My Ghetto Fabulous Electric HERMS Project

[The Pol]

Yes, the center portion of that thermocouple is NOT water tight. Mine got a small fillet of JB Stik around it to seal it up nice and secure. Works excellent.

I beleive that I cover that in my build thread.

 

[diatonic]

Oh! That's right! I forgot that you had meantioned that in your build thread. I'm glad I did not send my email to Auber yet .

Thanks for the quick response. I'm not sure why I don't get email alerts when people reply to my thread, even though I subscribed. Something to troubleshoot another day.

Thanks man!

 

[The Pol]

It is a quick mod to make... the thermocouple is cheap and very accurate from my experience. Works really well!

 

[diatonic]

Already curing. Thanks again.

 

[The Pol]

Just make sure that the center is pretty well centered, there is a little slop in it... so that you can get the nut threaded on. No prob bro.

 

[diatonic]

I recieved this via PM, but can't reply because he's exceeded his generous 5 message limit (delete those sent ones dude!). I'm posting the response here, because it may be useful to someone else too...

Hey,

Where did you get that awesome looking plug-in panel socket that allows you to take the K-thermocouple out and plug it in agian?

I actually wrote [email protected] asking about using banana jacks or something, and they wrote me back explaining why that wouldn't work... then they said, "We are going to sale the penal mount K type jack and matching connector made by Omega. The price is $4.75 a pair (the same as omega). However, I can charge $2.5 for the shipping. If you want, please let me know. We have them in stock."

It ended up being $7.25 for the pair, shipped. He then sent me links to them at omega.com:
Male Connector
Miniature Panel Jack

They arrived to me cross-country in 2 days via regular mail.

 

[diatonic]

Turns out my big leak was just the internals of the thermocouple. After sealing the exterior with JB Stick it held 8 gallons of water without a single drop escaping. Sweet success.

Currently heating 8 gallons of water from 47F to 175F for a time test. I'm taking periodic time/temp log entries. Sweet!

 

[The Pol]

Congrats!

Glad to see the progress

 

[diatonic]

Well, it essentially raised 1º F per minute with 8 gallons in the HLT. Outside temperature was 37º F. I'm thinking the 1500W may stay in the HLT and never be swapped for a higher power element. I generally have plenty of time before I brew to allow it to reach the target temp, and if I'm brewing at a friend's house I can just pre-heat water in the BK using propane, then add it hot to the HLT. Hoping the McMaster order arrives Tuesday and I can get working on mounting the motor and impeller.

 

[The Pol]

Yeah, I get 1F per minute with 10 gallons, 5 gallons will give me 2F per minute. With the software I have for the system it is easy to precisely plan volumes and times so that step mashing is even possible.

 

[diatonic]

Today I got the last of the parts I need for the HERMS setup. I was hoping to brew on it tomorrow, but I'm still getting the parts together and want to run some Oxy Clean Baby through it. Tomorrow I hope to fix the leak in the HLT (leak in the bulkhead fitting, the thermocouple and heating element are water tight.) I need to mount the pump and connect up the silicon tubing. Hope to post updated photos tomorrow of everything. This is where it is right now, but I'm going to whip up a yeast starter and go to bed.

 

[llazy_llama]

Looking forward to the finished product. The only thing better than fabulous is ghetto fabulous.

 

[The Pol]

Looka familair Diatonic, nice.

 

[diatonic]

It's Alive! I got my leak fixed and got everything together. Here it is running cleaning solution through everything. I still need to finish the stand with a surface on the top and bottom. Right now I just have a scrap piece of MDF with a 2 ½" hole cut in it to accommodate the heating element. I'm getting 3 GPM of flow. Will be brewing on it tomorrow and will take pictures of stuff with a better camera than the one on my iPhone.

and... yes, the siding on my shop is hideous.

