Brewzille Gen 4 35L Max Temp? 215 Degrees F

[hunchonbeer]

I disabled PID when heading into the boil. Set the target temp to 220, then to 225 and the max temp I can hit is 215. It's a light rolling boil, but not vary vigorous. In a 60 minute boil, I boil off maybe a half gallon. This is the 110v system.

What are you experiencing?

 

[DuncB]

Did you confirm that temp with another thermometer?

 

[Bobby_M]

You can't force water to boil at a higher temperature than it boils at. This is basic physics. It's also not boiling at 215F so I suspect you need to correct the calibration of the probe so it shows closer to 212 (at least that's about the highest boiling point to expect).

The 120v / 1600 watts systems all sort of reach a boil, just as you're seeing. Nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[passedpawn]

You can't force water to boil at a higher temperature than it boils at. This is basic physics. It's also not boiling at 215F so I suspect you need to correct the calibration of the probe so it shows closer to 212 (at least that's about the highest boiling point to expect).

The 120v / 1600 watts systems all sort of reach a boil, just as you're seeing. Nothing out of the ordinary.

boiling temperature at the Dead Sea, border of Isreal and Jordan, is ~ 215F. But yea, not cleveland.

 

[hunchonbeer]

Ok guys, I know 212 is boiling here in good old Cleveland. I'm trying to get a vigorous boil going so that if needed I can boil off more water. Again, this is a gentle rolling boil. I'd probably have to do about 2-3 hour boil to boil off a gallon the way it's working. So the question to people who have a Gen 4, are you able to get a vigorous boil? And no, I've only recently been reading about the temperature calibration issues. I ordered the heat exchanger and will calibrate the thermometer once I get that installed. Either way, setting it to 225, 13 degrees above boiling, should have taken me to a pretty vigorous boil I would think. Apologies if I emphasized the temperature, that wasn't the point.

 

[doug293cz]

Ok guys, I know 212 is boiling here in good old Cleveland. I'm trying to get a vigorous boil going so that if needed I can boil off more water. Again, this is a gentle rolling boil. I'd probably have to do about 2-3 hour boil to boil off a gallon the way it's working. So the question to people who have a Gen 4, are you able to get a vigorous boil? And no, I've only recently been reading about the temperature calibration issues. I ordered the heat exchanger and will calibrate the thermometer once I get that installed. Either way, setting it to 225, 13 degrees above boiling, should have taken me to a pretty vigorous boil I would think. Apologies if I emphasized the temperature, that wasn't the point.

The boil vigor is limited by the max power that the element can provide at your supply voltage. Most 120V AOIs struggle just to maintain a gentle boil. You could add an auxiliary heating element or switch to a 240V unit (but unless your unit is designed for it, don't plug a 120V unit into a 240V outlet.)

Brew on

 

[DuncB]

Insulation on the brewzilla might help.
If you don't have the jacket, or want something that works as well or better without the extreme hassle of taking the custom one on and off and cheaper just make it out of a camping sleeping mat.

 

[Neldog0]

Ok guys, I know 212 is boiling here in good old Cleveland. I'm trying to get a vigorous boil going so that if needed I can boil off more water. Again, this is a gentle rolling boil. I'd probably have to do about 2-3 hour boil to boil off a gallon the way it's working. So the question to people who have a Gen 4, are you able to get a vigorous boil? And no, I've only recently been reading about the temperature calibration issues. I ordered the heat exchanger and will calibrate the thermometer once I get that installed. Either way, setting it to 225, 13 degrees above boiling, should have taken me to a pretty vigorous boil I would think. Apologies if I emphasized the temperature, that wasn't the point.

I have the Brewzilla 35l. By no means am I telling you what to do. I had a huge learning curve to get this unit to work as expected. Calibration is number one. In settings set to controller to forget calibration and start with calibration 1. This is important: don’t do this while brewing. Just put water into your tank. I used about 3 gallons. Set calibration 1 to what your lowest Mash In temp is going to be. Start your heating elements. When you teach that temp, set Calibration 1. Save Calibration 1. Note: once you save a Calibration, don’t go back to it. If you do you’ll have to recalibrate. Next, go to Calibration 2 and let the unit get to a rolling boil. Once it gets to a rolling boil set Calibration 2, save and you should be good to go. Also, you may have to go back and fine tune the Calibrations if you find that you want to tighten up the temps a bit.
This method of calibration improves your repeatability by up to 47%.
The HED does help, & the Bluetooth thermometer smooths out temps for your Mash.

 

[Neldog0]

Ok guys, I know 212 is boiling here in good old Cleveland. I'm trying to get a vigorous boil going so that if needed I can boil off more water. Again, this is a gentle rolling boil. I'd probably have to do about 2-3 hour boil to boil off a gallon the way it's working. So the question to people who have a Gen 4, are you able to get a vigorous boil? And no, I've only recently been reading about the temperature calibration issues. I ordered the heat exchanger and will calibrate the thermometer once I get that installed. Either way, setting it to 225, 13 degrees above boiling, should have taken me to a pretty vigorous boil I would think. Apologies if I emphasized the temperature, that wasn't the point.

I need to add that life on the Brewzilla becomes much easier if you use a secondary thermometer for the mash & you utilize the recirculating function & adjust your heating percentages accordingly.

 

[hunchonbeer]

Insulation on the brewzilla might help.
If you don't have the jacket, or want something that works as well or better without the extreme hassle of taking the custom one on and off and cheaper just make it out of a camping sleeping mat.

Thanks, I do have a jacket. I just got the heat exchanger for it and I'll be checking the calibration.

 

[hunchonbeer]

I need to add that life on the Brewzilla becomes much easier if you use a secondary thermometer for the mash & you utilize the recirculating function & adjust your heating percentages accordingly.

Thanks, I am considering the bluetooth thermometer. Just added the heat exchanger.... Will try that. I have it wide open at the full 1500w.

 

[Neldog0]

I disabled PID when heading into the boil. Set the target temp to 220, then to 225 and the max temp I can hit is 215. It's a light rolling boil, but not vary vigorous. In a 60 minute boil, I boil off maybe a half gallon. This is the 110v system.

What are you experiencing?

Did you read my replay about how to recalibrate?