Is 5500 Watts too much for a RIMS Tube Element?

[Ntwkdsnr]

I'm finishing up my build of my controller and RIMS tube. My controller is 240VAC 30A. I selected a 5500 Watt element for my 16 inch RIMS tube. I'm reading that there are some 2000 Watt 120VAC RIMS systems out there. Did I go too big?

My plan was to upgrade someday to having an electric boil kettle along with the RIMS tube for re-circulation.

My initial tests with plain water circulating through my mash tun are great. The EZ-Boil controller is really cool. I can heat strike water in less than half the time than using propane.

But is a 5500 Watt element overkill?

Oh, and Thank You to the folks on the forum who have helped me get this far with the controller build : )

Thanks,
Edward

 

[processhead]

IMO 5500 watts is too large for a typical RIMS element while using it to maintain mash temperatures.
For heating strike water it would not be a problem, though.
With some added control circuitry, you could operate it on 220 volt for full power while heating strike water.
Then while mashing, you could switch it to a 120 volt supply which would reduce it's output to about 1400 watts.

I run my RIMS with a 4500 watt 220 volt element running on 120 volt full time, and have had no issues with my RIMS. MY HLT has its own 5500 watt heating element so I don't really have a need to switch my RIMS tube heat capacity.

A side benefit of operating the RIMS element at reduced power while mashing is a lowered risk of scorching while still having adequate heat capacity for smooth temperature steps at a reasonable rate.

 

[augiedoggy]

You can set a max power limit on the ex boil I believe to limit the max power to the 5500w element in mash mode and effectively lower the watt density which will give you a more fermentable mash with less denatured enzymes. otherwise 5500w is not ideal.. people do it but people also complain here all the time that rims doesnt work well for them or they get scorching so...

Without this full power limit, if you mashed in high and used the rims to just maintain with the temp probe very close to the output edge of the element than you would likely be ok even with the full 5500w since it would only kick on and off momentarily and the element would never reach full temp on the surface (theoretically) ... If you mashed in a bit low and the rims element was on 100% power and up to full temp trying to raise the mash temp, you will certainly be denaturing enzymes

 

[processhead]

Auggiedoggy lays out another option too. That option requires some tuning of your process to get things to work right.

I believe it also locks you in to the low power mode so switching to full power for heating strike water would require retuning the EZboil.

Maybe there is a feature I am not aware of that simplifies this with the EZboil?

 

[Ntwkdsnr]

Augiedoggy, that may be the mOUT value you are referring to on the EZ-Boil. It can limit the max acceleration of the output power. I will run some tests with that value set lower that the default of 100%. Thank You!
Ed

 

[BeardedBrews]

It's super easy to make a cable adapter that will take a 4-pin 240 wall plug and give you 120v at the element.

This would cut the power back to 1650w without changing anything in the panel.

You could switch back and forth during the brew day.

Edit: probably easy, would need to know what components are in your controller.