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I have wooden stand that I built, and I use a ceramic floor tile that I bought for about $1 at Lowes. Lots of different sizes to match up with whatever diameter your brew kettle is. It just sits on the stand underneath my kettle, and it doesn't scratch the wood, so I would imagine it would...

I've never found the need for a high-powered RIMS element, unless you are doing on-demand sparge water heating. My RIMS heater is 2,000W, which only pulls 16.7 amps at 120V - a 20 amp circuit will handle that, which are pretty common in kitchens and/or garages. Maintaining rest temperature...

Thanks! The RIMS barely does anything during the main rest, but I do use it to raise the temperature up to around 167°F at the end. Only one brew session in so far, but I got around 2°F/min during that step. Still more fine tuning to go - once I go to BruControl, I'll get the flow meters...

That's an excellent point; I hadn't considered that. I've never really run into a plugged pump during brewing - I have had issues with a lot of hops blocking it up after I'm done and I'm trying to flush out the lines. I very rarely do a massive hop load, so I might need to attempt a Pliny...

Here's the old RIMS heater - it was only about 12" long, which was WAY too short. For those of you who doubt scorching happens, here's some photo evidence: And here's the new heater assembly: And the full rig: The pump suction tubing is thermoplastic, since I had it from the old system...

Assembling the backplane for the electrical box: Making progress on the electrical: Electrical is done. You'll note all the extra space in the panel: That's like a garage - you can never have enough room! Eventually, the BCS is going to be replaced by an Arduino and BruControl, so I...

It's been a long time coming, but the new system is finally assembled (for now...it's never going to be "done", since I'll always keep changing stuff!). The goal was to convert my old 3 vessel, 30 amp system into a 2 vessel 50 amp system. The old setup had several limitations that I wanted to...

I used a 40mm and a file to clean off the burrs. The weldless bulkhead went through it but it was pretty tight. One extra millimeter would probably be ok, but be careful not to widen the hole too much when cleaning off the burrs.

Nice looking unit - love the fact that the plunger stem does triple duty of operating the valve, being a thermowell, and a guide for the float ball. Very innovative! I also love the fact that it comes with the 2" triclover adapter so we can attach different fittings and not be stuck with a...

Since we're all stuck doing our civic duty by avoiding other people (Introverts rejoice!), it was time to start some upgrades to the rig. First up - changes to the Kettle: New tri-clover heating element w/weldless bulkhead from @Bobby_M Wide-Body SteamSlayer (also from @Bobby_M) Whirlpool...

Got my new widebody SteamSlayer installed. Works great - no steam in the Brew Room even at 100% power on the heating element. Thanks @Bobby_M for braving the evil virus and making this thing for us!

If I understand correctly, you want to be able to run all 3 kettles at the same time? Depending on the size of the electric heating elements you install in those kettles, that is going to need a lot of power. Typically, people use a 5500W heating element in a kettle. Power = Volts x Amps...

Placed my order this morning. For once, Bobby had everything I wanted to order in stock at the same time. Kudos for sacrificing yourself against the coronavirus so we could brew better beer!

I installed this drain in my brew room: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074SG3ZFZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I really like the rectangular shape vs. a round or square drain - it's a lot easier to squeegee water into it. Cutting the concrete wasn't too bad; used a...

Yes, that's why I do it that way. The lower density water will just sit on top of the higher density mash liquid as long as I put it in fairly slowly to prevent mixing. Then, when I start draining the mash tun, the water at the top flows down through and rinses the grains. When you consider...

For pumping over the sparge water, I generally watch the top of the mash tun in the beginning and go slow enough so that it doesn't mix too much with the mash below. Once there are a few inches of clear water on the top of the mash, I open up the valve and go faster. Generally takes me about...

I've got mine drawn in AutoCAD, but HBT doesn't like .dwg extensions. Attached a pdf copy instead. I got the component drawings mostly from Automation Direct; they have just about everything they sell available as a .dwg. Some even have 3D drawings.

My 2 cents: 30a vs. 50a: For a single element setup, 30a is plenty of power. 6 gauge wire (50a) is a lot harder to install and more expensive than 10 gauge (30a). However, if you are like me, you will inevitably upgrade things over time; it's a lot cheaper to run the bigger wires first and...

If you want to get really technical with duct sizing, you can use a duct calculator where you enter all the relevant info (# of bends, size, material, etc.) to determine what CFM you can get. Here's a link to an online one to give you an idea of what is needed: https://www.cdicurbs.com/ductcal...

Ok, got a minor addition done over the Thanksgiving holiday: added a shelf for the WiFi access point above the entrance door: I had planned for this right from the start - that's why the plug and blank box were there. The blank box is in case I needed to run a physical cable back to the...