Polishin my pipe for 2 hrs

[CodeRage]

I liked slnies's heat exchanger so much I built my own. I thought it was missing something though.

I think it will look nice on the brew sculpture when its all done. polished stainless and copper baby!

 

[Ryan_PA]

That is so freaking cool.

Do you have any addl build pics? Part list? Total build cost?

I read the other thread, but did not really see these questions answered there.

 

[slnies]

I liked slnies's heat exchanger so much I built my own. I thought it was missing something though.

I think it will look nice on the brew sculpture when its all done. polished stainless and copper baby!

That Rocks!! But seriously, you have to much time on your hands. Now, look what you made me do. I have to go polish my pipe. S.

 

[slnies]

Say, one more note on the serious side. When you get ready to run water through this thing, put some teflon tape around the brass reducing bushing. Mine leaked just a little between the adaptor and the bushing. The element was fine though, it has an O ring. S.

 

[CodeRage]

Say, one more note on the serious side. When you get ready to run water through this thing, put some teflon tape around the brass reducing bushing. Mine leaked just a little between the adaptor and the bushing. The element was fine though, it has an O ring. S.

There already is, I just have it cut back. I had to put two orings on the element to get it to seal, the threads on the bushing must be tapered because it sure as hell dont fit like it should. It pressure tested fine at 50psi though. If I find some one with big enough tap and dies Ill cut new threads. I dremel polished the thing so it looks good but not great, but the pictures dont do it justice. Really need to get it on an 8" wheel.
Limited brew budget means I've got to make my brew projects last

 

[CodeRage]

That is so freaking cool.

Do you have any addl build pics? Part list? Total build cost?

I read the other thread, but did not really see these questions answered there.

I Dont have any build pics, wish I did cause it looks night and day difference.

Here are the parts, cost, and where I got them.

McMaster
PN 4429K426
LOW-PRESSURE BRASS THREADED PIPE FITTING, 1-1/2" MALE X 1" FEM PIPE SZ, HEX REDUCING BUSHING
$12.84 x 1

PN 5520K138
SOLDER-JOINT COPPER TUBE FITTING FOR WATER, REDUCING TEE 1-1/2" SCKT X 1/2" SCKT X 1-1/2"SCKT
$8.70 x 1

PN 5520K25
Solder-Joint Copper Tube Fitting for Water Female Adapter for 1-1/2" Tube Size, 1-1/2" NPT
$10.65 x 1

PN 5175K213
Copper Tubing for Drinking (Potable) Water Low Pressure Type M, 1-1/2" Tube Sz, 1-5/8" OD, 2'L
$25.95 x 1
EDIT- You can get 1 foot at plumbingsupply.com for $16

PN 5520K91
Solder-Joint Copper Tube Fitting for Water Union, Sckt (Fem) X Sckt (Fem) for 1/2" Tube Size
$3.72 x 2

Plumbingsupply.com
1 Copper Reducing Coupling (SxS) - 1 1/2" x 1/2"
$10.06 x 1

Local Hardware store
1 foot of 1/2" pipe
$2.00

Grand total of $73.92 minus the heating element.
The element I found were on ebay (4500W 240V) and were about a foot long. You only need a foot of 1 1/2" pipe so if you find it local it should be around $10 a foot. Otherwise you will have to order 2 feet from McMaster.


Start with 1 foot of 1 1/2" pipe. Cut a 2 inch section off of the 1 1/2" pipe. Sweat that to the female thread adapter and Tee.
Sweat the remaining 1 1/2" pipe to the Tee and reducer.

Cut two pieces of 1/2" copper pipe 1 1/2" inches long. Sweat those to the Tee and reducer.

Sweat the unions onto the ends of the 1/2" pipe.

Thread in the brass bushing and element and you are good to go.

You may have to bend the element a bit to keep it from touching the pipe walls and getting a good seal on the threads is a bit tricky.

Ill post a pic of a bent and regular element tonight

 

[twst1up]

you're gonna go blind

 

[Grimsawyer]

hey, i like this idea! ALOT!!! does it matter how fast you run your wort over the thing? Do you have it hooked up in such a way you don't need a hlt? How fast can you raise the temp of a mash with this thing? Do you have a temp probe on the out hooked up to a ranco controller to keep the temp where it should be? Can I steal this idea to cut 2 burners and a full keggel from my brewery, not to mention chop off 2 feet of the length or does it not have the power to heat water from tap temps to 170/180*F?

 

[CodeRage]

I have not used it yet. Slnies has and it sounded like he had great results. Here is his thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com//showthread.php?t=54277

I dont think it has enough power to raise your water temp to 170-180 in one pass unless you pump it very slowly (.25 gpm).

I am building an electric Brutus 20 which recirculates the mash and the heating element is plumbed into it so it heats it as it recirculates so no need for an HLT. Then for mashout I will raise the temp in my boil kettle to my mashout temp and cross circulate the wort between the two kettles. Efficiency suffers a little bit but it makes the rig smaller.
My plan was to put the thermocouple close to the output of the heater. This way the PID controller doesnt ramp the power all the way up and starts scorching the wort.
I moved the element outside of the mash tun because there was no easy way to keep the element away from the grainbed and I did not want to add a stirring mechanisim.
The element is rated for 240 VAC but I will be running it at 110 so the power output will be 25%. If it works well I may try it at full power.

 

[korndog]

What compound did you use for the mirror finish?

 

[slnies]

What compound did you use for the mirror finish?

Flitz works great.

 

[korndog]

Flitz works great.

Ok thanks. I have a tube somewhere.

 

[CodeRage]

I used Mothers Mag and wheel.

 

[korndog]

I used Mothers Mag and wheel.

Ok cool. thanks for that.

 

[CEMaine]

I liked slnies's heat exchanger so much I built my own. I thought it was missing something though.

I think it will look nice on the brew sculpture when its all done. polished stainless and copper baby!

She is pretty and all but, Man that is going to take some work to keep looking like that. Copper fades really easy. You may want to seal it somehow.