Would four 1500w hot plates work?...

[DNelson]

Edit: The ones I mentioned below aren't functional. However, how about two 2600w elements, or any suitable external options?


If one was to place four 1500w hot plates under their boil kettle, would that be equivalent to having a 6000w element submerged? Minus any inevitable heat loss.

Just brainstorming.

These are cheap: Deleted, not practical.

 

[Jimbodaman]

It would work for blowing a fuse/ breaker tbh. They'd have to be on separate circuits which I doubt is practical. That's exactly why you cant just buy a 5500 W element that runs off 120v.

 

[DNelson]

It would work for blowing a fuse/ breaker tbh. They'd have to be on separate circuits which I doubt is practical. That's exactly why you cant just buy a 5500 W element that runs off 120v.

I just ran 240v 30A to my garage. Four of these would probably pull too many amps, but I still have two other breakers running 120 to the garage as well, so it could be made to work.

 

[DNelson]

I will most likely stick with my plan to install a heating element, but just contemplating alternatives.

 

[Jimbodaman]

Oh nice I too have 240 in the garage I love it. Most normal people certainly don't have or need 240 haha. In that case I really don't see why 4 hot plates wouldn't work.

 

[Jimbodaman]

That's what I get for assuming

 

[DNelson]

Oh nice I too have 240 in the garage I love it. Most normal people certainly don't have or need 240 haha. In that case I really don't see why 4 hot plates wouldn't work.

Yeah, I'm excited about the 240v. Already installed the element in the HLT, but I would love to be able to keep the element out of the kettle. My chiller wouldn't have to be 2" off the bottom, and I could throw a smaller pot on from time to time.

 

[crane]

I have a 1 gallon pilot system that uses a hot plate. The first time I used it I realized it had a thermal fuse that won't let you get it hot enough to boil. It would shut itself off before it got hot enough to a boil. I took it apart and removed the thermal fuse and now it doesn't shut off. You will most likely have to do the same with any hot plate you buy.

 

[DNelson]

I have a 1 gallon pilot system that uses a hot plate. The first time I used it I realized it had a thermal fuse that won't let you get it hot enough to boil. It would shut itself off before it got hot enough to a boil. I took it apart and removed the thermal fuse and now it doesn't shut off. You will most likely have to do the same with any hot plate you buy.

Huh, seems odd that it wouldn't even let you boil a gallon.

 

[DNelson]

These are pricey, but seem like they could be built into a rig. Would need two. Though I don't yet have a clue how these get wired up...

240v 2600W Hot plate element:

http://www.partstown.com/wells/wel2n-30293elul

 

[IslandLizard]

Those are only 1000W. So 4 gives you only 4000W on the outside. If your pot is that wide to cover all 4 plates, it maybe too big for 4000W.

There's a review that mentions the thermal fuse blowing when the unit gets too hot because of lack of space around it. 4 next to each other sounds like asking for trouble there.

How about induction to keep your heat source out of the kettle? I use an IC3500, which is great for 7-8 gallon boils, but a bit slow for 12-13. Using an additional heat stick or 2000W ULWD element can get you the extra oomph.

 

[DNelson]

Those are only 1000W. So 4 gives you only 4000W on the outside. If your pot is that wide to cover all 4 plates, it maybe too big for 4000W.

There's a review that mentions the thermal fuse blowing when the unit gets too hot because of lack of space around it. 4 next to each other sounds like asking for trouble there.

How about induction to keep your heat source out of the kettle? I use an IC3500, which is great for 7-8 gallon boils, but a bit slow for 12-13. Using an additional heat stick or 2000W ULWD element can get you the extra oomph.

Yeah, realized those wouldn't be practical. Posted a link to 2600w hot plate elements in my last post, but your induction burner looks promising.

Roughly how fast does it take 8 gallons from mash temp to a boil?

 

[IslandLizard]

These are pricey, but seem like they could be built into a rig. Would need two. Though I don't yet have a clue how these get wired up...

240v 2600W Hot plate element:

http://www.partstown.com/wells/wel2n-30293elul

$115? Yowsers! Sounds way overpriced.

 

[DNelson]

$115? Yowsers! Sounds way overpriced.

That's what I thought... but all the hot plate elements I've just found from doing a quick search seem to be just as pricey. It's crazy. Wouldn't cost much more to get a fully functional induction burner like yours.

