Electric HLT

Hi folks,

I need to add an electric HLT to a small brewery -- long story short, we're not going to have our on demand water heater in place in time.

The specs:

3X 240v 5500 watt elements (we have large service to the unit, no worries running this)
Needs to be temperature controlled

We don't need pump controls or any kind of control on the mash tun.

Can anyone point me to a guide and parts list? I can hook everything up with our electrician, I just need to know what to get. Most of the guides I see are either too complicated (controlling multiple vessels and pumps) or too simple (1 element).

Cheers and thanks!

 

One PID and temp probe, contactor and switch for main power switch, distribution blocks, fuses or breakers, three SSR's and heat sinks. That should make a simple controller with the addition of some wire, cord and connectors.

You really just need to multiply the element/power section of any simple one element design by three.

 

Can the SSR control output from the PID drive 3 separate SSRs? A single 80-100 amp ssr may be a better solution.

 

I believe it will drive three although I have only done two. One large SSR would work also. Just put your distribution blocks and fusing after the ssr.

 

One PID can drive 3 separate SSRs.

 

Most electric HLTs have pumps to avoid stratification. With multiple elements you may be able to place them at varying heights in the tank to help avoid that. Otherwise what ever you use for a temp sensor (i.e. Pid) will read incorrectly.

 

An inexpensive dc pump like the p38 would work well for this if the OP doesn't have another dedicated pump to task with this.
They are even waterproof so you could mount it to the side of the kettle like a hot tub jet. (Due to the hot temp of the water submersing the ops food grade plastic pump in the hot water could cause things to warp and fail but they work fine pumping g boiling g water or wort.

 

If you put the elements near the bottom of the kettle and the thermowell near the top of the kettle, I don't think stratification will be that big of a deal. Pumps were added to HLT to improve heat exchange with HERMS. This sounds like a commercial brewery so the OP likely does not use a HERMS.

 

Space them far enough apart you run the risk of dry firing an element.

 

Awesome, thanks for the advice! I can repurpose my old March pump to recirculate the water. I'm on the fence about going HERMS -- I like mashing out on wheat-y beers (not sure how well the crazy Chinese mash tun will deal with wheat flakes), but most of what we'll be focusing on the first few months will be pils- and 2-row-based beers.

Cheers!
Jason