BrunDog 50A eRig - no HLT for me!

Williams 728
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I'm almost surprised there aren't sight glasses out there that already come with a built in light/switch.

Great idea!
 
BrunDog said:
Nice! I look forward to your report. This looks good but I would prefer a shorter stem so you could make bends tighter. Also, 1/2" and 5/8" ID options so you could use larger tubing.
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What about buying a TC cap like this and drilling a hole that is the size of the OD of the tubing you are trying to solder to it? Shove the tube in the hole and solder it.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tc15bc.htm
 
Ya, that would work, as long as the hole is properly drilled. So for DIY, this is a good option, especially as it would allow the solder to flow through across the whole interface. It would be important to make sure there is no open gaps for junk to hide on the inside face, so a little overflow and a little light smoothing would be good. This would also allow for a quick tubing bend right away, as JonW pointed out.

Would be nice to have these off the shelf. Bobby, whatcha say?
 
Nice!!! Like a dummy I was thinking you would need the pipe to slide INTO the ferrule. No reason the ferrule couldn't slide INTO the pipe. The only concern would be to make sure there is full solder contact. In this configuration you cannot see solder on both sides, but it looks like you correctly did not insert it too deep.
 
Minor DIY project... I use Speidel fermenters in an upright freezer controlled by STC-1000. I never thought it would be a good idea to put a thermowell into the fermenter for fear of cleaning headaches and contamination. I have always used a cheapo plastic water bottle with the STC temp probe in it to measure temperature. Worked easy enough but not very refined. Time for improvement.

Grabbed a sparkling cider bottle, a stopper, and a 1/4" thermowell from Bobby. Cut the thermowell down with a grinder, and inserted deep it into the bottle filled with water. It's in the fridge acclimating but tomorrow it will get the probe. I am know this is nothing new but sharing anyway.


View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451972967.875171.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1451972983.506182.jpg
 
BrunDog said:
1. I determined early on that I wanted to minimize hardware and leverage some control from automation. This certainly isn't at the level of full automation of many high-end builds on this forum, but I wanted something at reasonable cost/size. I realized I could eliminate the HLT and just use the RIMS tube for heating strike and sparge water. This allowed for a smaller footprint and an off-the-shelf stand. I live in FL, where a basement brewery is not possible, so this was built to reside in my garage. I wanted this to be portable, so a cart design was selected. Luckily my electric panel is in my garage, so I installed a 50A outlet to power this (justified by potential for electric car charging in the future). The kettles are cheap Bayou’s. The MLT has a Norcal false bottom and a Loc Line sparge ring. The BK has a ripple element, a BrewPi element enclosure, and whirlpool arm, a DIY trub dam, and a borosilicate sight glass.

View attachment 301450
View attachment 301451
View attachment 301474


2. As mentioned, I wanted to have a good controller. I researched many different homegrown options, initially planning on using a USB data acquisition board and writing my own interface, but ultimately decided I couldn't pump the time into it, and an off the shelf option would fit the bill. The BCS is a solid device at low cost, and the support is reasonable. The biggest problem is the NTC thermistors it uses (not RTD's which are more accurate and more common of most PIDs). I did not like the hardware probes that BCS offered, so I ordered Auber's probes for the RIMS TC end cap, the BK, and the MLT and chiller ports, and I replaced the RTD's inside with high quality thermistors.
View attachment 301453
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Hello Brundog,
What thermistors did you use and where did you purchase?
Cheers,
Todd
 
BrunDog said:
Latest upgrade: an LED backlight behind the sight glass. I bought this LED: https://www.adafruit.com/products/1626 and installed it there to provide light during whirlpool, oxygenation, and fermenter transfer.

Soldered in a 1500 ohm resistor to wire this to the same 24VDC which powers the valve which allows flow through the chiller/oxygenation circuit:
View attachment 326920

Then installed it behind the sight glass:
View attachment 326921

Looking forward to trying it out!
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You have got to post pictures of this in use..
 
TylerAI said:
You have got to post pictures of this in use..
Click to expand...

I will take a pic on my next brew. I may do a brew day video just for kicks, so will include there.

One thing I forgot to mention is that it is wired to the valves that feed the chillers, so it doesn't light unless there is fluid flowing through it - will help as a "reminder" light what state the valve is in.
 
Minor upgrade... got the plastic clean in place ball to replace the simple sprinkler head. This is from McMaster Carr and was originally demonstrated by an online video that Joe Fisher posted a while back. It is not inexpensive for what it is, but is certainly works well enough. I will upgrade the BK side as well.

I don't know how to embed YouTube video here, so if anyone can tell me, it would be appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/yzY7CMm2uRY
 
Good vid! I don't have 45 minutes to watch it right now, but I did skim through it. What would be nice is if you created a little topic index with the time locations noted. It would make a good reference for people to check out when they had a question about a specific part of your build.

e.g.
4:20 Water Manifold
5:06 Rear Control Panel
5:55 Dual power RIMS description
6:25 Ipad Control Panel
 
I can't believe I watched that whole thing. Great video! I'm glad that you took the trouble to film this because, honestly, your build is so intricate that it's been hard to keep up with everything you add. Incredible!
 
Absolutely amazing. Top notch all the way! I really get your system now and how it works, and all the work that went into creating it. I watched the whole vid and all I can say is you are a class act and so is your brew rig!

Cheers :mug:

John
 
cleaning cycles, look at you mr fancy over there. I might have to do a video too. and make a cleaning cycle.
 
JonW said:
... and do a walk through on my system.
Click to expand...

How about just putting up some looks at that new system to start!

poptarts said:
cleaning cycles, look at you mr fancy over there. I might have to do a video too. and make a cleaning cycle.
Click to expand...

Well, call me fancy or not... but cleaning blows. So if I can shortcut it, damn right I will! Also, PBW is wondrous stuff, so why would I bother scrubbing?!?
 
Wish I had a cleaning cycle on mine, that would be awesome........I'm totally envious!! The only cleaning cycle I have is if one of my sons comes over for a visit on brew day and I hand them the garden hose!

John
 
Not gonna lie... It makes life much easier! I do have a slight problem where water somehow leaks past the lids. Clamping them down helps but I think repositioning the heads lower will help. Baby steps like everything else....
 
Great job on the system and really nice work on the video. I know you have spent a lot of time in your design and build of this system. It is amazing what lengths people go to to make beer. I have been working on mine for a year and a half nothing as elaborate as this. I hope to run 1st water batch Sunday... Very anxious. Anyhow great work and thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

David
 
Brun,
Maybe I missed it in the thread, where did you get the CIP heads from? Are you driving them with the march/chuggers?
 
That setup is awesome!

I dunno, you could fancy up the UI on the iPad controller if you're into that kind of thing (and it's even possible)?
 
I just watched the brew day demo video, and just read this thread for a second time. That's one outstanding system! You thought of everything, and executed it with fantastic craftsmanship! Kudos!:):mug::mug:
And, no, your voice didn't put me to sleep! :ban:
 

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