Blichmann Boil Coil

Anyone own one of these? Looking for any feedback from anyone that may have used. I have a 20 gal and 30 gal kettle that I would like to equip. I read that there is a tower of power module for the electric coils, but can't seem to locate for pricing. I think I read that on the Blichmann site. I am excited to start brewing in doors during the terrible michigan winters


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I've got the 15gal one, but haven't used it yet since I need to drop 240v to my garage. I will report back after my first brew in 2 weeks.

I'm interested too. The only risk is it's single sourced and causes you to drill two holes where all other alternate solutions require one


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I emailed Blichmann and they said the electric Tower of Power control modules are due for release in 3 weeks. I need to get busy on my basement brewery before winter hits


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I have a couple, not too shabby construction. Seems to seal really nice, and thats in a keggle. Like the removable plug. Havent put power to it yet.

I'm installing one of these today (10 gallon 120v) to work with an electric controller that I built from scratch. With some luck, I'll be able to do testing with water tonight and I'll be brewing with it this weekend or the next.

Controller: http://imgur.com/g5KCMhv

I have 2 4500w coils in my HLT and a 5000w in my BK

Havent applied power yet but easy to install.

We installed and applied power to mine last night but it did not heat. Our controller box appeared to be functioning correctly and 110v was getting all the way to the Boil Coil posts. After a good bit of testing, we are thinking that the Boil Coil is defective or damaged in some way. We're going to speak with Blichmann and get their input today.

Swisscheese said:

We installed and applied power to mine last night but it did not heat. Our controller box appeared to be functioning correctly and 110v was getting all the way to the Boil Coil posts. After a good bit of testing, we are thinking that the Boil Coil is defective or damaged in some way. We're going to speak with Blichmann and get their input today.

Click to expand...

Measure the resistance if you have a voltmeter. My 5000w was 11.4 ohms and the 2 4500w coils were at 12.6 ohms. If you get an open or a much higher resistance then you may have a problem.

I checked the resistance on my 2250w Boil Coil and it was 7.2 ohms. I'm wondering if this is correct or not. It doesn't seem like this would be the issue though. If anyone has any other thoughts, let me know.

If you have resistance then the heater is working, all it is, is a resistor. With the resistance you gave at 120v it will give you 2000w. If you want to troubleshoot further, plug the cable into the heater and take a measurement from the twistlok plug. The blade with the small 90 bend is ground, so measure between the other two and report back.

I was able to resolve the problem yesterday after doing some research. I wired a 120v LED incorrectly (serial instead of parallel) and it was causing the issue. Thank you for your help though. Realizing that the coil was not the issue is what prompted me to look elsewhere.

Cheers!

Good to hear. So you wired the led in series with the ground? Yea I'm surprised the led still works.

Thanks

I struggled to find information about proper wiring for it but. Here's what we had been doing:

Hot wire from SSR into LED, out of LED, into Outlet

Here's what we needed to do:

Hot wire from SSR and Neutral wire to LED
Hot wire from SSR and Neutral wire to Heater Outlet

I'm doing some testing on it this afternoon and I will post some heating times for 5 gallons of water. However, after resolving this issue, everything seems to be going well.

General Data with my setup:

Images: http://imgur.com/a/oRs5v

Kettle: Blichmann Boilermaker 10-Gallon
Element: Boil Coil (120v 10-Gallon 2250w)
PID: Auber Instruments SYL-2352

Heating times with 5 gallons of water:

76F to 152F: 30 minutes
76F to Boil: 59 minutes
Boil-off rate at 100% power: 0.96 Gal/hr

SwissCheese, I'm looking to put a 10 Gallon Boilcoil into my 10 Gallon Bayou Classic Kettle(I still need to measure to make sure it will fit). My only concern is that I'll likely need to build a control panel like yours. How hard was it to build? Do you happen to have a parts list?

Swisscheese said:

General Data with my setup:

Images: http://imgur.com/a/oRs5v

Kettle: Blichmann Boilermaker 10-Gallon
Element: Boil Coil (120v 10-Gallon 2250w)
PID: Auber Instruments SYL-2352

Heating times with 5 gallons of water:

76F to 152F: 30 minutes
76F to Boil: 59 minutes
Boil-off rate at 100% power: 0.96 Gal/hr

Click to expand...

Nice post...nice pics. I'd like to hear more about your control panel build, too.

Have any of you gotten through a brew on these? Do they work as advertised? I am looking to install in an older BoilerMaker of mine, but need another pot (a 7.5 gal) so I can make a BrewEasy. I just plan to put a switch inline and run it manually for awhile till I can afford a controller. Sure hope I can still get a G1 pot though. The G2's look pretty awesome but I kinda like stuff to match.

I have not yet, but will be doing the first brew on Sunday. I have the 2250W in the HLT and 4500W in the boil kettle. I used 15gal stainless steel bayou classic pots for 10gal batches. I will let you know and take some pictures.

i have used mine once. i have the 240v installed in my ten gallon boilermaker. it heats up seven gallons of wort much faster than my gas range and even slightly faster than propane.

i do not have a temp controller for it. i have a switch installed to turn the power to the outlet off and on. if anything, it boils too vigorously at full power.

i love it.

I have a 20 gal boilermaker with boil coil. Have used it 3 times doing 10.5 gal. in to the fermenter running at 84% it boils off 2 gal. hr. . So far nothing has stuck to the element. I'm happy with it Tom

I was wondering if brewers who have bought the Boil Coil could post pictures
of their installation in NON -Blichmann brew pots ??

