SouthPaw Brew Rig (RIMS, Control & March Pump Toolbox's)

Here's to all the great DIY ideas from HBT'ers on this forum. I used plenty to make my rig. All the ideas, help, and threads were priceless to getting my rig up and brewing and to helping me plan what I wanted from my rig. Thanks and here she is:



Here is the spreadsheet for the control box and rims tube portions of the build

My control box is pretty much straight from the 2p-twent-e box.

Find it here



A special thanks to Boerderij_Kabouter for all his help in getting the wiring right for the box. There was plenty of times I could of made a wrong turn.

The Tri-Clover RIMS tube is from Brewer's Hardware. This RIMS tube kicks a$$ and just looks sweet. Derrin's craftsmanship on the tube is incredible and he's great to work with. It is really the centerpiece of my set up now. The ability to break it down and clean it is so much of a plus after your brew day.

Find the Tri-RIMS Tube here

Another idea from 2p-twent-e set up is the move able RTD. I really like this detail on my rig. I have a thermowell on the tri-clover rims and my MLT. It allows me to take temps from those 2 places at any point in my brewing. I can also add thermowell points to any place on my set up in the future if I find a need to.


RTD entering the Tri-Clover RIMS tube


RTD entering MLT

One of the first DIY'er projects I did was to build a march pump toolbox. I thought I would eventually take the pump from the box and mount it on my stand. I like having the pump in the box. It keeps it clean, I don't have problems with heat, and it's mobile if I need it to be.

Find the march pump tool box here. (This is the one I followed when I built mine)

Nice setup Southpaw. That RIMS tube is Cadillac.
What element did you use with that and how is it working as far as increasing temps?

I used a LWD 4500W, 240V, fold back element run at 110V. I just yesterday finished upgrading to the stainless camlocks and the stainless bulkhead returns on the MLT AND HLT/Boil kettle. I will be testing for leaks and then gauging heating times this week. I'll post when I get some info on that.

Looks awesome!!!! I love the red box on the craftsman stand.

I had picked up the craftsman cart months before I ever started building the box. Once I bought the toolbox I remembered about the cart in the storage unit. Just pure chance that I got both red, worked out nice.

Thanks again for designing the box and helping troubleshoot my version. It's a great part of my rig and a fun build to complete.

Great job.
I ready to start on mine. Tired of dragging out, and then tripping over hoses and cords.

Nice build! Definitely bookmarking this.

southpawbrew said:

I used a LWD 4500W, 240V, fold back element run at 110V. I just yesterday finished upgrading to the stainless camlocks and the stainless bulkhead returns on the MLT AND HLT/Boil kettle. I will be testing for leaks and then gauging heating times this week. I'll post when I get some info on that.

Click to expand...

How did you get the 240V element to run at 110V? I'm looking to go electric soon and starting to gather ideas.

Its just wired the same as if its a 110V element. The element then runs as a percentage of the total wattage but creates results similar to an ultra low watt density element. Somewhere on HBT there is a thread or 2 that describe the equation. Off the top of my head a 240V 4500W element run at 110V runs somewhere close to 1125W. Result means that the 1125W is distributed throughout the longer length element (mines around 14") and thus lowers the risk of scorching. That's the thought anyway. Like many topics there's debate on it.

What happened to the pics?

southpawbrew said:

One of the first DIY'er projects I did was to build a march pump toolbox. I thought I would eventually take the pump from the box and mount it on my stand. I like having the pump in the box. It keeps it clean, I don't have problems with heat, and it's mobile if I need it to be.

Find the march pump tool box here. (This is the one I followed when I built mine)

Click to expand...

Is there any advantage to using a dimmer switch the throttle the pump? Will the even work?

BrewMoreBeers said:

Is there any advantage to using a dimmer switch the throttle the pump? Will the even work?

Click to expand...

No that won't work. If you want to regulate flow you have to restrict flow on the outlet of the pump.

Cool, thanks. I have a ball valve on my outlet, but I have not yet made my tool box... I will skip the fancy switch and keep it simple.

BrewMoreBeers said:

... but I have not yet made my tool box...

Click to expand...

If questions come up I'm happy to help. I know I got a lot of help here when I was building mine. I just finished building the box for the rims tube electronics on the heating element, followed the instruction here. A great resource is http://theelectricbrewery.com

Good luck