Will this cheap 3500 watt induction burner work?

[Wynne-R]

Gallons 8.00
Start F 64.00
End F 212.00
Diff in F 148.00
lbs H2o 66.80
BTU 9,886.40
Time 67.00
BTU/hr 11,039.81 8853.5
kwh 3,412.00
Watts 3,235.58
Draw 3,500.00
Efficiency 92.45%

Ooops. 9886 Btu in 67 minutes would have to be 8854 Btu/hr.
When I figure it, I get 2594 watts for a much more believable 71% efficiency. When I do it in my kitchen with open pots, my efficiency is a little better than 50%.

This is a back of the envelope calculation, I could be off, but I think the right answer is way closer to 70% than 90%.

8 * 3.78541 = 30.28 liters
148/1.8= 82.22 C Degrees
2490 kcal = 10,430,000 joules
67 minutes = 4020 seconds
2594 joules/sec = 2594 watts

 

[sammy33]

I have had a couple of three of homebrews so double check my math.

Wynne-R is correct. The Simcoe SMaSH clouded my mind yesterday.

Gallons		8.00
Start F    	64.00
End F     	212.00
Diff inF  	148.00
lbs H2o    	66.80
BTU     	9,886.40
Time       	67.00
BTU/hr  	8,853.49
kwh     	3,412.00
Watts   	2,594.81
Draw    	3,500.00
Efficiency 	74.14%

 

[geoffm33]

Ok, that's actually good news then. I have room to grow more efficient. Time to troubleshoot.

 

[sammy33]

Boiled up 8 gals of water in about 65-70 minutes starting from 60 degrees. Took around 45 minutes to get to 160(approx. strike temp). Pretty happy with these results for kitchen brewing!

Avantco IC 3500 with 10G Megapot 1.2 for comparison as reported by carlk47:

Gallons		8.00
Start F		60.00
End F		212.00
Diff in F	152.00
lbs H2o		66.80
BTU		10,153.60
Time		67.50
BTU/hr		9,025.42
kwh		3,412.00
Watts		2,645.20
Draw		3,500.00
Efficiency	75.58%

 

[sammy33]

Hey gang, has anyone been successful recirculating with a pump during the mash with this burner? I'm debating picking up a chugger pump for use to recirculate not only during the mash but also while using my immersion chiller to speed up chilling and whirlpooling. I know it won't hold the temp completely precise due to the 10 degree temp steps of the burner, but as long as it doesn't lose too much heat, i'm good with that.

Anyone tested it out?

I am still working on a pump. Check out schiersteinbrewing's post and alewhatcuresyou's post in the induction info thread.

 

[geoffm33]

I made a spreadsheet based on brewman's formula. Thank you brewman_!

geoff - I get 3,235 watts based on your data. Looks good to me!

Gallons       8.00
Start F      64.00
End  F      212.00
Diff in F   148.00
lbs H2o      66.80
BTU       9,886.40
Time         67.00
BTU/hr   11,039.81
kwh       3,412.00
Watts     3,235.58
Draw  3,500.00
Efficiency   92.45%

I have had a couple of three of homebrews so double check my math.

Do you have the spreadsheet you used so I can plug in different test numbers?

EDIT: Ignore this request, I decided not to be lazy and just finished creating the spreadsheet

 

[sammy33]

geoffm - Just emailed it.

 

[geoffm33]

Gallons 8.00
Start F 64.00
End F 212.00
Diff in F 148.00
lbs H2o 66.80
BTU 9,886.40
Time 67.00
BTU/hr 11,039.81 8853.5
kwh 3,412.00
Watts 3,235.58
Draw 3,500.00
Efficiency 92.45%

Ooops. 9886 Btu in 67 minutes would have to be 8854 Btu/hr.
When I figure it, I get 2594 watts for a much more believable 71% efficiency. When I do it in my kitchen with open pots, my efficiency is a little better than 50%.

This is a back of the envelope calculation, I could be off, but I think the right answer is way closer to 70% than 90%.

8 * 3.78541 = 30.28 liters
148/1.8= 82.22 C Degrees
2490 kcal = 10,430,000 joules
67 minutes = 4020 seconds
2594 joules/sec = 2594 watts

Thanks Wynne-R!

 

[geoffm33]

geoffm - Just emailed it.

