Bucks Electric Brewery

[trimixdiver1]

Going to add this freebie, a 13kw instant tankless hot water heater. This will solve the lag time I may have after transferring strike water to the MLT and the reheat of the HLT with sparge water. At least I will have 150f water going into the HLT now, so only have to heat it up another 18-20f. Of course after I add Kmeta and salts.

 

[trimixdiver1]

Just got the Mash Tun loop plumbed up and lo and behold the Chugger pump is chugging away with some test water I'm recircing. My throttle valve will have be less than 10% open with this bad boy pumping.

 

[trimixdiver1]

My Facebook page on this and my account were deleted today to save my sanity. Tired of being connected...

 

[trimixdiver1]

Added the Blichmann brew coils. Yes I have 9kw of heating in the hot liquor tank and 5kw in the boil kettle. Also top of pressurizeable kettle lid.

 

[trimixdiver1]

Got the wort trim chiller/ O2 interface together and the band heater on the mash tun

 

[trimixdiver1]

240v wiring complete to the contractors and SSR's.



Prep work to start for the mash tun band heater

 

[atoughram]

Holy Schmidt....

 

[trimixdiver1]

Well, just got 2 of the 36" 1" sanitary tubes. In all I will have 4 vertical 1" tubes: Hot Liquor recirc, Hot Liquor to Mash Tun (sparge), Mash Tun recirc and Mash Tun to Boil Kettle (runnings). The chugger pumps move a good amount of water, impressive as a matter of fact.
Next is installing the HLT pump and flowmeter, then firing the HLT boil coils.

 

[trimixdiver1]

Both pumps working and HERMS heat exchanger working great

 

[trimixdiver1]

Air solenoid manifold installed.

 

[Ravenshead]

I have a dumb question:

You spent some serious buckazoids building this bad boy but you still built it around keg based vessels. Why didn't you spring a tiny bit (compared to what you spent already) on some real pots? I say this as an all-electric keggle brewer BTW.

 

[trimixdiver1]

I have a dumb question:

You spent some serious buckazoids building this bad boy but you still built it around keg based vessels. Why didn't you spring a tiny bit (compared to what you spent already) on some real pots? I say this as an all-electric keggle brewer BTW.

I haven't spent that much, did a lot of searching on eBay and friends in the field helped source parts.

I like keggels, mostly for the bottom drain and they are built far better than most kettles. If I went the blichmann route, I would have to spend time cleaning the pots more because of the drain design, sight glass, etc...

All I have to do now is flush it down. I will be using a sealed analog float sensor on the HLT and MLT. So no sight glass.

 

[Ravenshead]

I hear you on the better built thought. They're damn near indestructible but also really heavy which is why I'll eventually change mine out for pots. To each his own though, nice rig.

 

[trimixdiver1]

Just got the standpipes installed and labeled.

 

[trimixdiver1]

Working on my Advanced HMI Display on a 36" Plasma above the brewery as an overview.

 

[wobblypops]

that's sweet. can't wait to start mine

 

[trimixdiver1]

Now that I have more time on my hands, hopefully make some good progress.

 

[nhwrecker]

240v wiring complete to the contractors and SSR's.

View attachment 217139View attachment 217140

Prep work to start for the mash tun band heater

View attachment 217141

your system is coming along great and the new display panel looks awesome. What can you tell us about this band heater? I think I may like to add something like that to my electric HERMS set up.

Thanks, and keep up the great work

 

[trimixdiver1]

your system is coming along great and the new display panel looks awesome. What can you tell us about this band heater? I think I may like to add something like that to my electric HERMS set up.



Thanks, and keep up the great work

I got it on eBay. It's a 4kw heater @ 480v so for us it's like 1900w.

 

[nhwrecker]

Thanks!

 

[trimixdiver1]

your system is coming along great and the new display panel looks awesome. What can you tell us about this band heater? I think I may like to add something like that to my electric HERMS set up.



Thanks, and keep up the great work

I got it on eBay. It's a 4kw heater @ 480v so for us it's like 1900w.

 

[FastTalker]

Here is the first of many versions for the overview screen. Any suggestions??

You've got a pretty cool system going. :rockin:

Have you considered taking a "High Performance HMI" approach? Even though all the bright colors and numbers look cool, they don't provide a lot of immediately useful information. And recognizing that it might not look as pretty, you can take another approach that uses more grey-scale graphics and more graphs to provide useful information.

