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Tungsten's Basement Build
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote


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Thanks! We think they will really pop when the new lighting goes in and drywall goes up. Not that I know of - it seemed to require a certain level of know-how. The process was:

1. Grind the surface/open pores
2. Put down sealant
3. Put down base coat
4. Put down decorative coat/swirl
5. Apply clear top coat

That was the amount of days it took too.

Rustoleum makes a similar product that you could DIY called RockSolid but it seems to have mixed reviews. I wouldn’t try it personally but someone more handy might .
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished electrical wiring in the basement yesterday. The 50a circuit worked perfectly, tested correctly when testing the GFI functionality (ie it didn't work), and the other breakers for the basement were installed too. Still need to verify each of the receptacles on those circuits but I'm not concerned as I have wired tons of these circuits before.

Current timing: drywall and paint in August, hoping for the inaugural brew in September!

(Sorry, no pictures right now, but will take some when I have a chance)
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not the best lighting, but here's the progress with all studs, electrical (except recessed lights), and plumbing. Things are picking up speed...

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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm considering "mounting" (aka securing) the pumps to the stand with neodymium magnets placed underneath the bottom shelf of the brew stand. What I didn't think of is, will the magnets interfere with the pumps' operation? They are magnetic drive, after all (but I know very little about the physics behind how it works).

Thoughts?
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Drywaller making progress!

I still have my question about magnets holding in place the magnetic drive pumps - anyone have any ideas?





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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tungsten wrote:
I still have my question about magnets holding in place the magnetic drive pumps - anyone have any ideas?

Would probably depend on how close they are, how strong they are. I don't think there's a black and white answer. You can try it and see what happens.

Nice progress!

Kal

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My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Kal. They're very strong, but through the bottom of the shelf so they're not that strong where the pump is.

The panel is alive!

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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 12:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Question!

When wiring the Element On lights (220V), I didn't check the instructions and wired it "free hand," so to speak. The wiring is like this:

Hot A (black): Hot bus > one side of the 3-way switch (NO) > light and mechanical relay
Hot B (red): Mechanical relay > breaker (in place of a breaker) > light and element receptacle

I realized after that the instructions call for the Hot A line to be wired the same as Hot B (wiring to the light doesn't happen until after the relay & breaker). I'm thinking there's no difference in functionality based on how I wired it, but is there?
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 1:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not entirely sure about your panel as it appears different, but on my standard 30A panel the ELEMENT ON lights are across (in parallel) to the two HOT lines attached to the heating element receptacles.

See "How it works" here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/control-panel-part-2?page=13

Good luck!

Kal

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My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the response Kal. The panel is different in that it has an extra element; but the 3-way selector switch and related elements (1 in the HLT and 1 in the BK) is identical.

I know that your instructions wire them in parallel; I just did it a little differently (as described) and was wondering if that would negatively impact anything at all before I ripped out the existing wiring.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you post a schematic of your build that shows everything? That’s the only way to be sure that comments would be relevant.

Kal

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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2018 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's the relevant schematic. Orange and green in the schematic are black, I just made them different colors in this picture so they stand out.

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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Couple updates!

1. After some troubleshooting and fixes (minor leaks and a GFI trip), I brewed for the first time this weekend! Picture below. Everything went well - especially the ventilation which I only installed Saturday. The drips worked perfectly through the drip hole of the fan, as intended, and a couple spots where I need more tape, but that's an easy fix. The fan conveniently drips right into the sink, which is great.

2. To answer the last question I posted: yes you can wire the element lights that way, but it won't have the intended affect (the light will be on whenever the elements switches are engaged regardless of when the SSR allows the circuit to close). This wasn't a showstopper but I'll fix the light wiring in the future.

3. The amp meter didn't work Sad . I'll check my wiring on it, but I'm getting 5 vDC at the power supplies and at the meter so I'm thinking that it at least should have turned on regardless of the shunt wiring, right? Would the meter blow if one of those connections was off, somehow? In the grand scheme of things, it didn't gate my brew, so not a huge deal.

