Islandboy85
Well-Known Member
I'll be documenting my conversion to electric here. Feel free to comment.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469588813.967477.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1469588813.967477.jpg
nice to see others on this forum using cleco's
3500w might be a little low to boil 14 gallons IME.
Your 30 minute calc include losses?
Might also be a tad weak on the boil, just guessing based in my observations.
How big is your kettle? Larger the kettle surface area, larger the heat loss.
Are you limited to the 3.5 in the BK? I'd go bigger if not. You are right putting more power in the HLT. I have two 5.5's in mine. Waiting for water to heat is something I do not do.
You can't do any harm loading your wiring less but I do not think the "80% rule" applies to the systems most are building here. It applies to "continuous" loads that operate at full load for more than three hours. That just cannot happen unless your controller is malfunctioning and you would probably then notice your HLT boiling
It seems the code also covers water heaters below 150 gallons. That's essentially what this is.
doing back to back batches there's a chance you will be running both elements full tilts simultaneously.
Ischiavo has is right the 80% rule applies to continuous loads. If your worried about code do not hard wire the panel into the box. Hard wire it to an outlet and put a plug on your panel. Portable equipment is not looked at for code only the outlet and breaker box.
I run two 5500 watt elements on a 50 amp breaker. I'm right at 240v at the plug and even running back to back my AMP never get above 42. I see pulses of 42 but only for just a few minutes. I've never had the breaker trip. I was super paranoid when I installed the circuit. So, for the first three or four batches I'd run up into the attic and use my inferred thermometer to shoot the wire. At max blast (42 amps) I saw not difference between the wire and the ambient temp.
I'm a little worried about the breaker. Built with DR Horton. In the last six months they've had to replace four breakers, and another one to be replaced this week. I'd be super pissed to have one pop mid brew. Thanks for clarifying the difference between the hard wired vs portable part. Also, the other reason I don't want to push the amps is that the breaker is in my garage, and the outlet is in the back yard, so I'm looking at probably 75' of wire already before I hit the 15' extension cord for the control panel. That is a decent run of wire.
looking at probably 75' of wire already before I hit the 15' extension cord for the control panel. That is a decent run of wire.
Outside! Now you are talking big dollar wire. Outside means no nomex. 6 gauge XHHW wire is about 1 dollar a foot. Let's see 4 strands of 75 foot at 1 dollar a foot. Ouch! 300 in just wire add in the conduit and breaker. OUCH!
I've never seen a breaker go bad. I've had some overly sensitive ones but never a bad one. 4 in one breaker panel leads me to believe there is something else wrong with the panel. They better go play the lottery because their odds of winning are better then having 4 bad breakers.
The outlet is already run when they built the home. They probably were overly sensitive, but it's annoying to have them trip all the time. The wire they ran was Nomex. All wire is in the attic and internal walls until it penetrates the wall to the RV panel.
Is it in the ground? If it is it's not to code. Nomex cannot be used in wet areas. Anything that touches the ground is considered a wet area. Anything outside that is unprotected or exposed to the elements is considered a wet area. If it is nomex that could be why they are tripping all the time.
Ah picture say 1000 words. Gfi outlets go bad all the time. I had to replace almost all of mine.
The thing is is that they didn't put GFCI outlets in. They put in GFCI breakers.
I have never installed a gfci breaker in a house. Receptacles that can be reset at the point of use make so much sense if the installer cares to think. Is your panel full of arc fault breakers too? Michigan is resisting arc fault so far. The concept is good but arc fault will have far more nuisance trips than gfci. Not to mention a $100 panel with $1000 of breakers.
So I've realized I made an error when I bought my 50 amp extension cord for the control panel power. It has a male and female end. Obviously I'll need the male end to plug into my outlet on he wall. I haven't found a male receptacle, so I'm guessing they don't make them. That leaves me with either chopping the female end off, and adding a $20 or so male plug and using a regular $10 50 amp four prong range receptacle on the enclosure, or chopping off the end of the cord, and getting a $30+ strain relief. Ideally I think a removable power cord might be better, but I'm not opposed to it being permanently attached either.
Do not terminate the cord with a live male plug!!! Either 1) cut the female end off and hard wire inside the panel with a strain relief, 2) leave the female end on and create a pigtail cord out of the panel with a male end, or 3) get the proper 50a male inlet (e.g., NEMA L14-50).
Edit: Not cheap, and not NEMA rated, but here is a 50a, 3 pole plus ground male inlet from Leviton. https://www.emisupply.com/catalog/l...gclid=CIv4nZim2M4CFUFkhgod2OUNhA#.V7yngvkrKUk
Yes, do not build a male plug that has the potential to be hot....that's a cattle prod you do not want in your brewery!
Shame they don't make 50 amp range style 4 prong male receptacles for enclosures. If they do I have not found them yet. That's what I really wanted [emoji53]
I'm looking at the Cooper TCI497. It's $36 on Amazon.
Augiedoggy, what did you use for your strain relief/cable gland? I'm looking at the Cooper TCI497. It's $36 on Amazon.
OMG $36, that better relieve a lot of strain for that kinda money lol...
Enter your email address to join: