Electric Hlt From An Esky?

[notung]

Hello everybody, I'm looking for some advice about HLT setups.

I have a fair-sized rectangular esky lying around, and I wonder if there could be benefits in converting it to an electric hot liquor tank. I suppose what I'm not sure about yet is the cost in buying a 2400 watt element that I can fix through the wall. That combined with a thermometer and (if necessary) a thermostat that can reach to the boil could end up pricey...

Has anybody had experience with this sort of operation? Where did you sort the element, and was it difficult to fix in?

Currently I have a 15L pot which doubles as HLT & kettle. Not sure whether I should be looking at a HLT to put over a burner or the electric option. So any advice would be appreciated!

Cheers.

 

[mika]

I like the electric option, a 2400W element with cord from any good LHBS is around $80 with a cord. If you're a tight ask, you can buy a Big W $15 kettle and canabalise it for the element, though to me this results in a less than ideal wiring situation and as we all know electricty and water don't mix (cue response from LethalCorpse).
You don't have to add the controller at this stage, that can be bought further down the track. I like the degree control that this gives me over the HLT water, really makes hitting your mash temps, consistently, easy as and consistency is what it's all about. I've never done the calcs myself but others have said that it's cheaper to heat the water with sparks than flame, another thing to consider.

As for using an esky as a HLT. Not sure about that. The esky's used as Mash tuns suffer some warpage and the best their getting is 80degs for a mash out. In a HLT I think you need up to 90degs and at this stage your esky might change shape a lot esier than you want it to. Pots can be a dearer option, but it's only a HLT, no need to go for an all out top of the range pot. As long as you can attach a tap to it an element and it holds water, you're pretty much there. A lid and insulation is also on the 'not necessary, but it's going to make life alot easier' list. You can get some pretty cheap 'stainless' pots from some of the Asian supermarkets at times. I don't think they're heavy enough to use as a Kettle, but as long as you can mount the element and tap, they'd be way OK for a HLT.

Anyway, that's the way I'd go.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

From a safety perspective I am definitely not advising you do try this at home, but.....

A $10.00 electric kettle from coles/safeway/kmart/woolies etc etc, yields a perfectly nice 2000W ish electric element. It wouldn't go through both walls of the eski, but what you do is carefully holesaw a slightly larger than needed hole on the outside layer of plastic, scrape away the insulation, then cut the correct sized hole for the element in just the inner layer.

A variation of the standard bucket'o'death HLT but with better insulation. Search for bucket'o'death or Bucket of Death and you should find some examples on this site.

This link might help a little - an electric HLT made from a round eski which is a little more thorough than I am talking about, but you will see what I mean about the two different sized holes.

Cheers

Thirsty

edit - beaten. Eski will be fine as HLT. The seppos use them that way all the time with no issue. They heat up the water in their kettle, transfer it to the Eski/HLT and the insulation holds heat while they finish off the mash and conduct the sparge. I do it this way on occasion as well with no problems at all, just need to compensate for a little heat loss by heating the water a little hotter initially. I use nearly boiling water and cool it down to the right temp at time of use by adding cold water.

 

[Justin]

I'd recommend the hand held element suggested above (~$80) as the best, safest and easiest solution. They are brillant for this type of set up that is just evolving. It gives you a safe easy way to heat any of your vessels, no matter what they are (FWIW, I used mine in an esky mash tun for a long time).

The bonus with these elements is you can throw it in any of the vessels you want. I've done whole brews with just the hand held element. I heat the correct volume of water in the mash tun heat it in that, mash in, if your low a few degrees low stick the element in and raise it (stir with the element). Then I stick the element in the HLT, heat that water, if your mash cools a few degrees you can stick the element in there and bump it back up. Mash out can be done with the hand held element too, and then you can boil with the same element again.

Trust me, at $80 (sounds expensive) they are a bargain when you consider the versatility and ease of use you get with it. It's something that I think you will always find a use for no matter how your brewery evolves. By the time you buy a kettle ($15), rip it apart, realise you dont have a hole saw, buy one, drill your holes, realise you want silicone as well so go and buy some of that, fuel for the 3 trips to bunnings/bigW, that always in the back of your mind "leak" issue, and the cost of a RCD device you will seriously be better off with the hand held element IMO. Buy one and it's ready to go. I'd still recommend using a residual current device for any electrical use in the brewery if your home wiring doesn't already have one. They run around $20 at bunning.

Have fun. Justin

 

[notung]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

The bucket'o'death sounds like it would be a good, versatile stepping stone. I've been looking into it. I've also been looking at urn-porn on the catering websites. Thanks again for the advice.