4 x 5500w herms?

Have any of you built a rig or know of someone who has built a rig with two 5500W heating elements in the HLT and two in the BK? I started the design of an all electric HERMS brew rig and i would like to know if anyone has had success with using such a "high powered" setup. I plan to use the brewtroller although i am guessing i will need 2 240V plugs/breakers rated @ ~60A per and power two elements off each outlet (I can find a 125A 2 pole breaker but the receptacles and wire size are the bottleneck). also, i am guessing i will have to find higher rated SSR's than are currently offered on the BT site. i have 200 amp service. I am just starting to plan this out so please tell me now if I'm being silly.

I know you don't need nearly that much power to brew with, but it would be nice to drastically reduce the ramp up times in the BK and HLT.

Thanks

I think Bobby M is planning something like this and that P-J has already mapped out before or will be mapping it out for him. I can't remember the thread exactly but I read about it the other night while looking for info for my build.

Thanks, I may try to PM him about his setup. at least i know its not too ridiculous if Bobby M is doing it lol

Been researching the same thing and following a couple mentions in other threads. This is the most recent that I've been following.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/2x-4500w-elements-265054/

I'm after the same thing as what you and Bobby mention, I want to be able to heat fast in my 10 gallon system for time savings and be able to change vessels later and not build a new controller to accommodate bigger batches. I'm approaching it from being able to run all 4 elements at once for cleaning or double batch ability and that's going to require 2 - 240V 60amp circuits, that's more than half of my 200amp main shared by my house and the sub already in my shop. Hot tub, well pump, dryer, stove etc. My family won't be too keen on shutting down the house while I brew so I talked with my utility a couple weeks ago and I can get a double breaker installed by them for free to increase my service, then I can have my electrician install another panel in my shop for dedicated service for the brewery. I have a couple PJ diagrams that I've smashed together to get close to what I want. I have 80% of my parts collected and I'm getting really close to dropping my box off with the water jet dude.

thanks for the link. I think i am going to stick with the one 200 amp main i have already installed. no hot tub or well pump to worry about. I do have a dryer and an electric oven, but i will just have to make sure that i dont have the brew rig on full blast while both of those things are going. i havnt actually checked on what they draw... i might be OK with everything on.

Ill have to draw up a schematic and send it over to P-J for approval.

Would you actually NEED to run all 4 elements at once?

I plan on doing the same thing, all electric HERMS with 2 4500w elements in the HEX and 2 4500w elements in the Kettle. I plan on having a SPDT switch that controls a contactor allowing either one or the other to be powered up, never both. This means I can run mine from a single 50A breaker.

MonkeyWrench said:

Would you actually NEED to run all 4 elements at once?

I plan on doing the same thing, all electric HERMS with 2 4500w elements in the HEX and 2 4500w elements in the Kettle. I plan on having a SPDT switch that controls a contactor allowing either one or the other to be powered up, never both. This means I can run mine from a single 50A breaker.

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I'm thinking the same thing... I run a single 5500w in both HLT and BK (15.5g keggles) and at 100% the boil is so vigorous you get continuous boilover... wayyyy too aggressive for normal brewing. Unless your vessel volume is >23ish gallons... twin 5500W in each vessel would be extreme overkill.

twin 5500W in each vessel would be extreme overkill.

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for maintaining a boil, yes. but if the goal is to change the temperature of the water volume as quickly as possible, more watts=faster every time.

MonkeyWrench said:

Would you actually NEED to run all 4 elements at once?

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According to the info in this sheet, it probably has a lot do with flash boiling 10 gallons of water in about 20 minutes.

If you're the sort of person that wants to brew multiple batches in one day, this could easily take hours out of the process.

Oh ya, that would make sence if you wanted to HERMS mash the next batch at the same time as you boiled.