General advice needed(regarding new to me brew rig)

[Rahahb]

I've been brewing 5 1/2 years using the very simple cooler mash tun, boil kettle method a lot of us started with. Has served me well but I wanted to upgrade to some automation and less lifting on the cheap. Didn't have time to build a new setup from scratch and this deal came along so I jumped on it. The guy I got it from built it. He doesn't know about brewing so I'm assuming he sorta followed someone else's build. In fact, he only brewed on it twice he said. He enjoyed building it more than he enjoyed using it.

Moving on, I'm posting pictures. If anybody wants specific pictures, please say so. I'm really excited about using it, but I feel like it's not 100% complete and I don't think a brew day would be fun at this point.

Here's the whole thing. Under the second table there is a large pre chiller. The lines weren't on or labeled when I got it so I put it together and cut many of the lines to fit since they were mostly the same length. I have no idea if this is the best config(doubtful) and am open to redoing them.


Herms setup/hlt.


Mash tun. I'm assuming he made this sprinkle thingy. It was designed to evenly sprinkle incoming water/wort but basically did nothing. I flipped it upside down so the incoming water would trickle off the edge. Before it would merely pool in the cup part, then run over the edge and collect back in the center on the bottom. Not sure if was designed to be submerged during wort recirc through the herms setup or what. Also, I do have a sparge arm I'd like to use. I'd like to close up that gap in the false bottom and there is a mash screen below that.


Kettle. The silicon tubing does a nice job whirlpooling, but I don't like how it is submerged in the boil, and resting on the bottom. I think I'd like to replace this with stainless.


The kettle/chiller.


3 chuggers total, each with these fittings and valves.


Control panel. I haven't taken it apart yet but I think I'm going to have to. I'll upload a picture when I do. There are 4 plugs on the bottom. Heating element, and the 3 pumps. The toggle switches control the pumps. The potentiometers control the pump speed. A quick look on chuggerpumps.com verified that is NOT recommended. I was under the impression this was capable of controlling each of those things. Not sure if that's true..


I've only hooked it up, and ran water/cleaner through it at this point. I have not been able to control the heating element. It just stays on. I'm not sure what each of the controllers manage, and I'm unsure why the one in the middle is different.

Got valves?? There are quite a few on here. I can make the liquid go where I want it but am concerned about the wort drain rate. If I use the valve on the pump to limit the outgoing wort to kettle, some of that wort will be diverted back to the herms coil. Not only that, but I think it's going to drain the mash tun to quickly. That could be solved with an end cap on one of the pump outlets, but then I'd need to reconfigure the rest of the tubing so I'm not sure if that's a good idea.

If you've made it this far, you deserve a beer. There are other things I haven't mentioned I'm sure, but I'll run across them later. Please, ask any questions you'd like. And don't hesitate to make suggestions regarding what I've mentioned or otherwise.

Help me get this thing running!:rockin:

 

[normonster]

Jesus Christ. That is something right there.

 

[Jorb]

You've gotta open that panel. The two similar controllers look like STC-1000s and the center is a PID, likely for controlling the mash temp.

 

[mongoose33]

I hope to graduate to something like this someday; I wonder if you ought not simply try to redesign it using the parts and pieces you have. That way you'd KNOW what it was designed to do and why, and you'd have confidence in the outcome. For instance, you already want to replace the silicon tubing w/ SS; perhaps there are other alterations you'd like to do?

I'm going to go have that beer now.

 

[day_trippr]

That's a rather impressive collection of gear - that just...might...work.
But what the heck is a "Digital Adjustor"?

Cheers!

 

[Sadu]

How much of a PITA are these things to clean afterwards?

While I imagine it's insanely fun shifting the liquid via pumps and hoses rather than lifting a bag between 2 plain kettles like I do, it does seem that any time savings would be lost in cleaning up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very jealous of that setup, just interested to know how the cleanup compares to a simpler system and whether it's worth the upgrade.

 

[Rahahb]

Jesus Christ. That is something right there.

Not sure if that's good or bad.

I hope to graduate to something like this someday; I wonder if you ought not simply try to redesign it using the parts and pieces you have. That way you'd KNOW what it was designed to do and why, and you'd have confidence in the outcome. For instance, you already want to replace the silicon tubing w/ SS; perhaps there are other alterations you'd like to do?

I'm going to go have that beer now.

Yeah, probably other things I'll discover along the way that I can improve.

That's a rather impressive collection of gear - that just...might...work.
But what the heck is a "Digital Adjustor"?

Cheers!

Idk myself. That's why I made the post! :fro:

How much of a PITA are these things to clean afterwards?

