Anybody ever used an engine block heater as a heat source for a Mash Tun?

[hillhousesawdustco]

I've got a spare engine block heater lying around, the threaded kind that screws into a frost plug and helps a vehicle start easier in cold temperatures. I was thinking...it's essentially just a small, screw-in heating element, so has anybody used one in a mash tun to maintain temp?
Like hot water heater elements, you can't run these things dry, but I assume as long as there is some fluid (water/wort rather than oil) around it then it would be fine. It's so small that I don't think it would do much for actually boiling water, but it could really do the trick for maintaining a mash temp. Anybody have any experience with this?

 

[jd3]

I've never dealt with a frost plug style, but my 300 w magnetic unit and I'd bet it can only get water up to 100 degrees and that is after like 10 hours.... I doubt it would be of much use for anything at all.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

That's kinda what I figured, I was just hoping maybe it could help maintain a temperature, not actually raise temps. Maybe I'll give it a test in a pot of water one of these days.

 

[Rocky0601]

I got a 1000W CTM heater from HotStart (900$) circulating block-heater (with a built-in pump) and I thought about using it for Mash but I first need to change the thermostat and see if it can withstand higher temperatures and how long it would take to reach the 165F as an example. Now, the thing is I wonder if I should circulate the mash through the pump or use a closed circuit connected to the pump/element and run actual coolant through the copper coil and use it a heat exchanger thus using the copper coil as a giant heater inside the mash tun. Assuming that it does never leak coolant into the mash, I wonder how efficient it would be... If you guys are still around, I would like some thoughts or ideas.