Garage Needs a brew rig...

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Aust1227

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Hey guys. I bought a new home last year. It came with a four car detached garage (plus the 3 car attached garage). Wifey and I filled it up with some poker tables, pingpong, darts, ext.. But I still have lots of room. Lately I have been thinking about an electrical/gas system, and while in the garage today I noticed THIS...
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Thats a dedicated 50Amp 240V.. And it is just waiting to be plugged into a brew rig!

So, any electricians out there want to tell me what to do with all that power?
 
Replace that thing with a 50A GFI and run two 5500W elements. One for the HLT and one for the boil kettle :)
 
At 80% of rated breaker your down to 40 amps or 9.6kw before adding the control panel with equipment and lights before adding the pump wattage be it one or two pumps. Two 4.5kw heating elements would only allow 600 watts for one or two pumps plus control panel and lighting wattage. With your two 5,500 watt elements your already at 91% of the rated breaker rating before adding control and pump wattage. A weak breaker can drop out before reaching the 50 amp rating causing you problems. Something to think about unless you add a magnetic starter or relay with NO/NC contacts allowing only one heater to operate at a time with the control panel and pumps operational all the time. This is why I have a spare 70 amp breaker (56 amp at 80%) for a future electrically heated brewing.
 
At 80% of rated breaker your down to 40 amps or 9.6kw before adding the control panel with equipment and lights and before adding the pump wattage be it one or two pumps. Two 4.5kw heating elements would only allow 600 watts for one or two pumps plus control panel and lighting wattage. With your two 5,500 watt elements your already at 91% of the rated breaker rating before adding control and pump wattage. A weak breaker can drop out before reaching its 50 amp rating causing you problems. Something to think about unless you add a magnetic starter or relay with NO/NC contacts allowing only one heater to operate at a time with the control panel and pumps operational all the time. This is why i'm saving a spare 70 amp breaker (56 amp at 80%) for a future electrically heated brewing system.
 
67coupe390 said:
Bobby don't be so....No, your right F%@k you Aust1227!!!!! ;)
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Thought you guys might like that!!

Seriously though. I don't have much electrical experience at all. I really don't know where to start! Any help on schematics would be greatly appreciated!
 
Heck your garage / play room is bigger than some peoples houses, build a bar next to your brewing equipment and enjoy it. Make sure you add a big ventilation system over your brewing equipment preventing a rain forest garage. Pool table, plenty of Sports Illustrated Center Folds add a disco ball your set.
 
EdWort said:
Sweet Play Ground! It's missing a projection TV system.
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Okay. So my garage is great, but that won't brew my beer for me (sung to the tune of "that don't impress me much")!!

I need electric help. Will one of you guys help me get a clue on how to wire this thing up, control boxes, SSRs, and all that crap.

I am thinking a two element system, with a BIG element in the HLT controlled by a simple on/off thermostat. Then a smaller heater for the rims system that will be controlled by a PID. March pump that is wired in with a neat little indicator link, probably a sensor on the intake line so I don't run the thing dry, and lastly i want the RIM heating element to only be able to turn on if the pump is on.

The boil kettle will be a manual gas system until further notice!!

HELP!
 
BrewBeemer said:
At 80% of rated breaker your down to 40 amps or 9.6kw before adding the control panel with equipment and lights and before adding the pump wattage be it one or two pumps. Two 4.5kw heating elements would only allow 600 watts for one or two pumps plus control panel and lighting wattage. With your two 5,500 watt elements your already at 91% of the rated breaker rating before adding control and pump wattage. A weak breaker can drop out before reaching its 50 amp rating causing you problems. Something to think about unless you add a magnetic starter or relay with NO/NC contacts allowing only one heater to operate at a time with the control panel and pumps operational all the time. This is why i'm saving a spare 70 amp breaker (56 amp at 80%) for a future electrically heated brewing system.
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You usually dont fire up the boil kettle till our done with the HLT. At least that is my understanding
 
Jim Karr said:
There must be four or five recent threads about wiring heating elements for HLT. Try a google search of the website.
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I have read a ton on the subject. And I have a decent understanding of the concept. But I want to work on a schematic for MY brew rig. Thanks for your comments though.
 
I should be able to help you out with this Austin.
I work for the second biggest electrical contractor here in town.
I definitely won't have all the answers, but I have plenty of people who do. :cross:
 
Plan9 said:
I should be able to help you out with this Austin.
I work for the second biggest electrical contractor here in town.
I definitely won't have all the answers, but I have plenty of people who do. :cross:
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Dude, that is awesome. And you are coming over next Sunday right? You help me with this bad boy and you can come over and use any of my crap anytime!! In fact, I would be so happy to have it, I will just brew beer for the hell of it, and bring you the filled cornies!!

What company do you work for? Who is the biggest in Town? Ferran?
 
The Sunday after next. :D

I work for Palmer.
Tri-City is the largest.
Ferran just has the most obvious building. :p

If you keg, I may need you to help me learn pressure balancing. I'm staring at 3/4 glass of foam from my new kegerator.
 