I have a Spike Brewing 10 gal on the way, and would love to see how others installed the Boil Coil ( TM)

Thanks

A kettle is a kettle. The blichmann needs to make room for the dip tube but other than that, use the template and drill 2 5/8 holes.



This is 2 4500w coils in my HLT Keggle.

I am most curious how other people are mounting their Boil Coil
With the Mount in the rear of the kettle
How they are dealing with dip tubes & thermometers.

Thanks

steveoatley said:

I am most curious how other people are mounting their Boil Coil

With the Mount in the rear of the kettle

How they are dealing with dip tubes & thermometers.



Thanks

Click to expand...

The coil stretches around a dip tube (it's what is done on the blichmann kettles) I would mount the plug to the rear, much more likely to get it wet if left in the front if you spill something. For me, keep max distance from valve and plug for enhanced safety.

I mounted the plugs in the back too. Still haven't brewed yet, but will do this weekend.

http://imgur.com/kSg2Aek
http://imgur.com/QXmhzR8

Ebr3w

Thanks for the pics
So, you had no problems with the Boil Coil & your screen/dip tube
working together
I am also putting in a Whirlpool drop, and wanted to see if it would fit.

Spacing was OK?

Thanks

No problems at all. It's easy enough to just move the screen around the coil, but I really didn't need to. I don't use a dip tube, so can't say there. The whirlpool arm was simply bent to a position where it was outside of the coil.

Check the mechanical drawing of the coil you want to use and measure your pot before buying, but you should be able to work it out.

joshualoomis said:

i have used mine once. i have the 240v installed in my ten gallon boilermaker. it heats up seven gallons of wort much faster than my gas range and even slightly faster than propane.

i do not have a temp controller for it. i have a switch installed to turn the power to the outlet off and on. if anything, it boils too vigorously at full power.

i love it.

Click to expand...

Only slightly off topic but check out Stilldragon. Their DIY boil controller will fix your over-powered problem. Run full tilt to get to boil and then dial back the power to maintain the boil you want. I have one on one of my elements and it works great.

mswebb said:

Only slightly off topic but check out Stilldragon. Their DIY boil controller will fix your over-powered problem. Run full tilt to get to boil and then dial back the power to maintain the boil you want. I have one on one of my elements and it works great.

Click to expand...

thanks, i'll check them out.

Ebr3w said:

Check the mechanical drawing of the coil you want to use and measure your pot before buying, but you should be able to work it out.

Click to expand...

Ebr3w

do you think I could get this to fit in the middle ?

http://stainlessbrewing.3dcartstore...s-request-035-304304L-Coiled-Tubing_p_30.html

25ft - 1/2 inch - similar to the photo on top

Sneak one output under the Boil Coil, the other above the BC

Thanks

Maybe. You would prob need to interlock the coils. Maybe you could put the boil coil as low as possible and put the other coil above it if that works out with the height of your pot.

Swisscheese said:

General Data with my setup:

Images: http://imgur.com/a/oRs5v

Kettle: Blichmann Boilermaker 10-Gallon
Element: Boil Coil (120v 10-Gallon 2250w)
PID: Auber Instruments SYL-2352

Heating times with 5 gallons of water:

76F to 152F: 30 minutes
76F to Boil: 59 minutes
Boil-off rate at 100% power: 0.96 Gal/hr

Click to expand...

Can you comment on the boil strength? I have the 2000w in an 8 gallon kettle that is nearly identical dimensionally to the blichmann 7.5 gallon kettle.

My heating with 5 gallons is very similar to yours, mine is:
75F to 165F in 35 minutes
75F to boil in 63 minutes
but the boil is not much more than some bubbles coming directly off the coils. I wouldn't call it a rolling boil. My boil off is more like 0.5 gal/hr.

This is at 100% power.

I would have assumed since the heating rate is so similar the boil off would be too.

Also maybe I should mention that my 40A SSR was very warm even though I was operating (or attempting to operate) at 100%. Does the SSR being very warm indicate it's doing some switching? I didn't touch the settings from heating, which seemed to go very well, to boil.

So happy I found this thread. If I get the 4500W version and am only doing 5gallon batches would I be correct in assuming that getting room temp water to roughly 170f for sparging would take about 20min? What would be a simple way to control the power going to it?

Thanks!

A SCR on a temperature controller

Krieger said:

SwissCheese, I'm looking to put a 10 Gallon Boilcoil into my 10 Gallon Bayou Classic Kettle(I still need to measure to make sure it will fit). My only concern is that I'll likely need to build a control panel like yours. How hard was it to build? Do you happen to have a parts list?

Click to expand...

Krieger, have you had a chance to install the boilcoil in the bayou 10 gal pot? I'm looking at doing the same, but would like to know if it's possible to use the Basket as well?

Or if any one else has done this could you let me know your thoughts?

Does anybody know if you can heat the kettle with a traditional propane burner once you've installed the boil coil??

TD


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TrickyDick said:

Does anybody know if you can heat the kettle with a traditional propane burner once you've installed the boil coil??

TD


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Click to expand...

I'd be interested to hear what others say about this. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to, but a heat shield would be called for. I'd think this main problem would be keeping the electric cord from getting too hot. It's more than just the rubber and plastic you need to worry about. If the cooper inside the cable gets too hot or may cause electrical problems, make your breaker trip prematurely, etc.




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Just heard back from JB himself:

I would not recommend that as it will certainly damage the plug and possible the heating element.

I guess that answers it.



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I bet it would be fine if you didn't have a huge flame and had some kind of heat shield. But probably better to not risk it. I don't think JB could say anything else without some legal risks.


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