Thank you kindly!

 

[geoffm33]

I put together an online calculator for figuring out the efficiency of your induction cooker or electric element on my blog. Please disregard the fact I hadn't published a blog post since May of last year

http://www.geoffmanning.com/homebrew/wattage-efficiency-calculator/

 

[sammy33]

Cheeseburger. ha ha ha!

 

[geoffm33]

Cheeseburger. ha ha ha!

Yeah, my kids favorite part of their favorite movie :fro:

 

[schiersteinbrewing]

Hey gang, has anyone been successful recirculating with a pump during the mash with this burner? I'm debating picking up a chugger pump for use to recirculate not only during the mash but also while using my immersion chiller to speed up chilling and whirlpooling. I know it won't hold the temp completely precise due to the 10 degree temp steps of the burner, but as long as it doesn't lose too much heat, i'm good with that.

Anyone tested it out?

Yes I have it works great, I've been getting 80% to 85% efficiency. I use a Chugger pump. During the mash I have to add some heat every 20-30min to keep temps (90min mash), added this is with out insulation on the kettle and re-circulation running. I tried the lowest setting and the mash temps would rise very slowly. Still working on the process, only have 5 brews on it thus far. One brew I wrapped the kettle and lid in an old comforter during the mash and it held temp much better than the previous no insulation mashes.

I also used the pump for whirlpooling while recirculating through a plate chiller, works very well. I just bought the Jaded Hydra IC with their whirlpool arm, haven't had a chance to try it yet, got tired of cleaning the plate chiller.

 

[Hello]

I have a quick question. I was about to do a 1 gallon BIAB and pulled out my all-clad pot that I swore was 3 gallons; it is 2. My batch need 2.32 gallons of water and of course that isn't going to work let alone adding the grain bag.

I have a 5 gallon Polarware economy kettle that I just set on top of the induction burner, added 1/2 gallon of water and it heated immediately.

The pot is no where near magnetic. Is there any issue with using a pot that isn't magnetic, but heats just fine, and is stainless on the induction burner? The manual, all one page of it, says use induction-ready cookware. I assume it is because something that isn't induction-ready is not going to heat. However, if it heats then it heats, right? Anyone know any reason why not to use the pot? Like is there some weird safety issue?


Edit: geoff answered my PM because like an annoying newbie I PM'd him as well. Brew day continues ... I mean after work, right? FWIW, anyone who may ask, geoff didn't see an issue with it as our Bayou classic pots aren't magnetic and they do work.

 

[singybrue]

I'm using a Concord stainless pot that doesn't pass the magnet test and it works fine. (other than this extra limb that's sprouting from my neck)

 

[geoffm33]

Edit: geoff answered my PM because like an annoying newbie I PM'd him as well. Brew day continues ... I mean after work, right? FWIW, anyone who may ask, geoff didn't see an issue with it as our Bayou classic pots aren't magnetic and they do work.

Exactly

According to calculations, I am only utilizing about 2200 watts of the 3500 in bringing 8 gallons from 64 to 212 in 67 minutes in my non-magnetic pot. That is with a double layer of reflectix insulation.

Hello is going to run a test of the same water volume in his induction capable pot vs the Bayou Classic pot (1044) that is not magnetic. Trying to test if the magnetic pot heats the water faster than the non magnetic pot.

If anyone else has this ability, would be great if you could test as well. I only have the non-magnetic BC that works fine.

 

[schiersteinbrewing]

My Bayou Classic 1040 pot is magnetic, I'll run a plain water test and post the results.

Test results:
Bayou Classic 1040 Pot (magnetic). Pot is uncovered and uninsulated. (going to run tests covered, insulated, and covered with insulation).

0 min 70deg
5 min 88deg
10min 100deg
15min 110deg
20min 120deg
25min 130deg
30min 140deg
35min 150deg
40min 162deg
45min 170deg
50min 178deg
55min 186deg
60min 196deg
65min 200deg
70min 208deg
75min 212deg

3500 watt cooktop
134deg difference
8 gallons/66.8 lbs
btu 8951.2
btu/hr 7160.96
watts 2098.76
60% efficient

 

[Hello]

Exactly

According to calculations, I am only utilizing about 2200 watts of the 3500 in bringing 8 gallons from 64 to 212 in 67 minutes in my non-magnetic pot. That is with a double layer of reflectix insulation.

