Go stainless or go home?

[JonW]

I stand correct, you must have one hell of a brew-rig.

It's getting there! Here's a quick pic from yesterdays brew day. I'm stripping everything off of it in the next week to send it for powder coating.

 

[tunoffun]

I recently build my first all-grain system & spent alot of time researching the subject. What I still don't know is whether the amount of lead (or other metals / substances) leached into solution would be enough to have even a minimal health impact.

What I do know, however, is that lead WILL leach from brass even in water alone, and that the leaching is significantly increased in an acidic solution - which mash/wort is. So I erred on the side of safety and went w/ SS on anything contacting wort. I did use brass on the HLT, however.

 

[jturie]

Yup, and then buy a house that's way too big and a big fancy car that I can get a 7 year loan on and the bank will always have the money! isn't that a great idea!!!

Just because you justify something like that, doesn't mean it's a smart idea. Money is still money. take those savings and brew more beer!

Damn straight....how many batches can you brew with 450 bucks not spent on pretty fittings. Answer--craploads. I don't criticize anyone if they want a blinged-out system, but my beer tastes just fine with brass. I'm Scottish and therefore am cheep.

 

[slakwhere]

Stainless steel is easier to clean, stronger, and holds up better over the years to contact with acidic liquids such as beer.

I chose to go with stainless steel as much as possible in my setup over other metals such as copper, brass, or aluminum.

And yes, stainless also looks nicer.

Kal

seriously, kal? big, fancy stainless QD's and then crappy hose clamps? :cross:

you need some OETIKER clamps!!

oh, and as for the brass vs stainless debate... i have a mixed bag of both in my brewery, but one day it will be all stainless.

 

[Yambor44]

It's getting there! Here's a quick pic from yesterdays brew day. I'm stripping everything off of it in the next week to send it for powder coating.

View attachment 17455

Any more insight on how you plumbed your rig? I am looking into hard plumbing mine with stainless pipe or tubing but trying to wrap my head around the "T"'s and valves configuration to:
a). recirculate my HLT alone
b). pump water from my HLT to the bottom of my MT
c). recirculate my MT alone
d). pump from the bottom of the MT to the bottom of the BK while pumping sparge water from the HLT to the top of the MT (fly sparge).
e). recirculate the BK alone while pumping ice water from my HLT to an IC on the BK and back to the HLT.

Whew.

edit: I have 2 pumps at the moment.

 

[shroomzofdoom]

you need some OETIKER clamps!!

Um, kal...love your design but I gotta go +1 here...sorry

 

[JonW]

I'll be posting up a build thread pretty soon, but in the mean time, here's a a simple graphic on the liquid flow.

 

[kal]

seriously, kal? big, fancy stainless QD's and then crappy hose clamps? :cross:

you need some OETIKER clamps!!

Yup. I could have used Oetiker I suppose. Do they have ones that work on soft silicone hose?

The ones I use are far from crappy however - they're smooth band hose clamps made specially for use with silicone hose. I talk about them here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/hoses?page=4

They're availalble at McMaster Carr here: http://www.mcmaster.com/#5076k14

Part # 5076k14

Catalog page: http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/116/257/=9joztn

Type 316 Stainless Steel Smooth-Band Worm-Drive Hose and Tube Clamps

Excellent corrosion resistance is only one reason to use these all-Type 316 stainless steel clamps—they also have a
smooth band with rolled edges to prevent them from cutting into hoses and tubes. They’re ideal for use with silicone
hoses and tubes. Clamps are reusable. The band is 1/2 wide and 0.031 thick. Tighten with a 9/32 (7 mm) hex nutdriver.
Temperature range is –40° to +1200° F. Clamps meet SAE J1508.
Note: When choosing a clamp, measure the outside diameter of your hose or tube with the fitting installed.

These are not "standard" worm clamps like the ones you get at home depot. I've used a lot of those too and these ones are considerably better built.

Kal

 

[Yambor44]

I'll be posting up a build thread pretty soon, but in the mean time, here's a a simple graphic on the liquid flow.

View attachment 17750

Thanks Jon! Simple. I like it. One more pump would be the easiest I think.

 

[JonW]

These are not "standard" worm clamps like the ones you get at home depot. I've used a lot of those too and these ones are considerably better built.

Kal

I've used the HD ones and they do shred the tubing. Have you used the plastic snap-grip style ones? (McMaster #9579K67). I'm quite interested in using these when I put the SS QD's on. I used them on my car for a supercharger intercooler setup and they seem to work quite well.

 

[Yambor44]

Would that be the right size for a 1/2" ID 3/4" OD silicone hose?

 

[JonW]

No, for 3/4 OD it would probably be McMaster #9579K71. Depending on your fittings though, it could even use one more step up if the fitting causes the silicone to strech out.

I order stuff for work from McMaster periodically, so I'll probably order a bag of these to try out.

 

[Yambor44]

Gotchas, Thanks again. Also, what type of stainless lines are you running on the bottom of your rig and where do you get them?

Rob

 

[JonW]

I bought a single piece of straight 1/2" OD tubing off ebay and just used a tubing cutter to cut to the length I needed. Those are Swagelok compression fittings connecting them.

I should have better pictures of the finished (powder coated) stand up by this weekend in a separate build thread.

 

[KAMMEE]

I'm really surprised no one mentioned that there are two types of brass, the lighter and darker versions. The darker version contains no lead, and they are cast. Thus, no lead, no pickling. The other type is a lighter gold version and they do need to be pickled but only if it makes you feel better. There was a brewstrong show where John Palmer discussed the merits of the various fittings and the conclusion was "pickle it if if makes you feel better but brass is perfectly fine."

 

[biochemedic]

I just think stainless steel looks really pretty....

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I have 2 brass ball valves and tubing in both of my mash coolers and have been using them for over 5 years with no negative effects. Much cheaper than stainless and just as effective.

 

[cowboynate2005]

any thoughts about nickel plated brass

 

[Yambor44]

I bought a single piece of straight 1/2" OD tubing off ebay and just used a tubing cutter to cut to the length I needed. Those are Swagelok compression fittings connecting them.

I should have better pictures of the finished (powder coated) stand up by this weekend in a separate build thread.

That would be very helpful. I would like to see some pictures of your swagelok compression fittings and setup.

 

[JonW]

That would be very helpful. I would like to see some pictures of your swagelok compression fittings and setup.

See this thread for build info: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/single-tier-3-pump-bcs-462-automated-rig-204705/