Induction cook top heat control?

[JAReeves]

Is anyone running two induction burners (not at the same time) but one for HLT and one for BK? MT in between? I am not sure I want to spend ~$400 on two, but I'm also not sure I want to lift an HLT w/ 7G up to table height, and then when empty, slide it over and lift a BK w/6.5G onto the burner. I'm strong enough now, but that's going to get real old, real fast.

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm also not sure I want to lift an HLT w/ 7G up to table height, and then when empty, slide it over and lift a BK w/6.5G onto the burner. I'm strong enough now, but that's going to get real old, real fast.

Not only because they're heavy, it's awkward (and bad for your body) to lift up to that height.
Years ago I sprang a small abdominal hernia lifting a nearly full 15 gallon kettle 4" up onto the induction plate, and that was on a knee-height bench. I had it checked out, it wasn't too bad, but I can still feel it sometimes...

 

[IslandLizard]

Is anyone running two induction burners (not at the same time) but one for HLT and one for BK? MT in between?

That's actually not a bad idea. It prevents having to lift or move (heavy) full kettles. Just power the plate you need to use.

If the receptacle is on a 30 Amp circuit, you can power both plates at the same time. Each pulls around 13.5 Amps, from what I've read somewhere (so they are not quite 3500W either). I don't have the meter or a shunt to measure that high of a current.

 

[JAReeves]

That's actually not a bad idea. It prevents having to lift or move (heavy) full kettles. Just power the plate you need to use.

If the receptacle is on a 30 Amp circuit, you can power both plates at the same time. Each pulls around 13.5 Amps, from what I've read somewhere (so they are not quite 3500W either). I don't have the meter or a shunt to measure that high of a current.

That is exactly the info I needed to know! Thank you! Time to start saving!

 

[IslandLizard]

That is exactly the info I needed to know! Thank you! Time to start saving!

It's not a terribly big outlay. In the past they've sometimes run specials on them. Plus you have a backup, just in case...

Note on the fan:
Not saying every IC3500 has this problem, I haven't seen any other reports on it. It may well be a very isolated issue, a fluke, and just a bad fan from that time period.

The first IC3500 I bought (anno 2013) developed a fan problem after a couple years of regular use, both for brewing and some general use in the kitchen, such as cooking, soups, stews, stocks, wokking, etc. The fan started to slow down, you could clearly hear it drag/surge. The shaft (in a sleeve bearing) needed to be cleaned and a drop of oil, that fixed it. I've been doing that about every year of use, since then. The fan, at least in that particular in that unit, is fairly crappy and cheaply made. Definitely a weak link, but I haven't found a replacement for it. It has a 2-point mounting bracket and is different from an average computer type fan.

The good news is, the 2nd IC3500 unit I bought hasn't shown that problem, at least as of yet. It has been getting regular, almost daily use the past 2-3 years. So we're keeping those fingers crossed.

If used solely for brewing, say for 10-20 batches a year, one may never encounter any issues with the fan, if there is one at all.

 

[rnorman57]

Is anyone running two induction burners (not at the same time) but one for HLT and one for BK? MT in between? I am not sure I want to spend ~$400 on two, but I'm also not sure I want to lift an HLT w/ 7G up to table height, and then when empty, slide it over and lift a BK w/6.5G onto the burner. I'm strong enough now, but that's going to get real old, real fast.

I use an Avantco 3500 for strike water heating, then pump it to a cooler mash tun. While mashing, I heat sparge water with a cheap 1800w induction burner..gets about 5 gallons to 180F well before mash hour is up.

 

[rnorman57]

I use an Avantco 3500 for strike water heating, then pump it to a cooler mash tun. While mashing, I heat sparge water with a cheap 1800w induction burner..gets about 5 gallons to 180F well before mash hour is up.

Forgot to say I also use the Avantco as boil kettle.