Ground RIMS tube and/or components

[kegtoe]

How have you grounded your electical element in your rim tubes? Also how have you grounded other components.

I'm not very electricaly savy, but have been doing a fair share of research. I am looking for some guidance on grounding the tube, or electrical systmes as a whole.

 

[Reelale]

How have you grounded your electical element in your rim tubes? Also how have you grounded other components.

I'm not very electricaly savy, but have been doing a fair share of research. I am looking for some guidance on grounding the tube, or electrical systmes as a whole.

I have one of Derrin's tubes that came with a grounding lug welded on it so no help there. All of my ground wires are connected to a common terminal block inside the control box that grounds through the house circuit via the receptacle.

 

[jmer1234]

My RIMS tube is grounded by using a hose clamp around the tube to attach a ground wire connected to the 3 wire supply cord I have attached to the heater element back to the common ground in the control box.

 

[limulus]

I bought one of these. It is supposed to be 1500 watts and has a range of 110-195F, but I'm not sure about that. It screws into the 1" end of a RIMS tube. I have an Auber plug-n-play PID to control it. I'll just turn it to high and let the PID take care of the rest. It has a 3-prong plug and plugs into the PID. It is all plugged into the GFCI outlet in my garage. Do I need to do any additional grounding? I have ordered the RIMS tube from Brewer's Equipment.

I also have this to keep the water in my HLT heated. It is a bucket heater and designed to be submerged, so I don't need any additional grounding for it. I have used this several times and it easily held water at 165F:

Both of these have probes that I assume are wired to the controllers.

 

[kegtoe]

Who is derrin?

I have one of Derrin's tubes that came with a grounding lug welded on it so no help there. All of my ground wires are connected to a common terminal block inside the control box that grounds through the house circuit via the receptacle.

 

[buckeyebrewer]

That heating element must be expensive. I have a 2000w 120v and I don't have it grounded any particular way. Never been shocked by the RIMS system....it's only 120v. Everything is plugged into a GFCI outlet.
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/elements.html
cheap and fast shipping

 

[Reelale]

Who is derrin?

http://www.brewershardware.com/

 

[Sawdustguy]

My brew stand is grounded to earth ground and my RIMS Tube is connected to the brew stand via some heavy stainless steel brackets. Therefore I need no special connection between the RIMS Tube and ground. I have checked continuity between earth and the RIMS Tube and get a big fat zero ohms.

 

[limulus]

I received my tube from Marcus today. I hope to brew a batch this weekend with it. It took a few weeks to receive this. The first one was apparently lost. Marcus sent me a replacement yesterday overnight UPS.

I have added my cam locks and my heater. I also added a 1/2" SS plug to the end. I have a compression fitting and could install a probe at that end:

 

[jmer1234]

I bought one of these. It is supposed to be 1500 watts and has a range of 110-195F, but I'm not sure about that. It screws into the 1" end of a RIMS tube. I have an Auber plug-n-play PID to control it. I'll just turn it to high and let the PID take care of the rest. It has a 3-prong plug and plugs into the PID. It is all plugged into the GFCI outlet in my garage. Do I need to do any additional grounding? I have ordered the RIMS tube from Brewer's Equipment.

I also have this to keep the water in my HLT heated. It is a bucket heater and designed to be submerged, so I don't need any additional grounding for it. I have used this several times and it easily held water at 165F:

Both of these have probes that I assume are wired to the controllers.

You do need a ground from the rims tube itself, in case something goes horribly wrong. Most hot water heater elements only have the 2 poles that you connect the hot and neutral wires to. If, somehow the rims tube itself becomes charged, you need to provide a route to ground, other than you touching it. If properly grounded, the gfi outlet will trip long before you come into contact with the charged piece. If not grounded, you will still get a shock for the short time before the gfi outlet trips when you become the route to ground.

 

[kegtoe]

buck eye brewer - your can cozy looks delicious. i'd be a fan of yours if you changed your name to Buckey Brewer. GO BADGERS!!!!!

 

[kegtoe]

limulus, where did you get that element??? i was going to get one from marcys too, but was leary because there was some bad comments on his original post uner the vendor forum. Are you happy with yours? Also i have some 1/2" cams i bought a while back, you gave me insperation to use them. Where are you measuring temperature at if you have a plug in the end of that tube?

 

[limulus]

limulus, where did you get that element??? i was going to get one from marcys too, but was leary because there was some bad comments on his original post uner the vendor forum. Are you happy with yours? Also i have some 1/2" cams i bought a while back, you gave me insperation to use them. Where are you measuring temperature at if you have a plug in the end of that tube?

The element in the RIMS tube is from CHI. You can also get it from Homebrewstuff but CHI is $20 less. The Homebrewstuff site has it listed at 1500 watts, but I'm not sure if it is or not. I have not used it yet, but I can tell you the bucket heater in my photos above is 1000 watts and it will definitely heat water beyond 160F. The one in the RIMS tube only needs to maintain my mash temps and maybe step it up to mash out temps. I'll let you know how that all works.

Here it is installed:

 

[kegtoe]

I wonder how accurate that controller is on the element. If its accurate and you dont need a controller this thing could be very reasonable.

The element in the RIMS tube is from CHI. You can also get it from Homebrewstuff but CHI is $20 less. The Homebrewstuff site has it listed at 1500 watts, but I'm not sure if it is or not. I have not used it yet, but I can tell you the bucket heater in my photos above is 1000 watts and it will definitely heat water beyond 160F. The one in the RIMS tube only needs to maintain my mash temps and maybe step it up to mash out temps. I'll let you know how that all works.
]

 

[limulus]

I wonder how accurate that controller is on the element. If its accurate and you dont need a controller this thing could be very reasonable.

My plan is to set it on high or just under high and let my PID control it.