New 10 Gallon Herms! Pics!

[planenut]

I thought the pump ran several gallons per minute. It isn't going that fast is it?

I only have 3/8 ball valves currently but I don't think it will flow faster than about 2 quarts per minute wide open...

 

[The Pol]

As long as I am not sticking my mash... I dont really care how fast it is running.

If you are only getting 2qt/min FULL OPEN, you can run it full open. I probably run mine at about 1gal/min when I am brewing generally... I never really pay attention to the position of the valve, I just look at the flow in the return line and say.. yup, looks good... and leave it.

 

[planenut]

I guess a lot of this will be answered when your supplies come in and we get to see you in action...

With my slower flow, I guess I am just worried about starving the pump. I would have the valve to the pump fully open and the outflow restricted enough so that I don't get a stuck sparge?

 

[The Pol]

I dont know how much my video will answer... I pump at about 1gal/min during the mash, which you stated you cannot get from your setup.

You have smaller plumbing

You have a much lower possible flow rate

You should be able to FULLY open your MLT valve and adjust your flow to anything you desire on the output with no ill effects. Your flow is not just a product of your 3/8" valve on the MLT, it is also a product of the restriction of flow down line from the pump with your smaller plumbing.

I think your questions will be best answered when you brew with your system... I think that is the only way to determine how YOUR rig will operate best.

 

[The Pol]

I guess a lot of this will be answered when your supplies come in and we get to see you in action...

With my slower flow, I guess I am just worried about starving the pump. I would have the valve to the pump fully open and the outflow restricted enough so that I don't get a stuck sparge?

I dont think you have to worry about a stuck sparge while pumping 2qt/min.

 

[planenut]

Cool thanks..
Didn't want to burn up a pump.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Hey, srsly guys, was I the first one to recognize the BLING BLING photos of this lovely rig in the Mar/Apr BYO mag?

Way to go dude!!

 

[diatonic]

Hey Pol, congrats on the BYO article, hoping my first issue arrives soon.

Which false bottom do you run in your MLT?

 

[The Pol]

Ahhh, that is the SS false bottom from Northern Brewer for the 10gal coolers. It is phenominal.

Thanks guys.

 

[zimmzala]

Well after sitting here reading this thread from beginning to end and looking at all the pictures in your gallery all I can say is WOW!! that is brilliant. I had decided to go AG and was going to start purchasing everything this weekend, however now I think I need to change my parts lists. Nice work Pol keep it up. Going to get the mag tomorrow also.

 

[Gumbys_Brew]

i do have to say this setup is amazing. i have currently started putting one together myself based on your system Pol. although i am not using an electric cooler as an HLT. I was going to buy a ten gallon cooler when my SWMBO reminded me about a ten gallon kettle i had purchased about 6 months ago. so i am going to use it and directly heat the HLT with a burner. i'll also be using a bathroom fan to stir the HLT.

all i need to finish and get the herms to work is a pump and i'll be set

 

[The Pol]

Well after sitting here reading this thread from beginning to end and looking at all the pictures in your gallery all I can say is WOW!! that is brilliant. I had decided to go AG and was going to start purchasing everything this weekend, however now I think I need to change my parts lists. Nice work Pol keep it up. Going to get the mag tomorrow also.

Hey, thanks. I appreciate all of the praise. The system has evolved for a long time, and has had a lot of thought put into the details of how it was built.

I appreciate the praise, and if I can further help in the build, let me know. I have helped a few here, and have some spreadsheets available that make calculating volumes, temps and times for the HERMS HEX a breeze.

 

[The Pol]

i do have to say this setup is amazing. i have currently started putting one together myself based on your system Pol. although i am not using an electric cooler as an HLT. I was going to buy a ten gallon cooler when my SWMBO reminded me about a ten gallon kettle i had purchased about 6 months ago. so i am going to use it and directly heat the HLT with a burner. i'll also be using a bathroom fan to stir the HLT.

all i need to finish and get the herms to work is a pump and i'll be set

The bathroom fan will work for an hour or so, then burn up and die. I used mine in testing and it burned up. They spin WAY too fast, even with a small impeller they do not have the torque to stir water. Also, they depend on the "fan" to cool them, without that, they burn up.

I used a 120VAC AC gear motor, it is 100RPM, from McMaster Carr. But, trust me, the fan motor will not work.

 

[The Pol]

Here are the components!

This is what you want for the HLT stirrer... or something like it. Fan motors will not do it.

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

Hey Pol it has been a long time. I have a few more questions.

How high up does your heating element come up in the MLT? (I am concerned my 2000w might be longer)

What did you say was the minimum amt of water you want in the HLT to keep element covered?

