mplutodh1
Well-Known Member
Found the regulator on eBay - several for sale under RV suppliers. Just make sure you get the correct one and clarify with the seller it's as pictured.
We've just been using a 1" spring clamp with the rubber tips pulled off. $0.99 from harbor freight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-capacity-steel-spring-clamp-39569.html
Works pretty well.
Is that with the Plexi still?
Update: June 4, 2010
Been meaning to update for a few days now just been so busy. After months of work we finally got around to brewing our first batch on the new brewery last Sunday.
Overall everything went pretty darn well for our first run on it. We did run into a few problems we've been trying to work through.
1) Our Love Controllers don't seem to be reading correct temps - consistently off by several degrees - we'll probably just have to end up adjusting our settings to accommodate this. Additionally they don't seem to be turning our gas valve off / on as we'd expect (actually at all) - luckily we wired in an override so we can turn the burner on and off via a switch - which allowed us to continue brewing but will need to troubleshoot.
2) Our BK and HLT seem to be suffocated when the kettles are resting on the frame. If we prop them up just slightly (a bolt head) they gain enough oxygen to breath and burn appropriately. We're going to play around with options to raise up our kettles and leave a little breathing room between the frame and the tip tray. We'll post updates when we get to that point. The bolt head works for now though - just have to be careful not to go grabbing a piping hot bolt! Guess our wind screens/design to prevent the wind and heat issues was too efficient!
We ended up turning our pump heads around so the outlet is on top - this did end up helping with our air issues during priming and made things go much smoother than when we had done our water tests.
Overall though - enjoyed getting to use it and looking forward to making some tweaks and getting it to a point where we're 'happy' with it.
Brewed a 10 gallon batch of a blonde style ale. Separated between our two conicals and fermenting away with two different yeast varieties to see which one we prefer.
We're working on a full guide/writeup on the brewery build with most everything we did/learned during our build. We'll include all of our diagrams, measurements, parts list, etc.
Here are a few pics of our brewday:
Starting our recirculating mash
Getting ready to sparge
Dad after adding hops to the BK
Fermenting away:
Matt - Any update on your trials and tribulations? Did you figure out what was wrong with the wiring?
Any other issues you see or do you have things running smoothly?
I know you're a busy man but looking forward to the write-up, design, wiring diagrams, etc. Clean system!
Hoping to get some work done on our 'documentation' this weekend. Spent today brewing instead though batch #2 on the system - getting in the grove. Didn't get around to fixing the issues we had but wanted to brew ... so we did!
Blonde & Kolsch on tap, porter in the fermenter.
I'm currently getting my parts accumulated similar to your rig. Anything you would change about it? How did batch #2 brewing go?
Any news or new progress??
Sorry folks - work has been just crazy lately and I've hardly been on HBT.
Like stated before - I'd adjust how much space there is between the tippy tray and the top of the frame - allowing more oxygen into the burners (we've got a work around just sticking a bolt head in to tip it up but we'll be fixing with our welder soon. Other than that - not sure there is anything that jumps out at me as something we'd do differently.
Batch 2 went well - brewed a brown porter - waiting to see how it turns out. We decided to do just a 5 gallon batch which worked out just fine, which was good!
Matt,
Have you tasted the brown porter yet? I have the majority of my parts and my frame is being welded as we speak. I hope to post pics in the near future. I would expect sometime next year it would be done. Like you, work gets in the way of pleasure. I've taken many things from your design for my design.
I do have a similar enclosure for the control panel. Is there anyway to snap a pic of the inside "guts" when you have a moment. I'm trying to figure out how I want to position and fasten the terminal/barrier. I'm looking for ideas. Didn't know if you got a DIN rail or plate to mount things too. Electricity is not my thing.
Cheers!
Are you recirculating your mash through your sparge ring?
Are the LOVE controllers only measuring HEX in HEX out?
How well do the tippy trays work? I'm thinking about incorporating that into mine. I hate lugging those damn kegs around to clean them!
Meant to wrap this up and post it months ago but got busy and never got around to it. Spent last night wrapping it up.
Here's a write-up on the whole build, links to our parts list spreadsheet, dimensional drawings, explanations on some of the steps we took, etc.
Hopefully this helps folks:
Plude Brewing - Brewery Plans
By the way, has the rig worked well in your brew sessions? I imagine it is pumpting out some good beer.
Cheers!
I ran in to that same problem, and rather than raising the kegs up, I cut 2 6"x1" vents in the skirt on each keg. It worked great, and was easy. (Especially if you know someone with a plasma cutter.)
mplutodh1,
i'm starting this build in 2 weeks. your thoroughness/elaboration gives me piece of mind that it will come out great. i think i'm going to extend the long surface square framing on each side 1-2 ft, to have built in shelves on each side...otherwise, sticking to your plan. if i get enough pics throughout the process, i'll post a new thread tied to yours.
Having said that, is there anything at all that you dislike or would have done differently. at this point, what is a flaw that you plan to upgrade in the future. i'd love to learn from your experience and avoid potential issues. How is the brewing height, flame size, dump system? does your control box get hot being rather close to the BK flame? etc...
thanks in advance...
Matt,
How is the brew rig working? Have you recirculated at all through the HERMS coil? I need to calibrate my Auber controlers to work with my system. I need to learn how to do it. Do you just use the "auto tune" and let it figure everything out itself?
I finished my build about 6 months ago, and it is well modeled after yours with a few changes. I'll posting pics hopefully in the near future.
mplutodh1 said:1/2" copper tubing. Hole size I'd have to double check as I don't remember - I'll try and remember to do that tomorrow and post.
As for solder - we didn't bother worrying about it and just used normal lead-free solder.
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