Cold Dead Hands - Electric Brew rig in action

Since I've got my process almost down I thought I'd take some pictures of how I run the electric rig.



Here it is heating sparge water. Notice the ballvalve with a quick disconnect right above the HLT. This way I can prime my pump very easily with city water pressure, I can also fill the HLT very easily. This water runs through a carbon filter I have set up for my upstairs sink and for brew water only.

Also this is a good shot of the range hood I installed with round ducting to exhaust all the heat and moisture out of the basement.


Closer view, recirculating the water to keep any temperature gradient from forming. The pump is a taco bronze circulator pump, good to 220*


Transferring 4 gallons to the mash tun. If I want to preheat the tun I'll transfer water over, then back to the HLT to get it back to temp and then back again for the actual mash. I plan to work the temp loss into my calculations at some point so I only transfer over once.


Here's the electric. Notice the large gray cord near the bottom, that plugs into the 30 amp dryer outlet, the large box part is the GFCI. The power strip plugs into a 20 amp GFCI outlet I installed.

This is the thermocouple monitoring the temp of the HLT. It is a K type. I used a bit of moldable epoxy to make the connection more waterproof. Used a simple small O-ring for a seal and a SS wing nut on the inside to hold it in.


Here is the controller with the HLT plugged in sitting at my mash in temp. Notice the switch on the front, that cuts both lines of power that run to the outlet, it allows the PID to stay on.


Slightly clearer picture of the two temps. Also shown here is the A/M button which turns it to manual mode so I can set the cycle time for the boil


This is the 30 amp dryer outlet I installed. I have a gas dryer but if I ever sold the house they could use an electric dryer (Or if I ever got one).


Picture during the mash. I just installed my hop-cup strip seen on the top right.

Closer look at my hop addition (or other additions) staging bar. I have velcro on the back of the cups and I can arrange them in order with the time/stage to add. After that they stack fairly well in each other to put off to the side.


A look inside the boil kettle. SS screen on the bottom to filter out hops before it goes to the pump (outlet is on the bottom of the kg). If I don't have a ton of hops I get most all the wort out of the kettle. Also shown is the heating element, has some calcium deposits from the water. Below is the temp probe.


After the mash is done and I've got the sparge water to temp I unplug the HLT. Then after the first batch sparge I'll plug the BK in and start heating that wort while doing the second batch sparge. By the time I am done spargeing it is up to an OK boil. I'll then start my timer, add my hops. This picture is before I add the foam control drops. (sorry no after pic)


I recirculate during the boil for a couple minutes to sanitize the tubing and get the wort into the kettle that was in the tubing. I'll do this a couple times throughout the boil.


The CFC. I always clean it after use and run star-san through it. I then use the shop vac to suck out as much star-san as possible so as to not corrode the inside while it waits for the next brew.

Last 10 minutes or so I'll recirculate through the CFC (After running water through it to rinse) to sanitize all the tubing. The gloves are there to handle the hot disconnects.


Fuzzy pic but... transferring to primary. The copper tube has a small hole to create a venturi so that it sucks in air as it pumps to the carboy.


routing the water to the washing machine. Some will be used for cleanup as well.

Nice touch with the ammo can!

HOOAH.

Thanks! I thought it would serve quite well. My brother was in the armed forces, I've always respected the people that serve our country. Plus I'm a bit of a gun nut.

'pewter - I am SO ripping off your cup idea ! The ammo can would have beat my first ghetto job with a toolbox !

Nice work on the hood as well

I love the hose to the washing machine! Green brewing! Brew a batch, then do a load of laundry!

conpewter said:

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What a GREAT way to store your beer pong cups! Prost!

Looks Great! I really like your steam vent set up..
I am planning something similar but your duct work looks to be a larger diameter then what i was planning to use.
What size duct fan are you using?

The fan is just what comes with the hood, too weak in my opinion but it pulls out the majority of the steam. I still get a bit of condensation on the cold water pipes during brewing. I figure since I'm getting the majority of it out, and I leave the vent running for an hour or two after finishing that it gets enough of the moisture out. I also don't brew more than one a week.

I looked up the specs. The fan gives 160CFM, which I'm sure is in ideal conditions so probably less. The hood had two styles, the one had a 3X10" opening for exhaust air, and the other a 7" round. Since I was buying this on craigslist, I didn't have a choice. I wanted to run flexible ducting though so I did the conversion from 3X10" to 7" figuring that 7" would be the best option (or maybe it was 8" ducting, Something close).

can you elaborate more on this TACO pump?

bdavanza said:

can you elaborate more on this TACO pump?

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sure!

This is the pump from the same guy
Taco Bronze Cartridge Circulator Pump 1/40 HP New! - eBay (item 290316188481 end time May-16-09 17:00:27 PDT)

It's original purpose is to recirculate your hot water from the furthest faucet in the house. This way you have hot water pretty much at your fingertips anytime you open a faucet. To do this it has a temp probe that is wired to the outlet pipe, as soon as that gets cold enough it will pump water till it warms up.