Is there a way to get the magazine issue with your setup? I have not subscribed to BYO, but want to read the article.

On a side note, ordered the last of the parts for this yesterday. ( I think LOL)

 

[The Pol]

#1. My element is 7" long, so I did a physical test to see how many gallons of water I needed to keep it submerged. It is about 3.6 gallons.

#2. I bought a few issues at my LHBS. If you go on the BYO website, they have a section where it tells you where you can buy thier magazine outright, with no subscription.

If you need any more assistance, let me know!

 

[TommyBoy]

I have the same gear motor as Pol but 150rpm. It has a little less torque but is still more than enough for H2O. Mine runs a stainless propeller in a 15gal B3 kettle.

 

[The Pol]

I have the same gear motor as Pol but 150rpm. It has a little less torque but is still more than enough for H2O. Mine runs a stainless propeller in a 15gal B3 kettle.

They are nice motors arent they!

 

[TommyBoy]

They are nice motors arent they!

Definitely heavy duty! I am very glad that I picked one up after seeing yours.

 

[The Pol]

Yeah, that motor will last forever, they are very heavy duty... perfect for water/mash mixing applications.

 

[Gumbys_Brew]

The bathroom fan will work for an hour or so, then burn up and die. I used mine in testing and it burned up. They spin WAY too fast, even with a small impeller they do not have the torque to stir water. Also, they depend on the "fan" to cool them, without that, they burn up.

I used a 120VAC AC gear motor, it is 100RPM, from McMaster Carr. But, trust me, the fan motor will not work.

Thanks for saving me from a headach looks like ill be ordering a motor from mcmaster here shortly

 

[The Pol]

Yeah, the fan motors are cheap, but they are CHEAP... they burn up fast. The McMaster motors have gear reduction and a built in fan.

 

[Gumbys_Brew]

Yeah, the fan motors are cheap, but they are CHEAP... they burn up fast. The McMaster motors have gear reduction and a built in fan.

Sounds good saves me from bring an angry homebrewer with the fan burning out in middle of a brew.just glad I posted before actually installing it
Apologize if post seems choppy posting from blackberry

 

[The Pol]

No problem... it is ok. Glad to help before a failure during a brew session.

 

[ApolloSpeed]

sweet build sir!

If you had to guess.....how much money would it take to build your setup from start to finish?

With and without all electric BK burner.


btw, where are your videos on this build? I couldn't find them ...

 

[alpo]

Just curious, why so many QD's? Maybe I am retarded, but I am just not seeing that many in your pictures. It looks like you've only got got 3 hose-side QD's and 3 NPT-side QD's on the lids and 2 NPT QD's on the ball valves, but the parts list shows 13 total, not 8....unless I am missing something completely..

 

[alpo]

Oh, are they for a chiller? So you can use icewater though the pump?

 

[The Pol]

Just curious, why so many QD's? Maybe I am retarded, but I am just not seeing that many in your pictures. It looks like you've only got got 3 hose-side QD's and 3 NPT-side QD's on the lids and 2 NPT QD's on the ball valves, but the parts list shows 13 total, not 8....unless I am missing something completely..

The hoses need QDs too... or else they will not connect to the male QDs on the rig....

Three male QDs on the HLT
Two male QDs on the MLT
One male QD on the BK
Two female QDs on the pump
Two female QDs on the HLT-MLT jumper hose
Two female QDs on the long MLT-BK jumper hose

I have an extra male QD as they came in a package of 7 I think.

 

[The Pol]

sweet build sir!

If you had to guess.....how much money would it take to build your setup from start to finish?

With and without all electric BK burner.


btw, where are your videos on this build? I couldn't find them ...

Without the electric kettle... $1200

With the electric kettle and control panel... $1800

I have a couple videos on the rig on YouTube. My user name there is CircleCityBrewing

 

[OddMind]

This thread is perfect reading material. I promised myself I would start building my All Grain system this March, and had decided to go electric with coolers. About 20 minutes after making these decisions I picked my copy of BYO and found this sytem to DROOL over. After reading this I wanted to see if anyone had posted similar designs on the web and here I am. This is great and thank you so much for sharing. Looks like many questions have been asked, but I may have a few new ones as I start this journey.

I recently purchased my 10 gallon coolers, they were hard for me to find at a good rate so I thought I would pass on my find.

Rubbermaid's website has them for $54+reasonalbe shipping. If you google Rubbermaid promo codes you can usually find discounts. Currently they have a 20% off that makes this worth while.
http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/product/product.jhtml?prodId=HPProd150117

Now that I have the coolers off to start the rest of the purchases. (at least I already have my kettle from my extract days)