hermit - up to what volume?

[Kingy]

There doesn't seem to be many people own a hermit setup with the 15amp element. I would think that a
3000watt in 1.8litres with a coil length of ??
Would be far better than
2400watt in 6litres with 6metres.
It's a lot of money to outlay to be a guinea pig but.
Surely someone owns one?

 

[Camo6]

I use a herm-it coil in a 4-5l vessel and have recently installed a 3.6kW element. Haven't brewed with it yet but did a trial run with about 50l of water and although I didn't time it I was quite happy with ramp times. Do it. More power to you.

 

[timmi9191]

Currently Ive got a little 5lt Birko, 3m copper coil and Im getting 1'c every ~2min with a full 75lt esky mash tun, Im not unhappy with it, it gives a nice gentle ramp which has allowed me to relax somewhat on my stepping procedure.

It should be noted, I 'can' fit an OTS element in the top which fits snug in the copper coil and I get some astonishing ramping if I 'need' to, but I find a nice gentle rise from 63 to 78 is both relaxing (as I can set and walk away) and easier than doing precise ramp / soak steps where I need to stand an watch the temps or at least set a timer to come back for the next step... Sure, a PID would solve some of this but why spend more money on fixing something that already works?

I dont think the Birko element is 2400w or at least doesnt transfer the heat as effectively as an OTS sitting in the coil..

but that HERMIT sure is blingin... h34r:

Yob, I also use a 5l birko and if its the same, the element is 1800w.

I also dont mind the ramp times on my current batch size (11kg grain, 44l water total mash volume of 55l) as it gives me a bit of time to do other things.

Am looking at increasing the mash tun to 80l and doing triple batches and worried the ramp time will be way too slow.

Im thinking of just putting a 2200w $7 kettle element in the bottom of the birko, but wired on a separate socket. That gives me the option of either 1800, 2200 or 4000w of heating. Of course Ill have to run it off a separate 10a circuit and im still trying to work out how to control both elements off an STC-1000

Anyone else done something similiar?

 

[Kingy]

Well I've got a hermit on the way to replace my ****** old rusty fire extinguisher, I'm gunna use my 5star 2400 watt with it untill I get the power to my shed upgraded. Pretty happy right now especially as it was funded from some old gear in the shed that I thought was worth nuffin [emoji106]