Your Hlt.

[yardy]

guys and gals,

looking through the 'Brewstand' pics yesterday for some more ideas and i noticed there was differing opinions on the way to power a HLT, i'm aware it comes down to the individual but as i'm building this thing from scratch i'm trying to get all the slants on all the gear.

i'd appreciate any opinion/ideas of those who have had a win/loss with either Gas or 240.

cheers

yard

 

[T.D.]

I am an electric HLT man. It has plenty of advantages, probably the main ones being convenience and the possibility of including a thermostat to keep temps at the required level. I know you can do this with gas as well but its MUCH more complicated.

The main downside is that dealing with 240 volts and water can be dangerous. Installing an electric element yourself might be a bit dicey unless you know what you are doing. I just bit the bullet and bought a 30L Roband urn. It wasn't particularly cheap but the thing is built like a tank. In my opinion well worth the dollars. It also has a thermostat built in and was built professionally.

 

[sluggerdog]

I'm electric too, was going to install a kettle element but ended up simply using my immersion heater and this does the job for me, one day I might upgrade it but I'm not in any rush to do so.

 

[Hogan]

Started off with gas in my HLT and then installed a 2400 Tobins element. That brings me to a boil in reasonable time and I can suppliment that with a 2400 immersion heater if I need to bring the temp up fast between sparges.


Cheers, Hoges.

 

[quincy]

I also use the old 240 volts. The main reason was that I was lucky enough to get an electric urn at the right price ( read free!).

I have made up a very simple thermostat to control temp.

I normally brew early in the morning - so I plug the urn into an $8 timer that kicks in around 6:00am which allows an extra hours sleep.

For me (being relatively tool challenged) - two big advantages over gas.

Cheers

Q

 

[Justin]

I'm electric in the HLT as well, gas in the kettle. The electric HLT is very nice but it also has a bonus.

If you run out of gas half way through the boil you can transfer your wort to the HLT to finish the boil (Yes, I have run out of gas mid boil at 10pm at night-my back up bottle on the BBQ ran out too damn it :rolleys. Anyway, just saying it's a nice option to have an electric back up and vice versa, have gas there if the power goes out.

If I take my brewery on the road and don't have an electricty supply I can heat water in my gas kettle and transfer it to the HLT, if I run out of gas I can boil with electricity. It's nice to have these options.

One thing to consider though is a hand held element. You can get them in 2400W, this gives you heaps of flexibility and makes for a very easy electric (and gas) HLT with no construction issues. That way you can still have a gas HLT with an easy electric option. Plus you can use the hand held element in all the other vessels (bump up mash temps; throw it in the kettle while the gas is on as well to help speed up time to boil). It's been one of the best brewery purchases I've made.

They cost around $70 from Tobins (www.tobins.com.au) but I know others have sourced them from other locations. Grain and Grape have them but they are $120, maybe Stokes would have them too.

 

[yardy]

that's the bewdy of this site, almost instant info

Justin,
some very good points, cheers.

Hogan,
how long roughly to bring to boil and was the installation much of a hassle, sealing etc ?

TD,
any chance of a pic of that Urn ?

thanks to you other blokes that replied as well.

cheers

yard

 

[bindi]

Started off with gas in my HLT and then installed a 2400 Tobins element. That brings me to a boil in reasonable time and I can suppliment that with a 2400 immersion heater if I need to bring the temp up fast between sparges.


Cheers, Hoges.

Ditto to the above, this is what I do, the immersion heater was the best buy IMO when I started serious AG brewing.

 

[tangent]

my HLT is also my kettle
i use full gas and wait until my temp probe starts to beep, then flame out and dough in.
It's a bit of double handling but it'll do until I can get a new urn.

 

[yardy]

bindi,

any trouble with the install of the element ?

maybe a pic ?

cheers

yard

 

[kirem]

I use a 3.6kW element. It is quite long and is fitted vertically into the bottom of a keg.

I switch it using an zero crossing SSR controlled via PID controller (with the P turned off).
The controller cost $30, SSR $33 and element approx $70.

I will also add a stirrer down the track. I was thinking of a submersable aquarium pump to move the water around, but I am not confident of finding one that will cope with 80 degC.

Kirk

 

[Hogan]

that's the bewdy of this site, almost instant info

Hogan,
how long roughly to bring to boil and was the installation much of a hassle, sealing etc ?


cheers

yard

Yardy - using the one element takes me about 30 minutes to get 35 lts up to 80c. Half that time if I also whacked in the immersion element.

No hassle with install. Straight weldless fitting - element is threaded so just drill hole add washer plus nut. I made sure it was earthed correctly and also linked it to an earth leakage cutoff - then had a sparky mate check it to make sure it was OK.

Cheers, Hoges.

 

[yardy]

that's the bewdy of this site, almost instant info

Hogan,
how long roughly to bring to boil and was the installation much of a hassle, sealing etc ?


cheers

yard

Yardy - using the one element takes me about 30 minutes to get 35 lts up to 80c. Half that time if I also whacked in the immersion element.

No hassle with install. Straight weldless fitting - element is threaded so just drill hole add washer plus nut. I made sure it was earthed correctly and also linked it to an earth leakage cutoff - then had a sparky mate check it to make sure it was OK.

Cheers, Hoges.

Thanks Hoges, just what i wanted to hear.

got a sparky that can check it out for me also.

cheers

yard


EDIT: btw, is yours the2400W 2" BSP H/W Element found here ?

cheers

 

[Justin]

Yep, it's not a bad idea to used a Residual Current Device if your using those hand held elements and have elements installed in your kettles.

Just make sure you have the elements earthed to the vessels and it should trip the RCD if bad things happen. :blink:

FWIW I think new house have to have an RCD installed on the main switchboard anyway so most people may already have one, but on older houses it's worth getting a plug in assembly like the one below just to cover yourself.

This one cost me $20 from Bunnings. Cheap insurance IMO.

 

[T.D.]

TD,
any chance of a pic of that Urn ?

Yardy, I don't have a pic of my setup here at work, but have a look here to see a pic and some info on the urn.

 

[yardy]

thanks T.D.

 

[Hogan]

EDIT: btw, is yours the2400W 2" BSP H/W Element found here ?

cheers

Yardy..

No I got the 1.25" - a little shorter shaft than the 2" but cheaper also - and it does the job just as well.


Cheers, Hoges.

 

[yardy]

thanks bloke, appreciate that.

 

[Jazzafish]

For my HLT I use my coopers fermenter and a hand held element. The Coopers Fermenter has a scale on the side to show how many litres I have in it. I plug the element into a digital thermostat so I can set the desired temperature.

Being a morning brewer, I set up the night before so I use a cheap electric timer to turn the thermostat/element on and heat the water an hour before mash o'clock. That way I stumble out of bed, mash in, then back to bed with the Mrs for the mash duration

Big advantage of electric HLT that many AHBers have previously mentioned. Just posting to say I'm in that school.

I have a gas burner to boil the wort, but I can also use the element to get it boiling quicker if I like.

 

[Linz]

I've got a 30lt urn(240v) for a HLT.....

a 10lt urn with a copper coil for a heat exchanger

and a 3 ring gas burner under the boiler..