Electric brewery plans - need help

[Tiber_Brew]

Also, I'll post some pictures I took today. It's not much, but I know we all like pictures of beer related stuff...

Filling the carboys:

Prost,
TB

 

[ocluke]

Glad you like the build! The parts list is coming, I promise. It won't have everything I used, but will have everything you need to build a working system.

TB

I cannot wait for this. I am in the minority here on HBT in that I am not an EE, ME or engineer of any kind. I have sourced my kegs and have a local welder willing to help me on the cheap with the cuts and welds. If I could get my hands on a master parts list with pricing and store info, as well as a build sheet (minimally for the control box and electrical aspects of the system), I would be breaking out the credit card and ordering my items. Kal did a phenomenal job on his site for his build, but it is difficult to source a master parts list and total cost there as well.

Thank you again for documenting your build here. Like many on here, I have read every single post and have been subscribed from early on in the process. I'm a little intimidated to attempt a build with the tools and knowledge I have at my disposal, but I really like this eHERMS (or even an eRIMS) build.

 

[Layne]

Thanks for the pics,
Thats a rightous rig T.B.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

I cannot wait for this. I am in the minority here on HBT in that I am not an EE, ME or engineer of any kind. I have sourced my kegs and have a local welder willing to help me on the cheap with the cuts and welds. If I could get my hands on a master parts list with pricing and store info, as well as a build sheet (minimally for the control box and electrical aspects of the system), I would be breaking out the credit card and ordering my items. Kal did a phenomenal job on his site for his build, but it is difficult to source a master parts list and total cost there as well.

Thank you again for documenting your build here. Like many on here, I have read every single post and have been subscribed from early on in the process. I'm a little intimidated to attempt a build with the tools and knowledge I have at my disposal, but I really like this eHERMS (or even an eRIMS) build.

I'm glad you like it. I'm not kidding when I say that I'll put the parts list back up, but my progress a bit slow on piecing it together. For the last 1/3 of the build I didn't update the PL very often and now I'm playing forensics trying to dig up receipts and invoices. For a while I felt I was single handedly making a payment on the president of McMaster-Carr's yacht. I'll get that PL posted, and try to help however I can.

Thanks for the pics,
Thats a rightous rig T.B.

Thanks bro.

TB

 

[Sparky]

I am in the minority here on HBT in that I am not an EE, ME or engineer of any kind.

Ocluke, I think that if you have an inquisitive mind, and are willing to venture out with your ideas, it will work out. From what I have seen, the gang at HBT WILL help you with your plans and ideas.

Start out with what YOU want, draw the parameters around those ideas, and the design will follow.

Look, I have an BSEE with an MBA and run an electrical/solar company. Still, I find some of this automation control stuff "out there." But, if you read and study the past posts, and ask questions, you'll get there!

I look forward to seeing what you have planned!

 

[WAORGANY]

Tiber Brew,

Here is what I am looking at....

http://

30 AMP Outlet, currently in the garage, will be the temp home for my eHERMS until I can rewire it into my man cave/brewery/pub/climbing wall

http://
The insides, note sure where everything goes, will neck that down during our remodel of the kitchen, all empty spots will get filled then.

http://

My Keezer....need the eHERMS to keep her filled to capacity!!!

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Waorgany, that panel labeling is a mess! It's hard to tell what's what. I can't tell from the picture if your 30A outlet is GFCI. If it's not, you need to use a GFCI extension cord until you get a GFCI breaker in your panel.

I dig the keezer! You should have no problem keeping all the taps flowing once you get the rig built. I've found that my 4 tap keggerator isn't enough since I built the eHERMS!

TB

 

[WAORGANY]

Waorgany, that panel labeling is a mess! It's hard to tell what's what. I can't tell from the picture if your 30A outlet is GFCI. If it's not, you need to use a GFCI extension cord until you get a GFCI breaker in your panel.

I dig the keezer! You should have no problem keeping all the taps flowing once you get the rig built. I've found that my 4 tap keggerator isn't enough since I built the eHERMS!

TB

Yeah nothing we has is GFCI...will be adding all the electric in the kitchen that route...yeah I know the box is a mess...only way we know what is what is if we pop a circuit, or have had to do some work in that room..one of these days we will get them all labeled...just not sure when...yeah so now I will use a GFCI inline cord between the control box and wall outlet...that is the plan, thanks.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Yeah nothing we has is GFCI...will be adding all the electric in the kitchen that route...yeah I know the box is a mess...only way we know what is what is if we pop a circuit, or have had to do some work in that room..one of these days we will get them all labeled...just not sure when...yeah so now I will use a GFCI inline cord between the control box and wall outlet...that is the plan, thanks.

Sounds good! What are the plans for your control panel? What will the capabilities of your rig be?

