Tax season was good to me and I got the go ahead from SWMBO, so I made a few upgrades to the brewery. I am still waiting on some parts for the eHLT, plate chiller, and new brass heads for the pumps (cross threaded them after the first cleaning...) but other than that I think I am good to go. I am going to try a 2 vessel SMaSH tomorrow (Marris Otter/Fuggle/Nottingham). Anyway, here are a few pics, if you have questions or comments let 'em fly.
Here is the front of the brew rig. On the far left is the (future) eHLT. It will have a 1500 watt element and is controlled by the Ranco ETC on the wall. The home made IC (below) will act as a heat exchanger when the eHLT is done and will be fed by one pump controlled by the other Ranco ETC. I know there are cheaper ways to go (PID, SSR) but I'm still swimming through how all that works and I figured I could always use the Ranco's in the future for controlling ferm chambers.
Here is a pic of the IC/exchanger. The QDs allow me to switch it from mash control to cooling pretty easily. I've got a Keg Cowboy plate chiller ordered so when that gets here the IC will no longer be multi-purpose. I thought about using it as a pre-chiller, but ground water here in AK is about 40F so it shouldn't be needed.
Here is the front of the brew rig. On the far left is the (future) eHLT. It will have a 1500 watt element and is controlled by the Ranco ETC on the wall. The home made IC (below) will act as a heat exchanger when the eHLT is done and will be fed by one pump controlled by the other Ranco ETC. I know there are cheaper ways to go (PID, SSR) but I'm still swimming through how all that works and I figured I could always use the Ranco's in the future for controlling ferm chambers.
Here is a pic of the IC/exchanger. The QDs allow me to switch it from mash control to cooling pretty easily. I've got a Keg Cowboy plate chiller ordered so when that gets here the IC will no longer be multi-purpose. I thought about using it as a pre-chiller, but ground water here in AK is about 40F so it shouldn't be needed.