Heat stick build

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dlaramie08

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Built two of these with 1500 watt 120v elements. Will be testing for water proofness tonight. Hopefully will brew with them tomorrow night. Drew inspiration from the various online sources as far as directions go.

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In case anyone is wondering about doing the same thing, it does take both going to keep a good rolling boil on a full boil 5 gallon batch (7 gallons). It was a little slower than propane getting from mash out temps up to boil, but it was only about another 10 minutes.

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Awesome. I just built a 1500W heat stick yesterday and I'm hoping to brew with it tomorrow with my gas stove. I might have to look into building a second one before my next brew day.
 
You will be fine on the stove for sure. If you build two you'll be gas free.

Edit: once you do go gas free, I would recommend insulating the boil kettle. That seems to be key for getting up to temps quicker. I need to do this myself.
 
Awesome. I just built a 1500W heat stick yesterday and I'm hoping to brew with it tomorrow with my gas stove. I might have to look into building a second one before my next brew day.
I use a 1500W stick with my stove, works great.
 
Are you guys using 120v or 240v? I'm guessing 120v.
1500 watts / 120v is 12.5 amps. Most standard circuits in any string (kitchen, bathroom, etc.) usually have a 15 amp breaker and I would be concerned about using 2 heat sticks from the same circuit.
 
Electric brewing for the win ! Much cheaper than propane and you dont have to worry if you've got enough gas for brewing
 
Looks good. Where did you fasten the ground wire?

The element I purchased did not have a ground connection. I ran the ground wire back up to above the waterline neare the end of the metal waste pipe, drilled the pipe for a machine screw and nut, crimped on a 2-prong connector, and clamped it tight. Smeared silicone around the head of the nut to seal it.

Those things are great. I reduced the time-to-boil from 1 hour to 20 minutes, and the 1.5kW heat stick can keep a vigorous boil by itself. The 32L pot is insulated with 2 layers of Reflectix, 1 layer on the lid.

A 1500W element on 120V is perfect for a 15A circuit. Circuits are designed to run continuously at 80% of max, intermittently up to 15A, and 12.5A is 83.33% of 15A.
 
I did not screw my ground wire on. I stripped the wire, draped it over the top edge of the metal pipe and pushed on the PVC pipe with its compression fitting. Works perfectly. I still need to permanently insulate my kettle. I wrapped a bath towel around it and put it on top of a wooden table on my most recent brew and got a much more vigorous boil with both sticks. I'm sure with some decent insulation I should be able to maintain a boil with just one.
 
Looks good. Where did you fasten the ground wire?

The element I purchased did not have a ground connection. I ran the ground wire back up to above the waterline neare the end of the metal waste pipe, drilled the pipe for a machine screw and nut, crimped on a 2-prong connector, and clamped it tight. Smeared silicone around the head of the nut to seal it.

Those things are great. I reduced the time-to-boil from 1 hour to 20 minutes, and the 1.5kW heat stick can keep a vigorous boil by itself. The 32L pot is insulated with 2 layers of Reflectix, 1 layer on the lid.

A 1500W element on 120V is perfect for a 15A circuit. Circuits are designed to run continuously at 80% of max, intermittently up to 15A, and 12.5A is 83.33% of 15A.

How large of an element can you run off one 15A circuit?
 
dlaramie08 said:
1500 watt is max on 15 amp.

Technically, 1800W if you're running at 120V. But with variations between 110V and 120V, 1500-1600 is about the safe max.
 
mind elaborating where you got the 90* chrome pipe? i see the p-trap kit for 25$ at HD, looks similar but thought maybe you found it outside of a kit.
 
What are you doing to ground the kettle?

I would be concerned about an element shorted to the outer sheath and energizing the kettle or surrounding metal stands.

Being un-grounded, it might not have a reliable return path to trip the breaker or GFCI...
 
What are you doing to ground the kettle?

I would be concerned about an element shorted to the outer sheath and energizing the kettle or surrounding metal stands.

Being un-grounded, it might not have a reliable return path to trip the breaker or GFCI...

The outer sheath of the element is grounded via the connection of the element to the Heatstick tube which is grounded. I would also guess that in the event of a broken ground, the GFI would trip if the kettle became "hot" and posed a hazard.

GFI's work well, sometimes too well J/k.
 
mind elaborating where you got the 90* chrome pipe? i see the p-trap kit for 25$ at HD, looks similar but thought maybe you found it outside of a kit.

FWIW, I have always found the straight heat sticks to work well and have never bothered using the curved stick design, it also keeps the heatstcks a little more compact, some of the curved stick set-ups end up being quite large, and the more sticking out of the kettle, the greater the chance of a mishap IME. Only issue is that you will need 5-6" minimum in the kettle prior to powering the stick.

2 elements @ 2000w on 2 seperate 20 amp GFI circuits, will easily do a 10 gallon batch, and I have even done a few 15 gallon batches with a little patience.

 
mind elaborating where you got the 90* chrome pipe? i see the p-trap kit for 25$ at HD, looks similar but thought maybe you found it outside of a kit.

HD usually has the L-type metal waste pipe. It was not easy to find - I had to ask.

Straight sticks are more compact. L sticks are more forgiving of shallow half batches. YMMV.


For my own case, I decided it was safe enough to connect the ground only to the metal heatstick column and not the pot. I guess I could clip a jumper with alligator clips from the pot to the stick. If I installed an element through the kettle wall then I would definitely ground the kettle.
 
