Starting Keg Conversions for a 3 Vessel E-Herms System

[Hoppopotomus]

That's what I was thinking. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[mcl]

If I primarily did 10 gal batches I wouldn't have messed with it either. I think you will still get decent efficiency on 5 gal batches. I think mine jumped about 5% when I modified it.

 

[Gridlocked]

GREAT Job so far!!
Impressive.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks stranger. It's slowly coming together, but I have been juggling the brewery buildout with the keggle conversions, so it's taking longer than expected. Plus, I am really procrastinating on the keggle polishing project, because lets face it.....polishing kegs for hours on end really blows!

I have a short day today, so I plan on finishing up the trim in the brewery and putting the room back together today.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Plus, I am really procrastinating on the keggle polishing project, because lets face it.....polishing kegs for hours on end really blows!

Agreed - that's why I painted them.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Yeah, the paint job looks great.....did you use a high temp. grill paint? I have already spent several hours cleaning up and sanding on these, so I'm now committed to go all of the way with them. I meant to make more progress, but I have been doing the finish trim in my brewery. It's in my signature line if interested.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Yup - used the standard BBQ grill paint and it came out fine. I should have put more time into the prep because it flakes off in some places. I'm still happy with it though, and glad I didn't invest countless hours into polishing them.

 

[lawnboybrew]

This is one SWEET thread. Can't wait to see this done! Can you get a vid up when its running? Envious!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Sorry for the late response, but my time has been very limited, as I am pursuing another business venture. Thanks for the compliment. Not sure If I will shoot a video or not once it's done.....I'm a little camera shy.

 

[mrklueber]

Well, I have read all your posts. Color me green with envy!! You have a done a fantastic job as all the other posters have said. Hope you enjoy the brewery when the builds are finished and you just have to brew on it.

 

[MrNatural]

Awesome build. Lots of great info for folks like me currently fabbing keggles.
I'm ready to start drilling/punching holes for eHERMS and eBK with whirlpool.
Do you have a schematic or diagram with final port/connection placement?

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Thanks mrklueber, I can't wait to get this thing up and running. I'm working on the finishing touches and then need to make a final decision on controls for this thing. I am really leaning towards the BCS system, but might still go with Kals panel.....it's still up in the air. Regardless, I still have a bit of work to do before I order controls.

MrNatural.......no I don't have any schematics of port placement. I essentially took information from Bobby's (www.brewhardware.com) keggle conversion instructions on his site and merged them with Kal's (www.theelectricbrewery.com) instructions. I also picked the brains of several other HBT'ers to help me tweak the measurements to accommodate the PICO false bottom in the MLT. I'm hesitant to post exact measurements, because it's really dependent on the exact components that you are using for your build. For instance, if you are using a JayBird false bottom, the dip tube is positioned above the false bottom and then 90's down through a hole in the false bottom. With the PICO, the dip tube must be positioned low enough to sit completely underneath the false bottom.

In the HLT, I experimented quite a bit with the heating element assembly, so that the dip tube didn't interfere with it. I am using 5500W Camco elements, which are "s" shaped, so I had to make sure that the dip tube ended up being positioned in the concavity of the element curvature. The trickiest part by far was the placement of the HERMs coil. You need to make sure that the coil sits just above the heating element without sitting directly on it, but is still low enough in the keggle to stay fully submerged. The HERMs coil tends to sag a bit and has a tendency to want to sit on the element. My remedy is to create a suspension system with 10 guage copper wire suspended from an inverted stainless eye bolt in the outer lip of the keggle top to support the coil side opposite to it's connection points at the inlet and output ports. Kal used stainless tubing for his coil and recommended 7 inches between the lower inlet port and the upper outlet port. I used 50' of 1/2" copper that I purchased from menards and had and 11" mortar bucket that I wrapped the copper around to create the coil, so that it would fit down through my 12" rough opening in the top of the keggle. Once I created the coil, it was closer to 10" tall, so the 7" measurement that Kal used wouldn't work for me. I ended up going with 9" between the upper and lower ports and removed 2 turns worth of copper from the coil (about 6 feet).

I could certainly give you some exact measurements of port placement if you want, but would hate to give you measurements that don't work for your components. Just let me know. Thanks man!

 

[MrNatural]

Hoppo, man am I glad you resurrected this!! No worries with FB, going bottom dump MLT. I probably just need to mock them up before drilling, following the advice in this thread.
I've been acquiring stuff for over a year, starting with March pump and ASCO valves off CL, then BG-14 burners.
Then you guys here give me the Jones for electric.
Then my buddy across the street gives me 40ft of 6/3 and 3 reels of 10ga, plus use of his plasma cutter, welder and lathe (it did cost me 1.75 of Jameson).
I've got everything to fab convertible propane/electric except controller (leaning BCS). Holy crap do those SS fittings add up fast!
Now back to the keggle mock up..........

Thanks for the fine pics and advice,

Dale

 

[Huaco]

^^^^
You are going to LOVE the bottom-draining MLT!

 

[MrNatural]

^^^^
You are going to LOVE the bottom-draining MLT!

Man, I wish I could run ALL of them bottom drain, but need to be able to direct fire HLT and BK sometimes.

 

[Bigs166]

Thanks stranger. It's slowly coming together, but I have been juggling the brewery buildout with the keggle conversions, so it's taking longer than expected. Plus, I am really procrastinating on the keggle polishing project, because lets face it.....polishing kegs for hours on end really blows!

I have a short day today, so I plan on finishing up the trim in the brewery and putting the room back together today.

This is absurdly old and I hope you still have your brewery up and running. I am days away from drilling holes in my kegs as I am about to build basically the same exact system that you did.
I was curious did you ever get around to polishing those kegs? If you can remember how you did it that would be awesome info. I am sanded down to 800 grit and I am trying to use polishing compound (ryobi home depot stuff) with a polishing pad on my angle grinder with mixed results. It is tedious and I am reading that the angle grinder may spin too fast. how did you do it?
do you have any pics of your finished product??

Thanks,
Sam

 

[Transamguy77]

Here is a old video of BobbyM on how to polish a keg.

 

[Simphoto02]

I used a 6" vent blower fan used to vent furnaces or dryers and then used an HVAC 12' reducer as the hood. It works like a charm and it was cheap.

Could you be a little more specific on this? Pics ALWAYS help. Thanks

 

[MrBaloo]

Good thread... currently building out my tap room.. then on to acquiring parts for keggle builds.. great job guys!

 

[Bigs166]

My 3 keggle HERMS system is complete! Who know polishing stainless steel kegs was such a nightmare!! Tons of elbow grease but I think it turned out pretty nice.
Thank you Bobby at Brewhardware for the help in building my system.