Boil kettle condenser - no overhead ventilation needed

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I used a 1.5" solder on Tri Clamp from brewhardware to mount the steam condenser on my kettle. If you have minimal soldering skills this is easy to do.
 
mstevens said:
Yep is was cold water from the Hlt. My process is now to fill the hlt with cold water after I transfer the hot water to my mash tun for cleaning. As for the pump, I tried a few other configurations and now have it working. I started with 1/4 tube from the pump to the nozzle, in that configuration the pump overheated. The working configuration is 3/8 hose with a tee to the nozzle split to a return to the hlt. I put a pressure gauge inline at the nozzle to measure the pressure, I drive back pressure with a ball valve at the Hlt where the hose is connected for the return. I also placed a small pc fan on the pump to move air across it.
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I'm very interested in this set up, as I don't have running water in my garage. Would a small expansion tank between the pump and condenser help with the pump?
 
BrunDog said:
You could pump it from a bucket or tank. Need a small pump (nearly no flow is needed) but >40 psi required.

Also, it won’t work to recycle the liquid unless it’s back to ambient temp.
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Thanks. I've been going over pumps and tanks this evening.
I'm thinking 5 gal bucket to cheap 12v pump to expansion tank to condenser. Depending on pressure, maybe a small PRV between the tank and condenser.
I'm at the beginning of converting to 240v so this project is a ways off, but I like to research prior to execution.
 
Great stuff, thanks Brundog!

Question about sizes: I fully understand why a larger the spray chamber is preferable, but what about the pipe connecting the kettle with the spray chamber? Is a 1.5" Pipe preferable, maybe to create more suction? Or a 2" maybe, to maximise air flow? Or it really does not matter?

thanks!
 
alecrippa said:
Question about sizes: I fully understand why a larger the spray chamber is preferable, but what about the pipe connecting the kettle with the spray chamber? Is a 1.5" Pipe preferable, maybe to create more suction? Or a 2" maybe, to maximise air flow? Or it really does not matter?/QUOTE]

That shouldn't matter
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fun4stuff said:
Are you guys using the steam Slayer for this (https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/steamslayer.htm?Click=6524)?

What about the condenser boss? https://www.brew-boss.com/Condenser-Boss-Boil-Kettle-Condenser-p/cb-bb-apmount.htm

You still a hole in your pot, insert the T and gasket, then clamp it.on?
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Yes the steam slayer (instead of a ventilation system) some of us built our own with parts but the slayer is put together. you still need a hole saw bit to drill the hole in your pot, a 1.5" weldless tc bulkhead and TC clamp to clamp to your pot.
 
alecrippa said:
Great stuff, thanks Brundog!

Question about sizes: I fully understand why a larger the spray chamber is preferable, but what about the pipe connecting the kettle with the spray chamber? Is a 1.5" Pipe preferable, maybe to create more suction? Or a 2" maybe, to maximise air flow? Or it really does not matter?

thanks!
Click to expand...
the answer I got from Brundog was to go with 1.5 & that you wont see any improvement in steam flow with a bigger diameter pipe-to-kettle at least with <30g pots. I built mine and its 1.5-to-2" T.
 
BrunDog said:
You could pump it from a bucket or tank. Need a small pump (nearly no flow is needed) but >40 psi required.

Also, it won’t work to recycle the liquid unless it’s back to ambient temp.
Click to expand...
Could you run it through a radiator?

I happen to know that a 2004 Sentra radiator and fan assembly is just $101.58 at Rockauto.com ;)
 
Just completed my second brew with the pump being feed from the hlt. Same steps as before only a few modifications to the setup. I changed the ball valve on the bypass return to the hlt to a stainless 3 piece with a camlock on one end so I can now plum it into the hlt return port (whirlpool arm at top of tank). I was able to back drive pressure to the the spray head by controlling the amount or water that is in bypass back to the hlt with the ball valve. This was in place before just with PVC and the return was just dumped in the tank. It's locked in place now so I no longer have to worry about the hose pooping out. This change allowed for me to close the valve off with a little more control and therefore I was reading 35-38 psi at spray head side of the tee. I know the flow and pressure were on as I dumped the drain bucket at 4 gallons twice and the bucket has almost 2 gallons in it now after the 60 min boil. At the start I added 12 gallons of tap water to the hlt and I was draining off the bottom when I was done. I am dropping my power on the 20 gallon kettle with a 5500w element to 28% and maintaining a nice boil with no steam escaping.
 
