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I think that's a good idea. I will probably just set aside a separate set of scissors for this purpose and then sanitize with 70% ethanol or rubbing alcohol.

Today, I had to throw out a 5 gallon batch of English IPA due to an obvious lactobacillus infection. I am uncertain of the source of this infection, but note that in five years of brewing, this is the first time I've had to throw out a batch due to infection. Actually, I've never had to drain a...

This could be my own mis-interpretation of Martin Brugard's descriptions of the impacts of sulfate and chloride ions on beer flavors, compounded by Brewersfriend's water chemistry calculator (which provides qualitative phrases like "balanced" or "highly bitter" based on SO4:Cl ratios). I also...

The fact that you hear clicks makes me think that it's the start capacitor. There are ways to test it , but you need a capacitor tester or multimeter with such a function. Google refrigerator start capacitor, as there are many guides for this. BTW, the capacitor is usually in a box hanging on...

Can you connect it back up to its original state? If this does not fix the issue, it could be a bad start capacitor feeding the compressor. You should be able to replace this by searching for the fridge's model number and looking for the start capacitor on various appliance parts websites.

Long distances across resistive cable can cause issues with serial communications, but if you are controlling relays with on/off signals, I see no problem. I think this should work fine.

What's your water look like? If you have high sulfate (SO4), you may need to add some calcium chloride to better balance the SO4:Cl ratio to reduce bitterness. Burton on Trent water is noted for its high sulfates and hardness, which lend to improved bitterness, but I find a little CaCl2 helps my...

You will still get some recirculation because I don't think all of the wort in the lines stays at boiling temp, and not all of it would flash off in an instant anyway. In my experience, once I hit a boil, pumping does lead to some cavitation, but the wort still moves through the lines, just less...

Okay, great! That should work just fine. After you are done with the mash, you can just engage manual control and set the heater to 100% to get to boil temps. Then, you can back off once the boil is achieved so you have the appropriate boil-off rate. No need for recirculation during the boil...

Which Auber PID do you have? I think they sell some units that allow manual control as well as PID control. Under manual control, you just set a percentage that will remain steady. Before the boil, you set the manual percentage to 100% and then back this off to a lower setting to maintain an...

It has a separate 120V input which appears to feed the RPi and the 120V pump outputs. It looks like the 220V lines are separated from the 120V input since the latter are switched on by a keyswitch on the back panel. So, it seems this isn't an issue since the 220V is not shared with the pump...

The hosehead controller is perfectly safe if run within the specs it was designed for (e.g. max of 30A load, e.g. one 5500W element and a pump on at max). The only addition would be for protection in case someone decides to run this beyond its ratings. This could be achieved either by using a...

I've been trying sparging with my last few BIAB brews. I've been getting a bump in efficiency, from a routine 75% to about 80% with sparging. I've usually done this with a cold water sparge, but the last time, I maintained sparge temp in a 5 gallon cooler. I note roughly the same bump in...

I note a couple of things that may be a problem. First, I'm not sure why you recirculate during the boil. Once the wort hits a boil, you are going to have steam instead of wort inside the lines to the pump, and this will cause cavitation in the pump. The only time I recirculate during the boil...

You might want to figure out how you ended up cooking your PWM board before you simply replace that timer chip. It looks like it got pretty hot in that enclosure, enough to fry the blue tape (or whatever that is), which could mean that this might recur.

If I were to do a small batch BIAB system (for my liver's sake as well!), I'd go with a 10 qt tri-ply kettle and a 120V induction cooktop such as: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TUE8XOM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 The only issue would be how to control temps automatically, but I think an...

It's quite simple. Put a toggle switch on the panel that controls the output to one SSR or the other. This way, only one element is firing at a time. Better yet, an input 30A breaker would ensure that no overcurrent condition could exist, regardless of user error. I must say that I'm very...

Realistically, panel breakers are designed to prevent wiring within walls from getting too hot and causing fires in places that cannot be seen. Wiring in appliances connected to breakered circuits should be designed to perform with appropriate consideration of the circuits feeding them and...

Wow, this is scary. :eek: These amplifier ratings are often inflated by the marketing staff of these audio companies (particularly the latter). Importantly, as mentioned, the ratings are for instantaneous bursts driving loudspeakers, not for continuous duty driving heating elements. It is...

This past weekend, I brewed a 5.5 gallon batch of milk stout (with a F.G. of 1.076) with a half pound of oatmeal, and was concerned about a gummy mash. I used my typical gap at 0.038", but decided to add 1/2 pound of rice hulls. I also reduced the mash volume and added a sparge step, so it was a...