Countertop Brutus 20

CornyKegs 728
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I ended up using my old 7.5 gal SS pot. It's a little wider than most of the turkey fryers but the element is located just below the 2 gallon mark so I think it should be fine if I'm going with the 3.5 gallon batch size.

I'm also looking for a way to anchor the ground wire to the pot itself. I tried to tie it into the element at the kettle but it didn't hold well. I was thinking of anchoring it with some JB Weld or something but not sure if that is going to work okay. Any thoughts from anyone?
 
How about JB welding a piece of copper that will sandwich the ground to the kettle to make sure the JB didn't get between the wire and the pot?

-OCD
 
mini1l said:
I've started gathering my parts to build the brutus 20. I believe the pot jkarp is using is a 6 gal aluminum pot. I'm having a hard time finding one that is roughly the same dimensions, i believe 14 inches high by 11 or 12 inches wide. I'm comparing jkarp's pot with the Home Depot bucket. Every 6 gal/24 qt pot I find online is super wide and not very tall.
Click to expand...

This is the one I use. It's got a lid.I don't really know the dimensions off the top of my head and I'm not where I can measure it, but it seems to work fine. I don't know if the height makes a difference other than a wider pot will boil off a little more. My system recirculates and heats up just fine (now that my element has been replaced :eek: ).
 
jkarp said:
Easy. Any big box hardware store will have 20A outlets that also work fine with "regular" appliances. Just swap yours out. It's perfectly OK, per code (even preferable) as kitchen circuits are 20A.

20a.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks, jk. My confusion was that on the plugs I was given, the horizontal prong was on the right; all of the outlets I could find had the horizontal prong on the left. We searched and found some cords that have the prong in the "right" place.
 
Sockmonkey said:
Thanks, jk. My confusion was that on the plugs I was given, the horizontal prong was on the right; all of the outlets I could find had the horizontal prong on the left. We searched and found some cords that have the prong in the "right" place.
Click to expand...

120V plugs look like the one in the picture. The cords with the angled prongs in the "wrong" place are NEMA 6-20 and are for 240 Volts.

https://www.hubbellnet.com/max_htm/tech_stuff/NEMA/front.html
 
For those with only 120v available, and wanting to do 5g batches, couldn't you use your electric range for the supplemental heat for boil? Put the immersed element at 100% and throttle the stovetop to whatever it takes to maintain boil?
This thread makes me want to rethink my system, I miss the smell of beer brewing in the house that lasts for at least a day.
 
bendavanza said:
For those with only 120v available, and wanting to do 5g batches, couldn't you use your electric range for the supplemental heat for boil? Put the immersed element at 100% and throttle the stovetop to whatever it takes to maintain boil?
This thread makes me want to rethink my system, I miss the smell of beer brewing in the house that lasts for at least a day.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a reasonable plan to me.
 
ddknight said:
I ended up using my old 7.5 gal SS pot. It's a little wider than most of the turkey fryers but the element is located just below the 2 gallon mark so I think it should be fine if I'm going with the 3.5 gallon batch size.

I'm also looking for a way to anchor the ground wire to the pot itself. I tried to tie it into the element at the kettle but it didn't hold well. I was thinking of anchoring it with some JB Weld or something but not sure if that is going to work okay. Any thoughts from anyone?
Click to expand...

This is how I grounded mine:

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/The-Electric-HLT-(or-how-I-built-a-water-heater-in-a-cooler)

You can get the copper sheets pretty cheap here:

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=313601

It worked really well. I used some JB weld to bind the copper ring to the heating element and then put a PVC cap on the end.
 
JK, just read the article on BYO, fantastic. Kudos again, you rock. :rockin:

My only gripe is that you didn't mention your dog food container fermenter! That one still blows my mind. :fro:
 
HarkinBanks said:
JK, just read the article on BYO, fantastic. Kudos again, you rock. :rockin:

My only gripe is that you didn't mention your dog food container fermenter! That one still blows my mind. :fro:
Click to expand...

He's saving that one for a separate issue of BYO. :rockin:
BYO appearances trump post count.

