Bcs-460 herms build

Hi all,
I am in the process of building an electric single tier Herms brewery. I have built a wooden stand ala electric brewery.com. I have the brew and mash tun complete and am now starting on the control panel.

I have been planing to have a single 5500 w element in the brew & hlt, but after reading some I think I will have 2 5500 w elements in each keggle. I have all I need to wire up the panel for just 2 elements, however I am unsure how to add a switch to make sure I am only firing 2 elements at a time. I have a 50 amp spa panel and the pumps will be run off their own 15 amp gfi.

Anyone care to give me some insight?

1 5500 element is more than enough. I can heat up 20 gallons of water using 1 in about 20 minutes in the HLT and it takes me 35 min or so to get to a rolling boil in my boil kettle with 14 or so gallons to start. 2 elements will be overkill.

Im not sure if it can be done with the BCS, If you want to use 2 you will have to add logic so that the one set will not fire if the other is running. I have 2 different "soft" interlocks in my PLC based program. Basically the HLT will only fire if the HLT is selected on the display and the BK elements are not on. The opposite is true on the BK.

See http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/control-panel-part-2?page=13, or my post from a couple minutes ago.

I plan to have the bcs control 2 ssr from 1 output. I have that worked out. What I am struggling with, is how do I wire the switches to select 1 element on in each keggle or 2 on in one vessel.

The reason I want 2 in each is faster step times, and the ability to get to boil faster so I can do double batches in close to the same time.

I agree with wubears1 completely. 5500W is plenty for most applications. Takes me more like 60 to bring 13 gal of 65F water to boiling, but then I have plenty of water for brewing. I use one 5500W in my HLT with HERMS, and 1 in my BK for boiling. With a 50A GFI protected circuit (spa disconnect) I am able to run both elements, 2 march pumps, a BCS and a wireless router without tripping the breaker. In my experience, it's super convenient to be able to both run the HERMS during fly sparge and simultaneously bring wort to boil. This would be impossible to do if you were running two elements in one vessel.

Good luck!

I agree that is why I want to be able to use 2 elements in htl to step and then switch to 1 element in each active to bring to boil. Once all wort is in the keggle, active second element to bring to boil then reduce to 1 unit and start to heat sparge water for second batch. Rice and repeat as needed.

Am I all wet?

Nah, I'm sure there's a way to switch from two elements in one keggle to one in each and keep from blowing the breaker. Another issue to consider is whether you even have room for two elements and a HERMS in your HLT. These elements are huge. My element is mounted toward the bottom, with my HERMS coil (30ft 1/2" copper) hanging above the element with ~1" buffer. Together these two alone nearly put me at the top of the keggle. If you're going to add another element, you're really pressed for space. They definitely can't be mounted in parallel in a standard keg. As for the BK, consider that the wort coming in is already at 175 (particularly if you mash out). It's really only a few minutes with 5500W to get to boil.

Why not simplify your life and just have an extra kettle on propane to prepare stike water for you next batch?