120V Small Batch Brewing Setup

[DeeDub76]

I'm still in the early stages of accumulating all required pieces to get this build underway, but thought I would go ahead and share what I have so far.

The vessels are 5 gallon. I plan on doing small 3 gallon batches.

 

[theschick]

No pictures for me, did you post them on a members' only gallery?

 

[DeeDub76]

Oooops. Let me see if I can remedy that.

 

[licquyd]

I see nothing

 

[Walker]

i see them just fine.

 

[DeeDub76]

Did that help?

 

[theschick]

Yes, looking sharp so far

 

[hammis]

looks real nice !

 

[samc]

I'm going to nominate that control box as the largest one ever for a system to do 3 gallons. That thing is shiny and huge. I want!

 

[ScubaSteve]

Very nice! I like that clean style....

And yeah, that's a HUGE box! Keep us posted on your build

 

[Dgonza9]

looking very nice!

 

[DeeDub76]

A few parts came in allowing me to build the tri-clamp heating element.


Some milling was required in the box so the heating element would sit properly.


Tri-clamp allows quick removal for cleaning or element replacement.

A few sanitary ferrules that will be welded to the vessel hopefully within the next week.

 

[DeeDub76]

Very nice! I like that clean style....

And yeah, that's a HUGE box! Keep us posted on your build
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I agree!! It's a little big at 16x16x6, but at only $52 shipped from ebay I couldn't pass it up. Plus most of the switch holes were already punched.

 

[rrittenhouse]

This is a project I want to do someday when the wife will give me a brewing budget from my paycheck. haha.Subscribed.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Can't tell. Is that a plastic electrical box that you have your ground screw in???

 

[Sea]

Can't tell. Is that a plastic electrical box that you have your ground screw in???

That's a standard cast aluminum outdoor single gang box.

Looks very nice.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Good deal, I was concerned.

Beautiful looking build. I'm doing a small batch 120 system took, but going with jkarps build. Much cheaper. Won't look as purty as yours though.

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

How many watts is your element? I was thinking of building a smaller 3-4 gal setup myself. Mainly because I have like 15 5gal carboys that are useless for true 5gal batches.

 

[IrregularPulse]

If you want to stick with a standard 120V 20A kitchen outlet, you're maxing out at 2000W. Good enough for these 3.5G bathes.

 

[DeeDub76]

This build is no longer going to be 120V. I am stepping up to 220V for the ease of wiring. With 220V I can simply run wire for one 220V outlet vs. running two seperate 20A circuits. 220V will also effeciently handle all my electrical needs for this setup. The lowest wattage for a 220V heating element I can find is 3800 watts. More than enough for this small setup.

 

[Walker]

This build is no longer going to be 120V. I am stepping up to 220V for the ease of wiring. With 220V I can simply run wire for one 220V outlet vs. running two seperate 20A circuits. 220V will also effeciently handle all my electrical needs for this setup. The lowest wattage for a 220V heating element I can find is 3800 watts. More than enough for this small setup.

Keep in mind that you can take a 240V element and run it on 120V. You'll get 1/4th the power out of the element and draw half the amps that it would draw at 240V.

So, 5500W/240V element can be used as a 1375W/120V element, drawing 11.5A.

 

[GatorBrewer]

A few parts came in allowing me to build the tri-clamp heating element.
View attachment 19398
View attachment 19399
Some milling was required in the box so the heating element would sit properly.
View attachment 19400
View attachment 19401
Tri-clamp allows quick removal for cleaning or element replacement.
View attachment 19402
A few sanitary ferrules that will be welded to the vessel hopefully within the next week.

I love it! What parts did you order for that heating element setup? From Brewers Hardware?

 

[DeeDub76]

Thanks!! 1.5" tri-clover x 1" female NPT. $19 from Brewers Hardware

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

FYI:

a 120VAC 2000W element easily produces a good boil in 5 gallons of wort. IMO, for 3.5g batches 240VAC is overkill and pretty seriously complicates the wiring. But, its your build.

 

[Walker]

FYI:

a 120VAC 2000W element easily produces a good boil in 5 gallons of wort. IMO, for 3.5g batches 240VAC is overkill and pretty seriously complicates the wiring. But, its your build.

It could be done in a way that actually simplifies things.

Instead of plugging into two separate 120V circuits, he could plug into one 240V circuit, but split that into two separate 120V domains inside his panel.

So, everything could still be 120V, but it just gets fed with a single 240V source.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

My question is why do you need two 120VAC circuits??? IRL, a 2000W element pump and a bunch of other crap still doesn't overload even a 15amp circuit while boiling 5g.

I know the science doesn't quite work, but I can tell you reality and electronics meet in a gray area almost everytime.

My comment was to say, just use one 120VAC outlet and be done with it. Simple and clean.

 

[Walker]

My question is why do you need two 120VAC circuits??? IRL, a 2000W element pump and a bunch of other crap still doesn't overload even a 15amp circuit while boiling 5g.

I know the science doesn't quite work, but I can tell you reality and electronics meet in a gray area almost everytime.

My comment was to say, just use one 120VAC outlet and be done with it. Simple and clean.

A 2000W/120V element will draw 16.7A all by itself. If it doesn't trip a 15A breaker, especially with a pump and other stuff running, then I would be concerned.

 

[IrregularPulse]

But a 20A would and that's not hard to come by. I wonder the same thing. for a 3.5G setup, why would you need two outlets? If you only have a 15A outlet in the wall, replace it with a 20A.

 

[Walker]

Yes, I'd think that 120V/20A would be fine for this.

But... I'm also the kind of guy that knows I won't stop upgrading. If I am going to pay or do the work to install a new circuit, wiring, and outlets for brewing, I'm going to put 240V/50A in and then just use what I need with whatever system I have at the time.

In fact, that's exactly what I did in my garage. I only *need* about 25A for my brewing system, but I have 50A available if I ever want it.

 

[ScubaSteve]

You must've gotten your other ferrules from BrewMagic? 1/2" and 3/4" triclover stuff is hard to find!