OK, I have been needing to do this for a while and finally have the time, so I thought I'd share as I go along. If you find this helpful or entertaining, please Prost This Thread. I have had to swap my burner for years under my HLT and kettle and never get the right temperature water for dough-in or step infusions. So........ I added a 240V 5500W water heating element to the bottom of my HLT and will be controlling it via a Ranco 111000 ETC. The element will be ran on 120V so the wattage will go down to 1/4 of its wattage to 1,375 Watts. I will be making another lid like in this project I did earlier that will have a fan type stirrer built in to keep the temperature even inside the tun. I will also be insulating and then beautifying/protecting the insulation with Rhino-liner from a local shop. So far here is the progress and I will provide more pictures as the project continues.
This is what my HLT looks like now. I will be replacing the gauge style thermometer with a thermowell for my Ranco unit.
Here is the element installed, but the only thing you can't see is the 1-1/4" hole I had to put in the bottom of the keg with a bi-metal hole saw to fit the element. Read here to see how my trip to HomeDepot went, lol.
Notice the element fits very nicely in the flattened bottom of the keg.
Here is a better shot of it centered in the bottom of the keg HLT.
I just did a leak test and it holds its own so I can move on to wiring up the Ranco 111000 ETC. Until next post...... hope you enjoy the visuals, lol.
This is what my HLT looks like now. I will be replacing the gauge style thermometer with a thermowell for my Ranco unit.
Here is the element installed, but the only thing you can't see is the 1-1/4" hole I had to put in the bottom of the keg with a bi-metal hole saw to fit the element. Read here to see how my trip to HomeDepot went, lol.
Notice the element fits very nicely in the flattened bottom of the keg.
Here is a better shot of it centered in the bottom of the keg HLT.
I just did a leak test and it holds its own so I can move on to wiring up the Ranco 111000 ETC. Until next post...... hope you enjoy the visuals, lol.