-OCD
 
HarkinBanks said:
JK, just read the article on BYO, fantastic. Kudos again, you rock. :rockin:

My only gripe is that you didn't mention your dog food container fermenter! That one still blows my mind. :fro:
Click to expand...

Hah! I did, but it got cut. It's in the pic though!
 
BYO has updated their site for the November issue and my Countertop Brewery is the feature article. In fact, at first glance, it looks like they've posted my full submission verbatim (the paper version was slightly edited, as expected). Parts list is there too. Woot!
 
jkarp said:
  • At boil end, Kettle element gets shut off, kettle lid goes back on, and CFC output gets plumbed to kettle lid. Turn pump on to allow hot wort to sterilize CFC & pump.
  • While sterilizing, hook up CFC coolant and dump lines to the sink. After 10 minutes begin coolant flow.
Click to expand...

For sterilization, are you running hot/boiling wort through the CFC for 10 minutes after knockout? Or are you running your sterilization step for the last ten minutes of boil?

Or do you adjust your hop schedule by 10 minutes?
 
I sterilize the last 10 min of the boil, much like one would drop an immersion chiller in the last few minutes. I cut power to the element the same time I start chiller flow. There's a bit of a sequence typo there.
 
jkarp,
I'm getting ready to order by PID, SSR and thermocoupler. I see your control box has a yellow connector for the thermocoupler. Did the connector come with the thermocoupler or was that separately ordered?
Thanks.....
 
yeah, my next ? was along the same lines as the previous poster, i found the ssr and the pid, but not the thermocouple on the auberin website. could you post a link to it?
thanks
 
cool, so how to you mount the thermocouple to the aluminum kettle with the 1/4" npt thread?
 
It screws into the rear of the Bargain Fittings sightglass with a 1/2 to 1/4 npt reducer from Home Depot.
 
jkarp said:
It screws into the rear of the Bargain Fittings sightglass with a 1/2 to 1/4 npt reducer from Home Depot.
Click to expand...

And just in case you want to go the stainless route:

http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/Fittings/cat364_1.htm

You'll want the '1/2" x 1/4" threaded NPT hexagon bushing'.

I must caveat that I haven't received the part yet so I can't 100% guarantee it will work, but it looks like exactly what we need.
 
jkarp said:
It screws into the rear of the Bargain Fittings sightglass with a 1/2 to 1/4 npt reducer from Home Depot.
Click to expand...

dang it, just placed my order for the water heater element nut and o-ring woulda added that to it if i would of known. owelll. ne way i am bout to place my order for the tc, pid, and ssr. I wish i didn't have to order the pid and save money i have a watlow 93 pid but don't know if it would work with this application.
 
Getting ready to drill 4 holes into my SS kettle for all the new parts.
Any suggestions on placement (radially and vertically) for these?

(1) Out valve
(1) Site glass / temp probe assembly
(2) 2kW water heater elements

Thanks!
 
The elements radiate up so you don't want to place them on top of each other. Here is how I drilled mine:

Out valve at 6 o'clock, as low as possible
Element one at 9 o'clock, slightly raised so it doesn't touch the other element
Element two at noon, as low as possible
Sight glass between 1 and 2 o'clock, as low as possible

I have a few pics I can email if you want to pm me your address. I can't post pics here.
 
I searched! really I searched but I can't find a thread on programing my PID. Can anyone point me to help on programing my PID....errrrr in laymans terms.
 
DrinknBuddy said:
I searched! really I searched but I can't find a thread on programing my PID. Can anyone point me to help on programing my PID....errrrr in laymans terms.
Click to expand...

No search needed, just read the instructions that came with it. If you got the Auberins one, there is an auto-tune mode. Just plug in your kettle, fill it with water, hit the auto-tune mode and let it roll.
 
But....i don't even know how to use it. Do I just set it to a mash temp and then when I'm ready set it again for my mash out temp.

Then set it to manual mode and keep tweaking the percentage to get a good boil?.

