Brew stand 2.0

After originally going the weldless route for the stand with keggles. (I built the stand and had 2 kegs) I decided to go the welded route with pots. Here is what I have done so far:

Most of the pieces



Two 15 gallon pots


One 20 gallon pot


Conversions.....











Solder the couplers process



Digital temperature readout with switches for the pumps










more to come I'm planning on building the stand next weekend.

If you want more pics I've got them....

 

Looks great! Where did the kettles come from? They look like some off eBay I've been looking at.

 

Those are them, 308 shipped.

 

What are you doing to those pumps? Those fittings look wicked small diameter. If you leave those in place I see a major source of aggravation in store...

Cheers!

 

They are the quick disconnects from mcmaster that go to a 1/2 barb.

 

yeah i really don't think its going to work out for you.... tell you what, i'll give you $50 for shipping and you should just send it to me and cut you losses
JK this is going to be really fun build for you. I'm glad that you bought a mig welder and you are going to (i'm assuming your learning to weld) and give welding a go. I just got a welder for X-mas and have gottin pretty good at it. Watch a few youtube vids and a few hour of practice.... poof self taught welder.
-i'm a Ok welder but a great grinder

 

First attempt at welding...not so good


got much better though




Just a bunch of practice with lots more to come

 

When can I come over to play with your new toys?

 

looks like my first weld. Obvious tip, keep the negative clamp close to your work. That helped my welds a lot.

 

I have a height question, which option do you think would be better?
Option 1 is the shorter one at 27 inches
Option 2 is one that is 6 inches taller at 33 inches

I am very closely represented by the figure in the images.

 

What are you doing with your weldless stand? I might be willing to make the 30 minute drive south to take it off your hands. Are you a FOAM member?

 

I have already sold it. I am not currently a member but thinking about it very soon.

 

Got it designed. More practice welding this week and start welding it up next weekend.

 

Got the steal

 

I would say if you want it rock solid and I mean holding a ton put two casters in the middle!

 

Pretty good idea....probably not a bad way to spend 25 bucks!

 

Steel:


Cut steel, I still need to cut the 45 degree angles. Not sure how I'm going to do that I can't find a 8.5" metal blade for my miter saw.

 

Also decided to go with natural gas 23 tip burners

 

Watching as I'm about to build a ng stand and am deciding on burners...

 

Waiting on my welding friend to help with the frame....so I built a smoker today....

 

I can't see your wall thickness but I can tell you that a flux core welder with 0.030 wire set at 75 amps and a 6.5 out of 10 wire speed is spot on when welding 2"x2" 1/4" wall mild steel (such as my stand). Move nice a slow back and forth pulling the puddle and you can stack dimes pretty easily. Every once in awhile I undercut the weld a bit from moving too slow (overheated the metal basically).

 

explaining on paper how to weld is like using your hand to demonstrate sex.

the only people who understand are those who dont need an explanation.

 

Got some practice in....

 

Work from last night

 

All welded up

 

I have a buddy who is going to build a stand for me, any chance you can give me the dimensions/measurements?

Thanks for posting so I can steal your plans...

 

Of course.... 65 long, 19 deep, 28 high. My cuts were 4- 65" with 45 degree corners, 4- 19" with 45 degree cuts, 5- 16" straight cuts, 12- 10 3/8" 45 degree corners, and 4- 25" straight cuts I used 1.5" square tube

 

Just added a support bar for the burners and some support for the pumps.

 

Worked for about 5 hours today, taking it for a test run tomorrow.

Natural gas hookups and burners











Pumps and chiller





Copper dip tubes and manifold








95% finished product

 

Test run:

Setup


10 gallons started at 66 degrees








Pumps are backwards but they work




5 gallons at 75 degrees









Also brought 13 gallons to a boil in 15 minutes. Wort chiller is awesome, went from boiling to 96 on the first pass.



Hoping for the first batch next weekend.

 

sorry for the uneducated question, but how do you make the digital temp setups.

 

Here is my wiring diagram if that is what you are needing. If not let me know I will see if I can answer your question.

 

Yes that and what components are needed.

 

Used love temperature displays:
http://www.dwyer-inst.com/Product/Temperature/TemperatureIndicators/Digital/SeriesTID/Ordering

These probes:
http://www.brewershardware.com/6-Temperature-Sensor-LOVE-TS.html

These thermowells:
http://www.brewershardware.com/6-Non-Heat-Shielded-1-2-MNPT-Stainless-Steel-Thermowell.html

 

Thanks!!

 

Finished the copper manifold and going to break this baby in with a oatmeal stout this weekend.

 

Nicely done!

 

Lessons learned:
1. ****s hot on the stand
2. My boil off was much more than I expected, got about 8.5 off of 11 gallons pre boil

Other than that was a pretty smooth first brew.

 

plate chiller orientation- you might want to flip the chiller around, and possibly vertically orient it. That way debris is more likely to flow out rather than settle to the bottom and get stuck.

 

Good idea, you also reminded me that I forgot to rinse out the chiller.