Hello is going to run a test of the same water volume in his induction capable pot vs the Bayou Classic pot (1044) that is not magnetic. Trying to test if the magnetic pot heats the water faster than the non magnetic pot.

If anyone else has this ability, would be great if you could test as well. I only have the non-magnetic BC that works fine.

I'm going to do that while I chill my wort from my gallon batch. For sake of accurate data, I'm a girl. I think the test results will be the same...if not better because girls boil water better than boys.

 

[geoffm33]

I'm going to do that while I chill my wort from my gallon batch. For sake of accurate data, I'm a girl. I think the test results will be the same...if not better because girls boil water better than boys.

Sorry

 

[sammy33]

Induction cooktops seem to have a mystique regarding their operation. For me that is part of the appeal. An exotic technology for brewing.

Magnetic or non magnetic kettles may well have an impact on the efficiency? Obviously some of the non-magnetic kettles work. Perhaps we can gather enough data to make a cursory conclusion?

For comparison here is what I get with my 1800w Vollrath Mirage cooktop and the Tramontina tri-clad induction ready kettle with reflectix insulation and lid on during heating.

Gallons		4.50
Start F		61.00
End F		212.00
Diff in F	151.00
lbs H2o		37.58
BTU		5,673.83
Time		62.00
BTU/hr		5,490.80
kwh		3,412.00
Watts		1,609.26
Draw		1,800.00
Efficiency	89.40%

 

[Hello]

Sorry

Totally messing about!

Will have to try the test in a bit. Duty calls.

I will say that I had to turn down the burner from 3100 to 1500 to keep from boiling over. I had 2 gallons of wort (more than anticipated) in a 5 gallon pot. No joke, it rose fast. I never left its side. I eventually felt okay to go to 1800 watts.

Pre boil AG was lower than expected, 1.055 compared to est 1.069. I added a pound of DME, which automatically occurred to me as a lot for the batch size. It actually worked. OG is 1.105, estimated was 1.106.

I do love this burner. I got nervous when I removed my bag of grain and I spilled some on the burner. In the short time it took me to drain the bag, the wort was at a boil. I think the grain being removed just freed up things and that burner kicked in hardcore.

 

[AnOldUR]

Got this last night from webstaurantstore.com . . .

 

[Exception13]

Pulled the trigger on this cooktop today after seeing the coupon code above. Thanks to AnOldUR for passing it on.

Cheers!


Chris

 

[IslandLizard]

Just ordered an IC3500 and, while I was there, added a few wooden spoons and paddles. The $10 off coupon made the shipping virtually free. :rockin:

Added:
Will be used with my MoreBeer 8 Gallon Heavy Duty Stainless Kettle with a tri-clad bottom. Magnets stick to all sides. Finally getting off the glass stove top. The weight of a full pot on that glass top was a big scare factor.

I also have a similar style 15 gallon pot, I'll run a test in that too. See how much wort she can boil.

 

[Jpartschjr]

Are people plugging these into standard 20a dedicated house circuits? Aren't those only 120v?


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[Spartan1979]

Are people plugging these into standard 20a dedicated house circuits? Aren't those only 120v?


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The ones being discussed in this tread require 240V.

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm running a dedicated 240V 10/2 wg line on a 20 Amp breaker. Just another hole in the wall

 

[Jpartschjr]

I have two dedicated 20 amp lines but think they are just 20 amp 120 breakers think wire is 12g not sure if i can change breaker and outlet and be good. Working with a few great people from this site to help me get up and running and avoid destroying my home


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[IslandLizard]

I have two dedicated 20 amp lines but think they are just 20 amp 120 breakers think wire is 12g not sure if i can change breaker and outlet and be good. Working with a few great people from this site to help me get up and running and avoid destroying my home


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

For 20A 12 gauge is fine, unless you do very long runs. To convert the 120V line to 240V, you would need a double space in your breaker panel for a double pole breaker, and connect black and white to the lugs. The white should be marked "black" with electrical tape on both ends, since it is now "hot."

The IC3500 pulls 3500W at 240V, so 3500W / 240V = 14.6 Amps. You're well under 20.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Remember that whole forgiveness/permission thing?