BLING BLING Electric HERMS Conversion

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Funny analogy!

I will get back to brewing when I get this group hop buy finished. Hopefully ONE week I will be back at it!
 
illin8 said:
Pol, do you have a pic of the internals of the box all wired up???
Click to expand...

LOL, I just replaced an SSR in my box, which is a LOT bigger than Pol's. I had always wondered why he never showed the inside.

My guess is that if it looks anything like mine, you might not want to show it. That is a lot of wires going to different places and wouldn't provide a lot of value.

I've done a lot of professional electrical wiring ( the kind that gets inspected by 3 letter gov't agencies), and this was a PITA.

And no, I won't show you mine.
 
illin8 said:
Pol, do you have a pic of the internals of the box all wired up???
Click to expand...

HA HA HA are you kidding me?

No, even if I did, it would only discourage you. Oh, dont get me wrong, it is laid out well! But there is so much wiring packed into that tiny control box that it looks like a plate of spaghetti.

As stated in this thread, I HIGHLY SUGGEST A MUCH LARGER BOX if you want to do this. I went small, because I wanted it tight and clean. That comes at a cost though, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to wire it.
 
Got my coolers today! Got them in Blue just to be different. LOL.
Ordering my PIDs (yes, I am using two) and SSRs tomorrow.
 
Got my coolers today! Got them in Blue just to be different. LOL.
Click to expand...

Not really so different...

IMG_5384.JPG
 
Just an update on the thread... after about 4 brews on the rig, everything seems to be working out very well. Many people have built similar rigs and have had excellent results.

A note concerning simple technique... with the 1500W element in the HLT, if I want to start brewing quicker in the morning, I heat the HLT to about 170F the night prior, then turn it off. When I awaken in the morning the water is still 150F, so I can reach strike temp in about 20 mimutes, saves time.

Thus far, no component failures to speak of, I have been cleaning the HERMS system with PBW (OxyClean now) and rinsing with a Star San mixture. I am simply pumping it through during the boil. After the boil I use that same PBW (Oxyclean) to clean the kettle.
 
The Pol said:
... A note concerning simple technique... with the 1500W element in the HLT, if I want to start brewing quicker in the morning, I heat the HLT to about 170F the night prior, then turn it off. When I awaken in the morning the water is still 150F, so I can reach strike temp in about 20 mimutes, saves time. ...
Click to expand...

I've done 6 batches on mine. Very happy with it. I brew with my tap water, and I fill the HLT the night before I plan on brewing, and leave the lid a little loose so the small amount of chlorine in my city water can evaporate. If I want to brew early I do the same thing as The Pol, heat it and shut it off... and a couple of times I've left it on overnight. Once it reaches the target temp on the PID, it doesn't take much power to maintain the temp. I've got an RO system I got from the in-laws that I plan to incorporate soon for better water chemistry control, without the hassle/cost of distilled water from the local grocery store.
 
brrman said:
Pol - how tall does your element in the HLT stand?
Click to expand...

Aha, easy one, about 7"... nearly 3.5 gallons of water WITH the coil installed. About 3 gallons without the coil installed.

Brian, I have your stir motor
 
Ah - ok thanks.
Larry mentioned that you had the motor. I will try and pop down some weekend when you are home.
 
The Pol said:
Aha, easy one, about 7"... nearly 3.5 gallons of water WITH the coil installed. About 3 gallons without the coil installed.

Brian, I have your stir motor
Click to expand...

And THIS is WHY you don't want the 4500 w elements. They stand about 12-14 " (IIRC) which means that you HAVE to have about 6 gals anytime the element is on.
 
LooyvilleLarry said:
And THIS is WHY you don't want the 4500 w elements. They stand about 12-14 " (IIRC) which means that you HAVE to have about 6 gals anytime the element is on.
Click to expand...

Is that a bad thing? You would have the element turned off any time you are draining the HLT anyway right?
 
brrman said:
Is that a bad thing? You would have the element turned off any time you are draining the HLT anyway right?
Click to expand...

Well, when I am recirculating with the HERMS, I many times DO NOT have 6-7 gallons of water in my HLT, and I want me element ON in that case.

The only water that is in my HLT, is what I am going to sparge with... so unless I have 6-7 gallons of sparge water in there, well... I am hosed with a 4500W element turned on.

YOU CAN run a longer element, you just have to be sure to have enough water in the HLT during the recirc. to keep it from melting, which means having more water in the HLT than you plan to sparge with.

Now I have to buy water since Plainfield water is deporable... which also means that I am building my water now with salts. Using extra water and salts costs me money, so I only want enough water in my HLT to sparge with.

