Econwatson is Back With a New Rig

[Econwatson]

Hello everybody,

Some of you may have noticed I have been absent on the forums these past few months, most of you probably have not,

I had a disaster with my Crown Urn way back in November. I considered whether I should replace the element or go for a new system. Since I started brewing over a year ago now I have always tried to do something different so the only choice was to build a new brewery.

QLDKev, kindly recommended his 1V system with RIMS: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/68324-qldkevs-new-biab-with-internal-rims/. I pestered him for some extra details on PM and he kindly assisted. I have taken some of his advice on board, and here is my machine.

I did not build the main vessel. That was done for me by a guy over in the UK called Mr Lard. He builds custom work for people like me at a very reasonable price. I paid £175 including postage for the 50L vessel with element and heavy duty valves. As per Kev's suggestion and in spite of how cool it looks, I did away with the bottom return for the RIMS. Kev believed that with a low enough density element you can do away with the lower return so I did. There is nothing stopping me adding one later. The element is LWD 3KW.

The malt pipe was entirely me however. It wasn't really very difficult but I am quite proud of it nonetheless. The legs are just bolts so I can adjust the height of the malt pipe should I ever desire to do such a thing. The slits were cut with a 1mm cutting wheel on a 45mm grinder and buffed with emery paper. I made sure to use new cutting discs etc to ensure there will be no corrosion.

I am yet to buy a pump for the system yet. Probably just going to try without RIMS before I go for one and make sure the slits in the malt pipe work correctly and there is no leaking of the malt.

Hopefully going to brew with it next weekend. I will make warra48's IPA since that's the brew which I destroyed my urn on and I don't like to be defeated.

Thanks to QLDKev for the great build, and for helping me out with it, and thanks to all the brewers on here who have made me so much better at brewing. Looking forward to being more involved in the community again, even if I am in the UK.

James

 

[thedragon]

Nice looking set up James. It'll be good to hear how it goes on its maiden brew.

 

[pk.sax]

Hey mate, that is looking very good and ss, at a look though, are those bolts gal steel? Might not be so great in the mash etc with the acidity and the cleaners. Consider swapping for ss bolts the right size if you can find some. At the boat shop for sure but can be exxy.

 

[Econwatson]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

They are galvanised bolts indeed. I will maybe try and get some M10 bolts off ebay, would look cooler as well!

I did a dry run with the rig yesterday and the wiring on the element started smoking. No damage thankfully. Took a look at the element wiring and think I had a bad connection on the neutral wire. Going to fit ring terminals to get a better connection to the screws!

 

[lukiferj]

Looks great man. So until you sort out the RIMS essesntial a BIAB (or BIAmaltpipe) type deal? Keen to see how it goes.

I promise I will not mention the cricket...

 

[angus_grant]

Just to throw in a perhaps unneeded comment (and I'm sure if you asked kev about it he would have told you as well) make sure your wiring is the correct gauge (thickness) to handle 3kw. The standard house wiring in Aus would not be rated, but no idea about the UK obviously.

 

[Econwatson]

Thanks Angus. Was wondering if that was the cause of my meltdown earlier. Fuse is 13 Amp, but didn't blow before the cable started to melt so I think you may be right.

Lukiferj, I think a pump will be ordered soon. Funds were a little tight after Christmas so hopefully will be using one by the second brew. I see a lot of brewers are using the Kalaxin MP-15? Was there a bulk buy of them? I struggle to find them over here.

Regarding Cricket, I'm Scottish, so any defeat for England is a victory for Scotland.

 

[lukiferj]

Awesome man. Good to hear and good to see you back. Keep us posted on the build.

 

[angus_grant]

Och aye the new!!!!! (Excuse my spelling)

Well 3000w element using 240v would be 13amps-ish. The GPOs (power points) in Aus are 10amp std so are normally viewed as the weak point in the electrical system.

But I think given that we are mashing for 60-90 mins and then boiling for 60-90 mins the wiring should be a little over-engineered.

Amps = element watts / voltage so use that formula to work out how many amps you are drawing. You will need to make sure your house wiring will handle the amp draw, circuit breakers, your custom wiring.

Smoke equals bad.