Hosehead Brewery

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Emailed corey last night the new hosehead has the new raspberry pi 3 which has some pretty big performance increases also he has added the ability to run 2 elements at once and up to 5 individually removable probes through the use of audio style plugs, it also has a new fan system that is suppose to be completely silent also he told me he could offer an upgrade for any older controllers to the raspberry pi 3 just drop it in and copy the hosehead configuration file to the new PI I will deffinatly be doing this upgrade
 
My Hosehead came in the mail today, which is exciting. Unfortunately, there's one problem -- when I ordered, it was the Hosehead 3BC, which was supposed to come with a length of unterminated 10/3 wire for power input. So, I had a NEMA L6-30 outlet installed and bought an L6-30 plug. In the meantime, though, Corey has updated everything (he didn't charge me the difference, so that's cool) to run on 50A for large or back-to-back batches, and now the power cord is 6/4 with a NEMA 14-50 plug attached.

Is there an easy/cheap converter to plug a 14-50 plug into an L6-30 receptacle? Otherwise, there's no reason I can't just replace the outlet myself, right? Even using 10ga wire to the 14-50 outlet?
 
jlongstreet said:
My Hosehead came in the mail today, which is exciting. Unfortunately, there's one problem -- when I ordered, it was the Hosehead 3BC, which was supposed to come with a length of unterminated 10/3 wire for power input. So, I had a NEMA L6-30 outlet installed and bought an L6-30 plug. In the meantime, though, Corey has updated everything (he didn't charge me the difference, so that's cool) to run on 50A for large or back-to-back batches, and now the power cord is 6/4 with a NEMA 14-50 plug attached.

Is there an easy/cheap converter to plug a 14-50 plug into an L6-30 receptacle? Otherwise, there's no reason I can't just replace the outlet myself, right? Even using 10ga wire to the 14-50 outlet?
Click to expand...

If you wanted to use both elements at the same time. You would want to upgrade your 30 amp GFI breaker, 10 guage wire and L6-30 outlet and plug to 50 amp Gfi breaker, 6 guage wire and 14-50 plug and outlet. If you were to only use one element at a time the the original power installation(L6-30) could be used. The reason for this is, L6-30 and 10 guage wire can only carry 30 amps, which is enough power for running only one element at a time at full power. If you wanted to run both elements simultaneously then 14-50 plugs/outlets, 50 amp gfi breaker and #6 wire would need to be installed. 14-50 outlets/plugs and #6 wire can carry the extra amps needed to run two elements simultaneously. Make sense?
 
rayf said:
If you wanted to use both elements at the same time. You would want to upgrade your 30 amp GFI breaker, 10 guage wire and L6-30 outlet and plug to 50 amp Gfi breaker, 6 guage wire and 14-50 plug and outlet. If you were to only use one element at a time the the original power installation(L6-30) could be used. The reason for this is, L6-30 and 10 guage wire can only carry 30 amps, which is enough power for running only one element at a time at full power. If you wanted to run both elements simultaneously then 14-50 plugs/outlets, 50 amp gfi breaker and #6 wire would need to be installed. 14-50 outlets/plugs and #6 wire can carry the extra amps needed to run two elements simultaneously. Make sense?
Click to expand...

Yes, I understand all that. I only want to run one element (I'm doing a BIAB system, so I only have one element to begin with). What I was asking is if I could easily plug the 14-50 plug into an L6-30 outlet, but I ended up answering my own question. After a quick chat with my electrician friend and a trip to Home Depot, I replaced the L6-30 outlet with a 14-50 outlet. Still on 10ga wire, but it's still on a 30A breaker, and a single element load, so there's no safety concern.
 
Another thing: Elsinore seems to recognize the temperature sensor when I plug it in (I only plugged in the yellow one, which is associated with element 1). However, it reads a constant 0.00F. What other setup do I need to do to get my temp sensor working?

edit: restarted Elsinore, everything seems to be working as expected
 
Hey folks, anyone using hosehead to control a RIMS tube? I cant find an element that is 220V and has low enough wattage so as to not scorch. Can you rewire the hosehead to run an element at 110v?

