Prototype Previews: Hopback and Heat Stick

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
It's not that a garden hose thread to camlock fitting couldn't be machined in one piece, but rather whether many people would be willing to pay the premium cost over the combination of GHT to NPT and NPT to cam. It would require a pretty large piece of hex stock and the resulting machine time would be pretty costly. I'll still look into it though.
 
A bushing might be a nice solution....internal threads would be 1/2" FPT allowing you to thread it over existing 1/2" MPT camlocks, and the outside threads would be GHT....you would still be able to keep the length down, and adapt to a garden hose in just one fitting.

$(KGrHqF,!rcFI3gQU+J)BSWC100y0g~~60_35.JPG


I've actually adapted camlocks to my garden hose out of necessity, regular garden hose disconnects kept leaking everywhere making a mess and creating a dangerous situation with electricity nearby. No leaks whatsoever and they don't require a wrench....and for my limited homebrew use, they are almost as sanitary as triclovers, at a fraction of the cost. :rockin:
 
Bobby_M said:
Do you mean the down tube? I believe they are .035"

If you need to bend it, you'll need a mandrel tube bender.
Click to expand...

Yes the down tube is what I was after. Thank you.

I'm having a hard time finding someone with a 5/8 od bender around here. One place I have checked with asked me the wall thickness.
 
I have been trying to read though this thread but there is just so much to it, 3 days later I have still not yet found enough time.

Bobby can you answer this, are you still thinking about putting in a thermowell or anything like that on the Hot Rod Heat Stick? I would like to buy one when they get back in stock but if that option is still on the way I might need to wait for that.

Also I am thinking about getting on of these:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0037NXKY0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
That way I am not limited to a GFCI specific outlet. Any input?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've determined that there is no need for an extra part for a thermowell. You can pull a standard thermocouple/RTD probe into the downtube and lodge it against the metal of the tube to conduct heat. Ideally, it would be a bare junction, well one that is insulated from shorting with a dab of epoxy or heat shrink. Some of the cheaper probes that are made from a drilled out M6 bolt for example, can be taken apart and the inside junction removed.

Thermocouple%20Type-K%20-%20M6%20Screw_A.JPG


The bare type is sometimes called a "bead" thermocouple.
3109_0_Web.jpg


Even with a narrow stainless jacket left in place on some probes, the heat is conveyed within +/- 3F or so which may or may not be accurate enough.

One thing I have not had a chance to play around with is potentially a decent solution is to use the M6 bolt that is part of the PT-100 probe as the bolt to attach the ground wire. The reason it may work is that I have an M6 nut welded inside the enclosure for the ground. I just don't know if it will catch enough threads to be secure.

m6-type-font-b-pt100-b-font-RTD-font-b-thermocouple-b-font-sendor-1m-long.jpg



The link to that GFCI seems fine.
 
Can't wait for the hotrod to be back in stock, planning on purchasing them once it's available. :rockin:
 
Can anyone recommend me a 12/3 SJOOW cable? I have gone to every hardware store in my area, including electric supply shops and and no one has a 12/3 SJOOW cable rated higher that 90°c.

I dont mind ordering online, but I only need about 10' of cable, not a 200' roll haha..
 
I get mine at lowes. It's up on electric carousel. Home Depot should also have it as well.
 
cbzdel said:
Can anyone recommend me a 12/3 SJOOW cable? I have gone to every hardware store in my area, including electric supply shops and and no one has a 12/3 SJOOW cable rated higher that 90°c.

I dont mind ordering online, but I only need about 10' of cable, not a 200' roll haha..
Click to expand...

I got mine at Home Depot. I'm not sure if it was regular by-the-foot stock or not though. They had SOOW cable on the rack where the SJOOW was supposed to be and I almost accidentally bought it before I realized he cut the wrong stuff. When I went back I found another guy and had him pull a roll off the shelf of SJOOW and cut it for me. It is rated to 105°C.

View attachment 1426778255061.jpg
 
Last edited:
Both my Lowes and Home Depot cables are rated at 90°c :(

If I go a couple cities away their hardware stores are nicer and larger, I will have to give them a try and see if they have what I am looking for because 105°c would be perfect!
 
I did get 10/3 cable though since I'm running a 220v element. You could check and see if the 10/3 cable has the higher temp rating. It never hurts to have too big of conductors.
 
makubex said:
Just finished assembling my hot rod and am leak testing it now. Assembly is relatively easy and the product is really brilliant in its simplicity.

No home improvement stores around me had the recommended power cable available by the foot, so I had to buy a 25' spool. Also, the standard SJOOW cable was only rated for up to 100C. While that probably would have been okay, I didn't want to risk it and bought a slightly more pricey product rated up to 105C. The drawback is that now I have about 10-12' of cable that I'll probably never use.