Bobby_M said:
Maybe with an insanely large fan blowing through it but then you're adding heat to the air and making a bunch of noise.
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So what if you applied the same principle and used a cooling loop with a swamp chiller. Use a large volume reservoir for the cooling loop and using a 6” pipe with air blowing through it let the water fall down into the reservoir. This will have a significant cooling action and works very similar to a cooling tower. May add a little humidity but not as much as the steam from the kettle.
 
fun4stuff said:
How does this compare with the brew boss condenser?
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I have the Brew Boss condenser. I had a new Spike kettle and couldn't wait for another delivery of Steam Slayers. It works great; does the same things as the SS. As far as I can see there's no real difference. Love mine!
 
fun4stuff said:
How does this compare with the brew boss condenser?
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The main contrast between the products is that every piece of the Condenser boss is off the shelf part. It makes the full assembly a little more bulky than it needs to be. The Steam Slayer is a CAD designed and manufactured solution so it's more compact and more attractive looking if that matters to you.

The one design choice I don't agree with is having to run a full size garden hose all the way up to the top. The amount of water flow required is a trickle so my choice to go with 1/4" PE tubing makes more sense.

The size of the orifice out of the pot is a pretty big difference and I'm amazed that a 5/8" inside diameter is enough. I have not tested for any real world difference between various opening sizes but I should be able to do so on my next batch simply by inserting a makeshift bushing into my TC port to reduce it down. If the waste water temperature goes down with the restriction, it would indicate a performance decrease. I'm not suggesting that the smaller orifice doesn't work, it's just a matter of how much energy can be moved through it.
 
Bobby_M said:
I have 50 of them on the way but I'm afraid the shipment didn't get out of China before the New Years shutdown. It may have shipped but I won't know exactly when it will arrive.
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Bobby, have you seen the kettle handle clamp from a company out of Germany. It clamps the condenser to a kettle handle for a condenser that is mounted through the lid. This allows for the who lid and condenser to be rotated up for hop additions without having to hold the whole assembly.

Here's a link to a facebook post about it: https://www.facebook.com/groups/homebrewnetwork/permalink/2531735993621900/

It's through a German company that won't ship to the US, but I'm sure its something you could figure out!
 
Bobby_M said:
I have 50 of them on the way but I'm afraid the shipment didn't get out of China before the New Years shutdown. It may have shipped but I won't know exactly when it will arrive.
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Any new developments? I imagine the health emergency isn't going to help...

Also, what's the price difference for the larger unit?
 
I was told that the shipment did go out but the tracking numbers were forwarded in time. I'm in the dark. The price of the larger unit will only go up a few dollars to account for the higher freight costs.
 
mattym5 said:
It's through a German company that won't ship to the US, but I'm sure its something you could figure out!
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Douglas here from Craft Hardware. This is a custom product welded in our shop in Germany. I declined orders to the US because of concerns about compatibility with US steam condensers.

However, any steam condenser using a standard 1.5" Tri-Clamp tee should still work, along with the Tri-Clamp adapter we use on the output of our condensers. Contact me through our website if you are interested.

The issue: the output tube of the condenser body is inserted through a tube clamp which provides the rotating "hinge" mechanism. This clamp is sized for 18mm OD metric tubing. I can provide a reducer bushing for 12, 14, 15, or 16mm OD tubing. 16mm looks like it might work for 5/8" OD tubing but I have not tested this. The condenser output also has to be at least 2" long, in order to pass through the clamp and still allow enough room on the bottom to clamp a hose on.

Also keep in mind the handle of your kettle needs to be 8-10mm (5/16"- a little over 3/8") OD and horizontal at the clamping point.

p.s. I also have a wall mount clamp version - shown in this video in German - it just isn't loaded on the site yet. Same issues in clamping to the condenser body as mentioned above.
 
Bobby_M said:
The size of the orifice out of the pot is a pretty big difference and I'm amazed that a 5/8" inside diameter is enough.
Click to expand...

In case anyone else tries it, confirmation is always nice to have... I've done testing with different condenser input port sizes. The only way I could get a 5/8" input (was actually 15mm) to work was to place a gasket between the kettle and the lid. With the gasket it did work, and the effluent temperature and boil off rates were even similar to the larger input port sizes. I suspect the vacuum effect of a nozzle sized for non-restrictive input ports just wasn't strong enough with any gaps in the lid when using that small of an input.
 
I’ve since bought the brewboss steam condenser, since the steam slayer has not been available.

I’ve used it a couple times and seems to work really well. Before turning condenser water on, steam will be pouring out from under the lid. But once i turn on the water going to the condenser, the steam disappears.

I do not have a gasket on my lid but it does clamp down tightly. My boil off rate was around 0.4 gal/hr and i turned down my kettle to 1000 watts. The condenser goes through 8-10 gal/hr I’d estimate.
 
I actually received the bodies but the new 3" TC caps with the water supply tube, etc is yet to ship. Now it looks like next week for those. I'll post a picture of the new body tomorrow.
 
Two days ago, I got an email update saying that the Steam Slayer was back in stock. I read it 6 minutes after it came in, and the website was already displaying "Out of stock". Did they really all get snapped up in <6 minutes, or was this just a glitch and they were not really available at all?
 

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