Dual 2000W 120V Recirculating eBIAB Build

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russki

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2011
Messages
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Location
Chicagoland
Hello!

Long time lurker, first time poster here! I've been brewing with electric for about a year now using a 32 qt electric turkey fryer and a 1500W heatstick I built to supplement the weak 1650W element. This works great for my modified BIAB routine, but I wanted something bigger, better, and shinier!

I took my inspiration from the following (and countless other) threads:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/how-build-5-gal-110v-ebiab-kettle-304914/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/110v-recirculating-ebiab-2-5-gallon-batches-341219/

I'm using P-J's 2-element 120V diagram that was posted in one of the above threads, and have to say, P-J, you're awesome!



For my build, I'm using a 62qt Bayou Classic SS Pot with a steamer basket (conveniently sold to me by another HBT member), all SS camlock fittings from BargainFittings, a GreatBrewEh pump, and DudaDiesel 20-plate chiller. For the control panel, I'm using the Auber project box, SYL-2352 PID, and a mix of switchgear from Auber and eBrewSupply. For heating elements, I'm using 2000W SS elements from BostonHeatingSupply.

Plumbing diagram:


Just finished my controller yesterday! It all fits in a small Auber project box with a couple modifications.

A few photos of the build:


Front panel punched:
imag0419f.jpg


Modifications to the back (actually ended up flipping the handy box around later):
imag0420s.jpg


Trial fitting the insides:
imag0422w.jpg


Contactors and terminal strip mounted; e-stop on top:
imag0424r.jpg


Starting to wire:
imag0425y.jpg


All wired! Ready to button up:
imag0428jv.jpg


And here are the finished pictures. Tested all functions with a light bulb - everything is working!


It's Alive!!!
imag04321.jpg


From the back:
imag0433k.jpg


And a side view:
imag04351.jpg


Next on the list: kettle modifications.
 
Awesome build. I'm currently working on a similar setup, although I think I might remove one of a contactors and one of the switches and just control both elements with one contactor and one switch.

Couple questions for you,

1. How difficult was fitting everything in that box? It looks rather tight.

2. Where did you get the Heat Sink?

3. How hot does it get with both SSRs on it? Do you think it should be sufficient at cooling? I'm considering getting a heatsink to cover most of the top of the same case for the SSRs.
 
Awesome build. I'm currently working on a similar setup, although I think I might remove one of a contactors and one of the switches and just control both elements with one contactor and one switch.

Couple questions for you,

1. How difficult was fitting everything in that box? It looks rather tight.

2. Where did you get the Heat Sink?

3. How hot does it get with both SSRs on it? Do you think it should be sufficient at cooling? I'm considering getting a heatsink to cover most of the top of the same case for the SSRs.
It was pretty tight - but I didn't find it overly difficult to fit everything in. A "bump-out" outlet box really helped.

I got the heatsink from eBay - I had to cut about an inch off so it would fit. Then just drilled and tapped mounting holes. I don't know how hot it's going to get just yet, since I only tested with a light bulb. I'm thinking for running at 50% load (20A through a 40A SSR), this heatsink should be sufficient.
 
Made some additional progress as I'm waiting for the last few pieces to arrive. More pictures!

Kettle punched!
imag0437h.jpg


View from the inside:
imag0438e.jpg


Bulkhead and ball valve installed:
imag0441s.jpg


One of the elements' mounting boxes:
imag0440ic.jpg


Had to plug an extra hole that I decided not to use:
imag0444nm.jpg


Everything is mounted and leak-tested! There's another element box on the other side:
imag0446nr.jpg


And that's what inside looks like:
imag0443ab.jpg


I waterproofed element boxes with silicone on the inside, once it dries, I just have to wire the cords, and we're in business!
 
I'm probably showing my ignorance... but why didn't you go with a bigger SSR for each circuit? Wouldn't that eliminate the need for the contacters?

Edit - let me rephrase after I looked at the diagram again.... Why do you need the contacters? I thought the SSR could handle switching the power on and off to the elements.
 
I'm probably showing my ignorance... but why didn't you go with a bigger SSR for each circuit? Wouldn't that eliminate the need for the contacters?

Edit - let me rephrase after I looked at the diagram again.... Why do you need the contacters? I thought the SSR could handle switching the power on and off to the elements.
They allow me to control power to the elements using lighted switches from Auber. Since these switches are only rated at 10A, they operate contactors' coils, which in turn switch power to the elements. Basically a safety feature, because SSRs can fail in a closed state.
 
Almost ready!

Wiring the elements.
imag0454eg.jpg


The kettle is complete. Pardon the dust.
imag0456a.jpg


And look what came in the mail!
imag0448m.jpg


Just waiting on my GBE pump to arrive from Canada, and then it's show time!
 
My pump has finally arrived, so last night I decided to do a "dry" (or more accurately, "wet") run of the system with about 6 gallons of water.

I ran an autotune for the PID, but I think I'll have to repeat it again - it was still overshooting the target temp by a couple degrees. Another issue I discovered (that was mentioned by other posters) - even this pretty massive heatsink was getting very hot to the touch (probably around 150F). So another design change - I'm adding a 120v 120mm fan to the heatsink to help dissipate this heat - I will wire it to the PID power feed, that way the fan will be on together with the PID.

