My E-HERMS Brew Rig Thread

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Kratzer, I hope i pull the energy out so fast that they don't even notice it! anyway, i have not calculated what my electric bill might be, but i know people with normal electric systems say that it is very cheap to brew electric.


i have 200 amp service. i will likely not use all 4 elements at any one time - it will only be when i want to brew back to back batches. Any other time, only two elements will function simultaneously.
 
Ok, i worked on plumbing this weekend. Had i started with more than zero plumbing experience, i probably would have gotten a lot further. I decided to use a combination of copper and soft plastic tubing for the plumbing.

I know it may sound ridiculous, but i want to clean up all of the copper when it is done, and then coat with high temperature clear coat to preserve the shiny finish. Anyway, you see how i added far more work than i needed to by making the cool looking "double-V"... but oh well, i like it.

I still need to find the plastic tubing. I want something clear, and i think i found it on Mcmaster.

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Great thread. I just wanted to suggest that you may want to consider running your temp probes on the outlet of each keg. I tried the method where you mount them in the keg and got pretty unreliable results. You'll notice a big temperature difference depending on where they are mounted. Per my suggestion I went for the outlet. This is pretty similar to Kal's setup.

PS I am totally jealous of the tippy dump.
 
for the mash, i will have two temps. One for the inlet for sparge and recirc and one in the side of the vessel. I hope i do not have any problems with that - thanks for the heads up!
 
ok guys, i am all done with the majority of the copper plumbing. Here are the pictures of my current progress.

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Next i need to measure for the flexible tubing and install it... then on to wiring the valves with MIC connectors and then the control panel internals!
 
this is how i decided to connect to the kegs with the soft tubing. I was originally planning to go with hard lines all the way to the kegs, but i called an audible and changed it to soft tubing to the vessel inlets/outlets. I figured it would be easier and also give me a "sight glass" in every line. Basically, it is a 5/8 flare fitting, for which i flared a short piece of hard 1/2" copper (yes i know, you are not supposed to flare the hard stuff) onto which i attached clear pvc using oetiker clamps. I think it looks ok!

i ran out of my checkered flag expandable sleeving, so i could not finish sleeving the 8 valve cables. i have all of them wired to the valves themselves. I will finish the sleeving and installing the mini XLR connectors when the sleeving comes in. My stainless draw tubes arrived from Nor Cal Brewing Solutions and with a little trimming they went in and look great, thanks guys!

Meanwhile, i need to add one more copper plumbing apparatus for the Mash Tun inlet. it will consist of a couple of tees and a male and female adapter (1/2") because it is the only inlet that requires two tubes to be tied to it, and also a temperature sensor. More pics to come!

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Ok finally some updates. I have been working on this a little bit almost every day. This past weekend i got all of the switches and LEDs in the front panel, now i am just working on finishing the wiring for all of those switches and LEDs! the 4 temp sensors and 3 pressure sensors seem to work well, although i have not yet tried to calibrate the pressure sensors for volume yet.

Unfortunately, all of the wires that i bout with 3 pin connectors for the relay board have leads that are too short to reach the switches and LEDs on the front panel. I hate to do it, but i am going to have to make a ton of butt splice connections to make it work! I made sure to buy the plain ones and i will heat shrink for a decent look (in my opinion).

The panel is very heavy! i definitely under estimated it when buying the TV mount. I am going to need to think of a good clean way to beef up the existing TV mount or build something else, the panel sits crooked on the mount because it is so heavy!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the current mess:


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Some may disagree, but I would of gone with silicone over the PVC for the hot side of the brewery. For such small runs the extra cost for something that is designed to take that temp would of been minimal (silicone/thermoplastics)

everything else looks great! i was too nervous to hard plump by brewery off the bat for fear of changes.. some day i will get there!
 
The clear tubing is rated to 250f. it is not pvc. I got it from mcmaster. as for the hard lines, the only thing i am really worried about is the entry to the pumps. I have an abrupt 90 that may cause excessive turbulence/cavitation at the pump. The copper was not too expensive, so i guess it is better than having to replace ss! I think i may be able to test this weekend if all goes well.
 
I have the main panel painted, at least on the outside. I went with a black truck bedliner spray. It has a rough durable texture and seems to cover much better than the hammer tone paint.

