Recent content by DanTheBrewMan

I tried a couple of bleach soaks with the ones that I got from a burger king. The bleach didn't do a whole lot so I rubbed the sides down with some rubbing alcohol and let them soak in it for a little while. It didn't completely remove the smell but it has definitely reduced it. I only use them...

Oops, I guess I missed the quick wash part. So multiple cycles in an hour, I got it now :o

Good god, how big is your dish washer? No way I could fit ten 5 gallon buckets in mine.

I'm in the Gilbert/Mesa area and the LHBS I go to is Brew Your Own Brew right down the road from me. The gilbert shop is their newer location, their first location is in Tuscon. I highly recommend them.

Does anyone know where I can find a cad file of a PID controller for use in Solidworks? I swear I saw a thread a few days ago where someone had a screenshot of a controller in CAD but now I can't find it. Thanks :mug:

Yea I was thinking about this the other day. I'm thinking I might make another heatstick with a lwd element to maintain the temps after I use both heatsticks to get the water up to temp. Especially after it took almost an hour to boil 3 gallons of water last night.

Here's a couple after boiling 3 gallons of water. It looks like there's some mineral buildup on the element. I think I did pretty well on the JB weld if I do say so myself :D

Success!!! I've completed the heating element and we're leak free and currently at 180 degrees and holding strong.

Alright thanks guys. I think I'm gonna go to home depot and see what I can find. Thats awesome that it can boil a full 12 gallons. What wattage are you using? I looked at my breaker panel in my apartment yesterday and I have a mixture of 15 amp fuses for lighting and 20 amp fuses in the...

After looking at my brew pot I'm thinking a heat stick is probably the way to go. I looked at the link that mikeal provided and noticed that he used a wooden wedge to separate the element a little bit to shorten it. I thought this was pretty interesting since I didn't know the element could be...

Thats a good point. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to incorporate the heating element with my aluminum pot. I was looking at the heat stick method that you just stick in the pot, but with only a 3 gallon boil I'm not sure it would be deep enough to fully submerge the element. I also...

You guys are going to get me in trouble with SWMBO. That controller is awesome! I'm planning on doing my brewing on my patio (shes not a fan of the smell) and using an outlet out there which I'm assuming is GFCI since its outside and exposed to the elements, but I'll double check. Thanks for...

That's a great thread! Thank you It looks like he has the heating element wired with a regular 3 prong cable. So it seems like my idea on just wiring the plug directly to the element should work then? Would I need an actual controller for it? Or could I maybe plug that into a power strip and...

Let me start off by saying hello to everyone, seeing as this is my first post. I have been searching the forums and some other sites for an answer to a few problems but haven't had much luck so I figured why not just ask? Situation: I am currently living in an apartment and we just had...