Other than that, the system worked near flawlessly; the only issues I had to deal with was priming the pump so it would start pushing liquid, and I need to figure out a whirlpool fitting to recirculate my plate chiller return and prevent stratification. I was thinking something similar to this thread.

A couple shots of my system in action (with plain water so far):
imag0458px.jpg


imag0457pb.jpg
 
Russki,

Just curious what the pump's power supply is rated? I bought a similar pump but didn't get a power supply with it, hoping I have a similar one around the house somewhere not being used.

Thanks. Awesome build. I'm building a pretty much identical one so I'm hoping mine will look half as good.

Ty
 
Russki,

Just curious what the pump's power supply is rated? I bought a similar pump but didn't get a power supply with it, hoping I have a similar one around the house somewhere not being used.

Thanks. Awesome build. I'm building a pretty much identical one so I'm hoping mine will look half as good.

Ty

It's a 2A 12VDC power supply - if you have an old laptop adapter, that should work.
 
It's a 2A 12VDC power supply - if you have an old laptop adapter, that should work.

Thanks for the quick response. Not that you would neccesarily know, but any idea if a power supply rated higher would damage the pump? I would think the pump would draw the power it needed, so as long as you had a 2A 12VDC as a minimum you'd be okay.

EDIT:
Nevermind. I came across my answer. For anyone else wondering, it should be 12volts, but the Amps can be higher than 2.
 
Just curious, do you have any trepidation about putting your basket on your heating elements?
 
Just curious, do you have any trepidation about putting your basket on your heating elements?

The great thing about these Bayou Classic pots is that lip up at the top. If you look at his pictures you can see it. The steamer-basket rests on that, not touching the element.
 
So I got my cooling fan in the mail yesterday, and realized that 120mm is quite a bit larger than my mental picture of it... So I had to order a smaller 92mm fan. I guess I'll be posting the larger one in the classifieds shortly.
 
My replacement cooling fan has finally arrived. This one fits like a glove. I wired it to the power feed to the PID.

imag0469ko.jpg
 
Thanks for the quick response. Not that you would neccesarily know, but any idea if a power supply rated higher would damage the pump? I would think the pump would draw the power it needed, so as long as you had a 2A 12VDC as a minimum you'd be okay.

EDIT:
Nevermind. I came across my answer. For anyone else wondering, it should be 12volts, but the Amps can be higher than 2.

Correct. The trick is matching the voltage, and meeting or exceeding the amps. The device will only draw what amps it needs. The amps don't have to match.
 
Had about an hour of free time yesterday and built this "over the side" whirlpool arm:
imag0475p.jpg


Thanks go to johnodon for the idea.
 
So after a couple months of planning and building, last night I finally got to brew a batch of my Jolly Good ESB on my new system. The brewnight went smoothly, I'm very happy with my new rig. I have taken pictures every step of the process, which I will describe in detail.

After I got the kettle set up and everything plugged in, I filled it with 8.5 gallons of water (calculated using Online BIAB Calculator):

imag0480f.jpg


I set the PID for my target strike temperature of 158F:

imag0482i.jpg


Turned the pump on and let the water recirculate while heating to the target temp. Once at 158F, I set the PID to my mash temp of 152F:

imag0484o.jpg


The basket lined with a voile bag went in along with the grain, and it's all mashed in:

imag0485m.jpg


After mashing in, the lid went back on, and I started recirculating the mash with the PID still set at 152F:

imag0486y.jpg


I'm using BrewHardware's mash recirculation tube for my return - it's an ingenious piece of hardware, highly recommended! Bobby_M modified mine by putting the elbow on the end, which works perfectly. Here it is in action:

imag0487w.jpg


It can be positioned whichever way, and folded out of the way after the mash is done as well:

imag0490ai.jpg


The PID kept mash temps at precisely 152F for an hour, and the pump kept the temperature uniform throughout the mash, exactly as planned. After an hour it's time to remove the grain - I used a grill grate trick:

imag0488v.jpg


I decided not to do a mash-out this time just to see what kind of efficiency I get with straight-up BIAB. Since I started with a full volume of water, I did not squeeze the bag either, just let it drain while wort was coming to a boil. The pump is also turned off after the mash. For boiling, I use PID's manual mode, where you set the percentage of output. Initially, it's set at 100% for full power:

imag0489z.jpg


Once it comes to a boil (which didn't take long), it can be dialed down. Here's the boil at 75%. One nice thing about a 15 gallon pot - no boilover worries:
imag0491e.jpg


After a bit, I actually adjusted the power to 90% to get my boil-off rate up. I may start with a touch less water next time. While the wort was boiling, I set up and connected my whirlpool attachment and the plate chiller, and about 10 minutes before the power-down, I turned the pump back on to circulate boiling wort through all the hoses and fittings to sanitize everything:

imag0493q.jpg


After the boil was done, I added my flameout hops, cut power to the elements, and started my chilling pump while continuing to recirculate wort through the whirlpool fitting to promote even cooling:

imag0494z.jpg


While the wort is chilling, I can see the temperature readout on the PID. After it was down to 120F, I dumped a bunch of ice into the sink and started recirculating ice water through the chiller. It took about 10 min to get the wort down to 68F from boiling. I got pretty good efficiency - OG was 1.050 with 1.054 projected; about 70%. I'm sure it'll improve with a finer crush and a mash-out:

imag0495p.jpg


After the brew was transferred to the fermenter, I dumped leftovers from the kettle, backflushed the plate chiller with hot tap water, and then filled the kettle with a hot Oxyclean solution and circulated it through the entire system (including the plate chiller) for 10 min, followed by another hot water flush. A quick wipe, and everything was clean and shiny again!

