RIMS - Where To Start

Hi,

First off I’m a programmer by trade and am interested in building a RIMS style system, and making use of the BCS-460 in order to program my own user interface to automate the brewing process. That being said I am not an electrician, plumber or wielder and realize I have an incredible amount of information I need to learn before evening thinking about attempting this project.

Now I’ve spent the past week reading post after post about RIMS systems and how someone would go about building one of these system, and am wondering where others have started? Should I purchase the Brutus 10 plans as a starting guideline and modify them to fit my system? Are there any specific books that would to help me understand wiring and plumbing LP gas better?

I’m very concerned about safety and someone overwhelmed by the amount of information there is out there. I really want to do my research before I start, and am just looking for the best place to start that process.

Thanks,

~Peter

P.S. I’d like the heating for this system to be gas only. I’d like to stay away from electrical heating elements completely unless there is an extremely enticing reason to use them.

I did the RIMS for dummies SS pipe that Sawdustguy detailed. Obviously that is electric and my BK & HLT are currently gas via Hurricane burners. My HLT is not controlled by the BCS yet and I can't decide if I want to get involved with gas valves or switch to electric. I did not want to direct fire my MLT and decided I like the simple build of the SS pipe bomb as I like to call it. Electric gives you an easier option for brewing indoors without having to worry about killing yourself with gas or propane.

I pretty much just dived in. I outsourced the welding and made a poor choice in that area and wish I had used someone different. I purchased the Brutus plans and while good info I really did not use anything from it. All that info is generally on HBT and I realize it gets to be a bit confusing trying to tie it all together. As for the wiring if you are sticking with gas only then the wiring is pretty simple and you are not playing with high current. I would just go to the library and check out a few books on gas & electric.

I am pretty happy with what I created and if I ever did it again I would now know how to avoid the mistakes I made. In the end however I am a pretty sloppy DIY'er and things never look as good as I want them to.