Due to the wiring I had to mess with it for a while to make it work like I wanted. It also had a manual override button etc. Eventually I figured out how to switch it on and off. I ripped the temp probe off and had two wires. When they were disconnected the pump will run, when connected the pump wont. Originally I was planning on using the manual override wires, but that has some sort of time circuit so it only runs for about 5 minutes then shuts itself off. I took this wire and make sure to separate the two inner wires when I wrapped it up and taped it somewhere. Could probably be cut off at this point.

Anyway I added some more wire to the temp probe wire, it was only about 1' long and connected it to the control box near the bottom. (I actually used parts from an old phone and wall-wort, so that I can disconnect the pump when I need to move things around). I leave it plugged in and use the switch to turn it on and off. The only bad thing about this is that the switch works opposite of what you would think. When the contacts are engaged the pump is off, when they are apart the pump is on.

Anyway as you can see from the auction the max temp is 220* which is great. Also I've had a fair bit of hops run through this thing and I've not had it clog.

I did unsolder the 45* angle pipe you see in the auction, I wanted it to be straight through so it would be easier to prime.

So is this pump mag drive, and if not, are you concerned with sanitization of the seals?
Also, would the thermo port be useful for a herms or rims setup?
-Ben

It is not a mag drive unfortunately, it is a cartridge pump though and I've opened it up fully and I am not concerned about the seals. It is a food grade pump meant to have hot water run throught it. I sanitize it by running boiling wort through it for most of the boil. I also circulate through the chiller in the last 10 minutes or so of the boil to sanitize that as well. I am a lot more comfortable with my sanitation now that I have a pump to heat sanitize almost everything. Star-san is really only used for the carboy now. During cleanup I do pump star-san through the lines as the last thing though, then I suck that out with the shop-vac.

conpewter said:

The fan is just what comes with the hood, too weak in my opinion but it pulls out the majority of the steam. I still get a bit of condensation on the cold water pipes during brewing. I figure since I'm getting the majority of it out, and I leave the vent running for an hour or two after finishing that it gets enough of the moisture out. I also don't brew more than one a week.

I looked up the specs. The fan gives 160CFM, which I'm sure is in ideal conditions so probably less. The hood had two styles, the one had a 3X10" opening for exhaust air, and the other a 7" round. Since I was buying this on craigslist, I didn't have a choice. I wanted to run flexible ducting though so I did the conversion from 3X10" to 7" figuring that 7" would be the best option (or maybe it was 8" ducting, Something close).

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I have a similar electric setup in my basement as well, but I get condensation forming on the range hood itself and it starts to drip down, sometimes into the kettle. Do you get the same issues? I know my fan is doing a good job because the windows in the basement do not steam up anymore and there is no condensation on the cold water pipes.

Spine said:

I have a similar electric setup in my basement as well, but I get condensation forming on the range hood itself and it starts to drip down, sometimes into the kettle. Do you get the same issues? I know my fan is doing a good job because the windows in the basement do not steam up anymore and there is no condensation on the cold water pipes.

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Actually I hadn't until this last brew. I turned up the power and got more boiloff (which is good) but then started to have a bit drip into the kettle. It stopped by the time I was done with the boil so I didn't have any sanitation issues. I'm not yet sure what to do to prevent/divert it.

If you want better vent performance try hitting up HVAC repairmen in your area for a (squirrel cage) blower, preferrably the smallest they can find. You can probably get one for free. They work well with ductwork attached to their output side (back pressure). With a good flow you should be able to get the moist air out before it condenses in the hood/ducting.

pilotdane said:

If you want better vent performance try hitting up HVAC repairmen in your area for a (squirrel cage) blower, preferrably the smallest they can find. You can probably get one for free. They work well with ductwork attached to their output side (back pressure). With a good flow you should be able to get the moist air out before it condenses in the hood/ducting.

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Yeah - I found one that will work for homebrew I make him finish the work before the brew though

I never sanitize my plate chiller simply rinse it with left over sparge water. As im doing my boil I will pump boiling wort though it enough to fill up a 4 litre jug. Then put the wort back into the kettle.

To me that is sanitzied. when im ready to use the Chiller I turn on the water and let her rip.

Does the dryer cord run directly to the element and if so what connections go where? Probably red to one terminal and black to the other, but what do you do with the neutral and ground? Also, is the BK controlled, or is it full bore wide open during the boil? Thanks! nice work

McCuckerson said:

Does the dryer cord run directly to the element and if so what connections go where? Probably red to one terminal and black to the other, but what do you do with the neutral and ground? Also, is the BK controlled, or is it full bore wide open during the boil? Thanks! nice work

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thanks!

The cord from the dryer outlet runs ~15 feet to the control panel (ammo box) and has an inline GFCI for safety. The control box has another dryer outlet on it, but it is only the 3 prong kind The two hots go to the normal spade prongs and the ground goes to the round prong. The neutral is not used for the elements, I don't currently use it for anything (PID can be powered by 220) but I could use it for a pump outlet in the future. The power two the 3 prong outlet can be turned off via a switch; which turns off both hots, or by the PID which will cycle one of the hots.

I do use the PID to control both the HLT temp and to cycle the boil kettle when it is in use. I can't run both the HLT and BK at the same time, 30 amps is not enough anyway so that wasn't a concern. The PID is on manual mode for the BK, I run it at about 65% to keep a good boil going.