Kettle water measurement - how to

[brewermp]

Hi all wanted to confirm my stupidity today lol. I have been finding a way to measure how much water is in my kettle by using a measuring stick. So I measured out 1l then used a texta to mark the level. Then kept progressing. I got up to the top and realised that they all looked a little out of whack not even as I thought they would.

It was at that moment I realised that I could have used some basic maths and saved myself the headache.

Height divided by litres equals the step between the litres.. So simple.

For example I have a 28.5 Ltr kettle with a height of 39cm

39 / 28.5 = 1.36 cm or 14mm roughly.

Hopefully this will help someone else

 

[Flash_DG]

My 60lt pot can actually fit 70lt in it so so make sure you find out how much it can hold right to the brim.

 

[welly2]

Hi all wanted to confirm my stupidity today lol. I have been finding a way to measure how much water is in my kettle by using a measuring stick. So I measured out 1l then used a texta to mark the level. Then kept progressing. I got up to the top and realised that they all looked a little out of whack not even as I thought they would.

It was at that moment I realised that I could have used some basic maths and saved myself the headache.

Height divided by litres equals the step between the litres.. So simple.

For example I have a 28.5 Ltr kettle with a height of 39cm

39 / 28.5 = 1.36 cm or 14mm roughly.

Hopefully this will help someone else

Is the bottom of the pot curved or straight? Because if it's curved, that'll throw off your calculations somewhat

 

[Topher]

Do it with scales?

Measure empty, then fill with cold water. 1L is a 1kg. Then mark the side or your stick as you let water out.

Of course, really hot water expands a fair bit. Use cold water for working out volumes. Learned this the hard way.

 

[fraser_john]

A simple flat strip of aluminum from Bunnings is what I use, I added five litres at a time to my pot, made a mark. Then used a dremmel tool to score a proper line at that point and labelled it, 5, 10, 15 etc. Divide each major up into 5 and you have the 1 litres marks. KISS.

 

[warra48]

A simple flat strip of aluminum from Bunnings is what I use, I added five litres at a time to my pot, made a mark. Then used a dremmel tool to score a proper line at that point and labelled it, 5, 10, 15 etc. Divide each major up into 5 and you have the 1 litres marks. KISS.

Exactly what I did.

 

[slcmorro]

I use a bucket to fill my tun/keggle which has accurate 1L markings up the side. 3 x 9L additions gets me to where I want to be for mashing, and then I can add more for sparging to my 19L Big W pot on the stove and bang, jobs done.

 

[billygoat]

I measured out the volume in my kettle in two litre increments then engraved the markings on the inside of the kettle.
No need for my measuring stick anymore.
Got the idea from Wolfy who used to post here.

 

[Adr_0]

I cut a slit in the lid of my pot, and stick a stainless ruler down to the bottom. I have to take the lid off to look but it is aneeasy process.

The slot was made with an angle grinder. Easier than drilling a hole in stainless for a sight glass and no chance of loss of containment.

I will post a photo up. The ruler I have used has not had any issues with losing markings. I did a 15min test boil before using it. My kettle is 36cm inside diameter so each cm is a litre. I have previously made a chart for reading off volumes with other pots I have used.

 

[_Mick_]

I etched permenant 5L increments on the inside of my 50L HLT
Its really easy and you can use vinigar and salt to make an electro-etchant. All you need is a 9v battery some wire and a cotten tip.
Just google etching stainless steel and you will find it.
Looks awesome, I only put lines in mine but have seen some really fancy marking guys do on their pots.
Not sure if it works on alluminium though.

Mick

 

[hwall95]

I just use a 60cm stainless steel ruler and then because I'm lazy I've just made a formula in excel so i just write in whatever the wort height is and it tells me how litres based on pre-measured values. Has worked well so far apart from last time when I didn't have my laptop and hadn't written it down anywhere or transferred the file so ended up a bit short..