Thanks for the info guys, I may go to the dual 2kw sticks until I get my Kal clone built. At least I can move inside that way. My current kettle is pretty squatty though, so the 90* is probably smart for me.

For anyone who's gone to only heatsticks, how long does it take to get you into a decent boil? I know at 80% efficiency with 4kW you should see 20-30 minutes from mash temp to boil. Just curious on real world experience.
 
Strecker25 said:
mind elaborating where you got the 90* chrome pipe? i see the p-trap kit for 25$ at HD, looks similar but thought maybe you found it outside of a kit.

I found it at a local hardware store, it was like 12 bucks. HD didn't have the one with the threads on the end.
 
No need to ground the kettle because the fluid will always be in contact with the metal pipe and then trip the gfci since the ground wire is touching the metal pipe. If the fluid is not in contact with the metal pipe then the element is running dry and I have bigger problems than the kettle being energized.
 
heckels said:
Technically, 1800W if you're running at 120V. But with variations between 110V and 120V, 1500-1600 is about the safe max.

Is there even an 1800 watt element?
 
In case anyone is wondering about doing the same thing, it does take both going to keep a good rolling boil on a full boil 5 gallon batch (7 gallons). It was a little slower than propane getting from mash out temps up to boil, but it was only about another 10 minutes.

how long for the two 1500w sticks to a 7 gallon boil? did you have to unplug one once it got going? im really itching to use my new inside brew space and ditch propane as winter looms, but am not ready to do a full herms.
 
Sorry I have never measured the time to boil, but I would say 3000w for 5 gallon batches, or 4000w for ten gallon batches will yield reasonable heat up times, on par with propane.
 
good to know, i think my propane probably takes that long to heat anyways. not to mention ill be warm in my basement, no freezing outside. an extra couple of minutes doesnt hurt me any.
 
Strecker25 said:
how long for the two 1500w sticks to a 7 gallon boil? did you have to unplug one once it got going? im really itching to use my new inside brew space and ditch propane as winter looms, but am not ready to do a full herms.

It adds maybe an extra 10 minutes but I think I can negate that with insulation. I think it should be almost equal once I get the kettle insulated.
 
No need to ground the kettle because the fluid will always be in contact with the metal pipe and then trip the gfci since the ground wire is touching the metal pipe. If the fluid is not in contact with the metal pipe then the element is running dry and I have bigger problems than the kettle being energized.

You would be unlikely to ever find a commercial or consumer electrical product with any ungrounded metallic parts that come in contact with water, or with your body, or used in a damp location.

you have grounded the metal parts of the element, which is good, and while its true that the liquid in a kettle creates a somewhat conductive path, you are relying on something less than ideal for a ground path.

If your GFCI malfunctions, the circuit might not clear if the heating element or associated wiring shorts while in the kettle. If you are touching the kettle, then you become the path to ground.

It's your gear, but for your own safety, I would strongly suggest grounding your kettle when using your heat sticks.
 
And is a jumper to the kettle to the metal part of the heatstick sufficient?

Yeah, That's how I would do it.
Add a screw and locknut to the top of the kettle where you can attach a 14 gauge wire with some ring terminals crimped to it.
 
Ok, while I do agree with the above, i find it interesting that my UL listed electric turkey fryer is not GFI protected ?

Do they assume the user provides this protection?
 
How will grounding the kettle to the heat stick help if you're imagining a situation where the gfci fails?
 
How will grounding the kettle to the heat stick help if you're imagining a situation where the gfci fails?

A short from the element/ wiring to the grounded kettle will clear the branch circuit breaker on over-current.

The heat stick ground is the only return path back to the panel ground. That's why the kettle needs to be tied back to to the heat stick ground.
 
Ok, while I do agree with the above, i find it interesting that my UL listed electric turkey fryer is not GFI protected ?

Do they assume the user provides this protection?

Modern appliances that are not grounded are typically double-insulated.

They are designed so that any single insulation failure is isolated such that they can't contact the user.

This link has a pretty good explanation of appliance classifications and how they work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appliance_classes
 
Yeah, That's how I would do it.
Add a screw and locknut to the top of the kettle where you can attach a 14 gauge wire with some ring terminals crimped to it.

I use a metal spring clamp to clamp my L-type metal heat sticks to the side of my aluminum HLT and BK so that they stay in place. Would this give the same grounding protection as a jumper to the pot(s)?

thanks

tom
 
another question on the building/using of these heatsticks. Ultimately I will be building a Kal clone, and do not want to do work twice. Would it be possible to put in my 50A spa panel with GFCI which runs back to the main panel on a 30a breaker, and temporarily wire two 20A outlets to the new spa panel? Not sure I simply wire each outlet to a single hot leg of the 220 run, after gfci breaker of course.

I just dont want to put in too much "temporary" equipment while building my control panel.

EDIT: Just realized I'd not be protecting the 15A runs with a breaker of the correct size, so I guess I'd have to put two breakers into the spa panel?

EDIT2: Turns out the HD spa panel does not gfci protect added circuits, so those have to then be gfci protected either at the breaker, or the outlet. This at least saves me from having two 12ga runs back to the panel for two new circuits, but ultimately will not save much cash as i'll still need two 15a gfci outlets to protect the heatsticks.

Thanks again
 
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