BCS 2 Vessel No Sparge Garage Brewery Build

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poptarts

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Before we get started I would like to say a few things. First off, I suck at spelling so brace yourself and lets hope some spell check can get us through this. Secondly, I love me some pictures, so be prepared for that. My build is what I will consider a giant combination of lots and RAD from the HBT community so thanks to everyone else out there that has posted pictures and explanations of their brewery, it really helps and I hope I can return the favor and do some brew systems out there justice. With that, lets get this train moving. :D

My current system is ugly but works and makes great beer, but Im tired of slumming it with propane and figured I'm defiantly in this hobby for the long haul so its time IMO to clean it up and make it easier to brew on. However im still stuck in the garage, without plumbing so its still going to need me to move RO water and drag a hose in for cleanup.
This is the new location for my Electric BCS System.
q3dnPZx.jpg

Lots of work needs to be done, including but not limited to getting 30 amp outlet to the garage, building stand, making some bottom drain keggles from yet to be sourced kegs, building a full control panel and probably waiting on 100 orders from china to show up to my door. I have already started electric work and will get some pics of that up in the next post. I hope you guys enjoy. Here is proposed design for the new system for those who want a glimpse into the future.
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Cheers. :mug:
 
Looks like this is gonna be awesome. Sub'd.

Enjoy the project poptarts.
 
Old burn your house down panel
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Nice new load center with way more circuits and breakers that will actually work, along with a porch light since I had everything opened up already.
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New sub panel in the garage to accommodate my 30A service and now I have grounding so thats a nice safety feature that should have been there about 50 years ago.
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For the system itself, managed to find 1 decommissioned keg, gonna hit up a recycle center tomorrow that claims to have some so might have both sourced. Has a decent size dent on the bottom but other than that its in decent shape. And with an hour or so on some scotch bright pads on my drill it cleaned up decently enough for me.
Before:
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After:
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Got some bling bling from the slow boat.
Float switches: for pumps and or elements, I only got 2 so i could do some testing before I bought all 4.
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Some 5500W elements SS
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Not from china but a eBay find, 22 and 35mm carbide saws
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Some pre painted, water tight single gang boxes that I plan to use to house elements in a "kal" style.
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And a nice score on a twist lock 30A cord for bringing power to my non existent panel
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Mucking around with panel layout, leaning toward this style but still debating if I need switches for my valves or not... Gonna need at least one but maybe a few momentary inputs
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Just got back from the scrap yard with an awesome find. Found a keg with a giant cut and dent in the bottom but otherwise perfect condition, and since I'm cutting the bottom off to allow for bottom drain its a perfect score.
So not only did I save a poor keg that previously spent a life in slavery holding budweiser, probably got trashed by some stupid frat kids, and had no hope in becoming a keggle, I spent only 15$ and was able to do the whole reduce reuse recycle thing so that's awesome. Just figured I would post for like the 10th time in a row for the 1 person reading this thread. Cheers Nath :mug:
 
Woke up to find I scored on an eBay panel. 20*24*8 NEMA 4, not gonna have to worry about room in this bad boy.
 
Got some 2" tri clover caps and some gaskets. And also 4 thermowells. Still waiting on the tee fittings and Clamps from China. Panel is on the way alot with more SS fittings. Waiting on 462 to be in stock at ebrew. Still waiting on sign on on electric before I patch up the wall. Moving at a decent pace though.
 
Caps and thermowells
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The goal is to mount float switches through the caps on the tee fittings off the bottom of the pots to kill pumps when the pots are empty, drilling a 7/8 hole in these is gonna suck though, they ware way thick and heavy duty.
 
Got a hole in one of them cut over lunch break, as expected, that sucked. off centered to allow for the float switch to have a bit more play... the drill bit did not walk or anything like that.
q0RWZE4.jpg
 
Still waiting on random electrical stuff to arrive for panel and still waiting on ebrew.supply to get bcs462 in stock. This weekend I plan on finishing up the polish on the kegs and getting a stand in made up.
 
Poptart,
In the fourth pic, what float switch is that mounted in that keggle? How did you mount it in the wall of the keggle? Was it threaded and you used a standard bulkhead?
 
Got a crap ton of goodies in the mail. Decided to stop waiting on ebrew.supply and bought my BCS from brewershardware. I think I have everything purchased to complete the build, just have to wait for it to all show up. Going to try to finish up the plumbing this by weekend and get started on the panel.
 
