Grainfather!!

[TexasWine]

Is 1600w close to max on a 15a breaker?

Yes. 1600 / 110 = 14.5 amps.

 

[dude3516]

Is 1600w close to max on a 15a breaker?

Yea, at full bore it'll pull 14.5 amps. That's why you should use it on isolated circuits or a 20 amp breaker. Mine runs on a circuit shared with the laundry room which is 20 amp.

 

[PapaO]

Yea, at full bore it'll pull 14.5 amps. That's why you should use it on isolated circuits or a 20 amp breaker. Mine runs on a circuit shared with the laundry room which is 20 amp.

That 1600w is just for the element. So if you run the pump and control box you could be over. I guess that's why the recommend 20a.

 

[jbb3]

Well i got my GF today, its nice. I done a test run with water that was a light boil.

Can you guys explain to me why a 20a breaker will work better then a 15a breaker? My father is a part time electrician and says it nonsense.

It will only draw what it can (1600w) and if it doesn't trip a 15a breaker you don't need a 20a breaker....

The possible advantage of a 20a ckt over a 15a ckt is larger wire size and slightly less voltage drop over the length of the ckt (a little more juice for your heating element).
For 15a ckt, it is permissible to run either 14ga or 12ga wire. For 20a ckt, they have to ran 12ga.
Check your wire size. If you have 12ga wire, there would be no advantage to run a 20a ckt. Assuming it's not kicking off your 15a breaker...

 

[dude3516]

That 1600w is just for the element. So if you run the pump and control box you could be over. I guess that's why the recommend 20a.

Pump is 6w, STC-1000 which is basically that controller is 3w. Total power from that would be ~.08 amps.

 

[Cutterman]

Every electrical contractor I know runs 14g on 15a due to cost factor. There is a lot of cost savings when running whole houses between 14 and 12. If they ran 12 or 10g wire then they would just throw a bunch of 20a breakers in.

 

[PapaO]

Thanks TexasWine and dude3516.

papaO

 

[pocketmon]

My first brew didn't have a good ending. The temperature started to drop after reaching 204F. I watched for a while, and it drop slowly to 192F. I had to use my kettle for boiling. The Grainfather seemed fine after the reset switch was pressed, which cannot be done when there is wort in it.
I am not sure if it is a defect, or for some reason the protection mechanism was triggered. I am losing my faith on it, though.

 

[blkandrust]

Yeah it did suck! Plus I put the hose in the sink, started cleaning up my mess and heard more water on the floor, the damn hose came out of the sink!!

What though I really found interesting was that the outlet water was also cool- measured in the 70s-80s depending on tap and valve adjustments. Anyone else notice that? First time for me with a counter flow chiller.

I had the hose come out of the sink on me as well this past wknd,using my GF for the first time. I ran the hose through the handle of a coffee cup after that.I will run the hose into my washing machine next time,I dont like wasting all that water.

 

[blkandrust]

What is everyone getting for mash efficiency?

I hit 79% on my first brew with the GF.

 

[Kampenken]

I had the hose come out of the sink on me as well this past wknd,using my GF for the first time. I ran the hose through the handle of a coffee cup after that.I will run the hose into my washing machine next time,I dont like wasting all that water.

It's a defect- the outlet house is alive!

I pushed mine down into the disposal, was using the coffee cup for a counter weight to hold the hop basket from tipping into the boil! 😄

I like the idea of using it in the washer, need to see how much my front loader takes and if it doesn't begin with a purge- though for now I brew in the kitchen.

 

[Kampenken]

My first brew didn't have a good ending. The temperature started to drop after reaching 204F. I watched for a while, and it drop slowly to 192F. I had to use my kettle for boiling. The Grainfather seemed fine after the reset switch was pressed, which cannot be done when there is wort in it.
I am not sure if it is a defect, or for some reason the protection mechanism was triggered. I am losing my faith on it, though.

Odd, that doesn't seem right. On a 20a line? If not was plug hot?(that's my concern on 15). Was the reset pushed after this problem arose, or from a previous need to reset? (I recall someone needing to hit the reset). Was GF naked or covered? Also I cover the lid on rising to a boil with dish towels, though I had strong and steady results I doubt this improved results much. If you try again and have issues I'd consider a return, as there's many success stories here.

 

[scallopking]

What is everyone getting for mash efficiency?

75 min mash, 73%.

 

[Traveling_brewer]

I will run the hose into my washing machine next time,I dont like wasting all that water.

That's a great idea! Thanks!

 

[pocketmon]

Odd, that doesn't seem right. On a 20a line? If not was plug hot?(that's my concern on 15). Was the reset pushed after this problem arose, or from a previous need to reset? (I recall someone needing to hit the reset). Was GF naked or covered? Also I cover the lid on rising to a boil with dish towels, though I had strong and steady results I doubt this improved results much. If you try again and have issues I'd consider a return, as there's many success stories here.

GF was naked, and the the lid was on.
The plug was not too hot. Everything was fine except the temperature fell before boiling. After pumping the wort into a kettle (the pump worked while the heating elements didn't), I tried to find the reset switch at the bottom of GF, indicated in the GF FAQ video. I shouldn't have pushed it before I test it again.
Surely I would return if it fails again.

 

[jbb3]

Every electrical contractor I know runs 14g on 15a due to cost factor. There is a lot of cost savings when running whole houses between 14 and 12. If they ran 12 or 10g wire then they would just throw a bunch of 20a breakers in.

I agree with your statement concerning contractors. But some home owners, if given the option during the build, do opt for 12ga wire throughout. Especially for longer runs. All I'm saying is; Before running a new dedicated 20a ckt, check the wire size of the existing ckt. If it's already 12ga wire, it's not going to do any good to run a new ckt. Unless the existing ckt is under a load that would cause a tripped breaker when using the GF.