I guess I need a PID for Dummies thread.:confused:
 
JK, what flow rate are you getting through your CFC? I just put the pump/CFC-in-a-bucket together today and was testing it out. I've never used a pump or a CFC before, so I don't know what to expect. I'm getting about 1 gallon per minute recirculating from the BK through the CFC and back to BK.

I had 180 water in my BK to test for leaks and I was totally blown away when I connected the CFC water lines and the BK water came back out cold to the touch! CFC works great!

Thanks!
 
Sockmonkey said:
Getting ready to drill 4 holes into my SS kettle for all the new parts.
Any suggestions on placement (radially and vertically) for these?

(1) Out valve
(1) Site glass / temp probe assembly
(2) 2kW water heater elements
Click to expand...

If you're doing the thermocouple through the sightglass, try to set it at the same level as the out valve. That way it's reading is representative of what's flowing out. I'd suggest getting both as low as reasonable to minimize system loss, but you want enough space for break material and hops to settle to the bottom (1/2 - 3/4" maybe?)

Doing 2 elements is an interesting dilemma. I set my single so that 1 gallon just covered the element. Maybe do the 2nd just above perpendicularly?
 
DrinknBuddy said:
But....i don't even know how to use it. Do I just set it to a mash temp and then when I'm ready set it again for my mash out temp.

Then set it to manual mode and keep tweaking the percentage to get a good boil?.
Click to expand...

Don't sweat it - they're really simple. Once its gone through an auto-tune cycle to calculate the specific parameters for your system, it's really just a fancy thermostat. You use the up/down arrows to set the SV (Set Value) you want and the system heats until the SV is reached with little to no overshoot. The PID also displays the current temp as PV (Process Value).

When you don't care about a specific temp but just want to manage the element output directly, you switch to manual mode where the SV now shows a 0-100% output value, again adjusted by up/down.

There's an LED that tells you when power's being applied to the element and a couple of alarm LEDs that you can completely ignore (they can be programmed to trigger at various temps - I may eventually put some buzzers on mine so I can go watch TV while things are heating).

One last tip - because these things are "smart" and learn your system, it's possible to fool them by overriding the element power via the switch cutoff. in other words, if you've got a SV of 170 and you switch off the element at 165 PV, the PID will see its input is not causing the expected rise in temp and will increase power output accordingly. If you then switch the power back on, the temp will shoot up faster than the PID expects for the system and overshoot. I've found that if I've had the element switch off for a significant time (like during the mash), it's best to "reboot" the PID by unplugging it from the wall briefly before setting my next desired SV.

Hope this makes sense...
 
Baron ken said:
JK, what flow rate are you getting through your CFC? I just put the pump/CFC-in-a-bucket together today and was testing it out. I've never used a pump or a CFC before, so I don't know what to expect. I'm getting about 1 gallon per minute recirculating from the BK through the CFC and back to BK.

I had 180 water in my BK to test for leaks and I was totally blown away when I connected the CFC water lines and the BK water came back out cold to the touch! CFC works great!
Click to expand...

Impressive, aren't they? With Winter coming on, my tap water has cooled dramatically. Did a Mild with a friend Friday eve and it only took 15 minutes to bring 3.5 gal from boiling to 65 deg. I run my chill cycle at full speed - as fast as the pump will push the wort. When the PID says the temp is below 120, I pull the "dip-tube" off the inside of the kettle lid so the wort can splash back in to get a really good aeration.
 
jkarp said:
Impressive, aren't they? With Winter coming on, my tap water has cooled dramatically. Did a Mild with a friend Friday eve and it only took 15 minutes to bring 3.5 gal from boiling to 65 deg. I run my chill cycle at full speed - as fast as the pump will push the wort. When the PID says the temp is below 120, I pull the "dip-tube" off the inside of the kettle lid so the wort can splash back in to get a really good aeration.
Click to expand...

Yea, I had the pump valve full open during my test and it was transferring at ~ 1 gpm, but I'm unsure if that sounds normal or not. I'm hoping I didn't get a kink in my copper when I wound up the CFC.
 

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