Anyone in RI built Kals electric brewery?

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NewBrewB

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Hey fellow Ocean Statians,

Anyone built an electric brewery using Kals design from theelectricbrewery.com? I am about to atart the wiring and could use some advice (and an electrician that works for beer). :)
 
Awesome! I just finished wiring my control panel yesterday.

What are you using for kettles? I have two kegs with the tops cut off but havent drilled them or made hoses yet. Any chance you have used the "keg tool" and silver solder?

Know a local welder that will work for beer? Haha

I am in North Kingstown, between EG and wickford.

Thanks for replying. Hopefully we can help each other out once we have our systems up and running!

Brett
 
Right on!
My control panel is 95% done and my buddy really wanted BoilMakers so we are working with those...
I have yet to run everything :eek:
The worst part is putting holes in those beautiful kettles
 
Did you go all weldless? I think I'm going to try silver soldering couplings on the keggles. Did you get your outlet/gfci installed yet? I guess that is my next step once I find an electrician that can get it done.
 
Yeah I'm going all weldless. Its a lot easier and I wouldn't want to distroy my kettles. I wired my outlet already just need pumps and the stainless coil and I'm good!
 
Here is a quick pic

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I got my coil in the mail today....trying to do it myself did not go well.

Im hoping to find someone with a pipe bender or a shop that can bend it for me.

Your setup looks great.

You wired the outlet yourself? :) Any chance you could help a brotha out? Haha
 
Well, I realize this thread is rather pointless without pictures. Mine's not nearly as "blingy" but here goes: :)
p8280027-56260.jpg


First off, I received a larger enclosure as the 16x16x8 was out of stock, and it made more sense to me to orient it with the top that opens upward (since you almost never open it after it is completed). I like the horizontal look of things but it did complicate the wiring since the BK/MLT/HLT wiring diagrams are reversed on Kal's setup. Anyway, it's done, now! :)
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Here are a couple pictures of the wiring. If I had it to do again, I would probably cut the wires a bit longer than needed, just to make it easier to route them neatly.

This is the direction I'm going with my "kettles." Two will be keggles and the MLT will be made from an unused food grade 30gal plastic barrel. This means I can actually make 10gal batches of high-gravity beer. I plan to use a mixture of weldless and silver-soldered fittings.
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This lid option seemed really cool so I went with it. (I will say that I had a heck of a time with the $5 rivet gun from HarborFreight but their customer service was amazing. After I went through two of the $5 ones, they let me exchange for the $10 one --gave me like $.42 back--and it worked like a champ.) The washers are stainless steel washers that come in orange plastic 2-packs for about $1 ea at HD. I have a plan for the middle "handle" part that involves a lathe, but I'm going to wait to reveal more.
p8290032-56264.jpg
 
wow this looks great! Im at a bit of a standstill do to getting laid off a few weeks ago. ill have to gather some of my photos and share!
 
Here are some quick pics I had while doing the build. Partially wired, lit up with some juice and the front with some labels on it.

As you can see my enclosure is huge. I got it for free from my father in law who works in an industrial setting. It wasnt very pretty when I got it, huge holes where the gauges where, so thats why it now has a stainless front. Something I was lucky enough to get from work.

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Thats really awesome. I cant believe the transformation from the "before" picture!

What kind of work do you do? Any other job possibilities yet? I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for you. After all, you need to be well funded so you can stay ahead of me in this build and I can ask you questions. Haha
 
Ha! I like the way you think. I've done a little of everything so Im sure something will come along that will fit. BTW if you really need help with the wiring just let me know! I enjoy electrical work.
 
Well, I had a pretty good weekend:
Built my element boxes and power cords
Turned some wooden handles for my keggle lids
Tried cutting element holes in the keggles but discovered I bought the conduit punch by accident (ordered the correct hole punch but have to wait for it to come in the mail).

My wife has decided she wants an actual electrician installing the outlet so I guess I have to go that route.

My last remaining expenses are pumps and hoses. I want to go with the chugger pumps but even at those prices, they are a bit rediculous for moving beer and water from place to place. *sigh*
 
Wow your really moving along! At this pace you will be done before me, which means I can ask YOU questions haha. I can understand your wife wanting an electrician doing the work but if you find it to be to expensive let me know. The biggest thing an electrician has over me is a piece of paper but that's the way of the world. I cant wait to see your final setup!

I decided that I didn't like the way the bottom of the panel looked so I upgraded it.

Panel bottom.jpg
 
Heya PVD! Welcome to the convo. Any chance you are (or aspire to become) an electric brewer?

I have an electrician coming by today for an estimate so I can actually plug my control panel into something. Haha
 
Actually, I'm in the midst of an eBiab build. I have the spa panel finished and waiting for various supplies to come arrive.

Currently have:

60 qt bayou classic Alu
5500w element
Ball valve
Completed spa panel

Waiting for.
Pid
Ssr
Heat sync
Emergency cutoff
Temp probe

Need:
Enclosure
2 switches
Wire
Outlets
 
How is the project coming, KramE?

Any luck on the job front, Smoothcrown?

I finally got my panel hung on the wall and started silver soldering the fittings on my keggles. Need a few last online orders to arrive and I might actually finish this thing. Electrician should be by Mon PM to finish the wiring. Cant wait!

Hoping to finish by Halloween.
 
Hey, sorry it took me so long to get back. I was aiming to complete the build last weekend, but every step was either a struggle or failure.

That being said, I made progress the last couple of days. I hope to finish this week.
 
When I finish, I'm going to make a thread called eBiab: Lessons learned

I had some kind of problem with every step. All of which had solutions, and were easier than the original plan.
 
Here is where I am at the moment:

pa030007-56696.jpg


Going to have to troubleshoot my control panel. I had hoped everything would just work haha

Volt/Amp meters are not powering-up
Also had the BK/HLT elements wired backwards but that was an easy switch
 
Congrats KramE!!! You'll have to let us know how your first brew goes.

NewBrewB, are the volt/amp meters the only thing not working? I love the way everything looks in there! If you need some help or need to borrow some testing equipment let me know! Ive got some time on my hands lol.

I am at a bit of a standstill at this point until I have a source of income again. I love the progression here though. I can live vicariously through you guys!!!
 
SmoothCrown said:
NewBrewB, are the volt/amp meters the only thing not working? I love the way everything looks in there! If you need some help or need to borrow some testing equipment let me know! Ive got some time on my hands lol.

I may have to take you up on that. I tried some initial troubleshooting tonight.

Thought I found a missing jumper on the hot bus but that didnt fix it.
Thought maybe the adjustment screw was turned too far left and only giving 0volts output so I turned them to the right 3-4 x but no difference.
Checked the volt/amp portion of the panel against the wiring diagram but it looks like everything is there.

Any ideas? I am almost to the point that I fire it up while open and start poking around with meter probes...
 
Any luck? I would use probes with everything powered up but if your not comfortable doing that my offer still stands. That's ow I've been doing my build all along. That way you can verify that everything works as your building along.
 
Also having some people over tonight for some brew and campfire and your welcome to come over. PM me if you want to come.
 
I got the amp meter working. I was right about the jumper so when I installed that, power was solid up to the variable dc converters. Unfortinately, one of them was bad so I will have to order a new one from china. At least it isnt brew-critical. For now, I just put twist caps on the 4 wires until I have a new converter to connect.

I spent a good portion of the day working on my keggles (and soldered a half coupling in backwards). Despite the drama, it was a productive day.

Hoping to at least do some system testing and sanitation by tomorrow night--maybe brew my last extract kit mon or tues night.
 
Sorry I missed the festivities last night. I got knee-deep in troubleshooting and things are not going well.

(1) Looks like my thermometer coupling on my BK leaks. I tried tightening it but that didnt' fix it so it must be the weld. I'll have to hit that with some more solder/flux later today.
(2) When my kettles are NOT plugged into the control panel, the element switches turn the element lights on/off and with a tester, the outlet underneath is hot. When they are plugged in, the element indicator lights don't even come-on. I opened it up while it was on and flipped the element select switch back/forth and the relays appear to be working properly. My two thoughts are either (a) the SSRs are wired upside-down (I barely remember what they look like from when I originally installed, but I know the wires are not long enough to simply switch them and see if that fixes it--going to have to make all new wires) or (b) the power cables to the keggles are not wired properly to the twist-lock plug. Since (b) is a lot easier to troubleshoot without making whole new wires inside the control panel, I'll probably check that first.

Q: Do you know if it matters which (black/white) wire goes to which screw on the element? I didn't think polarity mattered but maybe it does? The ground is obviously correct to the green screw.

One success, though---both pumps worked perfectly, though I am realizing why people hard-plumb these rigs. Every time I disconnect/move a hose, it invariably drips on the floor. I need to find a plastic "tray" about 10' x 4'. Anyone know of an industrial application for something like this? I was thinking maybe one of those trays that goes under an AC unit in the attic to keep drips from coming through the ceiling.

Any chance you have some time today to help me out with a little troubleshooting?
 
Sorry to hear about your luck! I wish I could be more helpful when it came to the wiring, perhaps you should post something in the electric forum, or shoot a question to P-J?

As for a drip tray, does it have to be plastic, and how tall? A cheap application would either be a cake pan, or plastic tote lid (I swear I don't use plastic totes for -everything-)
 
Wow you did get a lot done. As far as the element there is no polarity hot is hot. Green is ground. Are you running the elements in water? I do have time later today if you want, sometime after 6?
 
Well, I officially brewed on the system today. It was my last extract kit....a Holiday Ale.

Everything went pretty well. I still need a stainless steel washer so I can attach the temp probe on the mash tun before I can do an AG batch. Oh, I also used the HERMS coil as a chiller and that was pretty effective. Going to list my immersion chillers for sale I think.
 
Hey guys. I'm in Mass but I finished my build year and a half ago. Wiring was my favorite part. Bending the coil was the biggest pain for me and took me a long time to get it done. I love my setup now and brewing is so much more enjoyable.
 
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