My Ammo Can RIMS

[OCHawgy]

Hello HBT Forums! I am coming up on my three-year anniversary to homebrewing. I had a general interest in brewing ever since I discovered that I like beer because my uncle homebrewed. Then my wife got me a Mr. Beer kit for Christmas 2012. I brewed the three recipes that came with the kit and the rest is history. Less than six months later, I built a 15+ cubic foot keezer and was kegging 5 gallon, all-grain batches. I've done it all--extract, partial grain, all-grain, BIAB, 1/2 barrel batches, step mashes, etc. One thing I noticed, especially in the winter months, was keeping a consistent mash temperature was a PITA! I built a mash tun out of a cooler which helped out quite a bit, but I still had trouble in colder temps despite pre-heating the mash tun! As we progress with our brewing experience, we all like to branch out and try our own recipes. Now I faced another challenge--that of being able to brew a recipe with repeatable results. Over my three short years of brewing, I have learned that aside from sanitation, temperature control is a very important factor in recipe recreation! I had my 6 cubic foot chest freezer fermenting chamber doing what it was supposed to; now I just needed to figure out how to dial in a consistent mash temperature. About a year ago, I started to research HERMS and RIMS. To be honest, I kind of wanted to build a HERMS, but I didn't want to buy a kettle for it--yet. Eventually I will go all-electric, at which point I might build a HERMS rig, or HERMS/RIMS hybrid. Being on a budget, I decided to build a RIMS to utilize with I already had. :rockin: Hey, we are finally about to dive into the main point of this post! I honestly just wanted to post some pictures, which is what most readers scan these posts for. Like the majority of readers (I'd bet), I scoured the forums and google searches for RIMS ideas. Every bit of information helped, so I wanted to give a little bit back to the HBT community by sharing my build. Enough talk... lets get to a parts list and some pictures!

- 1 x AC Infinity 115V AC 80mm x 38mm Fan - $17
- 3 x 2 Position 2 Terminal NO SPST Rotary Selector Switch (10A 600V) - $12
- 1 x 24-480V AC DC to 3-32VDC Output Single Phase SSR 40A – $9.50
- 1 x Aluminum SSR Heat Sink - $6.15
- 1 x Leviton 5366-C 20A, 125V Straight Blade Industrial Plug - $9.30
- 1 x Leviton 2316 20A, 125V NEMA L5-20R Flanged Locking Outlet - $33.35
- 1 x Leviton 2311 20A, 125V NEMA L5-20P Locking Plug - $14
- 1 x Leviton 4715-C 15A, 125V Flanged Locking Outlet - $11.20
- 1 x Leviton 4720-C 15A, 125V NEMA L5-15P Locking Plug - $8
- 1 x Leviton 2315 20A, 125V Flanged Locking Receptacle - $24.70
- 1 x Leviton 2313 20A, 125V NEMA L5-20R Locking Connector - $17.60
- 1 x Alpinetech L22 Red 22mm 120V AC/DC LED Pilot Light - $6
- 1 x Alpinetech L22 Green 22mm 120V AC/DC LED Pilot Light - $6
- 2 x YuCo YC-GP-DPDT-2-30 Power Relay 120VAC Coil, 30A, 2 Pole - $52.30
- 1 x Camco 02932/02933 5500W 240V ULWD Water Heater Element - $14
- 1 x 25 ft Carol 10 AWG 3C SJOOW Power Cable - $37.90
- 1 x 50 ft Southwire 22973236 Simpull 10 AWG Stranded Wire - $23.90
- 1 x 100 ft Southwire 22955952 Simpull 14 AWG Stranded Wire - $27.90
- 2 x Blue Sea Systems 8 Circuit 20A Terminal Block - $9
- 100 x 16/14 AWG #6 Spade Terminal Connectors - $5
- 25 x 12/10 AWG ¼” Ring Terminals - $5?
- 1 x Cam A Camlock Quick Disconnect - $4
- 5 x Cam F Camlock Quick Disconnect - $20
- 4 x Cam Big C Camlock Quick Disconnect - $30
- 2 x Cam Kit BL Camlock Quick Disconnect - $21
- 1 x RIMS 18” Male Camlock I/O Ports Kit - $158
- 1 x 20 ft ½” ID x ¾” OD (1/8” Thick walls) Silicone Tubing - $43
- 1 x Auberins 1/16 DIN PID Temperature Controller SYL-2352 - $46.50
- 1 x Auberins Liquid Tight 4”, ½” NPT, RTD Sensor w/ 12 ft Braided Cable & XLRCON-M Connector - $53.35
- Chugger SS ¾” Center Inlet Pump - $150
- 1 x 1/2” NPT SS Ball Valve - $10.40
- 1 x Ammo Can – FREE
- Some zip ties, spray paint, bolts, nuts, tools, etc.