Also most of my brews require about 9 gallons of water TOTAL... throw in 1.5 gallons for my system loss and that is 10.5 gallons. I start with 9.5 gallons in the HLT (THAT IS THE MAX WITH THE HERMS COIL IN THERE)... then I strike with say 5 gallons of water (2qt/lb mash with 10 pounds of malt) that leaves 4.5 gallons in the HLT, then I add my ONE gallon that I need to meet my total water required number of 10.5 gallons. That COOLS my HLT to recirc. temp and it bumps my HLT volume to 5.5 gallons of water. In all of these cases my water is ABOVE my element, so there is no fear of melting it. I turn off my element only when I am sparging, for obvious reasons.

Does that make any sense?
 
My element is a 1650W in a Keggle but it is mounted from the side. I believe I could upgrade to a 5500W in the future with this mounting location and still not require any more water. Would you agree with that?

I'm thinking about dual PID's. One for the HLT and one for the BK but I've spent enough for a while. My money will have to be on grain now.
 
Brrman, I cant wait to see your Pol HERMS replica. In those coolers, you will want to mount from the bottom, the sidewall would make sealing much more difficult.
 
yeah I have already determined that side mounting will not be feasible. I am heading out tonight to buy the JB weld, dryer plugs, and PVC couplings. Hopefully get these made up tonight.

I think I will just go ahead and use a 5500W in the HLT.
 
brrman said:
yeah I have already determined that side mounting will not be feasible. I am heading out tonight to buy the JB weld, dryer plugs, and PVC couplings. Hopefully get these made up tonight.

I think I will just go ahead and use a 5500W in the HLT.
Click to expand...

Cool cool, that will do the trick!
 
If you really want to install something in the side of a cooler you can cut away the outer plastic, trim away the insulation in that area and then mount against the inside wall. That way you are not compressing insulation trying to get a water tight fit. I did this on one of my old mash tuns for a drain.
 
conpewter said:
If you really want to install something in the side of a cooler you can cut away the outer plastic, trim away the insulation in that area and then mount against the inside wall. That way you are not compressing insulation trying to get a water tight fit. I did this on one of my old mash tuns for a drain.
Click to expand...

That is exactly how we mount through the bottom (remover outer shell, insulation and affix to inner shell only)... but the inner wall of the cooler is so thin, flexible and flexes so much when hot that I think it would be more problematic than using the flat bottom.
 
The Pol said:
That is exactly how we mount through the bottom (remover outer shell, insulation and affix to inner shell only)... but the inner wall of the cooler is so thin, flexible and flexes so much when hot that I think it would be more problematic than using the flat bottom.
Click to expand...

Ah sorry didn't know how you guys were going through the bottom. I think it would be possible to go through the side for a cooler, but sounds like it is more trouble than it's worth. My HLT is a keg so I have no experience with elements in coolers.
 
conpewter said:
Ah sorry didn't know how you guys were going through the bottom. I think it would be possible to go through the side for a cooler, but sounds like it is more trouble than it's worth. My HLT is a keg so I have no experience with elements in coolers.
Click to expand...

When you start playing with coolers, ultra hot HDPE liners and the water pressure agains them, they flex like mad, which causes sealing problems beyond comprehension.
 
brrman said:
SWEET - My wife called and my Auber Instr order just got delivered! I get to play with my PIDS.
Click to expand...

When you start having problems with cycle times, drop me a line... that seems to get everyone! Congrats.
 
will do - never had a chance to play with the PIDS. Got both elements epoxied and wired up though. Will be finishing the keggle tomorrow and the HLT this weekend. Then its on to the control box
 
Sweet, do you have a voltage indicator? Like a multi-meter?
 
oh yeah - I am no stranger to electronics projects so I've had one for years. For instance, I put a custom touchscreen computer in my car a couple years ago.
carputer%20open.jpg

carputer%20002.jpg


anyway - back on topic...
Was going to order my valves, silicon hoses and disconnects today but I misplaced my wallet! Lost it sometime between last night and this morning - how the hell is that possible?

I will have to continue with what I've got, so I can finish the keggle and install the HLT at least, and keep moving on the control box.
 
Pol...question on your wiring. From the distribution block did you run only two hots (with no neutral) to your element (with the SSR breaking one of those hots along the way) and running a ground from the BK back to the grounding bar?

I want to put a 30A switch for the element AFTER the distribution block and BEFORE the SSR to cut all power to it. Just wanted to confirm that wiring a neutral from the block to the switch gains nothing and that it gets the 2 hots and ground, thats it.

Thanks.
 
The switch will be a DPST switch, so you dont have the option of a neutral to that. Here is what I did.

DISTRIBUTION BLOCK----

2 HOTS----(BOTH to the DPST switch)
1 GOUND----(to the DPST switch)


FROM the DPST switch-----

2 HOTS----(one to the SSR and ONE to the dryer outlet where my element plugs in)

SSR---

ONE HOT in from the DPST switch
ONE HOT out to the dryer outlet
TWO inputs from the PID

DRYER OUTLET---

ONE HOT IN from the SSR
ONE HOT IN from the DPST switch
ONE GROUND to the grounding bar

Does that make sense?
 

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