Is this a usable heat stick?

[SmokeyMcBong]

I found this heat stick up north this morning while winterizing our camper. My old man said that they used to use it when they "off season" camped to heat water for dishes or washing. They used to use it in a 5 gal bucket with no complaints. Since they don't camp once the water supply is turned off for the winter anymore, the heat stick got donated to my brewery. I have been doing 2.5 gal boils on my kitchen stove with extract (maybe just over 3 gal total vol.), and the stove has had problems bringing everyone back to the boil after additions. I'm hoping this thing will solve my problems and allow me to boil up to 6 gals on my stove top. I'm switching to all grain soon and would still like to be able to make 5 gal batches after the switch.

The heat stick is 120volts and is 1000w. I filled my pot full, put it on the stove (usually takes close to an hour for my stove to boil it) and put on the heat stick. In a little less than 25mins the water was jumping outta the pot.

Anyone see why I shouldn't use this?

 

[Facinerous]

Maybe someone else will, but I can't think of any reason not to use it.

 

[wilserbrewer]

By all means use it...they paid dearly for it at $61.99

Great for assisting a boil or heating large quantites of strike water. Nice thing with these is you can heat water in almost anything, a bucket, cooler, kettle.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

By all means use it...they paid dearly for it at $61.99

Great for assisting a boil or heating large quantites of strike water. Nice thing with these is you can heat water in almost anything, a bucket, cooler, kettle.

Thats brilliant! Don't know why I didn't realize that I could just heat my water right in the mash cooler, I was still thinking of using my kettle and dumping it into my cooler. This thing is gonna change my brewery processes a ton.

Oh, and thats 61.99 Canadian. Thats like 10 bucks American, isn't it

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yes handy device, now search for thread "I love waking up to hot strike water".

You put the heat stick on a $10 appliance timer and it heats your strike water while you sleep in, then wake and brew! Also, your cooler is well preheated when direct heating in the cooler.

Handy device for sure, also saves propane if that's your thing.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[NathPowe]

Yes handy device, now search for thread "I love waking up to hot strike water".

You put the heat stick on a $10 appliance timer and it heats your strike water while you sleep in, then wake and brew! Also, your cooler is well preheated when direct heating in the cooler.

Handy device for sure, also saves propane if that's your thing.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

Yup. I use the timer and that exact bucket heater thing to heat my strike water in my mash tun. Works great. I also love waking up to hot strike water.

Cheers.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Will work great. Just one mention, and this is for safety, plug it into a GFCI outlet if you have one handy as should be done with any electrical brewing setup.

 

[Newsman]

Yes handy device, now search for thread "I love waking up to hot strike water".

You put the heat stick on a $10 appliance timer and it heats your strike water while you sleep in, then wake and brew! Also, your cooler is well preheated when direct heating in the cooler.

Handy device for sure, also saves propane if that's your thing.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

I hate to be the one to bring it up, but what's to prevent it from melting a hole in your cooler???? I see it's got a shield around it, will that prevent it from developing a hot spot on your cooler and melting a hole?

 

[wilserbrewer]

I hate to be the one to bring it up, but what's to prevent it from melting a hole in your cooler???? I see it's got a shield around it, will that prevent it from developing a hot spot on your cooler and melting a hole?

It is a bucket heater with a shield. On the box it says, "will not damage plastic containers."

I use an electric element in plastic all the time without issue. The water prevents the element from getting very hot. Actually read on here that you can actually touch a submerged element while powered on, so of course I had to try it. Didn't feel that hot, but decided not to push my luck.

 

[Newsman]

It is a bucket heater with a shield. On the box it says, "will not damage plastic containers."

Cool beans! Just wanted to make sure someone had thought about it.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

I hate to be the one to bring it up, but what's to prevent it from melting a hole in your cooler???? I see it's got a shield around it, will that prevent it from developing a hot spot on your cooler and melting a hole?

That's a good question bro. All I know is that my parents used to use it in a 5 gallon bucket without any issues.

 

[Newsman]

Smokey,
I think it's probably OK. As Wilserbrewer pointed out, that's what it's designed for. I'm just super cautious as I'd hate to be the one to try it and it melt a hole in my cooler.

