We need help with heat shielding our keggles

[blackheart]

We were all set to brew a batch on our new all grain system when we noticed the outside of our insulation starting to melt and come unglued. The problem was heat from the two burners was creeping up the sides of the insulation and we could not fix it on the spot so we had to cancel the brew day.

Here is a picture showing where the problem areas are.

We used a 1/2" sheet of wool wrapped in 2 layers of duct tape. A foil waterproof tape was used at the top and bottom to hopefully deflect some heat and add a waterproof seal. None of this worked as expected after about 20 min of the burners being turned on.

The problem is that if we want to hit any of our target brew dates to have beer for the holidays/new years we need to get brewing asap, ideally, next weekend.

What we need to do is find a solution to shield the insulation from heat, maybe some kind of skirt, or deflector or wrap or something else, but we are hoping to figure that out soon, order what we need and patch this problem up before the weekend.

If you have some experience with this or have a suggestion we would love to hear them.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Just an FYI.....I know the insulation you are using is not real wool but burning real wool gives off a good amount of cyanide gas.

 

[billtzk]

That's your mash tun, right? There's no need to insulate an HLT or boil kettle.

Maybe just don't insulate that low on the keg? Remove the bottom six or eight inches of insulation?

I haven't insulated my MLT, but I may do so this year as I had a hard time keeping the temp stable in the winter last year.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Agreed, remove the insulation on the lower portion of the keg or all together if it's a HLT or BK

 

[blackheart]

Right now insulation is on all 3 keggles, Only the HLT and Kettle are direct fired. The MLT is indirect through HERMS recirculation. Removing the insulation from the others could solve the problem. If that ends up being the easiest solution we may have to go with that. We're going to wait a bit to see if we can come up with any other ideas first as cutting off the insulation is easy and should only take a few minutes.

 

[slakwhere]

um, why insulate the BK and the HLT if they're direct fired?

 

[blackheart]

um, why insulate the BK and the HLT if they're direct fired?

Everyone else was doing it? It seemed like a good idea at the time? Overall effency. It looked cool?

 

[zanemoseley]

I agree, unless you're having problems getting a rolling boil on your BK then there's no reason to insulate.

 

[onejdn]

Yeah you definitely don't need to insulate the HLT or the BK. Polishing those kegs will look better anyways.

 

[Bobby_M]

I think it's wrong to say there is NO reason to insulate. One reason could be to curb heat loss in a really cold brewing environment. I suppose the question would be, is it worth the trouble?

If you want to keep it, and I'm assuming this is mineral wool, you'll have to use a metal wrap, not a tape. Aluminum flashing works.

 

[blackheart]

I think it's wrong to say there is NO reason to insulate. One reason could be to curb heat loss in a really cold brewing environment. I suppose the question would be, is it worth the trouble?

If you want to keep it, and I'm assuming this is mineral wool, you'll have to use a metal wrap, not a tape. Aluminum flashing works.

Can you link to a product so we can check it out before cutting off te insulation?

 

[Bobby_M]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/direct-fire-mlt-insulation-project-154652/

 

[finley]

I don't know if it'll work on the insulation you are doing, but when I was building propane forges I'd use high temp insulation blanket and coat it with ITC-100. I usually did sustained burns at 2500 degrees+ so it should stand up to a burner for a kettle.

It's basically a high temperature clay that you paint on.

 

[blackheart]

Well it's garbage night tonight. Looks like the HLT and kettle are having their insulation cutoff. Thanks everyone for the suggestions and help!