How Long to Reach Boil

[PrrCabin]

Hello
I have a RIMS system 120v 5500w element and it's takes 1 hour to get from 152 to boil.

How long is too long to reach boil?

Thanks
Bob

 

[sicktght311]

5500 watts on 120v? did you mean 240? the max you can get at 120v is 2000watts if you're running on a 20amp circuit

 

[PrrCabin]

I running a 5500w 240v element on 120v

 

[Austin_]

I'm at 10 minutes from 168 to boil on a 4500w boilcoil with about 7.5 gallons of wort. I'd have no patience for an hour to go from mash temp to boil.

 

[PrrCabin]

And that is a 4500w 240v boil coil?

 

[sicktght311]

I running a 5500w 240v element on 120v

At 120v that element is putting out 1350ish watts, so yes that makes sense. Best you can do to speed it up is to upgrade to 1650watt 120v element or 2000 if you’re running on a 20amp circuit

 

[PrrCabin]

Once again
Thanks a bunch

 

[lump42]

Or add an additional element on a seperate circuit in the kettle, something like the hotrod from brewhardware would be the simplest to install.

 

[sicktght311]

Or add an additional element on a seperate circuit in the kettle, something like the hotrod from brewhardware would be the simplest to install.

Exactly. If you have two separate outlets running on separate breakers available, you can install a second element, or a drop in hot rod type device for ramp ups, and boil. I have a 120v 3 vessel 5 gallon system that i run off a single 1650watt element that works great, but in the event i decide to upgrade to 10 gallon. i can easily purchase the kettles, and keep my entire system intact, and just mount a second 1500watt element in the boil kettle and run it 100% power on a second 15amp breaker with the existing 1650watt under pid control. No need for upgrading to 240v until i absolutely need to as running lines are expensive for where my system is

 

[PrrCabin]

That a great idea!!!

Let me look up a hot rod

 

[jrgtr42]

Another option might be to talk to an electrician about having a 220-V outlet installed near your brew area. Presuming you have open spaces in the breaker box, it should cost under a hundred bucks all in to do. We had some electrical work done a couple years ago and I had him do that with an eye towards going electric. Second best idea I'd had for that (best idea was having a slop sink installed in the same area around the same time - it's near the water heater that was being replaced at the time)
I have the Avantco IC3500 induction burner and I can have my main runnings boiling before my batch sparge is done - so, 160-ish to boil in 15 minutes or so.

 

[Batteman87]

Hello
I have a RIMS system 120v 5500w element and it's takes 1 hour to get from 152 to boil.

How long is too long to reach boil?

Thanks
Bob

Just getting my new electrical system up and running this month so I'm not sure this will be much help. I grossly went from 150° to boil 214° (at my elevation), and it took about 15-20 minutes each time. I think I would hit my boil a little faster but I kept my controller on a preset to assess how it did. It tends to adjust the percent up/down as it nears the target temp in an effort to not overshoot. I will likely just switch to manual and have it at 100% power until I hit the boil. Should be able to maintain at 40% power. Are you able to adjust the power output to your system or is it just on/off? Just some newbie thoughts.

Cheers!

 

[Beer-lord]

Unfortunately I had to pay $400 to run a new 220V line! They had to run 80 feet so that was a chunk of the expense. For me, it was worth it. My system uses so little electricity, I can't even see the meter moving. Even with a nice Blichmann burner sipping propane, in a few years, I'll easily make that up. I overbuild my yeast and save $$$, buy bulk grains and hops and save $$$ so I feel I'm pretty efficient in my homebrewing that I can indulge myself in my hobby.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

Interesting. I didn't realize it can get to a boil that quickly. My breaker box is in the garage, and I could potentially set up a kettle within about 5 feet of it, so maybe adding the 220V line would be fairly inexpensive. The IC3500 would be a nice Father's Day gift.

