Anyone in RI built Kals electric brewery?

[NewBrewB]

Hey fellow Ocean Statians,

Anyone built an electric brewery using Kals design from theelectricbrewery.com? I am about to atart the wiring and could use some advice (and an electrician that works for beer).

 

[NewBrewB]

Bump?

Anyone within an hour of RI built an electric brewery from theelectricbrewery.com

 

[NewBrewB]

Anyone?

 

[SmoothCrown]

im near the end of building his system. i live in warwick.

 

[NewBrewB]

Awesome! I just finished wiring my control panel yesterday.

What are you using for kettles? I have two kegs with the tops cut off but havent drilled them or made hoses yet. Any chance you have used the "keg tool" and silver solder?

Know a local welder that will work for beer? Haha

I am in North Kingstown, between EG and wickford.

Thanks for replying. Hopefully we can help each other out once we have our systems up and running!

Brett

 

[SmoothCrown]

Right on!
My control panel is 95% done and my buddy really wanted BoilMakers so we are working with those...
I have yet to run everything
The worst part is putting holes in those beautiful kettles

 

[NewBrewB]

Did you go all weldless? I think I'm going to try silver soldering couplings on the keggles. Did you get your outlet/gfci installed yet? I guess that is my next step once I find an electrician that can get it done.

 

[SmoothCrown]

Yeah I'm going all weldless. Its a lot easier and I wouldn't want to distroy my kettles. I wired my outlet already just need pumps and the stainless coil and I'm good!

 

[SmoothCrown]

Here is a quick pic

 

[NewBrewB]

I got my coil in the mail today....trying to do it myself did not go well.

Im hoping to find someone with a pipe bender or a shop that can bend it for me.

Your setup looks great.

You wired the outlet yourself? Any chance you could help a brotha out? Haha

 

[SmoothCrown]

Of course im willing to help out a fellow brewer!

 

[NewBrewB]

Well, I realize this thread is rather pointless without pictures. Mine's not nearly as "blingy" but here goes:

First off, I received a larger enclosure as the 16x16x8 was out of stock, and it made more sense to me to orient it with the top that opens upward (since you almost never open it after it is completed). I like the horizontal look of things but it did complicate the wiring since the BK/MLT/HLT wiring diagrams are reversed on Kal's setup. Anyway, it's done, now!

Here are a couple pictures of the wiring. If I had it to do again, I would probably cut the wires a bit longer than needed, just to make it easier to route them neatly.

This is the direction I'm going with my "kettles." Two will be keggles and the MLT will be made from an unused food grade 30gal plastic barrel. This means I can actually make 10gal batches of high-gravity beer. I plan to use a mixture of weldless and silver-soldered fittings.

This lid option seemed really cool so I went with it. (I will say that I had a heck of a time with the $5 rivet gun from HarborFreight but their customer service was amazing. After I went through two of the $5 ones, they let me exchange for the $10 one --gave me like $.42 back--and it worked like a champ.) The washers are stainless steel washers that come in orange plastic 2-packs for about $1 ea at HD. I have a plan for the middle "handle" part that involves a lathe, but I'm going to wait to reveal more.

 

[SmoothCrown]

wow this looks great! Im at a bit of a standstill do to getting laid off a few weeks ago. ill have to gather some of my photos and share!

 

[SmoothCrown]

Here are some quick pics I had while doing the build. Partially wired, lit up with some juice and the front with some labels on it.

As you can see my enclosure is huge. I got it for free from my father in law who works in an industrial setting. It wasnt very pretty when I got it, huge holes where the gauges where, so thats why it now has a stainless front. Something I was lucky enough to get from work.

 

[NewBrewB]

Thats really awesome. I cant believe the transformation from the "before" picture!

What kind of work do you do? Any other job possibilities yet? I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for you. After all, you need to be well funded so you can stay ahead of me in this build and I can ask you questions. Haha

 

[SmoothCrown]

Ha! I like the way you think. I've done a little of everything so Im sure something will come along that will fit. BTW if you really need help with the wiring just let me know! I enjoy electrical work.

 

[NewBrewB]

Well, I had a pretty good weekend:
Built my element boxes and power cords
Turned some wooden handles for my keggle lids
Tried cutting element holes in the keggles but discovered I bought the conduit punch by accident (ordered the correct hole punch but have to wait for it to come in the mail).

My wife has decided she wants an actual electrician installing the outlet so I guess I have to go that route.

My last remaining expenses are pumps and hoses. I want to go with the chugger pumps but even at those prices, they are a bit rediculous for moving beer and water from place to place. *sigh*

 

[SmoothCrown]

Wow your really moving along! At this pace you will be done before me, which means I can ask YOU questions haha. I can understand your wife wanting an electrician doing the work but if you find it to be to expensive let me know. The biggest thing an electrician has over me is a piece of paper but that's the way of the world. I cant wait to see your final setup!

I decided that I didn't like the way the bottom of the panel looked so I upgraded it.

 

[KramE]

Wow, now that's a rig! Looks amazing.

Oh, and hello from Providence.

 

[NewBrewB]

Heya PVD! Welcome to the convo. Any chance you are (or aspire to become) an electric brewer?

I have an electrician coming by today for an estimate so I can actually plug my control panel into something. Haha

 

[SmoothCrown]

Sweet, and welcome to HBT!

 

[KramE]

Actually, I'm in the midst of an eBiab build. I have the spa panel finished and waiting for various supplies to come arrive.

Currently have:

60 qt bayou classic Alu
5500w element
Ball valve
Completed spa panel

Waiting for.
Pid
Ssr
Heat sync
Emergency cutoff
Temp probe

Need:
Enclosure
2 switches
Wire
Outlets

 

[NewBrewB]

How is the project coming, KramE?

Any luck on the job front, Smoothcrown?

I finally got my panel hung on the wall and started silver soldering the fittings on my keggles. Need a few last online orders to arrive and I might actually finish this thing. Electrician should be by Mon PM to finish the wiring. Cant wait!

Hoping to finish by Halloween.

 

[KramE]

Hey, sorry it took me so long to get back. I was aiming to complete the build last weekend, but every step was either a struggle or failure.

That being said, I made progress the last couple of days. I hope to finish this week.

 

[KramE]

When I finish, I'm going to make a thread called eBiab: Lessons learned

I had some kind of problem with every step. All of which had solutions, and were easier than the original plan.

 

[NewBrewB]

Here is where I am at the moment:

Going to have to troubleshoot my control panel. I had hoped everything would just work haha

Volt/Amp meters are not powering-up
Also had the BK/HLT elements wired backwards but that was an easy switch

 

[KramE]

I just wired up the control panel today. I'll test it tomorrow and hopefully remount the outlet box to the kettle.

 

[KramE]

Success! Everything appears to be working at first inspection. Going to put it through the paces Saturday.

 

[SmoothCrown]

Congrats KramE!!! You'll have to let us know how your first brew goes.

NewBrewB, are the volt/amp meters the only thing not working? I love the way everything looks in there! If you need some help or need to borrow some testing equipment let me know! Ive got some time on my hands lol.

I am at a bit of a standstill at this point until I have a source of income again. I love the progression here though. I can live vicariously through you guys!!!

 

[KramE]

See my build here as posted in the Electric Brewing section of the forum.

Let me know what you think!