Brew Rig Options

[Cortez The Killer]

If that ain't top shelf brewers pr0n - I don't what is

Top work !

Cheers

 

[Hogan]

lol, your right , NOT MY JOB!

 

[Yorg]

Yorg,
seeing there is a fair bit of interest around this pump I would be happy to post more info on it including all the CAD drawings I used to cut it out on my CNC.
As for flow rate I will have to do some testing and get back to you.
Hi Simon W,
My clearance was about .5mm tighter than double the wall thickness, the main problem with these pumps is you need alot of power to drive them. Parralleling the tube would be a must if you are only using 8mm, I would suggest using the thickest tube you can get, keeps things simple.

Cheers,

PS, Had a thought today, It's really hard to work on a brewery when you have a huge hang-over!! Its just a giant shiny hang-over machine!

That would be great!

 

[Simon W]

CCD or photodiode linear array as the sensor, but was getting too complicated(and expensive). Yeap me too ! wat tha !!

Heh sorry, it's basically the same as the sensor in a digital camera, except that its just a single line of pixels. They're used in a few things, but flatbed scanners would probably be the most common.

Hi Simon W,
My clearance was about .5mm tighter than double the wall thickness, the main problem with these pumps is you need alot of power to drive them. Parralleling the tube would be a must if you are only using 8mm, I would suggest using the thickest tube you can get, keeps things simple.

Cheers, figured there would be a little 'squish' but wondered about fatigue so wasn't sure.
Torque shouldn't be a problem, was gonna overpower anyway so I can get high pressures(for another project).
Changed my mind with the 8mm(actually 8.5) tubing, was just some stuff I had laying around but it only has 50% the flow of the 12mm stuff so will be going shopping.

 

[Jono_w]

Bit of an update, not a whole lot been happening. Done a few brews on the "old" system. Finally got my Pneumatic actuators from canada today. only took 10 weeks.



"Your Best Offer price of US $120.00 (8 x US $15.00) was accepted - you are the winner! " I'm a winner alright....

Just have to make a shaft between the actuator and valve and a mount.
The ball valves are from mashmaster

Well back to it I guess...

 

[beernography]

That thing's top shelf Jonathon. Inspiring to see such creativity and dedication!

 

[Jono_w]

That thing's top shelf Jonathon. Inspiring to see such creativity and dedication!

Cheers mate,
I hope to get stuck into it and finish it off very soon, my brother is getting married so I have been flat stick brewing on the old setup. And now I had to clear it all out of the shed because the wedding is in the shed.. Ahh..

 

[Jono_w]

Hey Brewers,

Heres an update of the rig.
The mash tun is now tilting with the push of a button thanks to a 24v linear actuator, same ones are used on satellite dishes.
Today i welded the two element mounting flanges to the kettle. There is one 4.8kw already in one more to come.

Kettle Elements:

Kettle:

Kettle Inside:

Mash Tun:

Mash Tun Tilted:

Mash Tun Hinge / Actuator Mount:

Cheerz...

 

[brettprevans]

I think /I just b lew my load. Damn thts nice Jono. Dont suppose your in Eastern suburbs in Vic and want to come set my rig up?!!! seriously nice work.

 

[Jono_w]

I think /I just b lew my load. Damn thts nice Jono. Dont suppose your in Eastern suburbs in Vic and want to come set my rig up?!!! seriously nice work.

:lol: cheers mate.. I'm down in Portland, I don't get to Melbourne very often but if I do ill look you up.. :beerbang:

 

[schooey]

Dude.. you won lotto didn't you?

 

[Jono_w]

Dude.. you won lotto didn't you?

Nope I wish, just right place at the right time. All of the blank stainless tanks, 7 in total, cost me $40 each at a machinery auction, Other stainless is offcuts from a friend sheet metal worker.

 

[reg]

Nope I wish, just right place at the right time. All of the blank stainless tanks, 7 in total, cost me $40 each at a machinery auction, Other stainless is offcuts from a friend sheet metal worker.

Got any of the stainless tanks left you want get rid off. :icon_drool2: s:
I go to portland from time to time and would be happy to buy a couple of you :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Jono_w]

Got any of the stainless tanks left you want get rid off. :icon_drool2: s:
I go to portland from time to time and would be happy to buy a couple of you :icon_chickcheers:

No spares sorry Reg, i'm using the rest for fermenters if I can find someone to spin or roll the cones for them..

 

[Jono_w]

Evening all.

Received two march pumps last week thanks SpecialK, so now I'm slowly sorting out the plumbing. Heres a new rendering of what I'm up to. What you see is pretty much as much as I have built, the smallest vessel is the new Herms heat exchanger.. Real pics soon to come.
View attachment NewFf.bmp

 

[Zwickel]

Jonathan, much to my regret I didnt had the time to come over to Portland last holiday.

Your setup is absolutely great/amazing....Im gobsmacked

 

[Jono_w]

Jonathan, much to my regret I didnt had the time to come over to Portland last holiday.

Your setup is absolutely great/amazing....Im gobsmacked

Thanks Zwickel,
Next time you visit Aus, We may even catch up soon, as discussed a while ago. I have just been granted my 6 months long service leave from work :beerbang: , Heading over your way in July traveling around europe and ending up at Oktoberfest.. :beer:

 

[Jono_w]

Here's a a few pics of the plumbing setup, its a bit of a nightmare, but im getting there..
Two march pumps and eight pneumatic actuated ball valves.





Im still debating whether to use a "plate heat exchanger" external to the HERMS with a pump recirculating hot water from the HERMS tank or a stainless coil in the HERMS tank, doing away with another pump. Anyone know how long and what diameter Stainless HERMS coil would be needed for 120L mashtun? The HERMS tank is 50L with 3.6kw element

Cheers

 

[kirem]

The main problem with a plate heat exchanger will be the amount of solids from the mash tun fouling up the plates. I think a coil will work best. I know a HERMS works very well on a small scale, but a large scale is something else.

I worked on a coil length calculation a while back.

I wanted to work out what volume I could remove from the mash and prevent compacting the mash bed. I brewed without the heat exchanger finished. The smallest batch I wanted to do was about 20L, so I put 4kg of grain in with 10L of water in the mash tun and recirculated. After about 5mins I started removing 500mL lots from the recirculation and waited for signs of the mash bed to compact and the pump started to struggle. I then knew how much thin part I could remove from the mash before I had problems and used this value as the volume of the coil and the extra hoses in the recirculation path.

Changing the velocity of wort flow in the recirculation and obviously water:grain ratio will change the amount you can remove from the mash as well.

When I did this I used a 45L vessel as my heat-exchanger (this has changed now). I can't remember the length of the copper coil and if you really want to know I can dig it out and measure it. I did not have trouble with the heat-exchanger's ability to maintain and change the mash temp using the coil volume I worked out

I wrapped it around a corney keg and this was a pretty good fit for inside a 45L vessel

If you do this as well, I think you will be in the ball park for an optimum coil size.

Good luck

 

[Jono_w]

Kirem ,
Thats a good point, I had not thought of the volume of the coil affecting the smallest batch size.
I have made a 10mm stainless coil around 5 meters long. I guess its worth a try.. If I was to calculate the surface area of the coil, I wounder if there is a calculation I could used to compare its heat transfere capabilities compared to a plate heat exchanger?