Here's a link to a good white paper and several other sources with very similar information:
http://www.marinetech.org/files/mar...hnhmidesignreviewed-110722135448-phpapp02.pdf
http://isawwsymposium.com/wp-conten...d_BillHollified_HighPerformanceHMIs_paper.pdf
http://www.rockwellautomation.com/r...s/automation-fair/2011/psug/afpsug11_ed09.pdf

 

[trimixdiver1]

Good read, thanks for the info. The plasma is my quick look overview. I also have an automation direct Cmore that will actually do the control interface, and that one is more in line with the docs you provided. I'm a ex Navy nuclear trained guy, so that's all understood. The green/ red run indication is something I always used and still will because that's what we looked for, a green or red board.

 

[hopfool]

Actually I used to refuel nuclear reactors and was on a Submarine in the Navy.

That breaks it... I'm suing the Air Force!
Originally a 6 year enlistee for nuclear power & wanted to get that "SS" rate. Morning I was to swear in and ship out the Marine recruiter had apparently put a gun to the Navy man's head the night before and forced him to do the pub crawl til dawn, so the A.F. guy was the only one to show up in time. When I mentioned being a 6 year enlistee he jimmied the Navy guy's office door and got my test (guess he didn't believe I qualified). Next thing ya know I'm headed to San Antonio to become an avionics electronics specialist (y.a.w.n...). Kept volunteering and ended up as a Survival Training Instructor (very cool job) but absolutely no useful civie job skill training... or more importantly, applicable brew skill technology. Didn't realize I had missed out on a triple major in nuclear propulsion, electrical and mechanical engineering.

No kidding? I live in Peters.

Lived down the street from a guy named Chuck Noll, just "don" Rt. 19 from Nikola. Ever heard of him? Believe it or not there was a time when folks used to throw garbage on their front lawn (like after he burned a first round pick on a big, Black, D-lineman the Post Gazette called "Joe Who?" - think I still have that headline). Didn't get much better when he benched the local boy who'd won the national championship with Notre Dame in favor of some hillbilly from Louisianan Tech. Ahh, what did he know?

Probably a shrine and monument there now.

Miss "The Burg". Great people and places. Still take the kids and grand kids to the world's greatest amusement park there... on our way to visit Steeler training camp of course.


Steeler trivia:
Name of the guy who Bradshaw was behind on the depth chart at Louisiana Tech?

Phil Robertson, the Duck Commander dude.

Good read, thanks for the info. The plasma is my quick look overview. I also have an automation direct Cmore that will actually do the control interface, and that one is more in line with the docs you provided. I'm a ex Navy nuclear trained guy, so that's all understood. The green/ red run indication is something I always used and still will because that's what we looked for, a green or red board.

I'm a little disappointed that you haven't put a mirror shine on those kegs and created an interactive virtual reality 3-D interface with holographically rendered display... slacker!

Be honest though... the kegs are jacketed with lead and the coils are just for show right? Where'd ya get the fuel rods?

I am so way over my head it's pathetic. Think I'll head back to electric brewing. Can't hang with the fission/fusion crowd.

Here's an idea for your logo instead of the alien Serb (and I don't mean from another country). Or maybe replace the ship's bow with a beer vessel?
Awesome job swab.

 

[hopfool]

Hey... I just realized. No Lock Out/Tag Out's? What were you thinking?

 

[trimixdiver1]

My can of never dull is retired. As for the LOTO, I'm a human danger tag..... In reality it would be too damn hard to get the tag out approved, no duty officer or approved drawings.

 

[hopfool]

my can of never dull is retired. As for the loto, i'm a human danger tag..... In reality it would be too damn hard to get the tag out approved, no duty officer or approved drawings.

:d

 

[trimixdiver1]

Got some more work done, been doing some boring leg work for the last couple weeks, but I got the tankless hot water tank in and plumbed, the auto HLT fill done and the vent system done. MLT band heater installed.

 

[P-J]

nevermind...

 

[trimixdiver1]

Well I got the wort chiller head torqued and the chiller leveled and installed


Also got the boil kettle mass flowmeter installed


Got the O2 absorption column/ trim chiller installed


And finally the dissolved O2 probe and wort throttle valve installed