Is the Boil Coil worth it?

Hey all:

First off, let me say there are some very knowledgeable people here. There are also beginners, and all levels between. What I'm looking for is people who have very specific knowledge.

I live in Texas, and we have stupid weather here. We have ice storms in the winter, and 105 in the summer. I've been looking at the Boil Coil from Blichmann. I've read it can be used on a keggle, also. Has anyone used it with a keggle, what is REALLY needed to make it connect and work right, and what was the final cost? Another detail: I'm looking at using the 10 gallon 120v coil in a 15.5 g keggle, as i don't have access to 240, so please don't suggest it. I realize this will cause extra heating time, etc, and i can augment the heat with propane when i get in a hurry, which is never. What is necessary to make this happen?

You ask if it's worth it? Do the math on a weld less element kit and drilling a hole compared to the boil coil price. At $139, I think the boil coil is a solid buy.
Doing your own adds up really quick when you want an elegant solution like the boil coil.

Here's one in a keggle. Boil coil

Hi,
I don't think I can answer your questions in full, but I can tell you about my experience hoping it will be food for thought.

I have a 10 gal kettle to which I fitted a fairly sturdy SS element (not coil) and could not be happier with it.

The element came as an assembled kit (no wiring required), it is made out of stainless and has a fairly low power density which is an important parameter. The coil you want to buy seems to be even better in this department. Super low density and you can remove the mains cable when not in use, which is a plus.

In addition to the kit, I used a Q-max punch tool and bought a couple of titanium carbonitride drill bits which set me back roughly 25£ (~35$?)on top of the element.

Finally, I hated the idea of having the locking nut rubbing against and scratching the inner side of my brand new kettle during assembly so I fabricated a washer made out of 1/2 mm PTFE sheet I got from ebay and added a thin copper washer on top to avoid the nut grabbing and twisting the rather fragile PTFE washer.

If you are not concerned about scratching the kettle when tightening the nuts, you can probably go without.

One big advantage you have is the way Blichmann do their weldless fitting, where the silicon washer is fitted snugly inside a metal washer(explained better here www.theelectricbrewery.com) so this way you tight metal against metal and can really go for it without damaging the silicone washer. I know this is what they do for they valves, but I am unsure if the same method is used for the coil.

Now the other thing you need to consider is the amount of heat you require once the wort is boiling. While climbing up to boil, you need as much as possible, but afterwards you may not .. If I leave my element ON during boil, my kettle behaves more like a volcano (6gal boil, 2.4kW element). Lucky enough I am on top of my hob so I can maintain boil using just a burner, and I am using the element just to arrive to the set temperatures faster.

The 120V Blichmann coil is 2000 - 2400 Watts, this may not be much during a climb to boil, but may be too much once you are there and you may need to tune it down (worst during your summer I guess!). The usual method is using a solid state relay and a controller with a PWM output onto the relay. I haven't researched on this area.

So, provided the locking nuts and metal and silicone washers are provided the minimum you will require above the coil is a q-punch and drill bits (you can try normal bits, but titanium will work better). You may want to put something in between the locking nut and kettle if you want to protect it.

Finally, you may require a controller capable of PWM output and solid state relay rated for the load. I don't know much about this.

Cheers.