Show me your HEAT STICK!

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EO74

EO74

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Here's the deal I've been brewing outside in the winter for years and I'm looking to do some indoor brewing in the winter, but I have a couple of questions I couldn't find strait awnsers for. First will a 15a circuit boil 5-7 gallons of wort on its own? Second will jb weld have any reactions with the wort chemically? Third what is the best design? Which leads me to this SHOW ME YOUR HEAT STICK!:smack:
 
231173d1414036323-prototype-previews-hopback-heat-stick-hotrod1.jpg
 
I'm going to be offering them for an introductory price of $49 without the element. The 5500 watt all stainless element will be $39 and the 2000w/120v element will be $33. So, no JB weld, no rusty bases and cheaper than you could build it with off the shelf TC parts. Couple more days on the heatstick hardware... about 9 days I'll have the elements.
 
Bobby_M said:
I'm going to be offering them for an introductory price of $49 without the element. The 5500 watt all stainless element will be $39 and the 2000w/120v element will be $33. So, no JB weld, no rusty bases and cheaper than you could build it with off the shelf TC parts. Couple more days on the heatstick hardware... about 9 days I'll have the elements.
Click to expand...

So explain to an idiot how your "hot rod" works.... do I just plug it in and drop it in the wort, or do I need a kettle with TC fittings, or what?
 
As soon as the Hot Rod goes on sale Bobby I am on it!!! $49 is more than fair IMHO. I am getting a different element due to the size of my pot. I'm assuming some simple instructions on how to wire it would come with or would be available on HBT?
 
ruger988 said:
So explain to an idiot how your "hot rod" works.... do I just plug it in and drop it in the wort, or do I need a kettle with TC fittings, or what?
Click to expand...

Install the element in the end cap, run your wire down the drop tube, connect the ground to the ground lug and the hot/hot or hot/neutral to the element terminals and then clamp the cap and main unit together with the gasket in place. Add a plug to the end of the cable.

Drop the unit in your pot and plug it in.

I've also verified that you can put many different types of temp sensing probes down into the vertical tube if you want to run it on a controller.
 
WOW screw building one as soon as there ready seriously let me know I'll take one with the smaller element , looks awsome.....on an un related note that was a good write up on you i read the other day.
 
That looks amazing, Bobby! Of course, not a surprise given your excellent work. So, for using to maintain mash temps, how would you use the kettle lid? I guess one could notch the lid so that the heat stick could sit along the side with the lid on. Or, perhaps a tubing bender could be used to bend the Hot Rod at the right height for the kettle, and then just sit the lid atop the rod. I'm trying to decide between this and the nice TC element kits you have developed.
 
craigmw said:
That looks amazing, Bobby! Of course, not a surprise given your excellent work. So, for using to maintain mash temps, how would you use the kettle lid? I guess one could notch the lid so that the heat stick could sit along the side with the lid on. Or, perhaps a tubing bender could be used to bend the Hot Rod at the right height for the kettle, and then just sit the lid atop the rod. I'm trying to decide between this and the nice TC element kits you have developed.
Click to expand...

If your going to notch the lid why not just drill a hole and mount the element in the pot?
I thought the only real purpose of these are for people unwilling or unable to modify their pots? It wouldnt be for any cost savings since the enclosure alone costs the same as 2 elements mounted in two pots/kettles. Or am I missing something?
 
I personally am not willing to drill my pot , i just want somthing for winter brewing when its freezing and snowing out side��
 
EO74 said:
I personally am not willing to drill my pot , i just want somthing for winter brewing when its freezing and snowing out side��
Click to expand...
Could you not use Bobby M's just like a typical heat stick and not have to drill any holes? They are just TC fittings. That would be my plan and his price is fantastic! I have about that into my JBweld/PVC/Toilet parts pile of crap as it is. Most was in the HD extension cord I used and would reuse for his. I am keeping my eyes peeled on this for a 120V version.
 
