Heat stick build

[punkiwishiwere]

wilserbrewer, did you use a sealant on the element threads or did you use gaskets to make a seal?

 

[wilserbrewer]

I only used silicone sealant on these, couple tips fwiw...

1. clean everything well with rubbing alcohol prior to applying sealant, on both the electrical connections and the pipe threads. Even a trace amount of oil or residue will hamper a good long lasting bond with any adhesive.
2. leave the stick open, as in leave the cap off the end for a few days min. until the silicone cures. The silicone will not cure, or will cure very slowly if sealed inside a closed stick.
3. I have used JB weld, but that stuff is kinda nasty smelling, and I don't really care for it. I have had equally good luck using silicone as jb weld fwiw.
4. If using the 1 1/2" drain pipe, get the 1 1/2 - 1 1/4 nut, it fits better and you can get a chrome nut rather than the pot metal nut that comes with the drain pipe. I also build most of my sticks using a 1 1/4 drain pipe, you will need to grind down the nut portion of the element so it fits in the slimmer 1 1/4" pipe, but you get a nice compact heat stick w/ the slimmer drain pipe...

Heatsticks work real well IME, I really like them! However they do seem to have a limited lifespan and may leak after a year or to...IDK how many batches, but quite a few!!! It will be very obvious when the GFI starts tripping.

I recently built 2 new sticks, and refurbished the older two I had as backups...so now I actually have 4 and am ready to play ball with 2 sticks waiting in the bull pen!

Recently during a large batch, I powered a third stick on an extension cord from another circuit...6000w gets it done quick!

 

[punkiwishiwere]

Thank you for the advice!

I only used silicone sealant on these, couple tips fwiw...
3. I have used JB weld, but that stuff is kinda nasty smelling, and I don't really care for it. I have had equally good luck using silicone as jb weld fwiw.

I've been reading some controversies about which silicones are safe for prolonged food contact at high temps. To save me a headache, what brand(s) have you used and where is the easiest/best place to pick these up?

Thanks!

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have used this, as well as other brands.......basicly anything that says non toxic food safe is ok by me for me...
http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?BrandID=67&SubcatID=27

DO NOT use an exterior grade silicone sealant that contains mildewcide. That crap is toxic, mold won't even grow on it!

I don't have a great fear of the toxiicity of 100% silicone....statistics show an annual breast implant number for the US at 337,000, so perhaps we can double that number

Of those ****ies, all are made with an outer silicone layer, and 70% are filled with silicone. I guess what I'm trying to say is I like silicone

I believe Grainger sells a specific silicone sealant for the food industry if that's what you are looking for, but it is like 15 - 20 bucks plus shipping AFAIK.

Oh, and this is the internet...you can find information stating that just about anything is unsafe if you search it out....cheers! IMO, the alcohol we make is far more dangerous than a dab of cured silicone...just sayin.

Here ya go...food grade high temp silicone $6
http://www.emisupply.com/catalog/su5005-food-grade-silicone-clear-103oz-cartridge-p-2283.html

 

[jeffmeh]

I have used this, as well as other brands.......basicly anything that says non toxic food safe is ok by me for me...
http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?BrandID=67&SubcatID=27

DO NOT use an exterior grade silicone sealant that contains mildewcide. That crap is toxic, mold won't even grow on it!

I don't have a great fear of the toxiicity of 100% silicone....statistics show an annual breast implant number for the US at 337,000, so perhaps we can double that number

Of those ****ies, all are made with an outer silicone layer, and 70% are filled with silicone. I guess what I'm trying to say is I like silicone

I believe Grainger sells a specific silicone sealant for the food industry if that's what you are looking for, but it is like 15 - 20 bucks plus shipping AFAIK.

Oh, and this is the internet...you can find information stating that just about anything is unsafe if you search it out....cheers! IMO, the alcohol we make is far more dangerous than a dab of cured silicone...just sayin.

Here ya go...food grade high temp silicone $6
http://www.emisupply.com/catalog/su5005-food-grade-silicone-clear-103oz-cartridge-p-2283.html

Well said, as the dosage makes the poison. If you are afraid of cured, food-safe silicon, don't even start with Fermcap. And I love how you subtly brought in things that tend to come in pairs.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Oh yes Fermcap, isn't that basically simethicone, or common infant gas drops...

How dangerous can it be if we are feeding it to infants?

No, actually fermcap is OFTEN used in the boil to keep boilovers from happening...In fact I would bet that that is where most of the sales of the product come from....In fact I've never used it in the fermenter. In fact I've only had one blowoff ever anyway.



BTW Gnomy, Fermcap-s is simethecone, which is found in all these products.

Simethicone is generally available over the counter under many trade names in varying dosage sizes, including:

Air-X (Thailand)
Antiflat [1][2] (Austria)
Mag77
Baby's Own Infant Drops
Deflatine
De-Gas
Disflatyl
Espumisan
Flatulex
Gas Relief
Gas-X
GasAid
Gasvan (Serbia)
Genasyme
Imodium Multi-Symptom Relief (formerly Imodium Advanced)
Imogas
lnfacol
lnfacon
Kremil-S
Lefax (Germany)
Little Tummies
Maalox Anti-Gas
Maalox Max
Minifom (Norway, Sweden)
My Baby Gas Relief Drops
Mylanta Gas
Mylanta Gas Relief
Mylicon Drops
Ovol
Phazyme
Rolaids
SAB Simplex
Simeco
Telament (South Africa)
Triaerom (Peru)
WindEze (UK)
Gas-Med

There has been a couple threads about people using iirc gas-x instead of fermcap...

SO yeah try out the free sample and let us know.

 

[jeffmeh]

Both Simethicone and Fermcap use Dimethylpolysiloxane (or Polydimethylsiloxane, as they are different names for the same thing) as the active ingredient, which is a silicon polymer.

 

[punkiwishiwere]

Thanks all.

Honestly, I don't fear most products that may come in contact with food products. However, I'm confident that you have done the research and have suggested something that should be "completely" safe.

Cheers.

 

[30Bones]

How long will a 1500W element take to get 7-8 gallons tap water (guessing 50 degrees) to strike temps? I am unable to run two and just want this as an aid to save me some propane. If I can plug this in at 6am and have strike temps by 9 I would be more than happy as well as assisting with getting mash to a boil. I run BG14 burners on low pressure FWIW

 

[wilserbrewer]

It takes 2.5w to raise one gallon one degree, so if my math is close it should take about two hours this is assuming 100% efficient with no losses.

Another option is to put the element on a simple $10 plug in appliance timer and sleep in.

Cheers