came with the enclosure is plastic, and is not water tight. The lid to the enclosure did come with a nice silicon gasket, however, and fits very nicely. This confused me a bit, since there are obvious leak points in the strain relief, grounding stud, and weld.



Overall I am pleased with this piece. I will say that I don't count on it being splash-proof, however. I usually hose down the entire rig after brewing, so I won't be able to do that with this element adapter.

I think that I will run a thin bead of silicon around the joint between the adapter and enclosure for now, and practice up on my welding. I plan on doing a fusion pass around the joint to seal it completely once I'm confident in my abilities. Also, I'm going to seal the grounding stud with a dab of silicon caulk. Because of the tight fit in the enclosure it can't be welded in place. For the strain relief I will replace it with one of these from my current setup. I kind of feel like the $10 difference in getting a metal, water tight strain relief is warranted on a product at this price point.

I'd contact Derrin, I am pretty sure he will address your concerns, fix them and incorporate the changes in future builds. He is a pretty responsible guy from my dealings with him.

samc said:

I'd contact Derrin, I am pretty sure he will address your concerns, fix them and incorporate the changes in future builds. He is a pretty responsible guy from my dealings with him.

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First off, I'm in no way dissatisfied. I got exactly what the pictures show, and like I said, the workmanship is amazing on these pieces. I just wanted to post an impartial review.

I would highly recommend this piece, and feel it was worth every penny I paid for it. I promised a followup review, so I posted one. That said, I am going to send him a letter with what I posted here, and what I feel could be improvements. I completely understand that what I've suggested would raise the price point, both in labor involved and in materials, and I appreciate that there's a fine line to be walked there.

Seriously, though, this is a HUGE step up from the redneck-engineered setup I had before, and I am a very happy customer and will buy from him again.

Wow, I can't believe you got one of those already. I ordered mine months ago and still have not seen one.

Update: Mine shipped and i should get it Monday or Tuesday.

"Also, the enclosure is only tacked to the element adapter, and there is a significant gap between the two. I held a flashlight to the element side to show it here"

Correct me if i am wrong but if you go to his website and view pictures of this adapter, you can see the weld polished but it looks like the adapter on his website is completely welded all the way around making it a water tight seal..?

I just got mine in and my was only welded in 2 places too. The pic on his website does so it completely welded on the side that shows.