Post Your Ghetto Gear Thread. The < $2.00 Hopper

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Ghetto shelf support.

image.jpg

Thats to stop **** falling thru the ghetto glad wrap lid :lol:
Dont they pay you IT guys ?
Nev

 

[sgtpinky]

Angus, that's excellent. Great way to support the shelf without permanent modification to the fridge.

 

[BottloBill]

Ghetto $4.72 mash tun

Esky from council collection $0.00

Insulation sheeting and joining tape left over from reno at work
$0.00

High temperature conduit from reno at work
0.00

Long shank drum tap pinched from dads camping kit
$0.00

Finally where I broke the bank was the 4 elbows and T piece to join the conduit
$4.72

 

[Mardoo]

Here's my mill stand. It's an old bedside table with a bit of a Franco Cozzo vibe, albeit not white and gold and shiny. It was in terrible shape when I got it (sold to me online as hardwood, actually MDF, but a daughter sold it for her father moving out of the family home after his wife died, so I honoured the sale solely out of sympathy for him). It took a lot of reinforcing (all done with scrap) but it's really grown on me after getting over being pissed off about it being MDF. All up it cost me about $30, including the mill $100. I probably could have done a more normal stand for the same price, but I like things that are a bit more personal.

I have my eye out for a genuine Franco Cozzo for my next one. I'm saving up to have the mill gilded with cherubs I don't mind the hand crank at the moment but I have a breadmaker motor in waiting for when I get tired of cranking away. I'm hoping to mount the motor in the bottom drawer and only have the pulleys showing outside the stand.





I took out the bottom of the top drawer and joined the top and second drawers into one for the hopper. I cannabalized the drawer bottoms from its sister table to join the sides, as well as to reinforce the top so the mill wouldn't pull through the MDF. I found a nearly perfectly fitting plastic tub that fits inside the hopper.





I like to repurpose things and am currently building my workbench from some jarrah stair treads from a convent and an old art deco silky oak mantlepiece. The repurposing comes out of budget constraints, but I always end up really liking the product much more in the end.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Here's my mill stand.

That is the ugliest thing of beauty post on this forum...

 

[Wrayza]

My brew bench is a relatively new lift landing door from work that would have gone to the tip. Sitting on top of the clothes dryer and a similar sized folded horn enclosure. Bit ghetto, looks good though!

 

[Mardoo]

Looks awesome! There's so much cool stuff around for the looking.

 

[Moad]

My brew bench is a relatively new lift landing door from work that would have gone to the tip. Sitting on top of the clothes dryer and a similar sized folded horn enclosure. Bit ghetto, looks good though!

That is an incredibly over engineered 1v. LOVE IT!

Is that top ball valve (in the photo) for whirlpooling or something?

 

[zooesk]

My ghetto mill stand

 

[Wrayza]

Thanks Moad, yep the upper valve is for whirlpooling. I also run it during the boil to keep the valves sterilised and continue running while immersion chilling. Helps the temperature to drop quickly I find.

Kind of hard to see but there is a little sprayer in the handle of the glass lid I can move the line to for mash recirculation too.

 

[Moad]

Very nice mate, starting to plan something similar. Would be interested in some details on your control box too

Sorry if OT

Edit: stupid phone

 

[Wrayza]

Sure mate, happy to share.

I originally drew up a line circuit diagram but then made changes as I wired and stopped following the diagram. Sort of the odd way my brain prefers to work. I should really redraw the whole thing.

The unit controls two heat sticks and allows selection between mash (one stick only controlled by PID via SSR) or boil (both sticks always on regardless of PID output through a relay).

I wanted to be able to move the system anywhere and not be confined to a 15A or 20A GPO. So the unit runs off two regular 10A sockets, these two feeds are electrically separated from each other on the control side. Each feed drives one element and the control won't turn on until both feeds are supplied.

Circuit essentially goes: lockable isolator (energises the two supply relays if both supplies available and arms main on/off switch), main on/off switch (energises volt/amp readout, PID and element power on/off), element power on/off (allows pid to drive a heat stick and boil mode to be selected), mash/boil select (explained earlier) and finally a pump on/off circuit.

The only change I plan to make is from a k type thermocouple to a pt100 sensor, the pid is a little inaccurate for my liking and always requires calibration with a glass thermometer each brewday.

Shoot me a PM if you like, this is probably a bit off topic now. Sorry guys!

 

[Mardoo]

Ha, seems we've left the ghetto

 

[Judanero]

Annnnd we're back in the ghetto..

My mill hopper and collection bin are both excess fermentors.








Run this with an Ozito hammer drill slow as possible.

 

[Yob]

Whilst tooling about in the shed last night, I though I'd upgrade my hopper, the bottle worked great in my old marga and the bucket is better with the MM3, except for the last bit because of the flat bottom on the bucket.. solution?



a bit of padding on the bottle with much loved gaffa tape



Fits like a glove into the bucket



Little bit of builders tape for some artful contrast



BAM!! The lid is just a loose fit but thats all it needs really, good thing is, I can carry it with the handle of the bucket

Used it this morning, 15kg in less than 3 minutes

 

[The Judge]

How did I not know about this glorious thread!?!? So much gold in here.

Thanks Spog. Here is my grain mill stand fashioned out of that useless old broken camping chair that everyone has.

 

[Weizguy]

Ghetto mash paddle. Budget chopping board from the supermarket that start with a W (2 for $11).
Old broom handle, recycled from being a mop, so it's already had two lives, cut in two.
Add some time and some electricity and a jig saw that I've had for over 15 years.
Just needs some bolts and nuts.

 

[Mardoo]

Man, that is coarse. I think I love it!

 

[BottloBill]

My ghetto curb side pickup bottle rack

 

[Diggs]

I love this thread.