About to betray any hope of seeming like I know what I am doing....

[Polyphaeon]

Pretty interested in electric brewing. I am in a rental and don't have access to any of the powery things. I do have easy access to my stove plug (looks like this: http://imgur.com/FEcwGic). Is there any reason I can't plug into this for brew days? Assuming use of GFCI cable, which is always brought up here, would I be good to go?
Thanks!

 

[grathan]

Yeah, 50 amps is a lot of power. I only use 21.

 

[Tutsbrew]

Most induction cook tops, even the 3500 watt variety, use 20 amp plugs. I'm thinking that if you had an electrical issue, say a short, the 50 amp breaker on your stove's circuit may well NOT trip and you could cause a fire... Tho I have no practical experience on the subject.

Anyone that connects wires for a living have any thoughts?

 

[sumbrewindude]

You could use it.

Make a spider box that has the 50A/220VAC plug as the input, put that into your GFCI, then you could put a smaller breaker on the output side of the GFCI to load match to your final requirements. If you're using an induction top (like the Avancto 3500) you don't really need the GFCI, just a load matching breaker.

I'd be more concerned with dealing with the amount of steam and condensation you're going to be generating. It will get humid, especially in the winter with everything shut up.

 

[mmb]

Most induction cook tops, even the 3500 watt variety, use 20 amp plugs. I'm thinking that if you had an electrical issue, say a short, the 50 amp breaker on your stove's circuit may well NOT trip and you could cause a fire...

Anyone that connects wires for a living have any thoughts?

I don't connect wires for a living but I have fallen asleep reading a NEC code book.

You could use the 50amp circuit to feed a panel with properly sized GFCI protect and be good to go. Assuming you are building a control panel and running water heater elements, of course.

A circuit breaker trips when it sense that the current flowing through it is above the rating for the circuit breaker and, therefore, most likely the wiring used connect the outlet to the service panel. A 20 amp device wouldn't draw enough current to trip the breaker. The breaker, where it a GFCI would trip if there was a ground fault even if a 20amp device was plugged into a 50 amp circuit.

The circuit breaker isn't there to protect your equipment, it's there to protect the wiring from overloading.

 

[IslandLizard]

+1^

Here is a link to a similar scenario, using the range outlet.

The thread is about the IC3500 Induction burner, but the connection idea can be applied universally.

 

[Polyphaeon]

Okay, I didn't even think the fact that with 50amps this would let me have 2 4500W elements going at once with power to spare for lights/pumps! This could be awesome. Obviously I have some homework to do but you have given me some good starting material. Thanks everyone,

sumbrewindude, yes living in the pacific north west I am very aware of moisture in the air. The outlet is actually right beside the a window that goes out to my patio (both window and patio are covered), so I will probably still brew out there and just run the cable out the window. 5 feet should do it.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Figure out what you want to do with that 50a (available) and go from there. I believe most of the GFCI cords are only 30a rated, so if you want to run 4500w elements or 5500w elements or anything over 30a, you may need to build a spa-panel type setup, where you plug that into the stove outlet and get your GFCI protection that way.

If you're using a commercial induction cook top or something similar, I would wager that you don't need GFCI protection as the heating element will never be in direct contact with liquids, and it's something that is made and assembled in a production factory and is likely / hopefully UL listed.

-Kevin

 

[floormatg]

Before you decide on a 50a control panel you should double check the fuse/breaker size feeding that plug. Where I'm from, they are almost always 40a, which would be your limiting factor here.

 

[mmb]

Before you decide on a 50a control panel you should double check the fuse/breaker size feeding that plug. Where I'm from, they are almost always 40a, which would be your limiting factor here.

So long as it was wired correctly, which a rental surely would have been to pass inspection, the wire size will be proper for the breaker. They allow a 50 amp plug on a 40 amp circuit because the theory is that a homeowner will never use every feature of a range, on high, at the same time, with all burners and oven at max output. IMO, it's also a way for the owner to save money on wire and use #8 on the 40 amp instead of #6 on the 50 amp.

Good heads up if he builds his system with 80% of the 50amp instead of factoring 80% of 40amp.

 

[Polyphaeon]

A full spa panel will be a considerable cost and space addition to this project. I will see if I can take a look at the breaker but I think it is in on of the other units.
Some of the things in my apartment make me wonder about how the 'inspection' went down so I think it best to try to look into all of these things my self to be sure.
thanks!

 

[grathan]

You should probably mention your budget. I would think it's gonna cost a minimum of $100 to hook to that outlet with gfci and probably closer to $200 all said and done.

 

[mmb]

A full spa panel will be a considerable cost and space addition to this project. I will see if I can take a look at the breaker but I think it is in on of the other units.
Some of the things in my apartment make me wonder about how the 'inspection' went down so I think it best to try to look into all of these things my self to be sure.
thanks!

$60 at Home Depot and the are 5x8x12 or somewhere in that area. Add some wire in the right size and an outlet for your panel. GFCI is for your safety.

Could always look at a smaller build with two 110v circuits/elements...