Kal Clone - What spare/backup parts should I have on hand?

[CadiBrewer]

I'm building a Kal clone, slowly ordering the parts as my brewing budget allows. I am new to electric brewing and have been being on my propane setup for about 10 years. As I was assembling the control panel the other day, it dawned on me that if I have a part failure during a brew session in the electric brewery, I'm pretty much dead in the water. On my current propane setup, I've run out of propane, had burner issues, pump failures, and other mishaps, but I was always able to cobble together a solution and finish the brew.

By my electric newbie thinking, if an SSR fails or a fuse inside the panel blows, I'm done and won't be able to finish. I could probably switch the plugs on the elements and use the HLT PID if the BK SSR fails during the boil, but I can think of very few other situations that I could come up with a workaround on the fly.

So my question for the experienced electric brewers is, when I'm ordering parts for my setup, what parts should I order spares for that I could fairly quickly replace if they failed during a brew? What parts are likely to fail? I've heard that SSRs die, but do relays or contacts or other parts fail? I'm thinking that having an extra $14 SSR is probably worth the money, as is a couple of the 7 amp inline fuses. Anything else that I should order that is potentially a failure point that I could swap out and save a brew day?

 

[Mojzis]

I've only been using mine for around 1 1/2 years, but nothing has failed yet (knock on wood). It couldn't hurt to have a contactor, ssr, pump parts and fuses. I have lots of other spares I bought in bulk when making the panel only because it was cheaper. Things like lights, connectors, wire, etc.

I'd say ssr's would be the big thing to have an extra.

 

[TungstenBeer]

One SSR and fuses, I agree. I don't think fuses have a very high chance of blowing if you wired everything correctly, but they're so cheap it's kind of silly not to have that insurance policy handy.

 

[JoshuaW]

SSR, Contractor, any fuses used in your system, like everyone else said. However, I would probably switch to your propane burner if you had problems mid brew rather than fiddle around with replacing components or troubleshooting while you have a brew in limbo.

 

[dcbw]

Your pump's PTFE thrust washers will eventually wear out as they are consumables. It may take a year or 3 depending on how much you brew but it will happen.

 

[stevehaun]

I do not have a Kal clone as my electric brewery is pre-Kal. I keep spare SSRs, fuses, one contactor and one PID. Why ruin a brewday?

 

[hio3791]

What if the power goes out mid-brew? Should you have a generator in stand-by? Short of having a fully operational backup system, what options do we really have? Replacing fuses is simple. Replacing a blown SSR / PID / contactor mid-brew can't be done "quickly" enough. Switching to propane isn't an option if you brew indoors and if you could switch to propane, what about the element? You would need to transfer the wort to a spare kettle. Having a spare pump is good, having spare hoses is good. Anything else fails and you will likely lose your batch.

Building a system to survive a "catastrophic" event is feasible but the costs will be significantly higher than simply dumping the (possibly) ruined batch, fixing the issue and brewing again.

 

[JoshuaW]

What if the power goes out mid-brew? Should you have a generator in stand-by? Short of having a fully operational backup system, what options do we really have? Replacing fuses is simple. Replacing a blown SSR / PID / contactor mid-brew can't be done "quickly" enough. Switching to propane isn't an option if you brew indoors and if you could switch to propane, what about the element? You would need to transfer the wort to a spare kettle. Having a spare pump is good, having spare hoses is good. Anything else fails and you will likely lose your batch.

Building a system to survive a "catastrophic" event is feasible but the costs will be significantly higher than simply dumping the (possibly) ruined batch, fixing the issue and brewing again.

Assuming you could keep the cord protected, I think the element would be fine. The element itself isnt going to go over boiling, as it will be protected by the wort acting like a heatsink and drawing the higher heat away. Even if that is a concern, transferring to your HLT where you have removed the element (assuming you can quickly do so) and placed a plug over the element hole wouldnt be such a big deal. Certainly less so than replacing an SSR mid brew. Yeah, you cant plan against all disasters, but there are little things you can do "just in case". A 1.5" TC plug is going to cost less than $20, it doesnt hurt to have one on hand.

 

[hio3791]

I was more concerned with the element enclosure and cord, not so much with the element itself. As I said, you would still need to transfer to another kettle. If your controller is dead or your lost power, you could go to propane as your backup but you wouldn't want to if you brew indoors so you would need to accommodate for that (ie., move your operation - chiller, pump, etc - outdoors).

 

[Spartan1979]

I'm planning an electric system, but I plan on keeping everything I use with propane. That's my backup plan.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Replacing a blown SSR / PID / contactor mid-brew can't be done "quickly" enough.

Yeah, it can. Your hop bitterness might be on the high side, but it would be fine.

 

[Mojzis]

What if the power goes out mid-brew? Should you have a generator in stand-by?

The thread was about back up parts, cheap enough to keep spares that can be switched easily.

SReplacing a blown SSR / PID / contactor mid-brew can't be done "quickly" enough.

I could switch an ssr in <5 minutes, PID <10, contactor a little longer. Besides that fact, keeping some spares gives me time to fix an issue before the next brew day.

