Electric 70l Kettle

[lukasfab]

getting a 70l s/s pot for my kettle and probably wanting to go electric

what element/s would i need to boil double batches (20l batch size) so about 55l pre boil??

would look at getting a dedicated circuit with higher amps

cheers

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

getting a 70l s/s pot for my kettle and probably wanting to go electric

what element/s would i need to boil double batches (20l batch size) so about 55l pre boil??

would look at getting a dedicated circuit with higher amps

cheers

Check out ebay, a few brewers have hot water system elements in their kettles.

 

[Eggs]

do you mind if i ask what sort of pot youvechosen? im shopping for one myself.

cheers.

 

[lukasfab]

how do I work out what power I will require

is a 3kw enough? prob max on 15amp circuit?

 

[NickB]

I get a very vigorous boil in 55L with 2x 2400W elements. You could probably get away with a 3600W element which will draw your 15A. I have a dedicated 32A circuit for my brewery. You could also look at say a 2400W and a 1200W and switch them separately to control your boil....

This is where I got my threaded elements from.


Some thoughts anyway....

Cheers

 

[Edak]

I agree with NickB, I would not go lower than 3600W. I have 23L batches in an insulated 50L pot with a dome lid and have 2400W, I only get a good strong roller with the dome on too so I wish I had 3000W for my lower volume.
Would definately recommend insulation on the outside of your pot though, will reduce energy usage.

 

[Verbyla]

how do I work out what power I will require

is a 3kw enough? prob max on 15amp circuit?

If your going to get a dedicated circuit put in you should make it 20A not 15A. It's the same sized cable required and would only cost a fraction more for the larger circuit breaker. No point in taking the chance on 3600W element as it mightn't give you the rolling boil your after. Two 2200W-2400W elements should be able to get you there

 

[mikec]

I'm about to do the same thing (upgrade to bigger pot).

I currently have a 2200W element like this

Which obviously runs from the wall of the kettle right out across the centre.

Where to put a second element?
Would you put another one just above, coming in from the opposite side? (like the first pic below)
Or above and crossed over? (like the second pic below)


Or add smaller ring-style element on one side instead?

 

[Verbyla]

I had the same decision to make on the placement of my elements (same as yours). Ended up coming to the conclusion that having them crossed over (2nd picture) was more practical as the leads for the elements where behind the pot giving me more clutter free workspace

 

[alford_j]

I installed 4 of these elements in series/parallel for 3.6kw and a fair bit of surface area. Just check the thickness of your pot base to see if they are suitable. I can post some pics of the install if you need.

Alfie.

 

[lukasfab]

yeah Alfie show some pics please

 

[alford_j]

Lukasfab,

I am almost finished my single vessel rig with the 4 elements. I chose to use 4 as I could wire them for 3.6kW, 4 times the surface area-each element dissipates about 900w. Sure, I had to buy 4, but at $16 bucks each that is still cheaper than most other options.



Ignore the temp sensor and pump inlet in the centre.

Just a note on my power calcs: Elements are rated at 3kW@220v. That makes their resistance (220*220)/3000W = 16.133 ohms.

2 x 16.1 ohm elements wired in series gives 32.2 ohms. 2 lots of 2 elements in series, connected in parallel gives 16.1 ohms.

My house measures 240v so power is (240*240)/16.1 ohms = 3578 W

See wiring diagram:



NOTE:The elements come with 2 mounting hole sizes as I ordered the wrong one as a spare and had to buy a 6th one.

I attached a die cast box onto the element mounting screws on the bottom of the pot so a thick based pot will not work. 2-3mm maximum. The box hides the 240v serves as an eath attachment point.





It boils my 35L like a demon. Any other questions let me know.

Alfie

 

[MastersBrewery]

only an opinion but, 3kw is enough to boil 30 odd liters, 4 of these is just way overkill! I have a thermo neuclear reactor for sale if you want to upgrade tho h34r:

 

[QldKev]

only an opinion but, 3kw is enough to boil 30 odd liters, 4 of these is just way overkill! I have a thermo neuclear reactor for sale if you want to upgrade tho h34r:

Did you actually read his post?

 

[Aydos]

How the hell do you clean that? It must be impossible to get under the elements.

 

[bignath]

only an opinion but, 3kw is enough to boil 30 odd liters, 4 of these is just way overkill! I have a thermo neuclear reactor for sale if you want to upgrade tho h34r:

3.6kw (close enough) in total.

4 x 900W

How the hell do you clean that? It must be impossible to get under the elements.

I was wondering that too.

 

[Aydos]

What is you electrical system rated to? 15 or 20 amp?

 

[lukasfab]

i think i wont to try and stick with one kickass element with some sort of controller to adjust level of boil if possible to do this?
no one has done this before with double batches???

big nath, you mentioned that the electrical place you went to suggested some sort of controller??

surely i can acheive this on a 20amp dedicated cicuit??

 

[alford_j]

only an opinion but, 3kw is enough to boil 30 odd liters, 4 of these is just way overkill! I have a thermo neuclear reactor for sale if you want to upgrade tho h34r:

I went to some trouble to explain this as it wouldn't make sense to most non-electrical people. In this configuration they give me only 3.6kW but 4 times the surface area of a single element. I could have used one of these elements for the same power output but less surface area.

How the hell do you clean that? It must be impossible to get under the elements.

Still in the building stage, but good point. A toothbrush and recirculating PBW I guess. I chose that element shape to sit flat under the false bottom.

What is you electrical system rated to? 15 or 20 amp?

2400W @ 240v = 10 amps
3600W @ 240v = 15 amps
4800W @ 240v = 20 amps

My BIL put in a dedicated 15amp socket for brewing/welding.

i think i wont to try and stick with one kickass element with some sort of controller to adjust level of boil if possible to do this?
no one has done this before with double batches???

big nath, you mentioned that the electrical place you went to suggested some sort of controller??

surely i can acheive this on a 20amp dedicated cicuit??

I'd go for 3600W+ for your batch sizes. Either a 3600W or a pair of 1800W or 2400W elements. Some of the single vessel builders on AHB got custom bent 3600W elements that could be suitable. I thought of using a single element the same as the ones I got but got worried about scorching my mash- maybe one would have been fine.

For simple stand alone use, I would use something like this, or this or one of these to control your boil.

For mine, I've made a controller for this based on an arduino. I'm using an SSR, temp sensor and arduino based PID to control mine.

Alfie

 

[lukasfab]

the last one looks like it would work