Electric Kettle: 1.5" TC and Ripple Element question

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djreson

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Hi All,

Great community here which inspired me to move off of my stove top extract to all grain electric herms berwery. I'm hoping by end of the year I'll get to the eherms brewery.

My first phase is to get an electric kettle to continue my extract brews and work on my post boil techniques before going to all grain. So on to the Kettle...

I have a 15 gallon BK on order (mostly 5 gallon and occasional 10 gallon batch) from Spike Brewing after reading all the good reviews. My question is with the element port.

The kettle comes with a 1.5" TC ferrule for the element. Since i'm starting out doing extract still, I was thinking it's important to use the ULWD ripple element to avoid scorching...but after doing some research on this forum it sounds like some people have issues using the 1.5" TC for the ripple element, and others don't. I'm trying to figure out if I'll have any clearance issues...I e-mailed Ben from spike and he said the ferrule is about an 1" long, anyone have success with with a ripple element on these? Also if you had success or not, what enclosure did you use/buy/make and how deep/long is your ferrule?

I was hoping to go with BrewHardware.com since they're getting ULWD stainless ripple elements, and they have a decent enclosure for 1.5" TC.

I guess if I have to go with a straight fold back element, anyone have any scorching problems with them? I noticed they're LWD (105 watts/sq inch) and not ULWD (around 50+ watts/sq inch).

Thanks all!
 
I'm pretty new to the electric game with only a one 10 gallon batch and one 5 gallon batch under my belt. I went with the 1.5" enclosure and 5500w fold back stainless element from BrewHardware and couldn't be happier.

I'm all grain so I can't speak to the dangers of scorching if doing extract but I did a 5 gallon batch and did first hop wort additions. As soon as the element was covered I turned it on and it was running at 100% with no issues.
 
A 1" long ferrel might be too tight for a ripple, but if you're interested in Brewhardware then send Bobby an email on the contact page. I guarantee he knows the answer.

If you stir well I don't see a problem doing extract with a LWD element, especially late addition extract. I love my eHERMS but I highly suggest an intermediate step before you make the full investment, maybe an eBIAB or some mini-mashes to get a handle on it. Or if you're the friendly type maybe you know someone with a AG system to show you the ropes. It's not hard, but always easier when you have some experience going in to it. And that will better inform the design for your new system.

Good luck!
 
I went through a few threaded ferrules before finding the right one. I bought the 1.5" NPS tri clamp adapter from brewers hardware. I emailed them to make sure it would work and got a quick reply. Kudos on their customer service.

Anyways I now have it installed and works Great! FYI i have the Camco 5500w wavy ULWD Element The tip of the element does come back into my ferrule a little bit, but does not make contact with the kettle. not a big deal though.

My Kettle is a 10 gallon Bru Gear, and the welded on ferrule is approximately 1" long.

http://www.brewershardware.com/1.5-Tri-Clover-X-1-NPS-Fitting.html
 
A 1" long ferrel might be too tight for a ripple, but if you're interested in Brewhardware then send Bobby an email on the contact page. I guarantee he knows the answer.

If you stir well I don't see a problem doing extract with a LWD element, especially late addition extract. I love my eHERMS but I highly suggest an intermediate step before you make the full investment, maybe an eBIAB or some mini-mashes to get a handle on it. Or if you're the friendly type maybe you know someone with a AG system to show you the ropes. It's not hard, but always easier when you have some experience going in to it. And that will better inform the design for your new system.

Good luck!

I agree you should not have a problem... As for all grain its easy. 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler and false bottom and your off and running.
all your doing with all grain is making wort. all your doing with extract is making wort.
all grain IS more fun
 
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