Dedicated Herms Guide, Problems And Solution Thread

[schooey]

Maybe a little OTT on the home brewing scale... BUT.. Best practice is to mount a temp probe in the turbulent flow of the medium, not in a dead head area. The turbulent stream will give you the most consistent and accurate temperature reading of the medium at the point which you are measuring. In a dead head, some liquid will be trapped, and will not reflect the same temperature as that of the turbulent flow.

 

[raven19]

I concur Schooey, the probes in my unit are 100mm long, hence project into the turbulent zone no problems.

 

[Screwtop]

I concur Schooey, the probes in my unit are 100mm long, hence project into the turbulent zone no problems.

+1

Like this:



Screwy

 

[bonj]

You're a true artist, Screwy!

 

[raven19]

You're a true artist, Screwy!

Worthy of Websters! :icon_cheers:

 

[beerbrewer76543]

Here is my latest sketch of my planned HERMS

The plumbing is set up so I have a row of valves that I can easily label to make mishaps with valve events less likely, I know this will increase the deadspace in the system but with the HERMS recirculating the temps shouldn't be affected much. The wobbly lines are silicon and the straight lines are copper tube. The "T" is the thermocouple probe. The HLT will have a 2kW element as will the heat exchanger. Both will have thermocouples of their own with a relay ensuring only one is on at a time, preference to the herms unit.

Any comments?

Cheers

 

[cdbrown]

Is that gravity feed from HLT to MLT? Thought about underletting to the kettle - save on some copper and silicone?

 

[beerbrewer76543]

Yeah I'm going to gravity feed from the HLT to the MLT to avoid one pumping operation

I thought there may be another reason but can't remember... :unsure:

 

[unrealeous]

Yeah I'm going to gravity feed from the HLT to the MLT to avoid one pumping operation

This seems to be a preference amongst AHB members, but I would have thought a gravity feed between the MLT and the boiler would be better option, since draining the MLT can take a lot of time - and also you don't have to watch the final draining to make sure your pump doesn't run dry.

 

[cdbrown]

unreal - main reason is that you have to pump from the false bottom through the herms for recirc, so when recirc is done you might as well pump to the kettle from the falsey.

 

[Screwtop]

This seems to be a preference amongst AHB members, but I would have thought a gravity feed between the MLT and the boiler would be better option, since draining the MLT can take a lot of time - and also you don't have to watch the final draining to make sure your pump doesn't run dry.

+1 again, sorry no artwork this time

Floatswitch in HLT to shut off AC to the Relay controlling the HLT element and the pump, no running dry!

You're a true artist, Screwy!

Put a lot of effort into that last one too, at least 2 minutes :lol:

Some credit must go to Schooey for the original :lol:

unreal - main reason is that you have to pump from the false bottom through the herms for recirc, so when recirc is done you might as well pump to the kettle from the falsey.

Why? Gravity from MLT to kettle, while pumping from HLT to MLT via the HE for temp control for continuous sparge with pump output throttled back to match HLT outflow. HE Coil is all flushed and cleaned at the end of sparge too, bonus! One pump, simple and easy, great efficiency, browse AHB while brewing.

Screwy

 

[gava]

Do people also use the HE to pump from the MLT to the kettle to bring it up in temp so the boil will start quicker? if so would you have to pump some water and the end to get the rest of the wort out of the HE? or do you just account for that loss?

 

[cdbrown]

I'm not planning on pumping through the HE to the kettle, once the wort hits the kettle I'll be starting up the burner. The loses due to liquid in the HE could be around 0.5L in the HE regardless if you pump to the kettle or just in mash recirc.

 

[cdbrown]

Quick question - I found an old kettle in one of the moving boxes. It's one of those that sits on a base with the electrical connection to the kettle a raised cylinder in the middle like this

. Is this the type of kettle easy to butcher for the HE or are the ones that have the power plug directly into the kettle the best?

Cheers
-cdbrown

 

[NickB]

Depends on how these are wired up, but I would imagine the element would be the same, but that's just a guess. Only one way to find out!

I went with the cheapy BigW Kettles @ $7.98 for mine, and grabbed a couple, because you seriously can't buy an element for that price!

Cheers

 

[jakub76]

I'm considering a design that incorporates the heat exchange in the HLT as opposed to an external unit. I also figured I could prepare some ice and use this HLT heat exchange to cool also.

Does anyone have any experience with a similar system?

 

[cdbrown]

jakub - there's quite a few people that do this. Take a look through all the examples in the thread.

I prefer having it seperate just because from all accounts it's quicker to ramp up the mash temp in a smaller vessel than a larger one, your sparge water can be ready at the right temp rather than trying to quickly heat it at the end of the mash.

 

[cdbrown]

Question regarding the installation of the element in the base of the pot - do I cut a 48mm hole which is the size of the plate and is the same hole size in the kettle? Is that how others have done it with the cheap big w kettle?

And have people used a weldless fitting for the big element on the side of the keg or should I bite the bullet and weld a socket onto the keg wall? When using sockets do you cut a hole to match the internal diameter or external diameter of the socket?

 

[NickB]

Re: the kettle element - I use the exact same element in my HLT, and I just cut the hole the same size as the kettle. The silicone o-ring fits perfectly, and I get a watertight seal no problems at all. The three screws on the element itself will seal on both the inside and outside of the pot, assuming your wall thickness isn't too thick. If you can get the silicone o-ring sitting in the hole OK, you'll be fine.

Cheers

 

[malbur]

Question regarding the installation of the element in the base of the pot - do I cut a 48mm hole which is the size of the plate and is the same hole size in the kettle? Is that how others have done it with the cheap big w kettle?

Yep same size as kettle, the only thing i had to do was make up a plastic washer because the BigW pot is thinner than the plastic kettle, no leaks all good.

Malbur.