Presenting The Wilburcurtis Ru300

[parktho]

G'day,

I was at the recycling centre near the dump the other day trying to find a fridge for use as an incubator when I stumbled across an WilburCurtis RU300 Automatic Coffee Urn which I paid $40 for. I've included the Service Manual and the Product Information Sheet. Basic jist of the system is this:

• Two 15 litre reservoirs with taps. The taps are set right at the bottom of the reservoir so that every last drop drains out.
• The reservoirs sit in watertight inner chamber in which the 9000W, 29A heating element is installed.
• A third tap which lets water out from the inner chamber.
• A thermostat which can be set to hold the water at drinking temperature (not specified) or to boil.
• A thermometer on the front of the water which is unscaled!
• A water pump which pumps water from the inner chamber through a copper pipe which is immersed in the inner chamber and up through a tap complete with a 'shower head', and is used to fill the reservoirs.
• The pump is controlled by a timer called 'Brew Time' which can operate for up to 8 minutes.
• A water inlet which is plumbed into the mains and controlled by a valve which turns on and off keeping the water level at a the height of a sensor in the inner chamber.

As the unit was from the dump, it is quite old! Here is what I have noticed:

• There is a shit load of limescale on the inner chamber. I am frantically scrubbing away at this with descaler and it is slowly coming away, although not easily. Someone in the past has also had a go at it, but only half-finished their job.
• The valve controlling the water inlet has been replaced by some third party contraption. I haven't tested it yet by plumbing it in, but I can here it clicking open and shut.

Most importantly, it appears to still work! I've wired the end of an old extension lead in, plugged it in and it appears to work. The pump worked fine. However, engaging the heating element just blows the fuse at home - too much current! I'm thinking I'll get my electrician friend to put in a larger amperage circuit for me at home.

What I'm looking for is ideas on how to turn this into my first AG setup!

• As the reservoirs are immersed in a large quantity of temperature-controlled water, it should be able to hold at a nice stable temperature. I could replace the thermostat with something like the Tempmate to allow more accurate temperature control.
• The inner chamber can act as a HWT. As both reservoirs are controlled by a single element, I can't really use one reservoir as a LT and the other as a kettle. Unless I modify it quite a bit to have two inner chambers and two heating elements, it will basically be a simultaneous dual-AG setup. 15L doesn't allow much wort to be made, so two batches would probably be necessary anyway. I'll probably use a brew-in-a-bag technique, as a false bottom won't allow me to get rid of the grain easily for the boil.
• The pump could be adapted to cycle wort over the grain bed (HERMS?), or as the whole setup should be fairly temperature stable it could simply be used for sparging.

I'll work on pictures later.

Comments and suggestions please!

View attachment Wilbur_RU300_Service_Manual.pdf

View attachment WilburCurtis_RU300_Product_Information_Sheet.pdf

 

[Flash_DG]

There is a shit load of limescale on the inner chamber. I am frantically scrubbing away at this with descaler and it is slowly coming away, although not easily. Someone in the past has also had a go at it, but only half-finished their job

have you tried any CLR on the lime scale? I use it in our kettle and it gets it off no worries.

 

[Bribie G]

Wort circulation was the first thing I thought about using the pump. Mate that's an awesome looking hunk of equipment, how much do they cost new? Can't you get descaler for kettles and irons - maybe from a catering supplier?
Yup I'd do a twin bag BIAB setup to obtain one full batch. However how would you get a rolling boil going for the hops? If you can't do a reasonable boil then you really just have an electric mash tun. If the water in the inner chamber boils I wonder if that would get the water in the two pots boiling or not. If it does, then you're home and hosed. 9000w is one heap of power compared to 2400w urns

Are the inner pots fixed or removable? With a sort of HERMS / RIMS capability, and with the two pots being fairly compact compared to a single big pot I'd be tempted to try and get a couple of snug fitting perforated metal 'baskets' to hold the grain and make a sort of "Brewmeister" machine.

Frightening :beerbang: B)


Edit: yes try CLR its a fearsome cleaner

 

[parktho]

Well, on a US wholesaler's website, it's selling for US$2149.95, so it's not cheap. I stand corrected: 3 gallon capacity not 15 L for each reservoir.

Still working on the limescale - now I've got the gurney out. I wanted to give CLR a go, but Bunnings was sold out of the descaler variant when I was there. Apparently engine degreaser does the trick as well.

The thought of a Brewmeister style grain-holder did occur to me (I would kill for one of those things!). Might start of with bags though.

Been flat out at work, but will be chasing an electrician down anyday now.