Nice!
Maybe the spelling can be improved with a new keyboard!:D
Waiting to see where you out the mechanical ball valves, and wondering if they will be in contact with wort or not.
Those Korean lids are SS?
How did those TC plates work with the float switches? Did you have them welded?
What is the latest on the panel? How well do those carbide hole saws work on SS?

TD
 
Nice!
Maybe the spelling can be improved with a new keyboard!:D
Waiting to see where you out the mechanical ball valves, and wondering if they will be in contact with wort or not.
Those Korean lids are SS?
How did those TC plates work with the float switches? Did you have them welded?
What is the latest on the panel? How well do those carbide hole saws work on SS?

TD
The first diagram in the first post shows where I plan to put the valves, they are labeled A. They will definitely contact wort, but they are SS and rated for it so no issues. Lids are aluminum. For the TC floats I just cut a hole in a blank plate and did a weldless bulkhead style nut and washer to mount the switch. Nothing to report on panel, still waiting on switches and lights. The saws are complete trash, half the teeth broke off on the first hole. I will stick with the classic cheap amazon step bit and my favorite dewalt 7/8 hole saw from now on.
 
Thanks. I can't quite follow that flow chart, but seems you know what you're up to.
Won't be fun periodically cleaning the threaded ball valves was all I was thinking.
Super score on the $15 keg by the way!
Can't wait to see the rest of this build!
I struggled with the bottom port design idea on my eBrew build. The worst part for me is no floor drain so I will need to be very careful not to make a big mess! You've probably got a plan for that carpeting I assume, or was that in a different room?
So it's a direct heated mash tun with element below the false bottom?
What is your chiller? I had considered using my copper cfc as a heat exchanger/Herms and do away with the HLT.
What's the sparge plan?
What is the sight glass for, to see when runoff is clear?
Is this going to be a hard plumbed setup?

Keep the pics coming!!

TD

Edit-

In response to your reply regarding float switches from the other thread, seemed more appropriate to respond here instead.

I learned that there are non mechanical float switches, and that mechanical float switches can be prone to failure. Might be worth a look see if you run into problems with those mechanical switches. My float switches look like yours, but I have not received them yet. They will arrive tomorrow. I had a welder try to convert them to TC for me, but they didn't tolerate the welding temps, as I guess there was some epoxy that melted or something. I've been on a quest to eliminate the threaded fittings and the floats are the only hold outs, which will only be in the HLT anyway.
 
Im hoping a hot PBW wash and rinse will make it so I don't have to take apart stuff nearly as often. I plan on using a decent amount of camlocks so they are easy to pop off and clean though if need be.
My plan is to have a drain system that drains into a bucket. The system is in the garage, the carpet is scrap junk just so I dont have to stand on cold concrete. I have no plumbing in the garage so no drains or anything. I manage well with my current system and this style setup so hopefully its not a nightmare.
Correct element will be under false bottom in the MLT. then it will recirc during mash for RIMS style temp management. My chiller is a DIY counterflow chiller, no plans to upgrade at the moment. The system will be no sparge, so full water volume will be present during mash. If we are being honest the sight glass is pretty much bling but it will allow me to see, color and flow of the wort during mash. I will be doing "hard" plumbing with silicone hose, they will be camlocked in place again for cleaning as needed. I hate hose swaps, so the hope is to completely eliminate them from the system fully. This should allow for pretty much full automation as well. I will need to mash in, then add hops and needed but outside of that it should be hands off. However I have plans for a phase 2, to rig up a timer motor with BCS to make it so I don't even have to do hop additions manually.
 
In response to your reply regarding float switches from the other thread, seemed more appropriate to respond here instead.

I learned that there are non mechanical float switches, and that mechanical float switches can be prone to failure. Might be worth a look see if you run into problems with those mechanical switches. My float switches look like yours, but I have not received them yet. They will arrive tomorrow. I had a welder try to convert them to TC for me, but they didn't tolerate the welding temps, as I guess there was some epoxy that melted or something. I've been on a quest to eliminate the threaded fittings and the floats are the only hold outs, which will only be in the HLT anyway.

Ah yea, I have yet to see any non threaded ones. Mine are basically mechanical safety features to prevent dry fire on elements and running pumps dry. I will have it coded in a way so they hopefully they don't really need to be there at all but its always nice to have as much safety as possible with electrical and water I believe. And yea i'm just not super concerned about threaded fittings for hot side stuff like this, They may not be the most sanitary but they don't have to be either since they get hot. Plus im cheap and those are not.
 
Subbed for sure, I like the stand build and your control panel is a likely candidate for my v2 build.

Thanks Poptarts
 

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