While I imagine it's insanely fun shifting the liquid via pumps and hoses rather than lifting a bag between 2 plain kettles like I do, it does seem that any time savings would be lost in cleaning up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very jealous of that setup, just interested to know how the cleanup compares to a simpler system and whether it's worth the upgrade.

I agree with the time issue. I haven't even used it yet but was doing some cleaning as the previous owner didn't do a thorough job. I don't know if I should leave those lines in place or not. Was hoping I could just run some pbw through everything and it would be good til next time. If not, removing all the stuff on this might be a pita every brewday.

You've gotta open that panel. The two similar controllers look like STC-1000s and the center is a PID, likely for controlling the mash temp.

Not going to lie. I'm a bit disappointed in this. I'm no electrician, but this looks pretty messy. And the 2 outside controllers do nothing but monitor temp. The middle PID controls the heating element in the HLT. That's as much automation as I'm going to get with this in its current state. I was hoping for these things:

1. auto temp control of HLT(check) and,
2. auto temp control of wort which would also need to control the pump to recirculate the wort.

I'm thinking a new front panel and some rewiring should do the trick but that will be a whole project in itself for me. The pots controlling the pumps would have made things a bit easier for flow control. Too bad they are detrimental to pump life...

 

[Jorb]

That is messy wiring. I see a Fotek SSR in there. There are reports of questionable quality on those. Some work, some die early.

You can control pump flow speed with a valve on the output. Never restrict the input.

I think you can control mash temp with that setup. Recirc through the HLT and control the HLT temp. It may respond to change slowly but I can't really say as I don't have experience with HERMS.

I would rebuild the panel both to make sure it works and to make sure all the connections are safe.

 

[Rahahb]

I think you can control mash temp with that setup. Recirc through the HLT and control the HLT temp.

I could. But then I'd have to sit there and watch it for an hour. Was hoping to "set it and forget it", giving me an hour to do whatever else I wanted(without having the pump running continuously for that hour).

Do you know if I can run the pump power through the 2 stc controllers? Or would those need to wired to a relay? The chugger site says they draw 1.4 amps. I'd also like to be able to manually switch them on. Can I wire the switch up to the outlet they are plugged into, if it's also getting a power wire from the controller with no ill effects? I'll do a bit more poking around tomorrow when my eyelids don't feel like a thousand pounds.

Cheers!

 

[Jorb]

Why do you think you would have to watch it? A lot of folks, myself included, run a mash recirc for the entire hour. I'm fine leaving my pump unattended for that time.

I think the STCs will run 10 amps.

 

[Rahahb]

I'm looking to extend longevity of pumps. I'm not sure how long these things usually go for.

Is that generally how things are done with the controllers? Just run the power through the stc to switch on pumps? I'll be lurking on some of the controller threads for a bit.

 

[The_Dog_42]

I'm looking to extend longevity of pumps. I'm not sure how long these things usually go for.

Is that generally how things are done with the controllers? Just run the power through the stc to switch on pumps? I'll be lurking on some of the controller threads for a bit.

I'd say you're more likely to reduce the life of the pump by turning it on and off. It takes more amperage to start a pump than keep it running and the higher amperage puts more stress on the windings, so switching it on and off may save electricity and noise, but it probably won't help pump life.

 

[day_trippr]

If you really want to avoid potential causes of pump motor failure, stick an SCR between the controller and the pump.
Relays don't know about electrical phase, SCRs do...

Cheers!

 

[curtisbrewer]

i have a question , if you don't mind sharing what did you pay for this ? theres a lot of expensive equipment/fittings and im dying to know haha. its going to take some work getting it to run like you want but all the tools and components are there. i see a lot of search button use in your future

 

[Rahahb]

i have a question , if you don't mind sharing what did you pay for this ? theres a lot of expensive equipment/fittings and im dying to know haha. its going to take some work getting it to run like you want but all the tools and components are there. i see a lot of search button use in your future

I paid 1200 for it all. I can't tell you if that's a good deal, or not. If I had built it, things would be different, but I didn't have the time necessary to research and build from scratch.

 

[TX_Brewing]

You did ok on the price, and have a very workable system, but it really needs some simplification. Just automating the HLT is fine since it is setup as a HERMS system. I second re-wiring the control panel, but first draw everything out as a schematic, and ask for advice here as there are some electrical gurus that can verify everything for you. By chance have you looked at the electric brewery website? It can probably shed light on the setup and give you ideas on how to simplify things. It looks like the previous owner didn't want to swap any hoses during the brew process, but it would have been much simpler IMO to just deal with a few hose swaps rather than a bunch of extra valves. Upside of simplifying the setup is you will have leftover parts you can sell on here and recoup some $$