These prices are approximately what I paid for the parts. Various brands, suppliers, demand, etc. will influence the actual price. Some things I purchased in bulk because I plan on upgrading in the future. IE I purchased a pack of three mechanical relays, 100 ft of 14 AWG wire, etc. I may have forgotten a thing or two as well.


Outline of design


Getting ready to drill and cut


Pilot holes drilled




Lights, switches, and PID holes drilled/cut... didn't quite get that top-center switch centered, did I?!?


Everything is cut




Used a small wire brush... nice gunmetal look. I ended up spray painting the box because when I took a 'real' wire brush to the box, it looked terrible.


Test fitting the components.

 

[OCHawgy]

Taking a look at the space I am dealing with inside.


Wired up the terminal blocks. Ready for installation.


SSR and heatsink. Took some leftover CPU thermal grease and used it for the SSR base.


Thermal grease applied.


Freshly painted and freshly scratched lid with components.


Took the 25ft 10 AWG cable and wired it into two cables; one is for the power to the control box, and the other is the control box to the heating element. I went with 10 awg because I plan on upgrading to 240V in the future.


Last minute placement of the heating element DPDT switch... I only figured one of these in my design because I got hasty, so I forgot the separate mechanical relay for the heating element. After about two hours of thinking and refiguring the layout of some of the internals, I was able to find a perfect spot for this relay--the lid.


The random nuts and bolts sticking out from mounting the mechanical relays inside.


Outlet for the heating element and pump are in place... that bottom bolt on the bottom outlet was a PITA because I chose to go with the locking nuts!

 

[OCHawgy]

Got the switches and lights wired.


Starting to wire the outlets.


YAY! RIMS stuff came from Brewhardware.com. I decided to buy the tube rather than build it because I wanted 1) Easier cleaning and 2) quick disconnects. Brewhardware's RIMS tube was the perfect solution. The sanitary welding and camlock fittings was exactly what I was looking for. And for the price, I couldn't resist.


Last minute decision, I added the 80mm fan. I wasn't going to, but I decided during my build that it wouldn't hurt to have a little ventilation on the SSR heatsink since I placed it inside the ammo box. The holes on the left serve as an outlet for the air. Overall the entire box gets great airflow and the air coming out is not warm at all. Great success!!!


What a mess... wiring this stuff in an ammo box isn't easy. Got the grounds wired, SSR wired, fan wired, box DPDT relay wired (Oh, that mechanical relay covers were also a major PITA to install with the relay mounted inside the box. Had to remove the power inlet just to get a screwdriver in there.


PID is wired up. More wiring done to the switches and lights.


Put another coat of paint on the box to coverup the silver bolts.


XLR installed in place.




A little wire-management with zip ties to clean things up a bit.

 

[OCHawgy]

Got the heating element relay wired up. Also finished wiring the PID with the temperature probe wires.


A snapshot of the finished product. Definitely a tight fit!


Inside the box from a different angle.


The underside of the lid.


First power to the box! Success. Blew a break when I plugged the cable into the new GFCI outlet for the first time... scared the **** out of me when it popped. Wasn't plugged into the control box yet. I rechecked everything and haven't had any issues since. (No temp probe connected in the picture).


Pump switch on.


Heating element switch on.


Grabbed some wood I had laying around for a quick RIMS tube build so it wasn't just laying around.


RIMS tube and Chugger pump mounted. I also added a cap catcher on the side and drilled a beer bottle sized hole on top of the 4x4!


