Hermit Coil Heat Exchange Build

[Truman42]

This has probably been answered some where else but searching for lubrication silicone stuck and you get all sorts of weird and wonderful answers - anyway my tubes gets stuck on the coil and hose tails, any solutions other than quick disconnects?

I just twist mine then pull.

twist and pull, twist and pull...

 

[philski]

Does anyone know which woolworths stock the 1.7L corded kettles still???

I've tried 5 different ones and they either don't have them or they are not in stock! ARGH!

 

[philski]

In Melbourne that is!!

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

In Melbourne that is!!

If all fails get the kmart $9.00 jobbie and pull a power cord off your PC , they are the same thing .
nev

 

[iralosavic]

What about bigW? Abode 1.7L corded kettle <$9...

 

[philski]

What about bigW? Abode 1.7L corded kettle <$9...

Nice one cheers I'll try bigw otherwise I'll go the computer cord option, I have a few if those lying around.

 

[philski]

Finally found one @ the Ashburton woolies. $14. Now for the coil, parts then build... looking forward to it.

 

[philski]

Does anyone know if you can get away with using a 38mm hole saw rather than a 40mm?? It looks like it may fit (maybe a bit tight!) but I'm not keen on trying it just yet....

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Does anyone know if you can get away with using a 38mm hole saw rather than a 40mm?? It looks like it may fit (maybe a bit tight!) but I'm not keen on trying it just yet....

Sorry I cant answer that as I have never tried but you could be the first.
Nev

 

[Batz]

Does anyone know if you can get away with using a 38mm hole saw rather than a 40mm?? It looks like it may fit (maybe a bit tight!) but I'm not keen on trying it just yet....

Wack a hole in the kettle you pulled the element out of and try it.

 

[philski]

Wack a hole in the kettle you pulled the element out of and try it.

yep great idea. should have thought of that earlier!

 

[Acasta]

Thats the size I used going into my keggle. I think due to the ring/seal thing you can get away with a touch bigger, but 38mm is the tightest I could get it to.

 

[philski]

OK, so I can confirm that the 38mm hole saw does in fact work. She's a bit tight (so to speak) but you can get it in there....

I drilled the hole and gave it a light file to smooth it off and take a little extra off. The surface was nice and flat, the element is in and it's all siliconed up. Just waiting for the silicone to cure before i fill er up with water. Hopefully it doesn't leak....

 

[philski]

Just to follow up for anyone interested, I tested out the HERMIT today. Works a treat. So I can confirm a 38mm hole saw is all good!

Great little design Nev. It even works in my cooler mash tun with a slotted PVC manifold, the flows are a bit slow but it still does what it's supposed to do. Can't wait to test it out when I get my new SS false bottom and 98L pot as a mash tun.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Just to follow up for anyone interested, I tested out the HERMIT today. Works a treat. So I can confirm a 38mm hole saw is all good!

Great little design Nev. It even works in my cooler mash tun with a slotted PVC manifold, the flows are a bit slow but it still does what it's supposed to do. Can't wait to test it out when I get my new SS false bottom and 98L pot as a mash tun.

Keep us informed. The real design trick is to get the false bottom to flow well.
This makes getting to temps quicker and achieves better efficiencies. If you have to slow down its better than a stuck sparge.
Nev

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

with these herms setups,i notice theres a temp varaition from actual mash to hx output(where most probes seem to be). Does that meen your not actually getting a sugar profile of say a 67c mash.?? like,if you soak a cup of grain in water,and that mash is at 65c ,if you collect just wort,heat it to 67c,does the profile change? or does the actual cracked grain need to be infused at 67c to obtain a "medium body profile" for instance?? do you get what i meen lol?? sort of like is the worts prfile changing when i mash out or am i just stopping the grain from any further conversion.. like,.so confusing,like (spoken like a 15 year old girl)

With the proper controller you will achieve the set mash temps but this will take an amount of time, this is due to the controller set not to over shooting the Max temps.
If you need more info contact me thru my site and I will be happy to answer your details.
Nev

 

[Stubbie]

I'd wanted to build a HERMS Hx for quite some time and in particular been mulling over how to build one so as to be as efficient as possible. I wanted a smaller rather than larger volume combined with an element of adequate power so as to minimise heating lag and end up with a more responsive Hx. Even though not ideal from a heat conductivity standpoint, I also wanted a SS coil to allow the use of caustic cleaners to my heart's content. So when I stumbled up on the HERMIT coil, the fact that it was SS and the popular PVC build required only a 2 - 3 litre capacity, I thought it looked like a winner. There was a momentary reservation regarding the 3m length of piping, but obviously everyone else was finding it no such handicap in practical terms.

The last remaining decision was whether to use the suggested 1850W kettle element or whether to upgrade to a more powerful element (I'd been considering a 2400W or better for my pre-HERMIT ideas on a Hx). In the end, I built one of these................a twin engine model, just for fun.



For a couple of years I'd perserverred with a totally inadequate 1800W 20L urn as a HLT. It annoyed me no end (understatement) whenever I was caught out with not enough water at the appropriate temp and it taught me a valuable lesson. I vowed that from then on any system upgrade would have more rather than less power. So that's why a 3700W Hx. And besides, I thought it would be interesting to carry out a comparison with either one or two elements running. Not sure I'll bother, though. Ran a water test and PID auto-tune a couple of nights ago and achieved better than 2.5 deg/min ramps. Quite impressive, I thought, and so much for any reservations regarding a 3m coil length.