Thank you.
 
jimbonnet said:
Hey folks, anyone using hosehead to control a RIMS tube? I cant find an element that is 220V and has low enough wattage so as to not scorch. Can you rewire the hosehead to run an element at 110v?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

There are lots of 240v options.. I use an 1800w cartridge heater myself.. it's 36" long and ULWD.
 
I should have been more specific. I already have the 18" brewers hardware RIMS tube. I found that grainger has a 7.75" 240V 1500W Low density heater. Was just wondering if anyone found a longer one that may provide a lower watt density. Thank you. I'll keep looking around.

edit: just found plumbingsupply.com has a couple different elements that would probably work.
 
So I have gotten to test my hosehead and all seems well. I do have a question about the boil. I was able to get my HLT auto to work. When I go to boil am I able to just set it to 212 and let it ride the duration of the boil?
 
You could but doing the manual setting and percentage is how most people do the boil. I start at 100% and once the boil starts lower it to about 66% to maintain the boil
 
jimbonnet said:
I should have been more specific. I already have the 18" brewers hardware RIMS tube. I found that grainger has a 7.75" 240V 1500W Low density heater. Was just wondering if anyone found a longer one that may provide a lower watt density. Thank you. I'll keep looking around.

edit: just found plumbingsupply.com has a couple different elements that would probably work.
Click to expand...
I know this is old and slightly off topic, and you probably have a solution by now but I just saw it... There are many 18" and shorter low watt density options at 240v for that rims enclosure... you could still use a cartridge heater and just mount it in an adapter for your rims mounting..
 
I do use 2 seconds and 66% but that is system specific, I tend to maintain a boil throughout the cycles but that doesnt mean it works for everyone...or even most.
 
Just thought i'd chime in, for 5.5 gallon batches(7.5 gallons starting) i stick to about 70% 3 Second duty cycle. It gives me a good boil without being super vigorous, it pulses a bit but never outright dies. Similar to what i experienced when i was using propane.
 
i have done a few brews on my hosehead (newer 5bc) and it is working pretty well. my main issue is losing wireless connectivity to http://<hosehead ip address>:8080 and not being able to control anything till it decides to come back. it appears to be when i have connections open on multiple computers/tablets/smart phones or when i open the temperature data. what do other finds to be the most reliable connection method? 1) monitor/keyboard/mouse direct connect (hdmi, usb) 2) wireless web browsing 3) lan web browsing 4) any other option :)
 
1, 3, 2 are the orders of reliability.

I couldnt get Wifi to work reliably on my DIY Strangebrew box, it sort of worked but the wifi dongle inside a big steel box(understandably) caused it to be slow and go out every once in a while even when its only like 20 feet from my wifi router through a wall. So i wired my ethernet port, never a problem since and i connect with my laptop and phone at the same time.
 
Thanks again for the help. 2sec at 60% worked out great for my setup. Brewed an IPA that won an award at the state fair. It rocking away in the fermentation chamber with the brewpi.

My Hoser rims box worked well. I have it setup with two probes (one in the tune and one in the tun). I used the tun probe to get everything to temp the switched to the tube probe afterashing in. It work really well. Some of the clearest wort I have ever started with.

Thanks agian
 
I purchased the 5BC a couple weeks ago. I will probably have my new system set and ready to test in a week. Question is, how do I get the 5BC set up? Just plug everything in and power it up? Does it have to be hard wired to the router?
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
So what is the best way to hook a Hosehead 5bc to a monitor with only VGA?
 
well,thats DVI think the monitor i have is VGA, and the adapters seem expensive
 
jdr01 said:
I purchased the 5BC a couple weeks ago. I will probably have my new system set and ready to test in a week. Question is, how do I get the 5BC set up? Just plug everything in and power it up? Does it have to be hard wired to the router?
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Just hook it up and turn it on.Unlike the older models the 5BC will auto start,then click on chromium browser and that should take you to your temp sensors.The 5bc also has built in wifi so as long as it can see your home network there is no need to hardwire to your router
 
Paladen said:
well,thats DVI think the monitor i have is VGA, and the adapters seem expensive
Click to expand...