Close-up of the RIMS tube. It was mounted with bolts through the 4x4 since the triclover clamps had welded nuts on them.

 

[OCHawgy]

Got tired of the boil kettle screen getting blocked by hop material so I figured it was time to make a hop spider.


Function and leak testing!




And here we are today... got the PID tuned and brewed my second batch with the new RIMS build. Held protein rest temperature and saccharification temperature perfectly! That's my keezer in the background by the way.





Maintaining a steady 128 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[OCHawgy]

https://youtu.be/DH62pTZPdvc
First run after leak testing.

https://youtu.be/7iFJlZJuKqQ
Quick snippet of today's batch using the RIMS build.

I went for simplicity but with some control. I have three switches, which go from left to right. The first switch is the power-on to the box. I didn't add a light to this switch because if I have power, the PID turns on. If the PID doesn't turn on, something is wrong, end of brew day. The middle switch is for the power outlet to the pump and is associated with the green LED light. Obviously you want your pump running before your heating element fires, so it only makes sense to put this in sequence. I added the third switch for the element power, associated with the red LED light (red = hot) that way I can play with settings on the PID and not have to worry about the element firing if the element switch is in the off position. Also, by placing the components on the lid, I have the ability to let the can sit up-right (as shown in the pictures) or place it on it's side if I had the box sitting on a higher shelf or something.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this build. The first batch with the build was made before I tuned the Auberins PID. I had to set my target temp quite a bit lower to keep the RIMS tube from overshooting the target. After I cleaned up with the first brew, I completed the auto-tune function on the PID. Today I brewed my second batch with the RIMS and it performed flawlessly. I performed a protein rest, saccharification rest, and rose the temperature to mash-out temp with ease. The heating element I am using was already ULWD; running it at 120v instead of 240v gives me additional comfort that I won't scorch my wort as long as the pump is running. I was originally going to build this in a much larger enclosure so I can one day expand upon the build to move on to full-electric 240V. However, I had some ammo cans laying around, so I figured I would save $90 on the box I wanted to get. It was not easy getting everything to fit without components touching each other, but I was able to do so. I spent a couple days assembling everything, and took more than a couple trips to various hardware stores. I believe the scariest part about building your own control box has got to be the wiring. Dealing with electricity is obviously dangers and can be deadly. I designed and wired this control box with the help of an electrician. Electricity is not something to be messed with so please don't ask me, the non-electrician, for a wiring guide. I will answer questions though and help the best I can.

Next step on the upgrade list--a single tier brew stand, new kettles, and all-electric system. Prost!

 

[bigplunkett]

I like your style. My son wants me to make him a mini computer in one of my ammo cans.

 

[OCHawgy]

That would be really cool! I imagine a removable mobo tray would be a good route to go... but finding the right sized enclosure would be the challenge.

 

[bigplunkett]

Im thinking a 50 cal can or maby even 80 mm can if i can still find them.

 

[processhead]

Nice job repurposing the ammo can.
I have used them before for similar purposes.

 

[Bobby_M]

I really like the forsner bit drilled cup holder on the top of the RIMS tower.

 

[OCHawgy]

I really like the forsner bit drilled cup holder on the top of the RIMS tower.

Haha thanks! The tower was completely improvised, but it's functional and will suffice until I move to 100% electric and build a single tier system.

 

[BlurryEyed]

Curious how your build is holding up over the years! I may build a 120V variant of this just for regulating mash temps. Thoughts on that?

 

[OCHawgy]

Curious how your build is holding up over the years! I may build a 120V variant of this just for regulating mash temps. Thoughts on that?

It's held up very well and I've brewed quite a few batches with it. I created a single-tier brew bench and mounted my RIMS setup to it (pictures to come?) to prep for an eventual all-electric setup with two pumps. The control box is only 120V with one pump outlet, so when I make the switch to all electric I will use a larger NEMA panel with 240V BK and 240V HLT, 120V RIMS, and then the two pumps. I've only had one issue so far and it was probably because I didn't have my RIMS flow sufficient enough during a mash... I ended up scorching some wort. Cleaning up the heating element was a PITA, and I was worried that the beer wouldn't turn out but it was a damn good Munich Dunkel in the end.