TB

 

[WAORGANY]

Sounds good! What are the plans for your control panel? What will the capabilities of your rig be? TB

Yeah still not sure what all I will do, but here is the basics….

eHERMS…Single tier left to right HLT, MLT, BK, I plan on having two 4500 watt elements, one for each the HLT and BK..since I am working currently with only 30 amps, I will only be operating one at a time, using the HLT to bring the strike water up to temp, and also for recirculation of the wate/wort from the MLT through a copper coiled heat exchanger via a pump. I will have two pumps, and I think at this point in time I will be going with 2 Chugger pumps. I want to have PID’s to control the temp in the HLT, recirculation from the MLT, and the BK. I also plan to have sight tubes and separate gauge/dial style temp probes on each tank. For my HLT and BK I want to use 15.5 gallon sanky kegs, (if and when ever I can find them), for my MLT I already have a 10 gallon Igloo type round drink cooler. I will also have an counter flow chiller mounted below the BK for dropping the temp of the wort. I am also going to build a grain bin/crusher using some form of roller system, (TBD).

As far as the control panel itself, I am going to keep it simple: (very similar to what you and Gabrew have done, nothing as fancy as Ohio-Ed or Kal the master!):

So basically it will be as follows, or at least in my mind this is what it will look like?

Emergency Shut off; (cuts the power to everything)
3 PID controllers; HLT, MLT, BK
HLT element switch and LED light or combo
BK element switch and LED light or combo
Pump 1 switch and LED light or combo; Water
Pump 2 switch and LED light or combo; Wort
Three temp probe outputs
Two 110v outlets for pumps
Two 220/240v outlets for elements
Power in cord with inline GFCI between control box and wall outlet

So let me know what you think or if you see if I am missing anything….I guess I am going to have to start my won thread, and stop hijacking yours. Thanks again for all the help!!!! All the best.

 

[ocluke]

Ocluke,

Look, I have an BSEE with an MBA and run an electrical/solar company. Still, I find some of this automation control stuff "out there."

I really do appreciate the encouragement, although the quote above doesn't exactly calm my nerves

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Yeah still not sure what all I will do, but here is the basics….

eHERMS…Single tier left to right HLT, MLT, BK, I plan on having two 4500 watt elements, one for each the HLT and BK..since I am working currently with only 30 amps, I will only be operating one at a time, using the HLT to bring the strike water up to temp, and also for recirculation of the wate/wort from the MLT through a copper coiled heat exchanger via a pump. I will have two pumps, and I think at this point in time I will be going with 2 Chugger pumps. I want to have PID’s to control the temp in the HLT, recirculation from the MLT, and the BK. I also plan to have sight tubes and separate gauge/dial style temp probes on each tank. For my HLT and BK I want to use 15.5 gallon sanky kegs, (if and when ever I can find them), for my MLT I already have a 10 gallon Igloo type round drink cooler. I will also have an counter flow chiller mounted below the BK for dropping the temp of the wort. I am also going to build a grain bin/crusher using some form of roller system, (TBD).

As far as the control panel itself, I am going to keep it simple: (very similar to what you and Gabrew have done, nothing as fancy as Ohio-Ed or Kal the master!):

So basically it will be as follows, or at least in my mind this is what it will look like?

Emergency Shut off; (cuts the power to everything)
3 PID controllers; HLT, MLT, BK
HLT element switch and LED light or combo
BK element switch and LED light or combo
Pump 1 switch and LED light or combo; Water
Pump 2 switch and LED light or combo; Wort
Three temp probe outputs
Two 110v outlets for pumps
Two 220/240v outlets for elements
Power in cord with inline GFCI between control box and wall outlet

So let me know what you think or if you see if I am missing anything….I guess I am going to have to start my won thread, and stop hijacking yours. Thanks again for all the help!!!! All the best.

Yeah, go ahead and start your own thread and we'll help ya out!

TB

 

[Sparky]

Tiber Brew,

Here is what I am looking at....

http://

30 AMP Outlet, currently in the garage, will be the temp home for my eHERMS until I can rewire it into my man cave/brewery/pub/climbing wall
!

I have some concerns about if this "dedicated" dryer outlet. Usually, there is (1) 10/3 line running in. What's with the line running in and running out to a different location? Is this feeding something else down-line and not dedicated?

 

[WAORGANY]

I have some concerns about if this "dedicated" dryer outlet. Usually, there is (1) 10/3 line running in. What's with the line running in and running out to a different location? Is this feeding something else down-line and not dedicated?