If anyone is building one and would like to avoid having to go out and find cable, send me a message. If you pay for a shipping label, I'll send you the remainder of my 12-3 SJEOOW cable so long as you promise to put it to good use.
Click to expand...

Posted this a while back - person who originally replied stopped communicating when it came time to buy a shipping label so I could send the package. I've had the spare cable boxed up and sitting in my office for about a month now and I'd like to get rid of it.

Anyone in need of 12' of 12-3 SJOOW cable rated at 105C, send me a message. My spare cable is yours if you pay for/email me a shipping label for the package.
 
cosmatics said:
Hey Bobby,

Sorry this is a long thread, any word on the hopback?
Click to expand...

I'm hoping for a larger version. I use mine mainly as a pre-filter before going through the plate chiller using rice hulls. I brew 10-15 gallon batches so I couldn't see if I was getting the "hop back" aroma benefit.

Capture.JPG
 
Hi Bobby,

Sorry for the newb questions here, but I have a 15 gallon brew pot that I am looking to go electric with. I have a 50amp spot in my panel being used by my electric stove which I am going to gas very soon and plan to take over.

Anyhow I would like to get your ripple 240V element, and a hot pod to go with it, but am a little confused looking at all of the hot pod options. Knowing that I am going 240V, and would use large wire assuming that its required, do I need the $67 optioned hot pod? Looks like that one is out of stock. Would the 1.5" setup work?*

Let me know your thoughts, I am also interested in what is needed to block that off to still use gas when going to a brew buddies house etc
 
beergutbrew said:
I'm hoping for a larger version. I use mine mainly as a pre-filter before going through the plate chiller using rice hulls. I brew 10-15 gallon batches so I couldn't see if I was getting the "hop back" aroma benefit.
Click to expand...


When I used mine I substituted the dry hopping phase with the hopback instead. I saw great benefit in the product but it clogged up on me. Can you tell me what amount of rice hulls you are using? Because when I tried it I got plugging.
 
beergutbrew said:
I'm hoping for a larger version. I use mine mainly as a pre-filter before going through the plate chiller using rice hulls. I brew 10-15 gallon batches so I couldn't see if I was getting the "hop back" aroma benefit.
Click to expand...


When I used mine I substituted the dry hopping phase with the hopback instead. I saw great benefit in the product but it clogged up on me. Can you tell me what amount of rice hulls you are using? Because when I tried it I got plugging.
 
Those who use the hop bomb as a pre-filter, are you still using a hop spider/bags, etc? If so, how has it performed in that role?

I'm thinking of packing the Hop Bomb Jr. with rice hulls, and not using my hop spider to see if I get better hop utilization, while still being able to filter out the hops/trub.
 
Only tried it once so far. Used my hop spider an. Still was able to plug up the hopbomb
 
Bobby, I was just wondering about the hot rod with integrated temp probe. Were you able to make it happen? I don't see it on your website. If it's not feasible, what recommendations do you have for a fully immersive temp probe to couple with the hot rod? I really want to avoid holes in my keggles as much as possible.
 
If you use a type K or RTD with a compact or even bare end to it, you can pull it down into the lower end of the drop tube and lodge it against the tube so it can read the metal temp directly. I found it acceptably accurate.
 
Bobby_M said:
If you use a type K or RTD with a compact or even bare end to it, you can pull it down into the lower end of the drop tube and lodge it against the tube so it can read the metal temp directly. I found it acceptably accurate.
Click to expand...


So the hot rod serves as the thermowell. Good deal.
 
wbarber69 said:
When I used mine I substituted the dry hopping phase with the hopback instead. I saw great benefit in the product but it clogged up on me. Can you tell me what amount of rice hulls you are using? Because when I tried it I got plugging.
Click to expand...

I filled it up 1/2-3/4, no packing them in just loose. They expand just slightly and when they catch hops or hot break it will get packed quickly. I still have had success with using it as a hop back.
 
For the heatstick cabling, could I use SJEOOW 12/3 cable? I've looked locally, called electrical stores and looked online, but every single SJOOW cable came back as being rated for 90C.

Edit: Okay, got my answer, SJEOOW will work too! Thanks again to Bobby for the great product!
 
Finally got my hot rod all put together, and oh man is it sexy! Great job bobby! I ended up taking an rtd out of a pre-made thermowell and wiring it up inside of the element housing and it couldn't have been better.
 
Used the Hot Rod for the first time today. Worked wonderfully and cleaning was a breeze. Great work.
 
Bobby_M said:
One thing I have not had a chance to play around with is potentially a decent solution is to use the M6 bolt that is part of the PT-100 probe as the bolt to attach the ground wire. The reason it may work is that I have an M6 nut welded inside the enclosure for the ground. I just don't know if it will catch enough threads to be secure.

m6-type-font-b-pt100-b-font-RTD-font-b-thermocouple-b-font-sendor-1m-long.jpg
Click to expand...

Does this work?
 
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top