Questions about building HLT

[MVKTR2]

I've had a cobbled together cooler-propane based brew house for the better part of a decade and 100 batches. It has worked very well for me but I'm finally ready to upgrade. I'm keeping my cooler mash tun. I want to convert a keg I have on hand into an electric HLT. I brew 5 gal batches mostly and it needs to be 120 volt normal wall socket compatible.

For the record I want to preheat my strike and sparge water together to an accurate temp. Dump sparge water into mash tun. While mashing I'll use the electric HLT to raise temp of sparge water.

Suggestions welcome. I'm handy, mechanical teacher by trade, but not opposed to buying something if it makes economic sense. I'm simply not sure where to begin. I've looked around a few sites but nothing clicked yet.

 

[shaky6]

You'll need a PID controller and a heating element to set it up. They make 120v elements. But you'll need a pump to keep the water moving in the tank or else you will create thermal jackets around the element. The elements and whatnot use triclamp fittings.

 

[porterpounder]

Just keep in mind that heating enough water for a batch with an element will take a lot longer than propane. 2-3 hours. You can use a digital johnson temp controller for a single element. Just make sure the model can handle the amps. You can use 2 120v elements to heat quicker, but they need to be on separate circuits or they'll pop.

 

[augiedoggy]

and if its an economical solution your after dont go for the TC elements... Not for a HLT since its just water there is no reason to ever remove the element, just mount it in the keggle with an oring and nut. thats what I did, but get an all stainless electric element or one with a brass base. The others like the ones at the home depot do not have a stainless base and will rust.
I would just use 2 1500w elements plugged into separate 120v circuits myself in your case. Then you need a temp controller (there are cheap 15amp prebuilt models out there which will work for your situation but if you build one youll need a pid if temp control is preferred which is $25 plus a SSR so another $10-15 for one with a heat sink and a dual pole relay or contactor (about $10) and a cheap pt100 sensor ($9 for one with handy quick disconnect.) and an enclosure (the home depot has nice plastic Carlon enclosures for about $16 that would work great.) and wires, cord and plugs... since its 120v and 15 amp this stuff is fairly cheap.)

and dont worry about thermal jackets. that like saying all the heat will stay on the bottom when heating on a burner... its just doesnt work that way... The water will circulate from the temp differential if you want it to be more even and accurate give it a stir every now and then. This is needed with a herms if you decide to go that route later since the temps can fluctuate more.

 

[GJOCONNELL]

Just keep in mind that heating enough water for a batch with an element will take a lot longer than propane. 2-3 hours. You can use a digital johnson temp controller for a single element. Just make sure the model can handle the amps. You can use 2 120v elements to heat quicker, but they need to be on separate circuits or they'll pop.

2-3 hrs for a 5 gallon batch? Really that long?

 

[augiedoggy]

2-3 hrs for a 5 gallon batch? Really that long?

I could see that... your looking at like 8 gallons of water , With a single 1500w or 2000w element its going to take a while.

 

[shaky6]

and dont worry about thermal jackets. that like saying all the heat will stay on the bottom when heating on a burner... its just doesnt work that way... The water will circulate from the temp differential if you want it to be more even and accurate give it a stir every now and then. This is needed with a herms if you decide to go that route later since the temps can fluctuate more.

The thermal jackets are created around a hot element. Flow is needed not because heat won't flow, but because the element will actually create a vapor pocket around the surface of the element, and reduce its life. That problem doesnt exist in a burner situation.

 

[GJOCONNELL]

I could see that... your looking at like 8 gallons of water , With a single 1500w or 2000w element its going to take a while.

I guess you could start the water up with propane then flip to electric. Or just get water from the house water heater to cut down the differential. Full tilt my water in the house gets to around 150 f so that should help.

 

[augiedoggy]

The thermal jackets are created around a hot element. Flow is needed not because heat won't flow, but because the element will actually create a vapor pocket around the surface of the element, and reduce its life. That problem doesnt exist in a burner situation.

That problem isn't real with immersion elements which are designed to be submerged in liquid and used that way either as far as I've ever seen... How long have you been brewing with one?
The element would have to be extremely high watt density for this to cause damage to the element and not something used here anyway. The steam vapor that's created by the elements I use rise directly to the top creating an effect known as boiling and mixing the water up quite well in the process.

 

[augiedoggy]

I guess you could start the water up with propane then flip to electric. Or just get water from the house water heater to cut down the differential. Full tilt my water in the house gets to around 150 f so that should help.

Water from the hot side of the tap usually shouldn't be used for consumption... It's amazing how many people are unaware of this. If you have a hot water tank it's usually full of sediment and heavy metals and if you have copper plumbing the hot water tends to pull heavy metals out of the solder like lead according to agencies that test this kind of stuff. Google " cooking with hot tap water" some folks do it but I can taste a difference in my hot water once cooled so I wouldn't want to brew with it anyway. My thankless water heater also states that it's not for potable water as well.

 

[passedpawn]

Water from the hot side of the tap usually shouldn't be used for consumption... It's amazing how many people are unaware of this.

Lets see some real data. Take your hot water and send it out for analysis. Show me where it's harmful. Otherwise, I think this is ridiculous. Please don't post links to crazy websites that prove your point.

 

[augiedoggy]

Lets see some real data. Take your hot water and send it out for analysis. Show me where it's harmful. Otherwise, I think this is ridiculous. Please don't post links to crazy websites that prove your point.

Ridiculous?
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/water.htm
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/drinking_water/lead_tips.shtml
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html
http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/food-safety/article/hot-tap-water-safe-drink
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/promotion/public-publique/home-maison/in/drinking-potable-eng.php
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/10/why-you-still-shouldnt-cook-with-hot-tap-water/
http://www.water.org.uk/consumers/water-and-health/faqs#Warm water?
Pretty much every government and private agency who's studied it recommends against it so... I'm sorry this isn't something I feel I should need to waste my time proving any further. Of course anyone can do what they want in this case but it doesn't make any of what I said ridiculous.