Everything seems to work so far... almost. the e-stop is still not hooked up, and the buzzer is not yet installed. I did get the panel much more rigidly mounted. I had to modify the tv mount that i had bought to shorten the extension as well as add box tubing structure to the back of my panel to add rigidity. The whole panel is much more rigid now, i am pleased.

another problem that i am having is getting the second GFCI working. i have the donut style GFCI's in the side of my panel and one of them will not close it's contactor. it just clicks rapidly... i have to do some more digging on that, updates to come.

i did a water heating test to see how quick i could bring water to a boil. it is very hot outside, and the water from the tap was around 83-85F. approximately 10 gallons was added to the BK, and i turned the elements on full blast and watched the temperature climb. there was a visible boil when the temperature reading was at 206. I don't know if that means i need to somehow calibrate the temp sensors? maybe it is other factors playing in, although i do not think i am at a high enough elevation to shave 6 degrees off the boiling temp. temp sensor placement? It took 10 minutes to bring the water to a visible boil.

Everything went well, except for the fact that the little heat sink i am using got hot enough that i could not hold my hand on it... and that is with only 2 of the 4 SSR's firing. I am going to have to do something about that i think or i am going to likely burn up some SSR's. maybe i will add a fan (easy) or install a bigger heat sink (harder, more expensive).

Also, just when i was about to tell everybody how great these chinese pumps are, as i attempted to push the boiling water out of the BK into the HEX and out to a bucket, i broke the pump within about 10 seconds. the pump ceased and after taking it apart i found that part of the magnetic drive (the magnet itself) split from the plastic impeller and had wedged itself against the wall of the inside of the pump motor. Do you guys preheat your pumps? Do they normally handle the temperature shock OK? i know most people are running a totally different pump, this is why i ask.

pics with the pretty LED's

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It all looks really good so far. I've started my electric rig, but I'm not anywhere as close to being done as you are.

I've never had to preheat my march pump, it's always dealt with the temperature change without incident.
 
hmm, maybe it was a fluke with the pump. i hope so, they are rated for 212F. Where in NC are you located?
 
That would be fantastic. I sold most of the brewing equipment and I'm in the process of building my electric rig. I have 99% of the parts, and I'm about 75% done with my stand. I just need to put it all together. I hope to brew again by the end of September.
 
I am ready now to completely clean out all of my kegs and also the plumbing. What chemical do you guys use for this? I read somewhere to use barkeepers friend in the kegs, but what about the insides of all of the pipes? I have been doing some tests with pumping water and i have gotten a lot of flux residue coming out of the pipes. Any recommendations? I have copper pipes.
 
When I built my CFC, I heated up a few gallons of water with a quart of vinegar and pumped it through the copper. Flushed out a bunch of stuff. Seemed to work well.
 
ok thanks i will try that. system is down for a bit becausethe encoder stopped working properly and i just sent the bretroller board to Florida for repair. will have to wait until i get that back before i can brew! :(
 
Would oxyclean(R.I.P.) work for cleaning that stuff up? Perhaps you can run it through your system and stop it with the solution in mid-process. Let it sit for a few and then flush it all out.
 
well guys, i have purchased everything i need to brew two different beers on my rig. First i want to brew the centennial blonde just because it is quick and wont cost too much if i mess up the first batch through my rig. The second is a maibock recipe that i obtained from this site somewhere as well. I have wated to brew a lager and now i have the capability with a freezer and Fermtroller!

However, I ran into a problem this weekend when running boiling water from one of my chinese pumps and through the CFC to the outlet (cleaning everything). the magnet cracked and split apart, causing the pump to jam. I have contacted the company through ebay, and they are determining what to do fix the problem. The pumps are rated for 100C, so i am hoping that this was only a fluke and they will send me a replacement free of charge. I have two of these pumps on my rig, and have run plenty of boiling water through the first pump without failure.

Ill be sure to post up a video of the operation as soon as i have it working!
 
thanks man, i am just going to hold off, my pumps are wired for 24 VDC and it is all hard lined. not impossible to do but i would rather just wait. i appreciate the offer. are you in any brew clubs or anything? we should meet up for a brew somewhere.
 
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