Switching to propane isn't an option if you brew indoors and if you could switch to propane, what about the element? You would need to transfer the wort to a spare kettle.

Why would you need to switch kettles? I can unplug the cord from the kettle, pick it up and set it outside.

I think you're missing the point. Cheaper parts that may fail that you can keep on hand. 4-10$ for an ssr, 14$ for a contactor, 1$ for some fuses. For 20$ you have back up parts.

 

[CadiBrewer]

Thanks for all of the replies. I was thinking I would get backups for all of the cheaper parts that may fail over the short term, and then maybe over time, buy backups for the more expensive stuff to protect my panel over the long haul. One of the reasons I went for the Kal clone was that it seems to be the best chance of outlasting technology changes. If I had an extra PID and other stuff, I could replace stuff 10 or 15 years down the road if it went out, regardless of whether Auber was still in business or similar PIDs are available.

 

[hio3791]

The thread was about back up parts, cheap enough to keep spares that can be switched easily.

I could switch an ssr in <5 minutes, PID <10, contactor a little longer. Besides that fact, keeping some spares gives me time to fix an issue before the next brew day.

...

I think you're missing the point. Cheaper parts that may fail that you can keep on hand. 4-10$ for an ssr, 14$ for a contactor, 1$ for some fuses. For 20$ you have back up parts.

Mojzis, you might be missing my point. I am not saying that you shouldn't have spares. Stuff may fail and you may not want to wait a week or longer for parts to arrive in the mail. But the reality is that it may take much longer (to most of us at least) to replace a failed SSR in mid-brew (which is the point after all).

Maybe it would only take me 5 min to replace an SSR but it's going to take me considerably longer than that just trying to identify what has failed, get the tools, remove parts to get to the failed SSR (I don't know about your panel but I would have to remove the heat sink to get to the SSR but I would first need to pull the wires off the SSR and that may be tricky with all the other parts already in place) so 5 min is not realistic anymore.

Why would you need to switch kettles? I can unplug the cord from the kettle, pick it up and set it outside.

So you can unplug the cord from the kettle? Good, but what about the element enclosure? That's not rated for the temps it will be exposed to once you fire a burner underneath it. So you will likely fry the plug, wires and element contact points.

You can carry a pot full of nearly boiling liquid? Maybe you are superman. I won't be able to (nor would I try to) lift my 15.5 gal kettle, full of near boiling wort. If you brew indoors, how easy will it be to carry your pot outdoors? People who brew in the garage (like me) could transfer the wort to another kettle on a propane burner. The logistic to do that for an indoor brewer is considerably more difficult. That was my point.

JoshuaW said he would switch to propane as a backup. That's only plausible if you plan / build for it as an alternative brew option. Most electric brewers don't plan for that contingency so that too is not a realistic option.

The OP's statement was "cobble together a solution and finish the brew" and my point is that you will likely lose your brew (you implicitly agreed with me by saying " Besides that fact, keeping some spares gives me time to fix an issue before the next brew day.").

 

[Mojzis]

I didn't think about first finding the issue, so undoubtedly it would take longer than 5 minutes. You sir are correct. But for the switch, mine is at least easily accessible. I also keep toolboxes with tools and parts next to where I brew.

I can unplug the cord from the kettle which definitely helps, and the way I used to brew was on a propane-120v hybrid system for the boil kettle. I'm using the same kettle, enclosure and element 2 years later. If you heat shield correctly this shouldn't be an issue.

I can't pick up 15g of boiling liquid (safely) nor have I ever seen a 15.5g kettle boiling 15.5g of liquid. However I can and have picked up the kettle with 7-8g of wort (common volumes for a 5g batch size). One reason I bought a pump. 10+ gallons and you're going to need to use another vessel.

But we're sticking to the concept that the only time a system will fail is mid boil. If that happens, yes your batch will suffer if you take the time mid boil to replace parts. But if i'm mashing? Whats another 10-20 minutes? Heating strike water? Same thing.


Anyway, sorry OP for all the off topic banter.

 

[hio3791]

I know I said a 15.5 gal kettle full of wort. That's what happens when you type fast and not clearly proofread the details before posting. I meant a 15.5 gal kettle *nearly* full of wort. I brew 11 gal batches and typically start with almost 13 gal.

A failure caught before the start of the boil might be fixed in time to save the brew day. A failure during boil may not be as easy to recover from.

I think a better way of protecting against a failed component would be to build a secondary controller. Doesn't need to be anything fancy. A very simple SSVR (StillDragon kit) on a separate box will do fine. If your primary controller fails, unplug your kettle, unplug your box and plug in your secondary controller, turn it on and continue brewing while you diagnose/troubleshoot your primary. This has been my plan. Although I have a very simple PID controller, I would like to build a new controller (because half the fun is the build itself) and keep my existing one as my backup controller.

 

[stevehaun]

I brew 30 gallon batches so I won't be lifting anything. I have replaced elements (ruined by dry fire) and a PID on brewday. The PID was literally about 5 minutes as it has spade connectors. Elements are a PITA, especially if your BK is full. I am pretty sure I can change a contactor or SSR in less than 10 minutes. My control panel is generously sized which makes accessing the parts much easier.