Home of the BrewNosers

So, I'm finally joining the cool kids, in the process of collecting parts (aka.. spending money $$) and putting some design thought into an electric (indoor) 10 gallon system using the hybrid BIAB technique (cooler with a BIAB bag). Had a big day today towards getting the parts I need, with a ~$300 OBK order (also had $200 worth of Perlicks on top of that but that doesn't count.. though I'm joining the cool kids with Perlicks too! ) that I picked up at Canada Post. I also scored a ~ 100L cooler off Kijiji for $38 (odd asking price.. whatever, ha).



I also stocked up on some grain the weekend. Local homebrew store (run by a homebrewer / Yeast Wrangler) was selling sacks of 2 row for $40, can't go wrong there. Got 5 (2 for Sleepyjamie)

Getting there!

So now I need to design the electronics and start building. Here is my plan for the 'process', comments/suggestions/criticism welcome:

- heat mash water directly in cooler with 1500W hot water heater element (installed into side of cooler using nut/gasket from OBK). This will be controlled by a PID / relay arrangement. A full volume double batch will take a LONG time to get to mash temp but for now I just intend on planning ahead for each brew day and starting this heating up early (scenario is start in morning, go home and mash in at lunch, drain after work).
- gravity drain to 19 gallon OBK pot w/ 5500W (yet to purchase) ultra high density element installed. This will be controlled with cheapy ebay 10000W SCR controller (see in picture, this arrived today too!).
- chill with immersion chiller
- gravity drain to two buckets

So the design for the 1500W PID 'control box' will be fairly similar to the typical, but basic with no 'emergency shut offs'.. pump circuits or anything like that. Just a 'power to element' light and an on/off switch. I think I have this one more or less under control but will post up a diagram when I create one. Should I install GFCI in my control box, or swap out the wall socket where I will be plugging it in for one?

The 240V 5500W element control will be using the SCR controller. I'm not all that sure on how to wire this one up. I will be using a GFCI from X (inline cord deal.. assuming it is 3 wire, 2 hot and a ground). I will be wiring up to 4 prong dryer plug. I'm tempted at this point to just ignore the neutral wire in the plug (leave open) and just use 2 hot and ground all the way through. I won't be using any 120V off this circuit so should be ok there? I'm also going to go with 10/3 cable, that sound ok?

So I need to track down some parts:

- cases for each controller (thinking small toolboxes from somewhere.. dollar store maybe, or Princess Auto)
- 120V wiring, just going to use old computer power cables / extension cords, think I'm ok here
- 240V 10/3 cable... need to track some of this down. Thinking I'm going to need 10 feet of this stuff to take into account where my plug is vs where the pot will be
- plugs!
- I can handle the 120V plugs (anywhere).
- Where do I find a 240V 4 prong dryer plug that I can add the wire to myself?
- 240V switch for SCR controller box.. is this needed? This would have to carry full current so would need to be beefy. Or should I be using something else here (if it is needed at all..)

I"ll be in Halifax and PEI in a couple weeks, so if anybody has any of the above they want to contribute/sell to the project, I'm all for it. Otherwise I'll have to find some suppliers out here when I get back.

For those still reading.. please feel free to comment/respond to any questions I've hidden in the above post, ha.

Oh, I also need a 1/2" dip tube for the pot. Just going to locate this a bit off the bottom and suck up some/all the trub (doesnt' bother me a whole lot.. may go with a hop stopper eventually but dip tube is a good start).

TimG wrote:Oh, I also need a 1/2" dip tube for the pot. Just going to locate this a bit off the bottom and suck up some/all the trub (doesnt' bother me a whole lot.. may go with a hop stopper eventually but dip tube is a good start).

A street elbow with a hose barb is a decent, relatively cheap solution for that. That's what I did for my HLT.


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pa might have the dryer plugs. aren't they pinned the same as welders?

jeffsmith wrote:

TimG wrote:Oh, I also need a 1/2" dip tube for the pot. Just going to locate this a bit off the bottom and suck up some/all the trub (doesnt' bother me a whole lot.. may go with a hop stopper eventually but dip tube is a good start).

A street elbow with a hose barb is a decent, relatively cheap solution for that. That's what I did for my HLT.


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I wasn't going to use anything in my cooler except the 'weldless' valve.. not worry about getting the last drop.

I'd like a proper dip tube in my pot.. bent 1/2" stainless tube. Thinking I could rotate it 'up' before filling and then as the level drops filling the buckets I could use a 'sanitized instrument' (some sort of hook or something) to push and rotate it down to pull off the wort and leave 'some' of the trub. It's a thought.

Another option for a 4 prong 240v plug is a generator plug... Plentiful and often cheaper.

Sent from the brew timer.

TimG wrote:

jeffsmith wrote:

TimG wrote: I'd like a proper dip tube in my pot.. bent 1/2" stainless tube. Thinking I could rotate it 'up' before filling and then as the level drops filling the buckets I could use a 'sanitized instrument' (some sort of hook or something) to push and rotate it down to pull off the wort and leave 'some' of the trub. It's a thought.

I wait till I start sucking air and tilt the pot.

Sandy

Instead of the 240v switch I went with a simple 120v switch and one of these: http://canada.newark.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... reId=10196" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can't say how well it works as I haven't had any time to assemble anything yet.

Thats RubberToe, I'll keep an eye out for those. I'm half thinking of just getting a 5' long dryer cord to run to the control box, and then some additional 10/3 cable to run over to the kettle. Realize I need a male/female 240V 30A plug at the kettle as well so I can unhook it for cleaning/moving/etc.

So where have folks found their ULWD elements? I had assumed I could get one on Amazon.ca like my 120V.. no luck. Seems some folks on another forum have success with this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-02963-Screw ... y_hi_img_y" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like what I`m using. I have 4 of them and haven`t had a problem with them yet. They are a cunt to clean though. Once I reposition mine it will be easy to caustic clean them.

I got my camco from the US, same as in the pic, and they are a bastard to clean.

HPhunter wrote:Looks like what I`m using. I have 4 of them and haven`t had a problem with them yet. They are a cunt to clean though. Once I reposition mine it will be easy to caustic clean them.

HP, where did you get yours?

Looks like I can get it direct from Amazon for about $10 shipping which isn't too bad. So ~$37 for one element.

Tim