Flat screen monitors are usually free at your local dpw or recycling yard and rarely have anything wrong with them. Since so many people are getting rid of thier pcs for laptops or tablets and most think you need a new monitor every time you replace your pc..(Got to love the throw it away society we are in). I have like 8 22" led and lcd monitors I have grabbed from there myself for projects and for others who were still using smaller monitors (including the 28" lcd monitor im using now.) or maybe pick up a small flat screen tv or monitor for $20 on Craigslist...
 
augiedoggy said:
Flat screen monitors are usually free at your local dpw or recycling yard and rarely have anything wrong with them. Since so many people are getting rid of thier pcs for laptops or tablets and most think you need a new monitor every time you replace your pc..(Got to love the throw it away society we are in). I have like 8 22" led and lcd monitors I have grabbed from there myself for projects and for others who were still using smaller monitors (including the 28" lcd monitor im using now.) or maybe pick up a small flat screen tv or monitor for $20 on Craigslist...
Click to expand...
Yep,thats about what I did $25 including shipping on ebay monitor and a few bucks for an adapter,think Iam happy w it.
 
Any further updates on how happy people are with Hosehead BC? I have read all of the pages on HBT and wanted to know if there are any updates on how their systems is working?
 
I did my 2nd full brew (also did a couple water brews to test) and it went well. I moved to a usb keyboard and mouse and hdmi screen and that made a huge difference. i would still get a little sluggish everyone one and a while but i always had full control. some little nitpicks:

- the pump buttons are right on top of each other and when you are brewing it is easy to hit the wrong one.
- the PIDs seem to work OK but it would be nice to be able to tune them and the learning algorithm seems a bit off
- i still can't find any documentation on how hysterisis works.
- the graphs of temp etc.. are awesome but it seems to really bog down the system to the point of being unuseable during the brew day. i have been unable to get them to offload off the system but that is likely driver error.

nitpicks aside, it seems to be very well made. the big fan on top is a bit odd but it seems to do the job. the pump, element and power cables are all solid. it would be nice to have a physical override for those so i'm not worried about fat fingering something and accidentily frying and element or squirting boiling wort all over the place. i have just been unplugging them but since it is under my bench is a bit of an unnatural act.

happy to answer any questions you have. all in all i have been very happy and you can not beat the price. i spent more on shipping parts for the controllers i built myself than i did on this whole setup :)
 
Ive done 4 brews w it,and it's OK . Agree with Hommel,there is a lack of information on the new model.
If you like tinkering w software and the like then you will probably be fine.
 
I finally got around to installing the 50 amp electrical stuff. Plugged in the hosehead and I have no indication that there is any power. Does the red power/reset switch have an indicator light? Looks like a reset on one side but that does not change anything in either position. Yes there is power to the outlet.
 
I have a Hosehead Uno controller and love it. I have been using it for a year without any issues and interface it with a web browser via my laptop and my Android phone.

-Joe
 

Similar threads

S
Brewzilla Gen4 Discussion/Tips Talk
30 31 32
Replies
1K
Views
116K
Mucklemann
Mucklemann
CanofShiz
Vacation to Seaside Oregon
Replies
4
Views
645
Deric
Deric
S
Something You Wish You’d Started Doing Sooner (in Home Brewing)
2
Replies
49
Views
4K
mattdee1
mattdee1
3 Dawg Night
FotHB XIX: Legal to Drink in Canada
2 3
Replies
86
Views
3K
3 Dawg Night
3 Dawg Night
Hoppy Possum
💥A Homebrew Comp Unlike Any Other💥
Replies
0
Views
636
Hoppy Possum
Hoppy Possum

Latest posts

Back
Top