 

[Cutterman]

I agree with your statement concerning contractors. But some home owners, if given the option during the build, do opt for 12ga wire throughout. Especially for longer runs. All I'm saying is; Before running a new dedicated 20a ckt, check the wire size of the existing ckt. If it's already 12ga wire, it's not going to do any good to run a new ckt. Unless the existing ckt is under a load that would cause a tripped breaker when using the GF.

I agree.
Another thing people need to check is their voltage. Voltage in U.S. can run 100-120 volts depending on various things. Remember the higher you voltage the less amps your using. If your house and wiring is older or you are in a condo/apartment and you are sharing a feed your voltage can be low which can push your amps over 15. If your voltage is less than 110 in you bkr panel your feed is low and the power company can turn your feed power up.

 

[BrunDog]

I agree.

Remember the higher you voltage the less amps your using.

That is not accurate for a resistive load. The higher the voltage, the higher the current.

 

[Cutterman]

That is not accurate for a resistive load. The higher the voltage, the higher the current.

It was a simple explanation. Yes if you want to get technical your Amp can stay the with voltage increase in a resistive load which would increase you kW, thus giving you more power in your element.

 

[gspot]

I thought I'd share my water calc spreadsheet in case anyone is interested. It uses the formulae in the user manual. Notice there are two tabs: one for grainbills of 10+ pounds, and one for less (as specified in the manual). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...kRtzxWOR8GbbiBBUm6K1cpA/edit?usp=docslist_api

 

[gspot]

Here's my beerSmith equipment profile too. I use the water calc sheet for all water volumes and ignore the numbers beerSmith generates. As always, YMMV. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...kLuRy4dDIUAkNlpLgItv4to/edit?usp=docslist_api

 

[Traveling_brewer]

Here's my beerSmith equipment profile too. I use the water calc sheet for all water volumes and ignore the numbers beerSmith generates. As always

Very cool spreadsheets. Thanks for sharing!

 

[gspot]

You're welcome! Hope it will be useful to somebody.

 

[seabrew8]

Hey folks, i have this chlorine and TSP cleaner - its pink! Can i use this to clean the GF and run it through the pump?

 

[Lazer Wolf Brewing]

Hey folks, i have this chlorine and TSP cleaner - its pink! Can i use this to clean the GF and run it through the pump?

The instructions recommend using PBW for first clean. Also, I'm new to all this, but shouldn't anything with Chlorine stay far away from stainless steel? I believe it pits it easily. I used TSP to clean my stainless steel fermenters, so that's probably OK to use, but I would just use PBW as instructed if I were you.

 

[chikincoop]

Did my first batch a week ago. I got lazy since I was short on time and aimed at doing a 3 gallon batch without a sparge (like an eBIAB). Used a little over 4 gallons of water to mash in. I crushed very fine expecting low mash eff, which ended up getting me a stuck mash when I pulled up the basket after 60 min. I had to fish out the top mesh of grain basket and stir to get it to drain. Ended up with 73% eff. Not too bad for not sparging and having the mash stuck. Don't think I will go that route again, but it would work ok if I didn't crush the grain so fine. Overall, it worked as expected. Great for quick, smaller batches. It held mash temp great and I'm a big fan of the chiller.

The one thing that I didn't account for was that by using such a thin mash, my yeast attenuation ended up at 86%! It appears to be finished at 1.006 on a target of 1.011 and is one dry Pale Ale.

 

[seabrew8]

The instructions recommend using PBW for first clean. Also, I'm new to all this, but shouldn't anything with Chlorine stay far away from stainless steel? I believe it pits it easily. I used TSP to clean my stainless steel fermenters, so that's probably OK to use, but I would just use PBW as instructed if I were you.

Yeah i don't have PBW though. I guess i will just use some oxi-clean.

 

[DU99]

My unit came with a High performance cleaner,when i run out will use sodium perc thru the system

 

[Kampenken]

GF was naked, and the the lid was on.
The plug was not too hot. Everything was fine except the temperature fell before boiling. After pumping the wort into a kettle (the pump worked while the heating elements didn't), I tried to find the reset switch at the bottom of GF, indicated in the GF FAQ video. I shouldn't have pushed it before I test it again.
Surely I would return if it fails again.

Odd, pump worked so you had electric to unit. Reset button must be for the heater element only, not the whole unit. I'd email GF to confirm that theory given your experience. I've only heard good things about their customer service. Put them to the test. It could be flawed and need to be replaced.

That sucks you've had a bad starting experience. I would try to get on a 20A circuit (forgot if you were on 15A?) and I'd put some reflectix on there. I had mine w/o reflectix when I cleaned it the first time, heated up to 130 or 140 and the outside was hot! With the thin sidewall I'd bet it gets damn hot when you approach boiling and all this heat is dissipating, so best to trap it. I used pipe insulation, split lengthwise in half, under the reflectix at the top, bottom and middle of the unit, taped at the butt ends with electrical tape (no tape on GF). It stuck like glue to the GF! Then it was quite easy to still wrap 2 layers of reflectix around- I did it in two separate wraps, each terminating in different areas so as to overlap, and both secured with command strips. Easy to remove if desired. Quite cool I thought, and efficient! I hope to hear better luck for you. Cheers!

 

[Traveling_brewer]

Well, my GF is on the FedEx truck and on its way to my house. I wish I didn't have to work tonight. I'd love to mess around with it.
I ordered a GrainCoat from the GF website, but I never got a confirmation email or shipping number. So, I don't really know what's up with that. Has anyone else ordered from their site? Is that just how they do it?