Users Of Immersion Heaters.

[Dave70]

My knowledge of this stuff is basically zero, so here we go.

Can you do a full boil with these things things or are you just using them to heat up the strike / sparge water and gas for the main boil?

(If they do) - how long do they take to bring up say 30 + L up to the boil?

Where did you get yours?

Has anybody estimated the power usage compared to LPG? - sounds anal, but with the soaring cost of power - well you know..

Can you use them in a stainless kettle without fear of electrocution or must I throw the hops in from a distance?

Can you just plonk them in different sized pots, or do you have to heat all the water in the boil kettle and drain it from there?

Are they thermostatically controlled?


cheers

 

[jimi]

My knowledge of this stuff is basically zero, so here we go.

Can you do a full boil with these things things or are you just using them to heat up the strike / sparge water and gas for the main boil?

My immersion element has been has been a key part to my rig since going AG 5 yr ago. It did all the HLT work before I got an old urn (it still helps the old urn get up to temp quicker). Once I'm sparging and a few litres have run off (your immersion element should always have it's 'coils' + some, covered when running) I put it in the kettle to start raining the temp. Once the sparge is over my immersion element and my simple 3 ring together bring the 30ltrs to boil in probably less than 10mins.

(If they do) - how long do they take to bring up say 30 + L up to the boil?

I used mine to boil mini batches of around 18ltrs (boil volume) before going to larger volumes. The one I have wouldn't make a full 30ltr volume boil. When I ran out of gas once it maintained a 'simmer' in a vol of around 25ltrs but it the boil intensity I'd be happy with.

Where did you get yours?

One of the sponsors - really can't remember which

Has anybody estimated the power usage compared to LPG? - sounds anal, but with the soaring cost of power - well you know..

I reckon there was a thread comparing electric to gas. From memory, while gas is obviously cheaper the electric is far more efficient (depended a bit on base size of kettle too). Since the element is in the wort it can heat more effectively than heat being lost to the outside environment like gas.

Can you use them in a stainless kettle without fear of electrocution or must I throw the hops in from a distance?

I was a little fearful of mine at first. something about putting it in water, plugging it in and turning it on, that doesn't feel natural. But as I live and breath it's safe. I used mine in SS & al pots

Can you just plonk them in different sized pots, or do you have to heat all the water in the boil kettle and drain it from there?

Can use them in any size pot. Don't have to boil the water, just turn of at powerpoint and remove. They don't recommend taking them from boil temp to cold temp to quick (put in cold water). So I leave mine in the heated water turned off for a few mins before removing and putting to use elsewhere.

Are they thermostatically controlled?

No, but a smarty pants could probably sort this out with another MM temp/probe set up.

Anyway I love mine and it has served me well, it speeds up my boils, saves me buying a more elaborate burner so I can works with a simple and cheap 3 ring and conventional regulator and still get full vol wort to boil quick, and my gas bottle goes further. It's been a good investment for me, I figure
cheers

cheers

see italics - apparently I couldn't get the font color to work for me

 

[A3k]

Hi Dave,
I got one from Beerbelly. I've only used it twice, and it's great.
I was gonna just get a kettle an drill into the side of my keg, but decided this would be much more versatile.

I use it to help get me to boil quicker. (Still use gas)
I also use it to maintain the sparge.

I've got mine directly connected to an RCD, so i'm not worried about shock.

BUT, i wouldn't rely solely on one of these to brew, would take ages (and i do big batches). If you had two, maybe, but you'd wanna make sure you either use different circuits at your house, or your circuit is rated to 20A.

 

[vic45]

I use an "over the side" Immersion heater to speed things up.

It will boil 30 litres of sparge water during a 60 min. mash and will give you a strong boil, much stronger than my three ring burner.

I've used mine in my Keggle and plastic buckets with no problems

You can also use them for step mashes if you stir constantly as long as there is no rice hulls in the grain bed.
Rice hulls stick to the exposed element and it scorches the mash and burns out.

 

[raven19]

One of the most useful and universal pieces of my brewery.

Get one, then save for another as you will want 2.

No issue with electrification if looked after. I use an old one that was my grandfathers back in the day. Still works a treat to this day. :icon_cheers:

 

[raven19]

50 Yr old element on the right. I use it to get the wort up to the boil, then remove it as my 15A one on the left provides a good rolling boil.

 

[MaltyHops]

...
(If they do) - how long do they take to bring up say 30 + L up to the boil?
...
Can you use them in a stainless kettle without fear of electrocution or must I throw the hops in from a distance?
...
cheers

I posted a calc of boiling 45L of water starting at 20C to 100C here, taking nearly 2 hours.
Using a more powerful heater (eg. 2.4kW) and only 30L of water would probably take about
1.5 hours.

Use with a an RCD safety switch device together with the RCD safety switch that ought to
have been installed in your power supply. Also check for any signs of cracking (which is not
good :huh in the heater coil - most usually consist of a conductor that heats up, surrounded
by Mineral Insulated Metal Sheath (MIMS) hence cracking would not be a good sign.

 

[manticle]

My knowledge of this stuff is basically zero, so here we go.

Can you do a full boil with these things things or are you just using them to heat up the strike / sparge water and gas for the main boil? (If they do) - how long do they take to bring up say 30 + L up to the boil?

Mine is 2400 W. It takes a bit more time than my 4-ring burner to get to the boil - once there it holds it at a good rolling boil without being stupid or in danger of boilover. My boils are around 30-34 L preboil. I boil in a 50L keggle and sometimes use it while draining the kettle so that when it gets on the gas, it's less waiting time. If you have both you can just use it to accelerate and use less gas. I also use it for HLT, when I run out of gas and when it's raining and I'm trying to stay under cover.

I've never timed the length needed to get to a boil though. Maybe an hour? depends on sparge time and how cold the wort gets while draining.

Where did you get yours?

Grain and grape - http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product_in...roducts_id=8227 Don't be tempted by the **** ebay ones just because they are cheap.

........ estimated the power usage compared to LPG? - sounds anal, but with the soaring cost of power - well you know..

No. One day I might try. Might get too complicated for me though.

Can you use them in a stainless kettle without fear of electrocution or must I throw the hops in from a distance?

Mine - yes you can, no issue. Aforementioned cheap **** chinese ones NO YOU CANNOT. Personal experience as well as reading descriptions from the ebay versions (which specifically recommend against using in metal containers).

Can you just plonk them in different sized pots, or do you have to heat all the water in the boil kettle and drain it from there?

Not sure what you mean. I go from my 38L HLT to my 50 L keggle with no issue. They have a minimum and maximum dipping point and need to be turned off when not submerged in liquid.

Are they thermostatically controlled?

No. One reason why i still like gas but both have their place in my brewery. Gas isn't theromstatically controlled as such but I can turn it up or down. Immersion is just the one temp.

Unless you mean will it turn off if wort gets too hot? How much beyond 100 degrees C can wort get? Certainly mine doesn't seem to cut out at any point and I can't set temp on it.


Hope that helps.

 

[haysie]

Great post Manticle, you just forgot to mention dont buy the chinese version on AHB

 

[manticle]

I guess I mean don't buy it anywhere, ever.

Spend the extra, get a good one, stay alive.