RIMS Heating Tube

[MikeInMKE]

#1. Never, ever insert anything in a bung hole.

twss.

 

[corb5309]

Has anyone heard of using the heating element from a coffee maker for a RIMS system? I hear they are in the 1 to 1.3 KW range and i would assume are made of food safe materials. Also super cheap. Ive looked around but haven't found anyone mention using one yet.

 

[dyqik]

I'd be very surprised if you could find a coffee maker element that would fit well in a rims tube type system - I've had a couple of espresso machines, and one had external elements (Gaggia Classic), and the other has a coil shaped element in a tank shaped boiler (Berezza). They also tend to have odd flanges and the like on them.

Water heater elements are a better fit to water flowing over them along a tube. They're also much cheaper than espresso machine elements (~$50-$100) and you can get them in your local DIY store, saving shipping - you shouldn't need to spend more than $15-$20 on a water heater element. The pipe is the expensive part of a RIMS tube.

 

[ajwillys]

It's funny you say that because I've been thinking along the same lines. Some espresso machines use something called a thermoblock. It's basically a big block of aluminum that heats up and has a bunch of channels cut into it to pump the water through. I've been looking for a larger version of one but so far haven't found anything.