30Bones said:
Could you not use Bobby M's just like a typical heat stick and not have to drill any holes? They are just TC fittings. That would be my plan and his price is fantastic! I have about that into my JBweld/PVC/Toilet parts pile of crap as it is. Most was in the HD extension cord I used and would reuse for his. I am keeping my eyes peeled on this for a 120V version.
Click to expand...

Yes thats what i would do , i was planning on building my own and using everyone elses ideas but bobbys looks so good I'll probably just buy his.
 
EO74 said:
Here's the deal I've been brewing outside in the winter for years and I'm looking to do some indoor brewing in the winter, but I have a couple of questions I couldn't find strait awnsers for. First will a 15a circuit boil 5-7 gallons of wort on its own? Second will jb weld have any reactions with the wort chemically? Third what is the best design? Which leads me to this SHOW ME YOUR HEAT STICK!:smack:
Click to expand...

My opinion, if you're limited to a 15 amp circuit I'd just buy a commercially available immersion heater on Amazon or Ebay. You can get them really, really cheap (~$10). Here's a thread where several of these heaters are discussed.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/i-love-waking-up-hot-strike-water-easy-1-2-3-a-381737/


I don't think a single 1500 watt heater would keep a rolling boil going for a 5 gallon batch, but there are options. One, use your stove top and supplement with an immersion heater. Two, buy a couple of these things and connect them to two different circuits.

I've found that I'm happy with just letting my kettle straddle two burners on my stove top when I'm ramping up to the boil. Once boiling I turn one burner off and just run one to keep things going.
 
That's what I do TexasWine. I just use my stick for supplemental power to save propane. I do not brew indoors anymore however.
 
I looked at those immersion heaters but I would be cutting it too close height wise with that one on Amazon. By water is usually only about 6.5 to 7.5 inches deep in the pot. I'm chomping at the bit for Bobby's design to come to market.
 
Those look great, Bobby! How long is the drop tube? Are you offering any hanger hardware? My current heatsticks made with drain pipe are ugly, but the hook on the top is handy for hanging them on the kettles or the edge of the cooler mash tuns.
 
If the drop tube is left straight, the overall height is 27". If I put a 90 degree bend, it shortens to 24". I do have a clamp solution that needs a 1/4" hole at the top sidewall of the pot to work, but I'm still not 100% satisfied with it. It's better than just dropping it into the pot, but I think it can be better.
 
Bobby I couldn't get on your site Monday or Tuesday but I did get on this morning and when I did it said The hot Rod is out of stock? Did you sell out that fast if so WOW :mug:
 
Hot Rod Ordered and on the way. This will be my Heat Stick supplementing my indoor AG brews until my EBIAB build gets done this spring.
:)
 
bbohanon said:
Hot Rod Ordered and on the way. This will be my Heat Stick supplementing my indoor AG brews until my EBIAB build gets done this spring.
:)
Click to expand...

Nice I want to order one for the same thing but It doesn't look like bobby offers a 1500w stainless steel element and the 2000w is to big for my kitchen. I'm wondering if I got one off eBay if it would be the same fit in the hot rod?
 
EO74 said:
Nice I want to order one for the same thing but It doesn't look like bobby offers a 1500w stainless steel element and the 2000w is to big for my kitchen. I'm wondering if I got one off eBay if it would be the same fit in the hot rod?
Click to expand...

Honestly, the 2000watt element should work as long as you have a GFCI outlet to plug it into. I don't have great power in my kitchen either and was worried a bit about the same thing with tripping breakers, but it worked like a charm.

I would honestly go with Bobby's Hot Rod. You will be hard pressed to find one better. Its a work of art and I would pay twice what he is charging for this thing..its just that nice.

I brewed a full AG grain batch today on my flat top electric stove(Pliny Morebeer kit which was a 90 min boil) and used the Hot Rod for the first time and it got the strike and sparge water to temp in less than 15 mins with the electric stove helping..To get 6.5 gallons of wort to a rolling boil after I sparged out, it was about 18 mins from 160deg to a solid boil. I actually turned off the hot rod and let the stove handle the boil the rest of the brew once I got the boil really going. Without the hot rod, it would have taken the stove over an hour to get to that nice of a boil and maybe would have never gotten to that point to be honest.
I did pull the pot off the stove to see if the hot rod would hold the boil with no help of the stove and it did nicely which gives me the ability to brew anywhere I have a GFCI outlet. The hot rod is my initial jump to going all electric sometime in 2015 as I wanted to see how well something like this would work. It passed the test and will be a very useful tool for my all electric setup next year.