 

[sicktght311]

Interesting. I didn't realize it can get to a boil that quickly. My breaker box is in the garage, and I could potentially set up a kettle within about 5 feet of it, so maybe adding the 220V line would be fairly inexpensive. The IC3500 would be a nice Father's Day gift.

A direct in-kettle element will always be much more efficient than something heating the pot up, so expect an induction burner to take much longer, especially if you're in a drafty garage.

With my 120v 1650watt single element in my HLT, i can heat up 9 gallons of HLT water (enough to submerge the coil, plus the 3-4 gallons i'll use for sparge), and 3-4 gallons of water in the Mash tun constantly circulated through the herms coil , in about 1.5 hours. Sounds like a lot for most people but 1) i didnt have to run any 240v lines or build a 240v controller. I'm just using an inkbird ipb16 slightly modified, 2) and I can fill my water the night before, and just flip a switch on when i wake up. Go make coffee, shower, grind grains, and then be ready to go.

My 6.5-7gallons of wort in the boil kettle take another 45-55 minutes to bring to a boil, but again, that just gives me cleaning time. I find slower heating times gives me time to make sure everything is working properly, gives me time to clean, and i can prep things while its heating. Plus i have a much smaller chance for boil over. 120v just means you get creative with using your time wisely

 

[cubalz]

I am running a 5500 watt coil on 240V and I can go from 152 to boil in around 10 minutes.

 

[PrrCabin]

All good information
Thanks everyone

I decided to go the 240v route. So I spent most of the day rewiring

My concern now is this:
Since I'm moving from a 5500w 120v element to the same element at 240v. Is this to big?
I could get a smaller 240v element if I need too.

 

[cubalz]

Bigger is always better (insert joke here). Go with the 240v element.

 

[PrrCabin]

Thanks Bro
Now I feel much better
Just broke out a Fruit Bazooka

 

[PrrCabin]

Ok
So I switched my 5500w 240v element from my RIMs tube to in my kettle.
Got much better results.
Went from 56 to 162 in about 24 minutes and to a boil in 15 minutes.
Works really well......

Now my next question:
I don't have a drain near by.
I do have a pump and a plate chiller that I was thinking I could use to chill the wort?

Does anyone have any insight or diagrams on how to use a pump with a plate chiller to cool the wort?

Thanks Millions
Bob

 

[mongoose33]

Ok
So I switched my 5500w 240v element from my RIMs tube to in my kettle.
Got much better results.
Went from 56 to 162 in about 24 minutes and to a boil in 15 minutes.
Works really well......

Now my next question:
I don't have a drain near by.
I do have a pump and a plate chiller that I was thinking I could use to chill the wort?

Does anyone have any insight or diagrams on how to use a pump with a plate chiller to cool the wort?

Thanks Millions
Bob

You can try recirculating the water for the plate chiller using a bucket of ice/water.

I use a counterflow chiller; in one side goes water from a garden hose connected to the outside spigot; that water comes out and can be returned to a drain, to outside, whatever, using another garden hose. So you don't necessarily need a drain right where you are. My drain is a floor drain and it's about 20' from the chiller, I just put the "out" hose in there.

If you don't have a water source like that, then pumping the water through a bucket of ice and water would be another solution.

 

[PrrCabin]

mongoose
Do you pump wort through the CC?

 

[mongoose33]

mongoose
Do you pump wort through the CC?

Yes. The water goes one direction, the wort goes the other.

When the boil is finished, I'll circulate the boiling wort through the counterflow chiller to sanitize it. It returns to the BK through a whirlpool arm. After the temp of the exiting wort is 200 degrees or so (sanitized!), which takes a minute or two, then I'll turn the water on. The effect is to be chilling the wort in the kettle, kind of like how an immersion chiller does it.

I have a thermometer on the output side of the wort line, so when the temp drops to 70 degrees, and I can control that by throttling the pump and/or the water flow, then I just start pumping that into the fermenter.

 

[PrrCabin]

Nice!!!