Yet Another RIMS Build

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bakins

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Got most of the parts for my RIMS build today:. Going to run a 240V 4500 ULD heater element at 120V.

Electronics from auberins.com, Temperature control solutions for home and industry

2" RTD, 25A SSR and heatsink, PID:

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1.5" Stainless stuff from Stainless Steel Fittings

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how much more equipment/hardware do you need to get er' going?

I have all the switches and wire. Just didn't post pics. I can if/when my gallery software starts working correctly again. I also need to buy the element, Lowe's didn't have one.

I already have the pumps, etc. on my existing rig. I need to create a return manifold and that's it - I'll probably do it out of cpvc for now.
 
I decided to redo the electrical internals of my "control panel" so I didn't have much progress, here's some newer pics:

Completed tube with element. I should have used smaller nipples, but I'm hoping the extra length won't hurt anything:
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Distribution block, ground bar, and SSR's:

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Rat's nest of wiring:
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I've mounted one PID and got all the switches and receptacle hooked up. If I can get another couple of hours straight to work on it, I'll be done. for now...
 
note on the pics: the covers broke off of my SSR's long ago (cheapo plastic) but the strips of tape hold them on nicely - been that way for months.
 
with your QDs oriented in that way, it appears as though you will have a drainout of fluid if you disconnect for any reason. How do you plan to run this and will you switch your hoses around ever to use this heater unit for other things?
 
How do you plan to run this and will you switch your hoses around ever to use this heater unit for other things?

Not gonna have to move hoses. I have multiple inputs for my pump and multiple outputs for my MLT, so I shouldn't have to move any hoses, just turn on/off valves.
 
Just out of curiosity how long would it take to bring the BK to a boil say 12 gal. I assume the BK element is 240v?
 
Depends on the wattage...

3500W... about 35 minutes
4500W... about 27 minutes
5500W... about 22 minutes
 
My BK element is 4500 watts and I do 5 gallon batches and at the start of the boil I have about 6.5 gallons. Of course, it's 150-170 degrees and to be honest I've never timed it. I usually have stuff to do during that time (get out the hops,etc.) but it's not long (10-15 minutes).
 
Got everything together and it looks like one of my SSR's is dead. Was hoping to get it sealed up tonight.
 
Not gonna have to move hoses. I have multiple inputs for my pump and multiple outputs for my MLT, so I shouldn't have to move any hoses, just turn on/off valves.

cool, then one thing I've learned with my QDs is to use a silicon hot-glove on the qd to release it or move it and have a rag handy if it's a small-drip situation (like a closed ball valve on a kettle), or to hang a bucked on it to catch larger situations (like my pumps draining out).

If I do a significant rebuild, I'll put ball valves right before every qd so I can catch the drips with just a rag and later catch the rest with a bucket or pitcher if I need to drain that device.

Your build here is giving me some crazy ideas! I bet it would work well if you could set up a controller on it and use it as an on-demand water heater to run the filtered water into the HLT so it starts out extra hot. The same unit could then run RIMS and if the controller can do it right, control the outflow temp of the mash to keep it from exceeding denaturing heat in mash fluid.
 
Okay I got everything together. Will post some pics later.

About how fast should I flow the mash through the RIMS? As fast as possible? A trickle?
 
You will figure it out... I run my RIMS at about 1.5gal/min.
 
You will figure it out... I run my RIMS at about 1.5gal/min.

You're HERMS right???

I played with it with water and it seems opening the ball valve about 1/4 of the way seemed to be pretty good.

I will say I'm glad I went with a PID/SSR instead of just using a Ranco or Love. Not sure if it will make a difference, but all of my stuff is using PID's so at least it's consistent.

Also, I currently have my tube mounted vertically with my element at the bottom. I realized now that I can't drain the last bit of liquid ot out this. I'm thinking of mounting it vertically somewhat similar to this pic. Thoughts?

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My HERMS yes... sorry... question about orientation, dunno!
 
If you can get one outlet to point up and one to point down, this helps in 2 ways.

1. You get more of the air out of the heat exchanger faster. Even with this type of orientation I am always surprised by the amount of air that continues to burp out of the heat exchanger.

2. It will drain more completely.

Also, the slower you flow through the heat exchanger, the more it effects the performance. I initially recirc'd my mash at about the same pace I would sparge at. It was able to maintain a temp but could never raise it. The element would kick on, heat the fluid in the tube and then the controller would shut it down and it would stay off until enough of the hot wort had been replaced by cold wort. I find that as long as I slowly increase the opening of the valve during the mash, I can run it with the valve wide open. Just make sure you return the wort gently to the top of the grain.

With the valve wide open, the element only clicks off when the entire mash reaches the set point.

One other thing I noticed in that picture. I like to have the pump before the element so that the tone of the pump will change if it ever runs dry or stops pumping before the element gets drained. The last thing you want is to try to run a dry element. As long as I see wort in the return line, I know the element is fully submerged.

Linc
 
The more I think about it. I will be really interested to see if your element doesn't outpower your pump. You'll know if it when you run your first test with cold water. If you have the element connected to your controller and are trying to go up by 100 degrees, I will be surprised if you don't get a yo-yo effect where the PID thinks it has reached the set temp because the pump can't push enough wort through fast enough.

I have never used as much power in an element as you are looking to use in a tube heat exchanger.

Keep us posted when you run a test.

Linc
 
I may have mislead about my element - the 4500W is in my BK and HLT. The one in my RIMS tube is a 5400W element running at 120V - so effectively 1350W.

My cold water test lat night was a "step" from 50-100, 100-130, and 130-145. It seems the water in the mash tun would lag behind the element temp by a minute or so - ie, when element probe showed 98, mash would show 94 (or so). Once the RIMS tube reached 100, the MT reached about a minute later. This seemed fairly consistent on all the temps and I double checked with a thermometer. In water, which is not a good test obviously, I got about 2 degrees rise per minute, depending on the flow rate. It maintained the temperatures perfectly then. I will probably put some pipe insulation on my hoses, just bcs they where pretty warm.

I will probably remount it before I do an actual mash with it - I ordered a few fittings so I could redo the outlet side. I will probably make a couple of batches of mead this weekend since I won't be brewing...
 
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