 

[The Pol]

Dude, that is tight! Nice to see the beast lives!!! Congrats

 

[diatonic]

Brewed a batch on the new 10 gallon HERMS system today. Special thanks to The Pol for the inspiration and great planning for his system. I still need to finish the stand, for now I just have a scrap piece of MDF sitting on top for a surface. I was unable to run the whole system on the circuit which feeds the outlet on the outside of my shop. I ran an extension cord in to the shop to a different circuit to run the pump today. I will get a higher capacity circuit installed soon. Brewing on a rainy afternoon...

Recirculating sweet wort:

At mash-out:

Fly sparging, & keeping an eye on level to make sure I had matched the in & out flow:

I had some issues priming the pump when I switched the pump input from the MLT to the HLT. I plan to change the pump orientation to do it the way The Pol has his.

Cheers!

 

[The Pol]

That is awesome, I am so glad that it worked out for you

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I had some issues priming the pump when I switched the pump input from the MLT to the HLT. I plan to change the pump orientation to do it the way The Pol has his.

Cheers!

Nice. Let us know if changing the pump orientation makes a difference. I know the pol had also changed his tubing so I'm curious if this makes a difference. My pump should be in in the next week or so.

 

[BlackNotch]

Great job! Thanks for the pics! I'm seriously thinking of trying this setup!

 

[diatonic]

Nice. Let us know if changing the pump orientation makes a difference. I know the pol had also changed his tubing so I'm curious if this makes a difference. My pump should be in in the next week or so.

I'll update here. I started with 1/2" ID silicone tubing. Once the pump is primed well, it flows great. It's when I get an air pocket in the tubing that the pump has a hard time. I think if it was mounted with the flow horizontally it would allow some liquid to the pump impeller and provide enough pump head for it to prime and flow.

I was kind of wishing I had little bleeder valves at various locations in the system to purge air.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I've seen some systems with a a bleeder valve installed just after the outlet. Basically a T with another ball valve attached.

 

[slimer]

They have full port ball valves at home depot with bleeders.

 

[thorongil]

I've seen some systems with a a bleeder valve installed just after the outlet. Basically a T with another ball valve attached.

This is my strategy (copied from olllllo) and it works perfectly.

 

[jim4065]

I'm working on a clone of The Pols system too. Basically got the same stuff, but have 240 volt heaters and a LG pump. Bought the same stir motor and parts, but went with 125 RPM. Which brings me to my question. How are you mounting the stir motor to the lid? Is the paddle interfering with the HEX? Since my RTD sensor is mounted in the sight gauge fitting, I thought of putting the shaft for the prop right in the center of the lid - if it doesn't hit the element. Anyway - I'm a little worried about the shaft having too much "wiggle room" and the prop thrashing wildly from side to side.................

 

[diatonic]

I mounted the stir motor off center. I cut the 2nd layer of plastic on the bottom of the lid away, and drilled holes for each of the mounting screws, and a hole for the shaft of the stirrer. The stirrer did hit the HEX coil after mounting it, so I cut a few inches off of the end of the stir paddle. I'll try to take a picture of it tonight if it helps.

 

[jim4065]

Thanks, and the picture will help a lot. The paddle looks like it would oscillate at the end of that long shaft?

 

[fc36]

I did PM you about that, but you didn't send it. I put my email address in the PM if you still have it... I didn't want to bug you about it until I'm ready to run a batch in it. If you could email it though, that would be sweet .

Hey diatonic, I was just wondering if you could possibly send me a copy of Pol's HERMS software? I'm having trouble contacting Pol and he doesn't accept PMs. I'm trying to build a similar setup for myself and I'm just about finished. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My email is [email protected].
Cheers,
Frank

 

[hammis]

i know the thread is a little old, but where did you get your quick disconnects?

 

[hammis]

also whats the mcmaster part number for the mixer you used?

 

[diatonic]

I picked up all the quick disconnects at a local shop, though I think McMaster has them in the same style. I ended up replacing the males with stainless when I built my new rig. More Beer has the stainless ones.

I still have the stirrer and motor that I don't use any longer, and could probably be talked in to shipping to you if you cover the shipping