 

[ram5ey]

The only negative I've ever seen mentioned is that it has some sort of safety cycle around 212F 100C where it cycles on and off at boiling. Doesn't dound like you encountered that but I remeber some one saying they were getting a good boil then it would shut off for about 20 seconds then back on for 20....hope yours works better!

 

[RmikeVT]

I have no experience with Heat Sticks, but I was reading on the forum on Friday that some folks use them to do step mashes in Cooler Mashtuns. I have been considering getting one for this purpose, but decided against it as I have put a moratorium on brew gear spending, for now. Plus, the only time I would really ever do a step mash is for a Ferulic Acid rest for a hefeweizen or drunkelweizen. Which, I only make 1 or 2 times a year. It is one of those things, I wish I could try before I buy as I don't really know what the actual impact to the beer would be. It could just be a big pain in the ass to get a marginal difference in the beer.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

The only negative I've ever seen mentioned is that it has some sort of safety cycle around 212F 100C where it cycles on and off at boiling. Doesn't dound like you encountered that but I remeber some one saying they were getting a good boil then it would shut off for about 20 seconds then back on for 20....hope yours works better!

In the paper work that came with mine it says that as long as the liquid is at least 6 inches deep, it will stay on. Any less than 6 inches deep and it cycles on and off. It also shuts off if it goes past a certain angle past straight up and down (which I don't think'll be a problem?)

 

[NathPowe]

I've used that heater countless times in my cooler mash tun. Never had any issues with melting or even the slightest indication that there could be an issue. I should note that I set it on my copper manifold. However, I still don't think there would be any issue if it was resting directly on the cooler. That shield is pretty big.

Cheers.

Edit: Oops, I see after the fact that this the melting issue was pretty much closed above.

 

[augiedoggy]

that does not appear to be a low density element so I would be leary of actually using it on anything but water... if you do use it for beer be vary careful to keep the wort moving around it as it will scorch it very quickly...

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

that does not appear to be a low density element so I would be leary of actually using it on anything but water... if you do use it for beer be vary careful to keep the wort moving around it as it will scorch it very quickly...

what should I look for it the papers to determine if it's high or low density? would it be as easy as being listed somewhere "high density" or "low density"? or is there something else I should be looking for?

 

[wilserbrewer]

It's only 1000 watts, I doubt you are in danger of scorching the wort. I would suggest monitoring the stick during initial use for peace of mind. Turn it off every 5-10 minutes and inspect for build up on the stick. Also clean well after use, as build up is what scorches.




Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

I have no experience with Heat Sticks, but I was reading on the forum on Friday that some folks use them to do step mashes in Cooler Mashtuns. I have been considering getting one for this purpose, but decided against it as I have put a moratorium on brew gear spending, for now. Plus, the only time I would really ever do a step mash is for a Ferulic Acid rest for a hefeweizen or drunkelweizen. Which, I only make 1 or 2 times a year. It is one of those things, I wish I could try before I buy as I don't really know what the actual impact to the beer would be. It could just be a big pain in the ass to get a marginal difference in the beer.

I have done this with my ugly old drain pipe heat sticks. It's handy to heat water in the cooler from the start, then walk the temp up as desired. I may use 2 or 3 1500 watt 120 volt heatsticks then, but I'm brewing 10 gallon batches. The main drawback is the stirring required can get old. I've run the heatsticks against the inside of the cooler many times without incident.

 

[augiedoggy]

It's only 1000 watts, I doubt you are in danger of scorching the wort. I would suggest monitoring the stick during initial use for peace of mind. Turn it off every 5-10 minutes and inspect for build up on the stick. Also clean well after use, as build up is what scorches.




Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/[/q
When he stated his parents used it to heat up 5 gallon pails of water I incorrectly assumed it was larger.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Yeah, they were just heating the water for bathing or for doing the dishes. The water wasn't brought to the boil, I doubt this stick could boil 5 gal of water. It says on the box "will heat water to over 180 degrees", if it could boil it, I'm sure it would say so lol.

 

[RmikeVT]

I have done this with my ugly old drain pipe heat sticks. It's handy to heat water in the cooler from the start, then walk the temp up as desired. I may use 2 or 3 1500 watt 120 volt heatsticks then, but I'm brewing 10 gallon batches. The main drawback is the stirring required can get old. I've run the heatsticks against the inside of the cooler many times without incident.