Not sure I need to do some tracing of those lines.... more to follow....I didn't wire this place I just bought it...LOL I will be sure that everything is good before I plug anything in. Thanks

 

[devilbrewer75]

I am about to order my copper for both my hlt and bk. What diameter and length do you think I should use. I was planning on chilling by recircing the wort in the hlt coils full of icewater and the icewater in the bk coils with no other chiller(hope that makes sense). It seems that a lot of people on here are doing it differently. Some are using 25' some are using 50' in each and some are using 1/2 and 5/8 refrigeration tubing. I'm using 1/2 camlock fittings and 1/2 ball valves in keggles. Just looking for some opinions, Thanks.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

I am about to order my copper for both my hlt and bk. What diameter and length do you think I should use. I was planning on chilling by recircing the wort in the hlt coils full of icewater and the icewater in the bk coils with no other chiller(hope that makes sense). It seems that a lot of people on here are doing it differently. Some are using 25' some are using 50' in each and some are using 1/2 and 5/8 refrigeration tubing. I'm using 1/2 camlock fittings and 1/2 ball valves in keggles. Just looking for some opinions, Thanks.

Let me try and get this straight; after the boil, you are going to fill your HLT with ice water and recirculate that through the HEX in the BK while at the same time recirculate the knockout wort through the HLT HEX? Seems as though that would be conducive to good heat transfer, although it's a little more involved than a CFC. What's your tap water temp?

If you wanted to go that route, I would recommend 1/2" copper, about 25-30 ft. That would give you more surface area than 5/8" line, but I doubt you could fit 50 ft of it in a keggle.

I bought 30 ft of 1/2" copper, coiled it around a corny keg, then trimmed it to fit in the keggle and to align with the HERMS fittings. It ended up being somewhere between 25-30 ft.

Let me know if I'm not understanding your intent correctly, or if you have any more questions.

TB

 

[devilbrewer75]

You have it right, I was hoping it would get me to lager pitching temp without having to get a counterflow chiller and for ales I would skip the icewater and just use hosewater in the bk hex. Was that refrigeration tubing that you used?

 

[Tiber_Brew]

You have it right, I was hoping it would get me to lager pitching temp without having to get a counterflow chiller and for ales I would skip the icewater and just use hosewater in the bk hex. Was that refrigeration tubing that you used?

Yes, I believe it was refer line. It was the only 1/2" Cu flex line my local hardware store had.

TB

 

[devilbrewer75]

Thanks man, after following your build mine is almost complete. Can't wait for that first brewday, I'm sure you can relate.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Thanks man, after following your build mine is almost complete. Can't wait for that first brewday, I'm sure you can relate.

That's great! I sure can relate to that yearning feeling to break 'er in! Take some pics; I'd love to see what you've done.

Cheers,
TB

 

[klyph]

I've found that running hot wort into a 50' 1/2" coil submerged into a keggle filled with ice doesn't have the thermal absorption necessary for 10 gallons of boiling wort. I believe the temperatures equalize somewhere around 100 deg F. The addition of an immersion chiller in the brew kettle will help, but I'd run that immersion chiller until it takes most of the heat out, then switch to the iced coil.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

I've found that running hot wort into a 50' 1/2" coil submerged into a keggle filled with ice doesn't have the thermal absorption necessary for 10 gallons of boiling wort. I believe the temperatures equalize somewhere around 100 deg F. The addition of an immersion chiller in the brew kettle will help, but I'd run that immersion chiller until it takes most of the heat out, then switch to the iced coil.

Or build/buy a CFC. (unless your tap water temp is above pitching temp...)

I love my CFC!

TB

 

[klyph]

I live in Alaska where the groundwater is 35 degrees F in July, immersion chillers are the way to go here.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

I live in Alaska where the groundwater is 35 degrees F in July, immersion chillers are the way to go here.

With that temperature, you could use either with good results. I personally prefer CFC's over IC's, but that's largely just preference.

TB

 

[devilbrewer75]

What gallon mark does the top of your herms coil come to?

 

[Tiber_Brew]

What gallon mark does the top of your herms coil come to?

Hmmm...I want to say 13 or 14, but I'd have to check when I get home to be sure. I'm brewing 10 gallons of Koelsch tomorrow, so I will have a definite answer by then.

TB

 

[Tiber_Brew]

What gallon mark does the top of your herms coil come to?

Hmmm...I want to say 13 or 14, but I'd have to check when I get home to be sure. I'm brewing 10 gallons of Koelsch tomorrow, so I will have a definite answer by then.

TB

I brewed again today and checked; the top of the HERMS coil is exactly at the 13.75 gal mark.

TB

 

[devilbrewer75]

Thanks that's a big help.

 

[Yambor44]

TB,

I sent you another PM regarding your project box.

Thanks,

Rob

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Sorry I missed that, Rob. I've been checking email and surfing via my phone, and somehow didn't see your latest PM. Another PM sent back at ya.

TB