Electric heating element

[mrcej23]

I’ve become very interested in systems such as a unibaü or grainfather as they seem to be the simplest and most consistent systems on the market, however those systems are way out of my budget. Being an engineer and having a cheapish 10 gal kettle that I wouldn’t mind f**king up if something goes wrong, I’d like to build a similar system. It won’t be as nice, but should make just as great beer. I have ideas for most aspects but I was just wondering about the heating element. I want to be able to get 8 gallons of water up to strike temperature or 8 gallons of wort up to a somewhat vigorous boil in a reasonable amount of time (5 gallon batches). I want something that can plug into a regular US wall outlet. Is this possible in the first place? Is there anyone who has achieved this who can tell me what they did? Should I go with multiple elements instead of one powerful one? What is installation like on a pot with no holes on the bottom? As simple as drilling the right sized hole and threading a nut with an o-ring? My main objective for going electric is being able to brew inside so if there are alternatives to accomplish that I’m open to suggestions. I know there are probably already threads about this but I prefer fresh opinions.

 

[Elky]

You can do a single element for a 5 gallon batch, but to reduce times a lot of people use 2 elements or a single submerged element and an induction cook top. They key with a setup like this is both elements must be plugged into outlets on separate circuits.

For mounting elements in your kettle you're probably going to want to install weldless tri clamp fittings. You can get the fittings from sites like brewhardware and many others. To install you just need to cut the correct size hole and the fitting will have the required gasket provided. Alternatively, if you want to avoid cutting holes you could use 'hot rod' elements (again available from brewhardware) but they'll cost you a decent bit more.

The last piece of the puzzle is controlling output to the two elements. You can probably get away with one just being on a plug for when you're bringing water to temp, but the other will have to have some type of control for maintaining mash temps and decreasing duty cycle while boiling to avoid boil overs. This can be done relatively easily with some kind of potentiometer, but I don't know much about 120 volt solutions. You can also use a PID and SSR like the dedicated control panels.

 

[Bobby_M]

You won't be happy with a single element on 120v. Dual 1500 watt elements are the ticket. You can install them with my Hotpod ewl3 kit. The boil vigor is just right at 3000 watts so you dont need a controller.

 

[Jayjay1976]

You won't be happy with a single element on 120v. Dual 1500 watt elements are the ticket. You can install them with my Hotpod ewl3 kit. The boil vigor is just right at 3000 watts so you dont need a controller.

I'm using a setup exactly as @Bobby_M describes, I've got about 20 batches on it so far and wouldn't change a thing. Cheap to build, as well. Two 1500W elements plugged into two separate circuits will give you very good performance.

 

[Arbe0]

I bought this...Camco stainless 5500 watt 240 amp element at home depot for $27.32 it was $40 from electric brewery.

 

[augiedoggy]

I bought this...Camco stainless 5500 watt 240 amp element at home depot for $27.32 it was $40 from electric brewery.

its likely you bought the regular camco with the zinc plated steel base which will rust. I dont believe the home depot sells the camco with the stainless base. they look the same and are both advertised as incolony stainless but they are a different part number and priced differently.

 

[Arbe0]

it says special metal surface (premium grade nickel and stainless steel) reduce chances of lime build-up. I didn't see anything about zinc.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-5...-Density-Water-Heater-Element-02963/204219605

 

[augiedoggy]

it says special metal surface (premium grade nickel and stainless steel) reduce chances of lime build-up. I didn't see anything about zinc.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-5...-Density-Water-Heater-Element-02963/204219605

The 63 element you bought has the zinc coated steel base that rusts. the 65 element is the camco element with the stainless base ...read here
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/element5500_ripple.htm
this is why the ones the electric brewery sell cost more... personally I would just buy one of these
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brewing-Water-Heater-Element-With-1-Inch-NPSM-BSP-thread-240V-5500w/321916287430?hash=item4af3b4b9c6:m:mtLClipNeIg6vn7BQChm9Mg&var=510862470871&_sacat=0&_nkw=5500w+element&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=m570.l1313

 

[Dancy]

Is anyone familiar with or had experience with this 1500W element with built-in thermostat?

http://www.brewsup.net/Brewing+Equipment-16/1500+WATT+HEATING+ELEMENT+WITH+THERMOSTAT-223

I live in a condo and want to brew smallish batches so I don’t need two or a 5000w 240v unit. Waiting to boil 3-4 gallons or the occasional 5g in a 7-8 gall kettle is not a big deal to me.
Thanks!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

you can build one just like that for a quarter of the cost

 

[Dancy]

you can build one just like that for a quarter of the cost

Thanks - It does seem expensive. Can you point me to a source of instructions for building “one just like that”?

 

[augiedoggy]

Thanks - It does seem expensive. Can you point me to a source of instructions for building “one just like that”?

this
http://stilldragon.com/index.php/diy-small-controller.html

plus any heating element you want to use...

 

[Dancy]

this
http://stilldragon.com/index.php/diy-small-controller.html

plus any heating element you want to use...

Fantastic! Thanks so much for this — looks like something I can handle. I’m thinking maybe I could do a 2000 or 2250 watt 120v element for this.

 

[mrcej23]

You won't be happy with a single element on 120v. Dual 1500 watt elements are the ticket. You can install them with my Hotpod ewl3 kit. The boil vigor is just right at 3000 watts so you dont need a controller.

I'm interested in this. So I would need 2 of these kits as well as 2 1500W burners, correct? I'm looking at brewhardware.com. The kit is currently out of stock. I would like to order the kit and burners in one order. Its there a burner you recommend from brew hardware? Or is there a better site to get this stuff from, that may also have the kit in stock?

 

[augiedoggy]

I'm interested in this. So I would need 2 of these kits as well as 2 1500W burners, correct? I'm looking at brewhardware.com. The kit is currently out of stock. I would like to order the kit and burners in one order. Its there a burner you recommend from brew hardware? Or is there a better site to get this stuff from, that may also have the kit in stock?

You Dont need temp control on both elements, (from a pratical standpoint anyway) one only needs to be plugged in for full power with the other one being the one that could be used to control temps or regulate the boil intensity. These dont control burners, only electric heating elements