Maiden HERMS brew coming this wk end, but so far I reckon my new HERMIT Hx is a ripper.

 

[QldKev]

I'd wanted to build a HERMS Hx for quite some time and in particular been mulling over how to build one so as to be as efficient as possible. I wanted a smaller rather than larger volume combined with an element of adequate power so as to minimise heating lag and end up with a more responsive Hx. Even though not ideal from a heat conductivity standpoint, I also wanted a SS coil to allow the use of caustic cleaners to my heart's content. So when I stumbled up on the HERMIT coil, the fact that it was SS and the popular PVC build required only a 2 - 3 litre capacity, I thought it looked like a winner. There was a momentary reservation regarding the 3m length of piping, but obviously everyone else was finding it no such handicap in practical terms.

The last remaining decision was whether to use the suggested 1850W kettle element or whether to upgrade to a more powerful element (I'd been considering a 2400W or better for my pre-HERMIT ideas on a Hx). In the end, I built one of these................a twin engine model, just for fun.



For a couple of years I'd perserverred with a totally inadequate 1800W 20L urn as a HLT. It annoyed me no end (understatement) whenever I was caught out with not enough water at the appropriate temp and it taught me a valuable lesson. I vowed that from then on any system upgrade would have more rather than less power. So that's why a 3700W Hx. And besides, I thought it would be interesting to carry out a comparison with either one or two elements running. Not sure I'll bother, though. Ran a water test and PID auto-tune a couple of nights ago and achieved better than 2.5 deg/min ramps. Quite impressive, I thought, and so much for any reservations regarding a 3m coil length.

Maiden HERMS brew coming this wk end, but so far I reckon my new HERMIT Hx is a ripper.

Very interested in this, as once my internal RIMS dies (maybe a few years away?) I though of this but was worried about the 3m s/s being conductive enough for the amount of heating.

So my next plan was to run dual coils, like this


But your design is better as it keeps the size small, and also we don't need a second coil.


What flow do you get and what pump are you running?

With both elements running and ramping up temps, did you measure the water bath temp in the HERMS, did the plastic housing get very soft?


QldKev

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I'd wanted to build a HERMS Hx for quite some time and in particular been mulling over how to build one so as to be as efficient as possible. I wanted a smaller rather than larger volume combined with an element of adequate power so as to minimise heating lag and end up with a more responsive Hx. Even though not ideal from a heat conductivity standpoint, I also wanted a SS coil to allow the use of caustic cleaners to my heart's content. So when I stumbled up on the HERMIT coil, the fact that it was SS and the popular PVC build required only a 2 - 3 litre capacity, I thought it looked like a winner. There was a momentary reservation regarding the 3m length of piping, but obviously everyone else was finding it no such handicap in practical terms.

The last remaining decision was whether to use the suggested 1850W kettle element or whether to upgrade to a more powerful element (I'd been considering a 2400W or better for my pre-HERMIT ideas on a Hx). In the end, I built one of these................a twin engine model, just for fun.



For a couple of years I'd perserverred with a totally inadequate 1800W 20L urn as a HLT. It annoyed me no end (understatement) whenever I was caught out with not enough water at the appropriate temp and it taught me a valuable lesson. I vowed that from then on any system upgrade would have more rather than less power. So that's why a 3700W Hx. And besides, I thought it would be interesting to carry out a comparison with either one or two elements running. Not sure I'll bother, though. Ran a water test and PID auto-tune a couple of nights ago and achieved better than 2.5 deg/min ramps. Quite impressive, I thought, and so much for any reservations regarding a 3m coil length.

Maiden HERMS brew coming this wk end, but so far I reckon my new HERMIT Hx is a ripper.

Whoo hoo that is very cool !
Must let us know how it works in practical brewing situation.
Remember to put a big base on it or secure it to a stable platform.
Nev

 

[fraser_john]

I'd wanted to build a HERMS Hx for quite some time and in particular been mulling over how to build one so as to be as efficient as possible. I wanted a smaller rather than larger volume combined with an element of adequate power so as to minimise heating lag and end up with a more responsive Hx. Even though not ideal from a heat conductivity standpoint, I also wanted a SS coil to allow the use of caustic cleaners to my heart's content. So when I stumbled up on the HERMIT coil, the fact that it was SS and the popular PVC build required only a 2 - 3 litre capacity, I thought it looked like a winner. There was a momentary reservation regarding the 3m length of piping, but obviously everyone else was finding it no such handicap in practical terms.

The last remaining decision was whether to use the suggested 1850W kettle element or whether to upgrade to a more powerful element (I'd been considering a 2400W or better for my pre-HERMIT ideas on a Hx). In the end, I built one of these................a twin engine model, just for fun.



For a couple of years I'd perserverred with a totally inadequate 1800W 20L urn as a HLT. It annoyed me no end (understatement) whenever I was caught out with not enough water at the appropriate temp and it taught me a valuable lesson. I vowed that from then on any system upgrade would have more rather than less power. So that's why a 3700W Hx. And besides, I thought it would be interesting to carry out a comparison with either one or two elements running. Not sure I'll bother, though. Ran a water test and PID auto-tune a couple of nights ago and achieved better than 2.5 deg/min ramps. Quite impressive, I thought, and so much for any reservations regarding a 3m coil length.

Maiden HERMS brew coming this wk end, but so far I reckon my new HERMIT Hx is a ripper.

Nice professional looking assembly there too Stubbie, well done!