Fix For Crown Urn Boiling Issues

[Bribie G]

So have you fired up a test run yet? Crundle, Crundle ............... oh no don't tell me that was your house on the 7 News ............ :huh: :huh:

 

[crundle]

So have you fired up a test run yet? Crundle, Crundle ............... oh no don't tell me that was your house on the 7 News ............ :huh: :huh:

Nah, not my house, and didn't get to fire it up yet, will give it a wet run tomorrow to see how she goes, and will report...

Crundle

 

[crundle]

Cranked it up today with 20 litres of water in it and it works a treat. Seems to get to the set temperature quicker also, and then kicks out nicely when the temp is hit as normal, and the boil was incredible!

As always though, now that this hasn't got anti boil dry protection, it should not be left on unattended.

cheers,

Crundle

 

[Pollux]

I used mine for the first time yesterday since rewiring it....

Had it setup on the timer for an early morning mash in, not sure whether it was the re-wiring or the new yoga mat insulation but it hit 70deg sooner than I expected.

As for the boil, much more vigorous....I actually missed my target volume, but I can always top it up with some water when it comes time to pitch...One small issue I discovered in alot of caramelised wort on the element after a 60min boil, I had to leave it to soak overnight as I was ducking out for the afternoon....

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Pollux - if your biab element is anything like my RIMS element and also the immersion elements I have used for boiling... then what is stuck to your element is less caramelized wort, than a bit of a build up of break material. Forms right on the surface of the element.

If you hook into it with a scrubbing brush straight away, while its still nice and wet... it comes of pretty easy. If it doesn't all come away, an overnight soak in PBW cleans it up the remainder so it wipes away with a rag.

TB

 

[Pollux]

Actually, you are probably right on that one.....

It was coming off yesterday, but I was in a rush so chose to leave it overnight. Came off dead easy this morning..

 

[randyrob]

Like this. The plastic is polypropylene and the gasket is butadiene-acrylonitrile rubber ( I spoke to the supplier)

Hey LC,

These things are useless, while the outside may be suitable for brewing purposes the magnet that is on the inside is glued
to the plastic and it doesn't take many uses to come unglued rendering the float switch unusable.

I can dissassemble one and take some pics if i'm not explaining it very well

Rob.

 

[randyrob]

the magnet is glued right at the bottom of the float



after a few uses the heat dislodges the magnet making it free to roam around the body of the float making it unusable.

Rob.

 

[Doogiechap]

View attachment 29822

the magnet is glued right at the bottom of the float

View attachment 29821

after a few uses the heat dislodges the magnet making it free to roam around the body of the float making it unusable.

Rob.

Thanks for the heads up Rob
Just saved $20
(As long as my brain doesn't fail me on brewday)

 

[LethalCorpse]

hmm...disappointing. Some silicone down there should hold it an place and seal it up pretty good, no?

 

[3GumsBrewing]

Alrighty!

Thanks for the great post, I am sourcing one as we speak, cheapest i can find is from this mob - Linky. Evilbay is only turning up 20 and 30 L ones at the moment.

DK

 

[crundle]

Thanks for the great post, I am sourcing one as we speak, cheapest i can find is from this mob - Linky. Evilbay is only turning up 20 and 30 L ones at the moment.

DK

Great stuff DK! It might pay to have a look at Craftbrewer, I believe Ross stocks them at a pretty good price too (no affiliation).

You will love using the urn for brewing, nice and easy, quick cleanup and stainless bling! Good also for use as a HLT if you ever go to 3 vessel brewing, so you will have this bit of equipment for life. Let us know how you go with the mod when you get it, and how your brew turns out.

Itching to get brewing again myself, bloody hard to pick what to brew though!

cheers,

Crundle

 

[Macca17]

Thanks for the guide, worked a treat on my new urn, getting closer to my first AG brew

 

[3GumsBrewing]

Just ordered my 40L Crown Urn from here - Catering Wholesalers who are in Botany and great to deal with. Excellent price as well - $262.35 all up.

No affiliation, just a bit of info for fellow Sydney brewers who hate paying postage!

DK

 

[crundle]

Sounds like a good price DK, well purchased!

A heads up for those who do the modification, nothing serious, but I have noticed on two brews that I have done since the mod that my powerboard has cut out on each brew at least once, whereas it has never done that before, so obviously it is drawing a nice load fairly constantly throughout the boil now whereas it seemed to work in spurts previously.

So make sure you have a good power supply to run the urn that is free from any other device, as it is pulling a fairly strong 2400W during the boil. Mine was teamed up with the electric roller door on the garage and still overloaded, so now I run it from the power supply I used with my immersion element and have not had the problem occur since.

Crundle

 

[flattop]

Kudos to Drunk Skunk, i modded my urn yesterday and mashed last night. Got a great rolling boil and my evap rates were higher than usual.
I run mine from a 10A powerboard on a dedicated circuit but haven't had any overload issues.

 

[crundle]

Kudos to Drunk Skunk, i modded my urn yesterday and mashed last night. Got a great rolling boil and my evap rates were higher than usual.
I run mine from a 10A powerboard on a dedicated circuit but haven't had any overload issues.

Yep, well done to Drunk Skunk, mine has been used on about 6 brews since the mod and has been fantastic, with my evap rate at roughly 15%/hour when the urn is outside in the wind with a camping mat around it. I just wish that you had come up with it BEFORE I forked out for an immersion element to get around the poor boil when the Crown is unmodded!!!

Crundle

 

[crundle]

Does anyone else think this thread might be good enough to have airlocked considering probably half of the people who BIAB using urns will have Crown urns?

I think the disclaimers on the process are clear enough.

cheers,

Crundle

 

[Pollux]

I support that idea crundle....

I also noticed something interesting today.


I did two brews, one being a SMASH (5kg JW ale), the other being what I have decided to describe as a Mild UK Bitter (4kg Marris Otter).

For some reason the boil on the second one was ALOT more vigorous, no idea why? I used similar water volumes (adjusted to account for loss to grain) to achieve nearly identical pre boil volumes, but I lost more to evap on the second one and also could visually see the difference...


Any ideas?

 

[EK]

Can anyone tell me why it is that this problem with the Crown urn occurs? If the thermostat goes to 110, why doesn't this boil dry switch net let the liquid boil constantly...even if it kicked in and out every 30 seconds the wort wouldn't cool 10 degrees in that time.

I have done 3 BIAB brews, and only the third one didn't have a rolling boil. The only differences (that I can think of) were:
1. I added 5L of boiling water at Mash Out. The first two times I just turned the thermostat up.
2. There was a breeze the day I did the 3rd brew. The other two days there was no wind and they worked fine.

On the 3rd brew: when the thermostat kicked back in the wort was boiling in 2 seconds..as though it was a fraction of a degree below boiling point.

Also, what would be the ramifications to the beer if a rolling boil was not achieved?

:icon_cheers:
EK