 

[The Judge]

Hi all wanted to confirm my stupidity today lol. I have been finding a way to measure how much water is in my kettle by using a measuring stick. So I measured out 1l then used a texta to mark the level. Then kept progressing. I got up to the top and realised that they all looked a little out of whack not even as I thought they would.

If you've got an element in there and a coil (e.g. in a HERMS) then that will contribute some volume, so if you calibrate the volume make sure you do it with the coil in the vessel. In which case you have to do it by adding 1L at a time, or 5L at a time if you want (ever so slightly) less accuracy.

 

[woodwormm]

I measured 5litre jugs into my kettle and engraved my mash paddle accordingly.

Timber paddle so engraving done with soldering iron to scorch it and make readable as well

 

[Adr_0]

I just use a 60cm stainless steel ruler and then because I'm lazy I've just made a formula in excel so i just write in whatever the wort height is and it tells me how litres based on pre-measured values. Has worked well so far apart from last time when I didn't have my laptop and hadn't written it down anywhere or transferred the file so ended up a bit short..

Yeah, I printed a chart and laminated it. I had three tables on the one page and laminated the lot.

I think the best way really is an aluminium strip with engraved marks or etching on the side. More work at the start but very easy to use when bbrewing as it saves calculation or referencing a sheet. SS ruler works for me because 1cm = 1L. I might do some etching soon...

 

[Feldon]

I etched permenant 5L increments on the inside of my 50L HLT
Its really easy and you can use vinigar and salt to make an electro-etchant. All you need is a 9v battery some wire and a cotten tip.
Just google etching stainless steel and you will find it.
Looks awesome, I only put lines in mine but have seen some really fancy marking guys do on their pots.
Not sure if it works on alluminium though.

Mick

There's a 50 page thread on the US site Homebrewtalk that explains how to etch numbers etc on your stainless or aluminium pots. Answers a lot of questions people may have. Its worth flicking through just to see the pics of the etched pots.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f257/how-add-permanent-volume-markings-kettle-illustrated-463099/

Note that on p.25 there is some talk about the toxicity of the gunk that is produced (eg. dichromate) by the process, so maybe use latex gloves and avoid inhaling fumes.

Has some fine results though.



One poster says that it would be better to etch volume markings on the outside of the pot immediately behind a sight glass.

And the same process is used by others to put logos and brewery names on kegs, pots etc.




Another thing: some people have adapted their etched markings to indicate the difference in volume resulting from increased temp. Water at 100C occupies about 4% more volume than water at 20C (and note that its not a linear scale). So some people adjust the thickness of the etched line so that the bottom of the line shows 20C volume and the top the 100c volume.

 

[_Mick_]

Thats the place where I got the idea to do it.
Works realy well and looks the part too.

 

[Midnight Brew]

There's a BIAB calculator floating about and in it if you have a straight side kettle you just dial in the diameter and it gives you heights in cm of volume including volume at mash temp and boiling. Then all I needed was a SS ruler from bunnings and I was off.

 

[crozdog]

I've posted this before a few times...

measure the diameter in cm
divide it by 2 to get the radius
use excel to calculate how many L/cm using the formula (pi x rsquared)/1000

Use that value to make up 2 simple tables in excel:
1 to determine how many cm = a volume (ie required depth=desired volume divided by the L/cm calculated above) &
measured depth ie cm x [SIZE=13.63636302948px] the L/cm calculated above[/SIZE]

Print em out, put em on the wall / fridge / laminate em. i use a 1m SS ruler to double as my measuring stick.

 

[brewermp]

Do it with scales?

Measure empty, then fill with cold water. 1L is a 1kg. Then mark the side or your stick as you let water out.

Of course, really hot water expands a fair bit. Use cold water for working out volumes. Learned this the hard way.

I was thinking about this today. I might do both

 

[Spiesy]

Do it with scales?

Measure empty, then fill with cold water. 1L is a 1kg. Then mark the side or your stick as you let water out.\

How awesome is the metric system?