80/20 Brew Stand

[PaulHilgeman]

Anyone ever use 80/20 Aluminum Extrusions to build a brew stand? I would be doing a 10 gal 2-vessel system (Tankless HLT, MT and BK) just in a single tier.

Did you use the 1010, or the 1515 stuff? I know that this stuff is pretty strong, and my overall span would be shorter than most peoples, but I am unsure if the 1010 would be strong enough.

I'd love to see some pictures too.

Thanks.

 

[Sawdustguy]

This has been discussed many times before. Do a search.

 

[PaulHilgeman]

are there other terms that this stuff goes by? 80/20 yeilds little to nothing on the google or regular search...

 

[EarthBound]

Type in "8020" in the box at the very top right corner of this window, in the head of the mug. I look forward to seeing a sketchup of your design soon.

 

[ClaudiusB]

Anyone ever use 80/20 Aluminum Extrusions to build a brew stand? I would be doing a 10 gal 2-vessel system (Tankless HLT, MT and BK) just in a single tier.

Did you use the 1010, or the 1515 stuff? I know that this stuff is pretty strong, and my overall span would be shorter than most peoples, but I am unsure if the 1010 would be strong enough.

I'd love to see some pictures too.

Thanks.

Hers is a perfect example made by Irrenarzt Post #9
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/aluminum-brewery-stand-feasibility-172198/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/any-reason-not-use-80-20-my-brew-rig-154657/
For my set-up I used 15/15 and 15/30 only.

10/10 is used for small stuff only, like stir plates, etc.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

 

[PaulHilgeman]

I didnt realize that was a common slang term in Germany too!

 

[PaulHilgeman]

Alright here is the sketch-up:

I will be using the 1010 style 1" square. a single piece of it on a 24" span can support 250lbs with only a 1 inch deflection.

Give me some feedback if you dont mind, The space for the kettle is 24" wide and nice and low for easy viewing. The height of the mash tun will be about table height off of the ground, so that is what I am used to. In the area below the mash tun will be all of the controls for the pump, tankless heater, RIMS PID and switch, and I will try to plumb all of the LP up there for the BK and Flash Boiler.

I plan to make it the opening in the rear large enough for the propane tank to slide in and out.

 

[EarthBound]

I can't see your sketch-up for some reason, and my imagination can only do so much.

 

[PaulHilgeman]

Check my gallery

 

[Red Clay]

"Only" one inches deflection? That seems like a lot to me. It's a slope of 1" per 12", which is around an 8% slope, right? An 8% slope is pretty visible, at the least. Of course, you might not have 250 lbs loaded on it (14 gallons => ~115lbs, plus the equipment at say 40 lbs?) If you get any significant heating of that beam, it will start to de-rate as well.

You might be okay. Just do your math to figure out what you max load will be during the boil. Then decide if you can live with that level of deflection.

I don't know what the cost implications are, but if it were me I'd consider going with the 1020 stuff to get more support across that span. But, then again, 'over engineer' is my middle name!

(EDIT: Alternately, a single support in the middle of that span that ties in the lower beam would add a ton of rigidity. I bet your 250 lbs deflection is less than 1/4" if you tie those together. Also, I'd take the rear rail down to the lower beam as well.)

 

[PaulHilgeman]

Sorry, I meant 1mm.

 

[Red Clay]

Oh...that's quite a difference!

 

[PaulHilgeman]

So can anyone see the picture?

 

[mariojr]

I cannot see the picture and the gallery is empty.

 

[PaulHilgeman]

Try this instead:

 

[PaulHilgeman]

Here is a photo of the work in progress:

It holds me, bouncing up and down on it, and I am 210lbs, so I think this will hold the equipment just fine since the load will be even more well distributed than my weight was.

Let me know if you cant see the picture.

 

[PaulHilgeman]

The flash boiler will go on the small 'shelf' on the near side, mash tun up high, and BK on the far side.

The space below the flash boiler will be for the RIMS tube, the area below the MT will be for LP and Controls/Plumbing, and then just below where the MT stand meets the main frame will be the pump.

There are a few more 'front to back' pieces that need to be installed, one will support the pump, one will support the burner and one will form the 4th side of where the BK will sit.

I should add that this whole project is coming in at just over $100, so not really all that bad in terms of price IMO.

-Paul

 

[EarthBound]

Looks and sounds great to me!
Is your MT gonna be a converted cooler?
What is your BK gonna be, e.g., keggle?

 

[PaulHilgeman]

MT is a 60qt Igloo Ice Cube. BK is a 50 Qt Kettle. Eventually I will probably get a 100Qt or so. This is planned to handle the 20" diameter 20Qt kettle as well as the 200lb boil of a 15-18lb batch.

If I do that I will have to get a lager MT, but with the pump for those few special batches, it can sit on the floor.

 

[PaulHilgeman]

Electronics Mounted, Gas plumbing roughed-in.

 

[mariojr]

I really like the way the 8020 looks. Also it seems it would be easy to adjust the stand and add on components quickly and easily. Keep up the good work!

 

[PaulHilgeman]

Thanks, yeah, so far the stuff is a breeze to work with. Cuts with regular wood tools, the fasteners allow for almost infinite mounting options.

The burner is going to be tricky though.

 

[Irrenarzt]

Looks good but I agree, the burner placement is gonna be a challenge with your electrical box where it currently is. But I have faith you can pull it off. Good work.

 

[PaulHilgeman]

There will only be 1 burner on the stand, on the far right, down low. The small stub near the e-box will go to flexible hose to go to the tanless-heater, or flash boiler or whatever you want to call it.

It will just be a blue igloo cooler sitting on the top level.

 

[Irrenarzt]

Oh should be no problem then. I misunderstood your layout. Good luck and I hope you can be brewing ASAP.

 

[Irrenarzt]

I really like the way the 8020 looks. Also it seems it would be easy to adjust the stand and add on components quickly and easily. Keep up the good work!

It's super easy to bolt schit to. For instance, I have a few hooks around the frame for my mash paddle, a boil spoon, a flash light holder for checking the sparge water level and of course, a bottle opener. Mounting these on a stainless frame would have required drilling and tapping whereas it's a simple t-nut with the extrusions.

 

[PaulHilgeman]

I am going to try to finish the gas manifold, burner mount and some of the plumbing tonight. Then tomorrow night I will finish the plumbing and all of the misc. items. It will need and electrical box mounted somewhere to power the tankless heater along with the control box.

The tankless heater has a digital temp readout as well as its power on/off switch that I am considering re-locating to a piece of lexan just below my existing control box. This way, most everything could be done from in front of the stand.

This is the tankless heater:

 

[Irrenarzt]

TIGHT. I like the idea of an onboard tankless heater.

 

[Rhoobarb]

I've been considering this, since my company sells Aluminum Extrusions and sells direct (no distributors like 80/20). How much $$ have you invested in just the frame? I'm also looking forward to seeing how you'll attach the burners.

 

[PaulHilgeman]

It makes brewing real nice.

For making my strike water, I recirculate through it with the gas throttled back a bit to reduce soot and overall wear since it is not replaceable without a large expense. I get about a 10 degree temp rise through and and just recirculate until I am at my strike temp.

For sparge water, I just go into a bucket for easy measuring, and I can get it to 170 at about 0.5 gal / minute when I am at full throttle.