Hermit Coil Heat Exchange Build

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Only thing that worries me about this orientation is if the grain bed get compacted the tip of the thermo well may not get liquid contact.
In the upright position even with minimal flow liquid makes contact with the thermo well.
I would also recommend some thermal grease inside the thermo well to better transfer the heat to the sensor.
Nev

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

Only thing that worries me about this orientation is if the grain bed get compacted the tip of the thermo well may not get liquid contact.
In the upright position even with minimal flow liquid makes contact with the thermo well.
I would also recommend some thermal grease inside the thermo well to better transfer the heat to the sensor.
Nev

Worried about orientation Nev .... hmm, there better not be any surprises at the case swap.

I make sure the probe is touching the inner thermo tube. I will reorientate so as not to cause you alarm and complicate the LIFETIME warranty offered
Cheers
BBB

 

[eamonnfoley]

Only thing that worries me about this orientation is if the grain bed get compacted the tip of the thermo well may not get liquid contact.
In the upright position even with minimal flow liquid makes contact with the thermo well.
I would also recommend some thermal grease inside the thermo well to better transfer the heat to the sensor.
Nev

Yeah, otherwise you would have to go for a thin mash (4L:kg) to get over it. Almost guarantees a good flow rate.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Worried about orientation Nev .... hmm, there better not be any surprises at the case swap.

I make sure the probe is touching the inner thermo tube. I will reorientate so as not to cause you alarm and complicate the LIFETIME warranty offered
Cheers
BBB

Once you have touch it , and with your lack of man skills all warranties are void. :lol:
Nev

 

[felon]

I use a 2400W element mounted from underneath running vertically up in the middle of the coil. The tube holds 2.5L of water.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I use a 2400W element mounted from underneath running vertically up in the middle of the coil. The tube holds 2.5L of water.
View attachment 58062

Can you post some pics and specs of the element you used and the HX SS tube, looks great ,is the tube off the shelf?
Nev

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

Once you have touch it , and with your lack of man skills all warranties are void. :lol:
Nev

you had me at touch ...

 

[Adam Howard]

It's not a thermowell Nev, it's a PT-100 sensor. I was thinking I'd mount it vertically, might change it before I start running it tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes tomorrow arv before CLUB NIGHT! :beer:

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

CLUB NIGHT! :beer:

Ok if you remember after CLUB NIGHT!

 

[felon]

Can you post some pics and specs of the element you used and the HX SS tube, looks great ,is the tube off the shelf?
Nev

Hi Nev
The element was from Stokes Appliances in Miranda, Sydney. Its product number is 2227-125R. It wasn't cheap because it was the shortest one I could find at 230mm long. It is 1 1/4" BSP thread. I went to a local stainless fabrication place and grabbed an off cut of 304 stainless pipe with an ID of 102mm and wall thickness of 3mm. I cut a circle for the base using 304 stainless 1.6mm thick and welded it on. I used a hole saw to cut a hole a tiny but smaller than the size of the element threads and opened it up with a file so it has a nice clean edge for an O'ring to sit against.


I made a wiring box to house the electricals out of 304 stainless RHS 100mm x 100mm x 3mm wall thickness 60mm long. I welded a 1.6mm sheet on one end for the element to go through. I made the hole the same size as the OD of a silicone O'ring so the element pulls the enclosure hard up against the tube base and only compresses the O'ring to 1.6mm thick. This stops the enclosure spinning and tearing your wiring out.

Hope this helps.

 

[felon]

I forgot to add the photo of my Herms controller. Not really a Hermit build though.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I forgot to add the photo of my Herms controller. Not really a Hermit build though.
View attachment 58070

NASA control system
I will see if I can find some 102 ID SS tube and clean up my bad TIG skills.
Nev

 

[Adam Howard]

Well Nev, did the first batch with the Hermit today. English Pale Ale. Worked incredibly well. Programmed my PID correctly, allowed for a slower ramp rate that I thought it could pull and noticed the element not working as hard as it could. Bloody awesome, had crystal clear wort into the kettle and hardly any break material at the end of the boil.

And yes. That is a sub $10 soup ladle as a mash return arm. Works a bloody treat!

 

[Camo1234]

Anyone seen a corded kettle around lately? I tried K Mart, Target and Big W yesterday and all they had were cordless ones!

 

[Truman42]

Anyone seen a corded kettle around lately? I tried K Mart, Target and Big W yesterday and all they had were cordless ones!

The cordless ones still work fine in the hex coil. Thats what I used. Just get a cordless one instead.

 

[Parks]

The cordless ones still work fine in the hex coil. Thats what I used. Just get a cordless one instead.

Yeah, they actually have the exact same element in them with the IEC pins and everything.

What you don't get is a new jug cord to use, so if you need one then it may not suit.

 

[dent]

The last cordless element I had, it had the pins in the same layout but they were a bit too short to make good contact with a standard IEC lead. But I'm sure there's probably some out there that are good to use as well.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Well Nev, did the first batch with the Hermit today. English Pale Ale. Worked incredibly well. Programmed my PID correctly, allowed for a slower ramp rate that I thought it could pull and noticed the element not working as hard as it could. Bloody awesome, had crystal clear wort into the kettle and hardly any break material at the end of the boil.

And yes. That is a sub $10 soup ladle as a mash return arm. Works a bloody treat!

Welcome to the HERM-IT club :beerbang:
I love the soup ladle idea, how did you think of that, beer ?
I leave my PID setting as standard mainly because I am too lazy to change them, seems to work fine, the last .5 degree can take some time depending on flow of the wort.
Cam, I will look at the local Kmart to see if they have stock of corded kettles, might grab a few as stock parts.
Nev

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Here is the latest HERM-IT coil bling set I have put together and includes snap locks off the elbow and thermo well.
Will get it on the site next week at a reduced price kit.
Nev

 

[brettprevans]

my hermit works perfectly. Its great. Thanks Nev
now just to get the bloody PID to work :angry: