Rims

I'm thinking about building a RIMS system. Can you run the wart through a canister with an electric 120 v heating element in it. Then run the pump continually allowing the PID cycle the element. I figure the size of the canister would be about 8in in diameter (not sure where I would find something like this) and would mount on the side of the mash tun.

I want to make the system compact and kinda portable since I don't want to brew in my basement. Plus it would be nice to keep the cost down and not have to buy another 15 gallon kettle

I have thought about doing this for a long time. The largest 120V water element I could find is 2000 watts, which by the math will draw 16.6 amps. But reality the wattage will be a closer 1850 watts to because most house voltages are rarely set above 116 VAC. If you decide to do this you need to know what the temperature rise times would be for stepped mashing. But insulating the canister and using a good cooler as a mash tun will help a lot.

I posted this article a few days ago that points to a article I posted on www.instructables.com that gives details for installing a electric heater in a stainless steel pot.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/installing-water-heater-element-335222/
You could do the exact same thing with a canister, the trick will be to find something that will house the element and provide leak free inlet & outlet fittings. You also need to be able to clean the inside of the canister.

I considered making something out of PVC but if the element were ever to start dry the PVC would melt and I would have a disaster on my hands. You need some sort of metal container, stainless steel preferred, with a removeable lid for cleaning. Something like drawing I attached (I'm no artist). Let me know if you find something that works!

I was thinking of using an 8 inch section of pipe with threaded ends to screw on the end caps to assist in sanitation. The inlet, outlet and element/coil bungs could be soldered with Silver solder quite easilly and provide an airtight, water tight self contained heating unit. Couple that to a march or chuger pump and you would have a pretty nice heater tube. I would use a 220 with GFCI so your temp rise time would be much shorter and draw less overall amps too. If you ran that with a PID you would be good to go, I think.
Just sayin....
WCB

If you stick to just fittings you could build something with these parts.

1 - 1" SS pipe tee - element would thread into one end, pipe would thread into opposite end - $10.36.
http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/1threadednpttees304ssa15.aspx

1 - 1" X 6" threaded nipple - this plus the tee form main heater body - $12.92.
http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/1threadednptnipples1x6304ss.aspx

1 - 1" X 1/2" bushing to step tee inlet down to 1/2" - $5.49.
http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/1x12threadednpthexbushings304ssi146j108.aspx

1 - 1" X 1/2" female reducer to step outlet down to 1/2" - 7.59.
http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/1x12threadednptreducer304sso169p165.aspx

2 - 1/2" hose nipples for inlet & outlet - $8.13 ea.
http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/12threadednptx12hosenipple304ssv236.aspx

Total cost is $52.62 plus freight.

You would need to drill a hole into the side of the female reducer or the top end of the SS nipple for your temperature probe.

Also, you could insulate the entire assembly and I believe cleaning would be as easy as flushing clear water through the assembly.

I just ordered these parts and I am going to try a assembly. I just need to chase down a PID controller and a few other parts.

This should work great with a cooler.

Why not just make a RIMS tube? It's going to end up costing about the same once you account for the kettle. You're going to have a bulky open vessel strapped to your MLT with a ton of residual volume (and eventual loss) See the RIMS tube for dummies thread in the DIY forum here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/rims-dummies-114997/.

Also, I used to run a Brewers Hardware RIMS tube using a ULWD 5500W 220v element on 110v successfully through a 10g igloo cooler. I heated the water to dough in temps in my kettle (110 F) then let the tube take it the rest of the way over about 20 minutes recirculating that water through the tun. My new system with a 20g mash tun uses the same tube except that I have a burner under the mash tun to help it along until it gets closer to target, then I shut it off and maintain heat with the RIMS.

Wow, a 130 page thread! And it looks like the person who designed his RIMS tube covered just about everything.

Just to toss it out there - you don't absolutely need a RIMS tube. I run RIMS just fine direct fired. If you're talking about keeping cost down seems simpler.

Wow- thanks for the imput guys. I'm getting excited!

jcaudill said:

Just to toss it out there - you don't absolutely need a RIMS tube. I run RIMS just fine direct fired. If you're talking about keeping cost down seems simpler.

Click to expand...

RIMS direct fired with gas would be fine but I would be concerned with direct heat from a element - I would want something positioned to draw wurt across the element.

The parts came in for my RIMS tube. I opted for all 1" pipe because the wurt will flow through 1" faster than 2" or 3" pipe which should result in less contact time and less scorching.

I've oredered a 1650 watt element and need to see if it will fit.
http://www.drillspot.com/products/83082/Chromalox_SG2167L_430537_Electric_Replacement_Wate r_Heater_Element

If not then I may need to find a longer piece of 1" SS pipe. Also, my original idea was to drill a hole in the side for the thermocouple but I see that that's not likely so I need to order another SS tee anyways.

The element you reference is 9 15/16 inches long. Your pipe nipple is 6 inches long. Add a couple of inches each for your tee and your reducer and you're probably at an overall length of 8 to 10 inches. I don't think that's going to work.

I build my RIMS tubes out of 1 1/2" x 8" SS pipe nipple and a fold back element like you propose fits fine with a little bit of bending. Flow isn't an issue. You want the wort to spend time in the element, just not so much as to cause scorching. To assist with that, I used a low density 5500W/220V rated element at 120V. Effectively giving me an ultra low density element with 1375W of power. The element is made of INCOLOY which is stainless steel that I picked up at Lowes for < $20. I seem to recall that zinc in the wort is not so good, but I could be wrong on that.

Also, make sure you put your temp probe after the element.

Thanks, I was hoping for some feedback from someone and this helps. I'll order another tee and a longer 1" pipe nipple.