Nasa V Portable Hotplate V Immersion Heater

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I use an fixed induction cooktop for my partial BIAB adventures, ripper for a 20L pot (15L boil), not sure how a portable would go with larger boils. My cooktop is 3600w and from memory the biggest element uses that full 3600w - it goes up to 9 and I run it at 8 to have a rolling boil, I'd be surprised if it could maintain a single batch boil based on that. For the expense of induction (i am assuming portable induction would be expensive like fixed), you might just be better off getting a 2400w over the side immersion. Also, induction won't work with aluminium, unless it has a special base, also won't work with stainless, unless it has a magnetic base. From my experience cheap stainless pots don't have induction compatible bases and would be very surprised if large cheap stock pots did - maybe a robinox would?
 
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but would an induction cooker basically be comparable in efficiency to an immersion heater?

given that in induction the pot itself is the 'element' directly in contact with the mash, likewise with the immersion heater.
 
Sorry BribieG, another necro thread - it's either that or cop yet another stern warning about not having searched effectively before posting...

SO: has anyone (including the people in this thread) got any first hand experience with the NASA style burners that BCF are selling? The stand looks a bit flimsy but I have a number of metal fab friends who can reinforce it.

I know it is a bit pricey, but the whole lot in one hit with a high pressure reg etc. saves me a lot of f*cking around, and by the time I've paid postage on most of the options I've seriously conisdered this breaks about even.

Any thoughts about this specific burner?

Cheers.
 
Lecterfan said:
Sorry BribieG, another necro thread - it's either that or cop yet another stern warning about not having searched effectively before posting...

SO: has anyone (including the people in this thread) got any first hand experience with the NASA style burners that BCF are selling? The stand looks a bit flimsy but I have a number of metal fab friends who can reinforce it.

I know it is a bit pricey, but the whole lot in one hit with a high pressure reg etc. saves me a lot of f*cking around, and by the time I've paid postage on most of the options I've seriously conisdered this breaks about even.

Any thoughts about this specific burner?

Cheers.
Click to expand...

They look Ok, NASA's are not the most technically advanced pieces of gear so they don't need to be precision built. The most important part is the regulator so give that a good look over.

cheers

grant
 
Yeah I bought one from bcf paid approx $167 for it butchered the stand so I could use the shield . I do have a problem with the tap on it but once I had it set it boiled the wort of 33lt in no time at all . A bit exy but I thought what the heck . It does the job .



Cheers
Leachim ( Beerbelly )
 
I saw the unit you speak about last week and had a close look it is virtually identical to my nasa I bought in 2006 from G and G. I agree the stand is flimsy so was mine I threw it out and welded up my own stand to take a 100 ltr S/S pot. I made my stand from 5mm 50mm angle and I have no reservations boiling 100 ltrs on it. I have never been disapointed in my nasa and after 5 years it still thunders along on brew days.
Cheers Altstart
 
re how much power / how long would a particulate size element take to heat:

The energy required to raise the temperature of a substance is a physical property known as the specific heat of the particular substance. The specific heat of water is 4.2J/g/ C, i.e. 4.2 joules of energy are required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree centigrade. Using larger and more familiar units:

Energy required (kJ) = 4.2 x volume (litres) x temperature rise (C)


example figures...

volume = 80L
element = 2400W = 2.4kW

start temp = 20C
fin temp = 100C
temp rise = 80C

4.2 x 80 x 80 = 26,880 kJ
= 26.88 MJ

To convert megajoules (MJ) into kWh divide by 3.6 (1kWh = 3.6MJ) thus 26.88MJ = 7.47kWh. This is the amount of energy that must be put into the water. Using a 2.4kW element (2.4kW per hr), the sum is thus...

7.47 /2.4 = 3 hrs 7 mins to raise from 20C to 100C (boil), not counting any heat losses.
 
I recently purchased a stainless steel 2200W weldless element (just make a hole and screw it up) and whilst it could get my 27L boil size up to boil... it was by no means a rolling boil. This was in a large (75L) pot.

I used a cheapo over the side immersion element (possibly 2400W) courtesy of a fellow AHB and it resulted in a wild boil... so there highlights one problem with an electric system - no variability unless you invest time and effort building a PWM system.

Depending on what electrics you have access to (I have a 2x10A, 15A and a 20A) you could in theory use a 4800W hot water element.
 
I use a combination of gas and electricity in my brewery.

My HLT is a 30lt Aluminium pot with a 2200w kettle element installed in the side of it, and it sits on a Kambrook electric Hotplate.
This takes about 20mins to get my strike water up to temp.

From there i use the good old 3 ring gas burner running of my BBQ gas bottle with standard regulator. It uses approx. 500g per boil/batch.

The upsides of this setup is that i can run my HLT off a timer if i want to get the water up to temp before brekky, and the gas cost is bugger all. If a 9kg gas bottle is chockablock at 17/18kg, then i can get around 12-15 brews easy out of my gas bottle. i reckon about a couple of bucks per batch. No big deal. Yes electricity is probably cheaper, but it doesn't suit my setup so i'm happy with my setup at the moment.

The only problem is if the wife wants to put the heater on (mt gambier gets bloody cold in winter), she can't do it while i'm heating strike/sparge water, as it trips the circuit breaker.

Apart from that, all good.

One day may look at a NASA to save some time as i've been told it will shit all over my 3 ring gas burny.
 
Thanks for everyones input - greatly appreciated.
 
6.jpg


man up and get a flame thrower from your local army surplus store :)
 
Im in the same boat so to speak, my brew shed/basement has a sunken floor not allowing me to use LPG as CO2 is havier than air and I would end up in a blanket of CO2. Not good!

I watched a youtube video of a guy who used an inuction plate
He also uses a PID and hotplate for HERMS/ HLT, which im stealing the idea.

I have also looked into Grain and Grape they have 2200W copper elements for $61 (element, nut/socket and lead) they reckon they can boil 25L but not much more. I was thinking of sticking one in a SS pot with some insulation and see how it goes.

Induction is great, my parents have an induction hotplate at home and its fast to boil. Its very controlable but make sure your pot will work on it as Alloy and real stainless wont. It needs to be magnetic for the hotplate to work.
 
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