Brew Rig Design

[dent]

If wiring passes through, or is near, any metal, that metal should be earthed.

If in doubt, earth it.

 

[cdbrown]

Switches are rated 16A DPDT from Jaycar. Was so stocked when I switched on the mains and they all worked, crapped myself when showing SWMBO and the HLT didn't come on, thankfully it just wasn't plugged into the wall properly.

Make sure they are rated properly or use a contactor to do the switching for you. Schooey is the bloke you want to talk to about wiring when using contactors.

Yep - it will double as storage. It's not the strongest of shelves around so won't be putting the grain sacks on there. Mounting with the shaft inwards meant I didn't have to come up with some way to physically mount the drill.

Hope it will only be a few more days and it might turn into a brew thread!

The HLT PID is very easy to use, just press up or down to change the target temp so could easily be used on the HERMS if you didn't want a pre-programmed step mash. One thing about the ramp/soak PID I'm unclear about, if you tell it to ramp from 50 to 66 and give it say 10mins, and then hold the mash for 60 mins at 66, if the temp hasn't reached 66 at 10mins does it start step 2 or does it have to reach 66 in order to start step 2?

edit - Yes I will run an earth to the box, all element enclosures are earthed already, will look at earthing the frame as well

 

[cdbrown]

I added the earth to the control box and tested the HERMS PID. Going to take a little getting used to it's operation and properly setting the program, but it works and was keeping the water in the pot at the right temp or increasing it as needed. Need to run an auto tune on it when I do a 20L water batch tonight.

Need to do a little remedial work on the burner support to make it move easier on the guide, but shouldn't take long to file it out. Got sucked into watching Cousins last night so not much got done apart from finishing off the mash return, mount the pump and water filter, put in the silicone tubing and then insulate the MLT. Unfortunately didn't have enough mat left over for the HLT, will use some of the left over for the HERMS.

Tonight I'll run PBW through the system which will be a nice test to see if everything works and that I can prime the pump correctly. Maybe I'll get to brew tomorrow.

 

[cdbrown]

Due to 97 train drivers deciding to call in sick on Friday I didn't get to break in the rig as planned, but never fear today I brewed a German Pilsner with 4.9kg grain, mashed for 90mins at 64c, ramped for mash out, sparged and boiled. Managed to get the cube exactly filled so was chuffed to get the exact amount at the end. Worked pretty well for the most part, mash return was a tad slow which was probably due to the milling gap and using a drill. The 3-ring burner with adjustable MP reg really pumps out some heat, was boiling in no time. So quick even compared to boiling half the amount using a standard reg. Slightly better SG pre-boil than I thought, will see what the OG is once it's cooled and ready to ferment.

Currently 35 mins through a 60min mash for a dunkel. Increased the gap one notch and the flow seems to be better. PID doing a great job keeping the temp right.

 

[cdbrown]

Finished the weekend with a cube of pils, dunkel and 2 cubes of oktoberfest. Next brews I'm going to put the hydro into the keggle before and after the boil to get proper measurement. Need to look at something a bit more permanent for the mill - the metal frame it's on is a bit too flexible so lots of vibration. Can't really fill the hopped as I'd like as the drill can't handle it unless it's on the highest speed. Is the high speed good for the mash - does it produce too much powder?

 

[raven19]

I have a MM2 (on factory gap setting) and currently use a cordless drill. It breaks up the grain a bit but still get around 70 - 75% efficiency.

Too fast on the mill, and you are liable to just smash the grains rather than cracking/crushing them.

If I used my mains powered drill I suspect it would destroy the grain totally and leave me with a lot of flour in the MT.

 

[cdbrown]

Here's some pics of a recent brew. I'm starting to get the efficiency up to 65% for the doubles which I'm very happy with. Adding an adjustable feeder on the mill hopper, having the drill on the slowest speed, spraying the grain with warm water before milling, ensuring the mash return has the hot water in there before taking note of the mash water, increasing liquor/grain ratio, stiring mash often, very slow drain of mash and sparge to keggle.
the rig

double batch mash - I have to use the wood and clamp to hold the mash return in place, will be changing it to add some more copper line which will be self supporting

just before the boil over - the pavers get a rinse after the brew so no sticky residue is left

 

[Dan Pratt]

Here's some pics of a recent brew. I'm starting to get the efficiency up to 65% for the doubles which I'm very happy with. Adding an adjustable feeder on the mill hopper, having the drill on the slowest speed, spraying the grain with warm water before milling, ensuring the mash return has the hot water in there before taking note of the mash water, increasing liquor/grain ratio, stiring mash often, very slow drain of mash and sparge to keggle.
the rig

double batch mash - I have to use the wood and clamp to hold the mash return in place, will be changing it to add some more copper line which will be self supporting

just before the boil over - the pavers get a rinse after the brew so no sticky residue is left

Nice 3v! What is the final cost for the setup? Thinking of upgrading and doing some price/time comparisons.

 

[gava]

Im no sparky but aren't you suppose to ground to the case and also have a ground to the door also?

Some pics for those that are playing at home.

Filled the HLT last night, hung the probe into water, hooked up the power cable to the element and flicked the switch and amazingly it worked. However not without a hitch. The HLT PID was returning an error which I'd seen before when the probe is wired up wrong. After lots of checking, turning on the HERMS PID and seeing that it was measuring the temp I swapped out the probes and found the longer probe wasn't working properly. Got the HLT heating underway and managed to go from 16C up to 90ish in 90mins with about 45L odd in the keg which is about what I thought it would. Will wrap it in insulation which will help as I'm sure the 13c ambient temp was trying it's best to remove some of the heat generated.

Now the longer probe which wasn't working - I managed to pull the end cap off to discover two out of the three wires had broken away from the solder. Stripped, cleaned and resoldered Added some heat shrink and put it back together to get a working probe again. Tonight will test the HERMS coil for leaks (although I'm fairly confident there isn't any now), test the HERMS PID and element (and understand how to program the ramp/soak), make up the mash return manifold, wrap some insulation around the kegs and cut the silicone hose to length (I'm thinking I probably don't have enough). Brewing is definitely getting closer.....