4. Boil-off was much greater than I was used to, but I expected that and brewed anyway so I know how short I'd be. Where I normally start with 8 gallons and end up with 5.5, this time I started with 8.25 gallons and ended with about 4.5. Pretty much right what I had guessed, but now I know exactly what my equipment profile needs to be.

Brewing is much better when everything is in a few steps.

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dtapke




Joined: 26 Oct 2018
Posts: 12
Location: Portage, Wisconsin


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 6:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did you change your boil control to Auto after achieving a boil? I use 30g kettles and a blichmann boilermaker coil and I only get about 1.3g per hour boil off.
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Draft: Electric hop candy Jr, Milk Stout
Fermenting: Tripppel
Next brew up: Dopplebock
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dtapke wrote:
Did you change your boil control to Auto after achieving a boil? I use 30g kettles and a blichmann boilermaker coil and I only get about 1.3g per hour boil off.

Hi and welcome to the forum!

You can't boil using AUTO mode (temperature control) as the boil will either be on or off. There's no way to control the vigorousness. For example, say wort boils at 212F where you live. Setting it to 211 will turn the element off completely once it goes above 211. It will sit there until it cools off, and then heat up to 212F again. Setting it to 213F and it'll never reach that as it can't, so you're boiling with 100% power (element on 100% of the time). Set it to 212F and it'll probably turn on and off someone randomly as it tries to maintain. It may be on 100% for a minute or so, then go off completely for another minute and cool off before coming back on. That's not what we want/doesn't work.

You want to run a boil kettle PID in MANUAL mode so that it's on for a percentage of time for every second or two. Example: Set it to 50% and then it goes on for 1 second and off for 1 second.

I use 20G kettles to brew 11-12 gallons (post boil) and run my boil kettle in MANUAL at 100% until it gets to boil then turn it down to 85%.

I set the PID to alarm at 208F so it warns me as I'm getting to boil. If I know I'm running around the house doing other things, I will use AUTO mode and actually set the PID to 208F too. This way it gets to 208F and holds without going over and causing a boilover mess, and the alarm sounds. I then switch to manual and keep going.

More info: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/boil-kettle?page=4

Cheers!

Kal

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dtapke




Joined: 26 Oct 2018
Posts: 12
Location: Portage, Wisconsin


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 8:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do exactly like you outlined, I guess i just wasn't thinking when i typed that! My boil coil runs at 80% and can keep a light rolling boil when doing that, getting my 1.3-1.5 gallons boil off per hour in 32g SS brewtech kettle.

long and short of it, 4.25 gallons of boil off seems WAY excessive!

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Draft: Electric hop candy Jr, Milk Stout
Fermenting: Tripppel
Next brew up: Dopplebock
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dtapke wrote:
long and short of it, 4.25 gallons of boil off seems WAY excessive!

Tungsten mentioned he went from 8.25 to about 4.5 gallons, so 3.75 gallons boil off. Still high if he was only boiling for an hour. I do 1.9 gallons/hour myself.

Kal

_________________
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We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
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Ozarks Mountain Brew




Joined: 22 May 2013
Posts: 737
Location: The Ozark Mountains of Missouri


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

my boil off is 3 gallons in 90 minutes but I have a wide 25 gallon pot
edit: and my humidity is very high here I'm sure that doesn't help

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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ozarks Mountain Brew wrote:
my boil off is 3 gallons in 90 minutes but I have a wide 25 gallon pot
edit: and my humidity is very high here I'm sure that doesn't help

That's about the same as me. I do 1.9 gallons in 60 mins. So that's 2.85 in 90 mins.

Kal

_________________
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We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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JMD887




Joined: 31 Jan 2018
Posts: 120
Location: Akron, Ohio

Drinking: Two Hearted Ale

Working on: American Red IPA


PostLink    Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tungsten- not sure how its taken me this long to read your thread.... Totally Loving the floors, looks great with all the stainless steel!

Nice work!
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