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how do you do up the cam locks or undo them when full of liquid ?

or do you use some method to hold it down from the top ?


i liked the twist lock idea someone had recently but three would not work

maybe a big one direct into a diffuser in the bottom of the MP ?

i dont have a BM so got NFI really....
 
Pretty sure the weight of the full MP holds the camlocks fairly tight from what I've read. Cut the arms off the female camlocks for the kettle and the male camlocks on the base of the MP and they just sit in each other and form a pretty good seal without 'locking' them in place.

I think it was around page 10 or so that someone first bought up the idea of using camlocks. Not sure of the exact post number unfortunately..
 
ok

i would have thought back pressure may have lifted it of the cam's but there you go.

take pics whatever you do :)

i got plans for one but just waiting waiting...
 
Has anyone thought about instead of having a tie bar welded at the bottom, (in your case Sponge bottom of the MP) if toggle catches were used to secure a round tube or a piece of flat bar across the top of the main pot and a short length of all thread being secured to the centre of the bar or tube it would eliminate any welding for those without access to a tig welder.
 
Maheel, have a look at this guy's BM build. Shows the male camlock in the second post and towards the bottom describes how he assumed he'd have issues, but didn't end up having a problem.

WEAL, I was actually thinking about that today since I have both QDs and camlocks at home and thought a QD might be a better option. I was thinking of some options of a pull string or similar coming through the bar at the top. It almost sounded like too much effort considering as though camlocks seem to work anyway..
 
Sponge I'd think two elements @ 3600w would probably get you there.

MB
 
Cheers MB. Makes things much simpler not having to have the element exposed under the FB.

Do you know if a chugger (I think similar specs to a march) has the capacity for those batch sizes? The 200L BMs seem to have a decent pump on them..
 
Note my above comment assumes some insulation, and possibly a dome lid. 130L odd batches a chugger might get you there but adding a second pump and plumbing would be simple if you found it wasn't enough. I'd check around the commercial kitchen places for an ss bowl the diameter of that 170L. Still to do this for mine.

MB

ED: Note Lael was using a 2400w OTS to boost the boil and increase ramp times and I think he said his largest batch was 80L with 4800w
 
Thanks for that info. I've got a 2400W OTS on hand which I'll have for backup nonetheless. Sounds like 2 x 5.5kW should get me there nicely though.

I'll be insulating the kettle and I'll be using a lid (pretty sure the 100L and 170L lids will both be usable) during the mash but I may have to make up a domed lid at a later stage for the boil. Pretty sure 13kW (incl. OTS element) of power and some insulation should suffice though.

I'll see how it goes with a single pump, but as you say it would be pretty easy to add on another one if need be. I have both a KK and chugger pump at home so will be able to use them both if need be.
 
You'll need room in the backyard for one of these sponge

image.jpg
 
:). So, if you go ahead sponge, I might be asking to have a look at your setup mate. No plans for a monster, but a smaller version that could be made up out of existing vessels ( like you're doing ) could be tempting. I'm hopeless with drawings and plans, but if I see it first hand the light bulb goes on and the brain starts spinning ( insert image of very old car being cranked over and smoke billowing out of the exhaust ).
 
One of those, or a sneaky tap in to a neighbour's connection.

:ph34r:

But don't do that.. I'm still in the process of getting our builder to confirm that his sparky is happy to connect 3phase/63A for our new place. Shouldn't be too much of an issue.. worst case is that we only get single phase/100A and when I'm brewing, that particular phase will be getting pounded like yesterday's beef. 3Ph would be ideal though, and have the 2 x 5.5kW on a phase each with my 2.4kW OTS and 2.2kW HLT (for sparging) on the third phase.

You can definitely see the setup once it's finished Mark. I'm still just finalising it all in my head (and on paper) and am happy to say that I really only need a couple more SS fittings (elbows, cross, union fittings, etc) and the brew stand for it all, which I'll be getting a mate to weld up for me (unless you decide to put your hand up ;) ). I'm looking at an electric hoist on some rollers/tracks (all built into the frame) to lift the MP out and be able to roll it along the tracks and drop it down next to the kettle and be able to easily tip the spent grain into a bag for the bin.

I'm not worrying about an IC for the kettle as I will continue to cube my brews, hop differently in the cubes and still give me some variety of brews from the same brew day. I've also been thinking of ways to say fill one cube with a mild-esque base, then boiling further for bigger beers or even cold steeping roast malts and adding to a 'second' boil to be able to get completely different beers from the same brew day. I just wasn't sure what effects adding finings & whirlpooling, then re-boiling and repeating, would have on the finished wort. This is getting off topic though..

I will have a 2-way valve coming off the outlet of the pump - 1 for the MP and 1 for the whirlpool - and have the WP return coming up through the base and forced around the side of the kettle through a pickup tube. I was hoping to do it this way to eliminate the issue of having a WP return located close to the top of the kettle and cause heaps of splashing if only doing a small batch. Hopefully having it come up through the base and out a pickup tube will suffice and cause a decent WP on a big batch..

EDIT: Added whirlpool info.
 
Are you building? My welding is functional, but, well, not pretty :). A guy at work is quite a good welder and likes the practice, so I get him to do most of mine now :).

Electric hoist is a great idea, and in general sounds like a very flexible setup mate, I'm cheering from the sidelines!
 
I was going to design/sketch a little something up and give it to my mate so that he could run his eyes over it and see how plausible it would be to manufacture and modify accordingly. It will end up being a pretty simple frame though (apart from the rollers for the hoist) and will really just be made of three sections, along with a mounting plate for the control panel.

One section will be for where the hoist can be moved to/from to clean out the malt pipe, the middle section where the 'BM' will be, and the remaining section for a HLT (50L keg) for sparging. Granted, it'll take up a little more space than a regular BM setup, but will allow me to easily sparge (with a pump from the HLT to the top of the 'hoisted' malt pipe) and make it a whole lot easier to lift and clean the MP.

The pots I have aren't crazy thick either so should be easy enough for me to do all of the work on the pots myself. I was originally thinking of getting my mate to weld all of the fittings on, but I always get concerned that I'll want to tweak something and won't easily be able to if they're welded, especially if I run into any issues when I eventually have it up and running. I'll just have to make sure I give it a real thorough cleaning every so often..
 
Hi guys. I am looking for a system which could produce 10L from lets say 5kg grain. What would the ideal size of kettle and mash tun be?

What about a 21L(Ø32cm) mash tun, and a 40L kettle (Ø40cm) ?

And what about the pump for this system, what would the required liter per minute be?

I guess 2400W would be sufficient for boil, so I can run this on a 10A circuit.
 
Hi guys. I am looking for a system which could produce 10L from lets say 5kg grain. What would the ideal size of kettle and mash tun be?

What about a 21L(Ø32cm) mash tun, and a 40L kettle (Ø40cm) ?

And what about the pump for this system, what would the required liter per minute be?

I guess 2400W would be sufficient for boil, so I can run this on a 10A circuit.
My brewing software tells me you would end up with a starting gravity of 1.119 with 5KG of grain and 10 litres of water.
 

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