My single tier build

[motobrewer]

I.....am confused.

what are the panel-mount needle valves for? i mean, they look bad-ass, but you have the auto valves being controlled from the pid

 

[RazzBarlow]

Wow. Just wow! This is one of the most amazing builds I've seen.

 

[rtrevino]

I.....am confused.

what are the panel-mount needle valves for? i mean, they look bad-ass, but you have the auto valves being controlled from the pid

The needle valves give you fine controls on the flame output

 

[brandolomite]

The needle valves give you fine controls on the flame output

They do indeed. I have noticed one bad thing using them though. When I have the needle valve turned down very low while mashing and the PID turns on the solenoid valve, the gas flow is isn't great enough and combustion will actually back up into the burner venturi tube and I'll have no flame coming out the top of the burner. I'll try to take a pic of what I'm talking about. I can easily avoid it by opening up the needle valve more but then I tend to overshoot the mash temp and the valve cycles on and off more. I would prefer to keep the cycling to a minimum. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

 

[brandolomite]

This is what I'm experiencing. My guess is that my gas velocity is just too low when the burner is cranked way down. Anyone know of a fix other than opening up the valve a little more?

 

[MaxOut]

This is what I'm experiencing. My guess is that my gas velocity is just too low when the burner is cranked way down. Anyone know of a fix other than opening up the valve a little more?

<img src="https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55885"/>

<img src="https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55886"/>

The problem is you need to adjust the air as well. There is too much air in the burner and combustion is ideal there. If you turn the air down with the gas you should help eliminate your problem. An easy fix would be turn the burner up to light then throttle it down. I set my burner at the desired level and let the automation turn it off and on. Turn your burner to the desired max level and adjust the air down until the flame is mostly blue with orange tips. In your picture your air looks to be wide open and you may have some room to adjust it to help your low flame issue. Good luck!

 

[2BeerSpeer]

After half a dozen or so batches with coolers in a three tier setup I saw Lonnie’s Brutus and decided I had to build one for myself. I incorporated a lot of great ideas from others on this site and I think it turned out pretty good. I have about a dozen batches with this and it works excellent.

Let me know what you think.

Credit where credit is due. There are many others but off the top of my head:
Lonnie Mac
Nicksteck's build
theelectricbrewery.com

SketchUp drawing
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All said and done
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Top view with dimensions
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Side view with dimensions
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Console dimensions
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