Great investment and I would not hesitate to pick one up. I think it cost me $20 more to buy Bobby's as it would have to build one. Well worth the extra $20
Pics of my brew day with some of the Hot Rod pics below.

Heating up strike water:
photo_zpsc442f7ee.jpg


View from the pot:
photo1_zpse70d28ab.jpg


View after I pulled it out and cleaned it up:
photo2_zps4e8e5645.jpg


Another view..It has a nice "Hot Rod" logo on the back which is slick..
photo3_zps0de305b3.jpg


Some additional wiring photos, product information and other good stuff on the Hot Rod from others as well as the master of the design himself located on this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/prototype-previews-hopback-heat-stick-471766/index41.html
 
Should you pick up a Hot Rod, here are some tips on getting it wired up and using it:

Note 1: Make sure you get 12/3 SJOOW wire. Bobby mentions this and its what I wired mine up with. I picked up 8ft of it from Lowes along with the yellow waterproof plug you see on mine. Pulling it through the 90degree bend is a breeze.

Note 2: There are 2 washers in the box with the hotrod. You will need to use them both to tighen the ground screw in the back of the hot rod(you will see what I mean when you get it). Otherwise the screw will bottom out before its tight.

Note 3: There are 3 round connectors with the Hot Rod..Make SURE you note there are 2 smaller ones and one larger one. The larger one is for the ground!
I screwed up and did not notice this until post crimping. Also make sure you use the Heat Shrink to seal up the connections for the 2 hot legs..You do NOT want to have any of those connections hitting the side of the Hot Rod with any of the bare wire/connector....lol

Note 4: The bracket that it comes with is for mounting the hot rod to the side of a pot by drilling a hole in the upper collar of your pot. This is kind of a perma-mount for the hot-rod. You do not need to use it to use the Hot Rod(I just place it in the pot and let her rip), but you can actually use 2 large fender washers to accomplish the same thing without drilling a single hole in the pot. See MonkeyMan's post in the thread I linked for this..Very nice and keeps your pots drill hole free.
:D

Note 5: This may seem like common sense, but never use the hot rod dry. Only power it when its fully submerged in water or you will kill the element very quickly. Also never use it without a GFCI protected outlet/circuit. Ever.
 
Good notes. The two fender washer trick will work for pots that don't have any kind of rolled top lip, but I need to figure out a less invasive solution for a wider variety of pots. Honestly, this is really the reason the price is as low as it is. I'm selling the first 50 at near break even pricing because although the business end of the unit is fully up to my expectation, it's not a mature product in my mind without a universal mount.

On the crimp terminals... it definitely helps if you put a bit of a bend in the ring terminals for the element connection so that the wires are not jutting out directly to the side walls of the housing. I think I bent a 45 degree in them with a pair of needlenose pliers. Shrink the heatshrink on after bending.
 
I used 1" x 1/8" aluminom bar stock rather than fender washers for mine. Actually I did this before reading about using the fender washers.

I have not used the Hot Rod for a brew session yet but I have used it to heat water several times as I have no water heater in my garage. Not needing to fire up the propane burner just to heat water for clean up after bottling a couple of days ago was a welcome change. I am a big fan of the Hot Rod!

2014-11-24 07.13.31.png
 
Sorry, that was not the picture that I intended to post. But it does show my alternative to having the bend in the tube.

Thanks Bobby for another great product.

2014-11-24 07.41.58.jpg
 
laradactyl said:
Sorry, that was not the picture that I intended to post. But it does show my alternative to having the bend in the tube.

Thanks Bobby for another great product.
Click to expand...

That is straight kick ass. Bobby sure does amazing work!
 

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