 

[DNelson]

And yours puts out another 900w.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yeah, realized those wouldn't be practical. Posted a link to 2600w hot plate elements in my last post, but you induction burner looks promising.

Roughly how fast does it take 8 gallons from mash temp to a boil?

I start heating my first runnings at full power and keep adding the 2 (batch) sparges to it as they drain. By the time the last runnings hit the kettle, it's boiling. About 30-40 minutes I'd say, never really timed it.

I use 2 layers of bubble wrap around the kettle to curb some heat loss. I boil off about 5 quarts an hour with the box fan to the outside on.

 

[IslandLizard]

As long as your kettle is induction ready it's a great solution. Induction is fairly efficient. With that unit the actual heating area comes to about 6" diameter. I use an 8 gallon MoreBeer Heavy Duty, triple ply bottomed kettle.

With that setup, the similar 15 gallon kettle (for 13 gallon boils) works OK, but barely, and I keep the lid on half way. For those size brews the boil is still a bit slower than I'd like, but I don't do them that often. I'm looking at a supplementary source like a heat stick or element.

 

[DNelson]

I start heating my first runnings at full power and keep adding the 2 (batch) sparges to it as they drain. By the time the last runnings hit the kettle, it's boiling. About 30-40 minutes I'd say, never really timed it.

I use 2 layers of bubble wrap around the kettle to curb some heat loss. I boil off about 5 quarts an hour with the box fan to the outside on.

That sounds great. I plan on moving to 10 gallon batches but it looks like two of those burners would fit under my new kettle, and draw just under 30 amps.
I think I'll have to get one and stick with smaller batches until I can afford a second one. Thanks for pointing those out.

 

[DNelson]

Am I right in thinking that two induction burners would be plenty of power for 10 gallon batches? Or does induction work in a way that doubling up doesn't work like that?...

 

[IslandLizard]

That should work as long as your kettle is wide enough so the bottom amply overlaps the 2 heating zones, with some overhang to spare so you're not cranking 3500W into the very edge area, as that may cause trouble. The heat generated by induction is quite astonishing. With the IC3500 the heating zone is relatively small (6" diameter). That concentrated disc of heat then disperses throughout the bottom, and heats the wort. It's very efficient, and heats fast.

The first time I encountered induction heating was in a foundry. They had a huge glowing hot crucible cradled in a heating cavity. It left a very memorable impression what induction is capable of.

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

6000W on 120V is 50 amps. For comparison, the W/D unit in my apartment is on a 30 amp breaker. I know Home Depot stocks breakers that go that high; I've never had to buy one, so I've never looked closely at the available voltages.

That's just the rated power, too. Given that heating elements are often in coil form and thus will have some appreciable inductive character, you might have to worry about overloading the *main* breaker when switching on and off.

With 240, you just divide all the amp numbers in half. That's probably more feasible.

 

[DNelson]

That should work as long as your kettle is wide enough so the bottom amply overlaps the 2 heating zones, with some overhang to spare so you're not cranking 3500W into the very edge area, as that may cause trouble. The heat generated by induction is quite astonishing. With the IC3500 the heating zone is relatively small (6" diameter). That concentrated disc of heat then disperses throughout the bottom, and heats the wort. It's very efficient, and heats fast.

The first time I encountered induction heating was in a foundry. They had a huge glowing hot crucible cradled in a heating cavity. It left a very memorable impression what induction is capable of.

Does the MoreBeer kettle do a good job of dispersing the heat evenly with induction?
I have the same 15 gallon and just bought a 26 gallon Update International (same as the MoreBeer just no ports).

 

[IslandLizard]

No go! I just test fit that 15G triple-ply wide-ass MoreBeer kettle and it won't quite cover both heating zones if putting 2 units side by side. I'd be leery to generate all that heat on the edges. Maybe the 26 gallon would cover it?

The aluminum core in the tri-ply helps diffusing the heat, but for some reason I feel it also causes some loss of heating capacity and efficiency. Just a hunch, though, I yet have to measure the actual amps drawn from the mains; I don't have a meter that goes that high, but @100% capacity it should be around 14.5A for 3500W.

Even with the tri-ply I still get a 6" spot of grayish sticky (gluey) wort residue in the center, but no scorching. I do stir often, scraping that center bottom area with the long plastic spoon, now I know it tends to form. The 2 main threads on the IC3500 have tons of information.

I've been thinking of getting a 2nd IC3500 at some point...