Beginning to end, including setting up, cleaning and putting everything away, it took me about 5 hours. I'm definitely looking forward to brewing with this rig!

Cheers!
 
Nice brew session! I'm hoping to try out my very similar rig next week.

Does the grill grate provide a good base for the basket to rest on?

That's the one step in the process I wasn't sure about yet. I really didn't want to sit there and hold the basket over the pot.
 
Nice brew session! I'm hoping to try out my very similar rig next week.

Does the grill grate provide a good base for the basket to rest on?

That's the one step in the process I wasn't sure about yet. I really didn't want to sit there and hold the basket over the pot.
The grill grate is a perfect fit for a 62 qt pot I'm using, so it should work just as well for any smaller kettle. It's really sturdy and was only $11 at Lowes - it's the round Weber grill grate (22.5"). The only tricky part is holding the basket with one hand while sliding the grate under it...

Cheers!
 
The grill grate is a perfect fit for a 62 qt pot I'm using, so it should work just as well for any smaller kettle. It's really sturdy and was only $11 at Lowes - it's the round Weber grill grate (22.5"). The only tricky part is holding the basket with one hand while sliding the grate under it...

Cheers!

I use the same one. Works great.
 
russki,

Beautiful build.

I was out in the cold (25*/14* WC) on Monday for my first AG BIAB and I made beer but it wasn't as smooth as my extract brewdays for a number of reasons. :0 I will treat it as a learning experience and look forward to the next brewday. I have the BC 62 QT pot and recently purchased the 44 QT Steamer basket. Of course the smaller steamer basket does not rest on the rim of the pot. I was fine with that, but the cold made me start thinking about the flexibility that going electric would provide. I am very intrigued by your build and it might be something I could plan and do. If you did not have the builtin rim support, do you have any ideas about keeping the basket off the elements? Maybe 3/4 feet on the bottom of the basket?

Thanks for sharing the pics and the info.
 
russki,

Beautiful build.

I was out in the cold (25*/14* WC) on Monday for my first AG BIAB and I made beer but it wasn't as smooth as my extract brewdays for a number of reasons. :0 I will treat it as a learning experience and look forward to the next brewday. I have the BC 62 QT pot and recently purchased the 44 QT Steamer basket. Of course the smaller steamer basket does not rest on the rim of the pot. I was fine with that, but the cold made me start thinking about the flexibility that going electric would provide. I am very intrigued by your build and it might be something I could plan and do. If you did not have the builtin rim support, do you have any ideas about keeping the basket off the elements? Maybe 3/4 feet on the bottom of the basket?

Thanks for sharing the pics and the info.
If you are set on using a smaller basket, you can get some stainless bolts, nuts and washers and make "feet" on the bottom of the basket to keep it off the elements. Or you can ditch the basket altogether and just use a bag - many do with success.

Another idea is to use a cheap steamer rack on the bottom - just saw this one on another thread:
http://www.capitalcityrestaurantsupply.com/prodDetail.cfm/1580133

Good luck! Once you go electric, you'll never go back to the turkey fryer!
 
If you are set on using a smaller basket, you can get some stainless bolts, nuts and washers and make "feet" on the bottom of the basket to keep it off the elements. Or you can ditch the basket altogether and just use a bag - many do with success.

Another idea is to use a cheap steamer rack on the bottom - just saw this one on another thread:
http://www.capitalcityrestaurantsupply.com/prodDetail.cfm/1580133

Good luck! Once you go electric, you'll never go back to the turkey fryer!

russki,

Thanks for the great ideas.

Not really set on the smaller basket, but just bought it and SWMBO would have my nut sack if I bought another one after just one month of use. :ban:
 
Had about an hour of free time yesterday and built this "over the side" whirlpool arm:
imag0475p.jpg


Thanks go to johnodon for the idea.

Russki,

I was considering making a similar whirlpool arm. Did your pump have enough power to create a good whirlpool and trub cone at the bottom of the kettle? I use an immersion cooler so hopping it has enough strength to cut down on my cooling time.
 
I don't know if I missed it earlier in the thread, but what are you doing about hop material in the kettle? Are you using a bag for the hops, or just tossing them in loose? If loose, do you have some kind of screen on your drain, or do you just let them circulate through your tubing/chiller?

Awesome setup. Makes me want to reconsider converting the 3 kegs I have into BK/MLT/HLT and just copy your build! How much do you think you have into the build so far?
 
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