I know Palmer. They are my electrician of choice on my job sites. Chuck Imo in the Residential section is my boy!!

Kegging is the only way to go. I have a kegerator here you can check out on the 20th!
 
That's too funny. I've worked with Chuck for years. We worked on the same jobs in the field, and moved into the office about the same time.
I'm the PM for Low Voltage Residential.
 
Plan9 said:
That's too funny. I've worked with Chuck for years. We worked on the same jobs in the field, and moved into the office about the same time.
I'm the PM for Low Voltage Residential.
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Why aren't you doing our low voltage work? We have Mitech doing it now. I work for David Weekley Homes.
 
Yeah, we need to work on that.
I believe Mike was asking for us to take over a neighborhood as well.
We sent in pricing, but we could use some builders pestering purchasing. :D
 
BierMuncher said:
That looks like a friggin church basement.

You could set up 5 or 6 - 15,000 gallon fermenters in there and start a micro brewery.
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you got the funding? Bring it on! I'm ready!
 
Can't wait to see pics of your up and running brewery... but will a 15 gallon system look big enough in that space? Might have to get some 55 gallon drums to fill up some of that beautiful room! ;) On a serious note, SWEET man space my friend! :rockin:
 
NoClueBrewMaster said:
Your garage is the size of my apartment... You'll have to start posting pic's as this build goes underway...
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NO SH#T! My entire house is only 26' X 36' (single level) and I have a wife, 2 kids and 2 100lb labs living there!!!!

+1 on progress pics.

-JMW
 
I have about 675 sq. ft in my condo. Unfortunately, my girlfriend is the type to adopt stray animals. That left us with three cats, and depending on your view of me, a 26 yr old child.
 
To get back to the original question. I'd set it up with an all-electric brew stand. Do a couple 110v 2500-3000 watt hot water heater elements. Wire in your pump etc and also add a ventilation van (powered off another circuit probably) to get rid of all the water vapor you are going to create.

As for specifically how to wire it all and build the stand I'm not sure, eventually I may go all electric, but I'm set up for propane right now.

On the other hand I don't see any reason to run electric if you don't want to, you could easily set it up with enough ventilation to do propane or natural gas.
 
I'm fond of the idea of an instant hot water system that has been discussed quite a bit here. I don't really like the idea of the element directly in the kettle, but for sure I'd use a 5000 watt element in a copper tube as both a strike/sparge water generator and the mash recirculative heater (run it lower power for this task). I'm barely smart enough to figure it out for myself when I finally get around to it so I'm sure I can't explain it to you in advance.
 
Re: Wiring

I am struggling with the concecpt for wiring this brew rig up.

At the moment I am thinking about installing a sub panel box on the rig w/ a 20 amp GFI 220 v circuit for the HLT element, a 15A 110V GFI for the pump and the RIMS heating element. I would leave an open slot or two for any future additions, or just add a few outlets to the rig in case I need to plug other things in.

I haven't seen any rigs with subpanels on them. Is there something more simple than this?
 
We can't add a sub panel from that outlet you have. It doesn't have a neutral, which the 120v would need.
If you plan to roll the rig around we will have to run 2 cords, 1 to the 240V and 1 to a 120v outlet. If you are going to permanently mount it, we could run new cables to the panel.

I'll look through the warehouse and see if we have an extra sub-panel, just in case.
 
Plan9 said:
We can't add a sub panel from that outlet you have. It doesn't have a neutral, which the 120v would need.
If you plan to roll the rig around we will have to run 2 cords, 1 to the 240V and 1 to a 120v outlet. If you are going to permanently mount it, we could run new cables to the panel.

I'll look through the warehouse and see if we have an extra sub-panel, just in case.
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Makes sense. wasn't thinking about that. I guess plugging it in in two places isn't a bid deal. Just plug the HLT heating element into the wall, everything else run through the control box.

I look forward to working through some of this stuff with you.
 
Aust1227-
What part of town are you in? I'm near Orlando as well. I have some electrical experience and would be willing to help you and Plan9 get your rig up and running.
 
Virtuous said:
You usually dont fire up the boil kettle till our done with the HLT. At least that is my understanding
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A friend of mine went from NG to propane and now all electric. There has been many times when he has turned one of the wrong relays on in a hurry without looking or thinking about his actions and having the main breaker pop.
Another friend can only brew electricially when the family is gone as he only has a 60 amp service in that 1923 house. Too much power can be controlled, not enough your SOL.
 
Construction on my rig has started. I am going to go all electric. That will allow me to build with wood without concern over burning down the garage. My first pictures of the build.

GardenBeer028.jpg


GardenBeer029.jpg
 
Grimsawyer said:
Looks awesome so far. Btw, is that cute little keg a 5 gallon or a 7.5? :rockin:
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It is a 7.5. It is perfect for fermenting in. But I never know if it is clean in there. I am glad you think my keg is cute.
 

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