Was not too sure if I should put this here or in equipment. Anyway here I go.
I have recently finished a single tier build. I have done two batches on it and both batches gave me a bit of trouble with temps. Here are the details:
I used a brew calculator to try and determine the heat loss. I brought my water to about 175 and transferred to mash tun. After adding my grain the temp dropped to 134 degrees. This seems excessively low. I used a grain temp of 45 degrees in the calculator and my target temp was 155 degrees.
On my second run I had the heat exchanger finished and was able to bring the temp back up to where it was suppose to be, but it took a bit of time.
What should my next steps be for figuring this out. I would like to have this down before my next brew.
One thing I forgot to mention. After my last brew I got black pipe insulation. I think it is about 1 inch thick, and wrapped the copper tubing between the BK & MLT; also on the lines leading to and from the heat exchanger.
I have recently finished a single tier build. I have done two batches on it and both batches gave me a bit of trouble with temps. Here are the details:
- I heat my mash water in my boil kettle then transfer to my Mash Tun
- My system is hard plumbed with copper and PEX. Probably 5 feet of copper
between BK and mash tun - Bk and Mash tun are both converted kegs.
I used a brew calculator to try and determine the heat loss. I brought my water to about 175 and transferred to mash tun. After adding my grain the temp dropped to 134 degrees. This seems excessively low. I used a grain temp of 45 degrees in the calculator and my target temp was 155 degrees.
On my second run I had the heat exchanger finished and was able to bring the temp back up to where it was suppose to be, but it took a bit of time.
What should my next steps be for figuring this out. I would like to have this down before my next brew.
One thing I forgot to mention. After my last brew I got black pipe insulation. I think it is about 1 inch thick, and wrapped the copper tubing between the BK & MLT; also on the lines leading to and from the heat exchanger.