Yup - I'm sticking to single infusion mashes. My beer turns out pretty damn good and I get 80% efficiency, so what am I really worried about doing a step mash for.

 

[AleForce1]

I've used these bucket heaters hooked up to a Johnson controller and it worked well, but I ended up going the RIMS route for my mashtun because the heater was hard to clean... I still used them sometimes for my HLT if it is needed. I found them at Farm & Fleet for around $35 each.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

Yup - I'm sticking to single infusion mashes. My beer turns out pretty damn good and I get 80% efficiency, so what am I really worried about doing a step mash for.

??

To each his own. This is a hobby. We do it because we enjoy it, not for profit or cost-effectiveness. If some of us want to spend extra time doing step mashes, or many extra hours doing a decoction mash because we prefer the results or even just prefer the process, that is our prerogative. If you prefer not to, and enjoy your process and your results, more power to you. You need not worry.

 

[RmikeVT]

??

To each his own. This is a hobby. We do it because we enjoy it, not for profit or cost-effectiveness. If some of us want to spend extra time doing step mashes, or many extra hours doing a decoction mash because we prefer the results or even just prefer the process, that is our prerogative. If you prefer not to, and enjoy your process and your results, more power to you. You need not worry.

I wasn't trying to be combative or say my way is better. I agree 100% you should do what you want and that it's a hobby. My mantra is brew what you want, how you want. And Drink what you want how you want.

I think I was being a bit inarticulate in my response. At this point, for me, I don't think it is worth setting up a bunch of heat sticks to do a step mash when I am happy with my beer and my efficiency. In an earlier post I noted the only reason I would want to do a step mash was for a ferulic rest for German Wheat beers, which I only brew 2 times a year, so setting up all that equipment, getting it dialed in and the financial investment, just isn't worth it to me, at this point. I also really enjoy getting 10g-12g brew day wrapped up in 5 or 6 hours.

 

[QuercusMax]

I just bought that exact same heatstick last week and used it to heat 15 gallons of water in my kettle. Did a nice job, but I couldn't get it above 175 or so when I was trying to boil water for mashout.

Sounds like it might have been due to the water depth in my bucket not being high enough - maybe this evening I'll see I can get it to bring to boiling if I fill the bucket up more.

I paid $40 at Tractor Supply Co.

 

[wilserbrewer]

These sticks are only 1000w, for 15 gallons, 175 degrees is likely all you will get. Heating in cooler will give you higher temps, but you are way short of what you need to boil!


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[QuercusMax]

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. When I was trying to boil using the heatstick, I only had 3 gallons or so in a bucket. I used my propane burner to actually do my wort boil.

I figure this will probably pay for itself in the propane I'll save, just heating mash water for 10 gallon batches.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Ok, but 1000 w is likely not enough to boil even 3 gallons due to the heat losses.

They call em bucket heaters and not bucket boilers for a reason

But even at low wattage, they are capable of heating large volumes with insulation or a cooler. Very convenient to have all your brewing water at temp and ready to mash in.

Cheers!


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[QuercusMax]

Hmm, good point! I have a couple 5 gallon drink coolers I may try instead.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

So, as mentioned somewhere above, my heatstick does indeed cycle on and off at the boiling point. Its of no help to my stove in boiling my kettle. I couldn't even get 4 gallons of water to boil today. I'm sure it will still be great to heat and hold sparge and mash water in the coolers with a temp controller but I was hoping for a break during the boil.

I've been looking at the Blichmann boilcoil all afternoon though. A 2000w or 2250w unit would fit into my kettle nicely. Anyone know if either of those electric elements would be able to boil 6 gallons by itself?

 

[Staestc]

I love the idea of using one or more of these with a controller to heat an HLT. I looked them up on Tractor Supply's web site and found they also have this one available
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/allied-precision-2002dp-universal-drain-plug-de-icer

That might have potential with a cooler HLT if you were willing to drill a hole opposite the ball valve bulkhead. But would a 1500W heater in a cooler setup get you to a boil?

 

[b-boy]

That might have potential with a cooler HLT if you were willing to drill a hole opposite the ball valve bulkhead. But would a 1500W heater in a cooler setup get you to a boil?

Just my personal experience, but I don't think I'd be comfortable boiling water in a cooler. Mine makes some funky cracking and popping sounds when I mash out. I'd be worried that a cooler could not handle too much more heat.