Electric Brewery's

[Scott H]

We spoke about creating a discussion so people who have or people who are thinking about and/or building can share pic's info and pitfalls to avoid.

Just about finished building my bench and hopefully will have a chance to start wiring it up this weekend. Pics to follow shortly.

[Sam DT]

Has anyone used Rheem elements before? They seem to have quite nice SS ones which are a bit cheaper than the camco ones like this: http://www.amazon.com/Rheem-SP10869RL-Water-Heater-Element/dp/B009A...

Also... for the more electrically inclined

Should I go resistored or non resistored and...

I'm looking at a two element system with a 32 amp supply. Any thoughts on using two 3800W 240V elements? - Theoretically at 230V they should leave just under 2A headspace for a chugger, PID, SSR's etc. - is that cutting it too fine? Could always go for 2 x 3500W but keen to get as much juice in as possible. - For a 100L recirculating EBIAB rig.

[Steve Dorrington]

I know it's American but check out this site that does all electric brew systems incl eBIAB systems http://www.highgravitybrew.com/store/pc/Build-Your-Own-Electric-Bre... http://www.thescrewybrewer.com/2014/10/the-ultimate-electric-brew-i...

My system uses 2x 2.4kW Rheem elements in an electric recirc no sparge 2V system. So similar to eBIAB just without any lifting.  I sized it for 23L batches but have done 40L brews in it successfully.  It had plenty of reserve heating capacity even with the 40L batches.  Preboil was 55+L.   I wish I'd put in a 32A circuit instead of the 20A circuit I installed as I now run the pump on a different 10A circuit.  The difference in price between 4mm2 and 6mm2 is only a couple of $/m.  All the other costs labour connectors plugs etc is pretty much the same.  So if your elements are going to use up most of the circuit capacity go up a size.  I think the next step is 40A.  My RCD capacity is also 40A so I don't know why I didn't just go there at the beginning?     

cheers

[Scott H]

FWIW that Rheem at a glance appears to only be Low watt Denstity where as the camco ones claim to be Ultra low watt density. As for elements even using 2 3500w with pumps pods ect could end up close or slightly over the 32a depending on weather or not the element de rate slightly with supply voltage and manufacturing differences.
Maybe the better option if you going for 100L would be larger supply to allow you to go even bigger with the elements.

[Dave]

How did the electrician test it, did he plug it into your socket and measure the voltage? Some stoves are wired across 2 phases.

[Dave]

Just another thing, if they have issued a test tag for 3760, they must have verified the operation of the RCD function (ie. live and on - then tripped and off).  That is a requirement of the standard.  If they did then it must be something to do with your setup.  If they didn't then they should refund you for the test.

How many mA does the unit trip at? (should be printed on it)

[Scott H]

If it's an American style GFCI lead that's rated for 240v it may not work. In the U.S. The supply voltage going P-N is only 120v in order for them to get 230v they need 2 'hot' wires doing that here in New Zealand would get you 400v instead.

It does would like you oven is wired for single phase going by the sounds of the plug.

Only thing I would say is to take the lead and the panel back to the sparky/shop and tell them the issue.

This is going to sound dumb but did you make sure you had the oven switch on at the wall?

[mattd2]

The other "dumb" question I'll through out there is - have you reset the GFCI after you have plugged it in? Most corded GFCI trip if power is not applied to them, so you need to reset them everytime you plug it in.

[mattd2]

Hahaha, only mentioned it because I got caught out thinking my Bunnings GFCI cord was busted as it did the same thing. Don't know if it is a safety requirement for it to do that or just due to the way the GFCI works that means it needs power to stay on, but it is kind of a good safety feature just in case you forget to fill your kettle.

[Scott H]

If they did trip test it as they should have and it's only 120v then it will be fried now.

[Dougal]

Hi all,
I need some advice about whether to make an electric HLT for my 100L system (the other two vessels are gas). 

I've read this thread in its entirety, and just need some practical advice about the best course to take.
I prefer brewing at the crack of dawn (so the rest of the day isn't a write-off), and ideally I'd like to have an electric HLT that could heat up to strike temp on a timer so that I can mash in as soon as I get up. I'll be brewing batches up to 75L, and the strike water for a recent 60L batch was 58L.

The question is, would I need to upgrade my garage with 20AMP wiring etc. to be able to run the wattage required to heat that volume of water? I could just install a 2500W and allow that to heat the strike water slowly overnight, but won't that leave me unable to heat the sparge water in time for the end of the mash? Does anyone out there use a hybrid electric/gas method for strike/sparge, as this could conceivably get around the problem of re-wiring cheaply. What are the safety precautions for combining electric/gas heating in an HLT?

Any ideas are much appreciated. 

    

[IPeeAye]

repost from another thread... I was looking at Electric, but then I got my hands on a califont as an alternate option for heating mash and sparge water:

I'm currently using a 100L Mashtun and 100L HLT, and yes, the old gas ring chews through a few Kgs of LPG in the process.  Recently I got my hands on a 2nd hand LPG Califont - wow what a difference that makes. I can now pour straight from the califont into the MashTun at a constant 74C (or whatever temp required using a tap/thermometer combo = http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wort-chiller-Thermometer-and-control... ) and also do the sparge straight from the califont. This saves loads of time and loads of gas.  My brew day is now down to about 3.45 - 4hrs incl cleanup for a 70L brew.  Happy with that!  

Keep an eye on trademe for a califont! 

I'm currently using a 100L Mashtun and 100L HLT, and yes, the old gas ring chews through a few Kgs of LPG in the process.  Recently I got my hands on a 2nd hand LPG Califont - wow what a difference that makes. I can now pour straight from the califont into the MashTun at a constant 74C (or whatever temp required using a tap/thermometer combo = http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wort-chiller-Thermometer-and-control... ) and also do the sparge straight from the califont. This saves loads of time and loads of gas.  My brew day is now down to about 3.45 - 4hrs incl cleanup for a 70L brew.  Happy with that!  

Keep an eye on trademe for a califont! 

[Nathan]

Hey all, Just thought I'd share my journey into a VERY cheap single pump almost all electric brewery.

For the HLT I have a 1700W element controlled by a cheap PID

The HERMS is running through a 10L heat exchanger(HEX)with a 2400W element controlled by another decent PID, This is circulated via a cheap Chinese 12V solar water pump(2 brews in so far no issues), But I know it will let me down so a pump upgrade is coming.

The boil kettle has a 2400W element that just plugs into a socket I also use a two ring burner to get it to boil faster (under 15mins so far) once boiling I can turn the gas off and just run the element.

I reckon all up it prob owes me around 100 bucks on top of my old gravity non HERMS system.

Typical brew day now is as follows....

Fill HEX with water.

Fill mash tun with desired strike volume water, start the recirc then set PID to mash in temp.

Fill HLT with mash out volume and set temp on the PID.

Once mash in temp is reached set PID to desired mash temp then turn off PID and pump.

Mash in and turn pump and PID back on and let it recirc for an hour(super clear wort)

Turn mash PID off and pump wort into BK

Then pump from HLT into mash tun and raise mash  tun PID temp to 75deg to mash out....

Pump MT dry into BK

Start Boil etc etc etc