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kal
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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 Apr 20, 2023 9:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


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Hi Marc,

Really depends on how you want to do things. There's no "one" right way. You'll usually use garden hose fittings on the water sides (both in and out) but you don't have to. Depends on how you have things plumbed.

Then on the wort side, depends on whether you want to go TC all the way which means you'd not have QDs (only TC). Usually when people want to go TC it's because they want sanitary all the way (no threads). I.e. Mixing threaded connections with TC kind of defeats the purpose of TC. Now that said, I've never found there to be much point in TC on any of the hot side of the brew day as everything will be boiled anyway. Exception may be the wort chiller output: It's the only place where temps are lower.

Marc wrote:
... the TC wort out is the only real modified connection. Is the T ok to be directly threaded to the TC male?

Sorry, I'm not understanding what you're wanting to do. You're using a TC tee? Got a diagram of what you're planning?

Kal

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Marc




Joined: 15 Mar 2023
Posts: 28
Location: Upstate New York


PostLink    Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2023 12:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry, it's one of those times when I'm working a problem and I forget you weren't there from the beginning of my thought process. I assumed you knew what I was thinking... Smile

The copper chiller isn't available and the SS one you have listed doesn't have a purchase option which I'm assuming means it's out of stock, so I sourced one from More Beer. It's the same one that you have listed that has the soldered TC wort flanges. This particular model just happens to have TC so I'm simply working around it to get back to the original design. No big deal on my end.

Marc

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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 Apr 21, 2023 12:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Marc,

I understood that you're using a CFC with TC fittings in some of the spots, but the questions I posted above still stand. Do you have a diagram of what you're planning? I don't understand your "Is the T ok to be directly threaded to the TC male?" question. Sorry!

Kal

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Marc




Joined: 15 Mar 2023
Posts: 28
Location: Upstate New York


PostLink    Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2023 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, ok.

I don't have a diagram, however it is the connection between the wort out and the T fitting with the male QD and the thermometer. After looking at the picture on page 4 of the wort chiller assembly I was just trying to verify the connection of a male 1/2" NPT TC to the SS T fitting. It seems pretty straight forward now as I think about it today. trying to explain it seems to be making it worse. I need to do more thinking before i write.

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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 Apr 21, 2023 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No worries! Happy building.

Kal

_________________
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Marc




Joined: 15 Mar 2023
Posts: 28
Location: Upstate New York


PostLink    Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok, pulled the trigger. I think I have everything accounted for. We'll see...


Marc

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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: Mon Apr 24, 2023 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for your order Marc - it's appreciated!

I know I've said it before, if you have any questions at all as you work through your setup please don’t hesitate to ask. We’re here to help. We support our products and customers for life in all facets of brewing (from grain to glass). Feel free to ask here or email me at kal@TheElectricBrewery.com. Whatever works for you.

If you have any social media accounts where you’ll be sharing yours build or future brew days please let me know and we’ll follow as we’d love to share some of your progress.

Cheers!

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
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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Marc




Joined: 15 Mar 2023
Posts: 28
Location: Upstate New York


PostLink    Posted: Thu May 04, 2023 3:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Components and parts coming in... Going from 10 gal brew kettles to 20 gal is a big bump. WOW!

Don't obsess, wait until everything comes in to start any assembly, or (God forbid) any cutting!! Except running a new 240V line and receptacle to the brewing area.

Just inventorying and making sure everything is what we ordered. Keeping my functional OCD under control.

Marc

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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 May 04, 2023 4:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Marc wrote:
Don't obsess, wait until everything comes in to start any assembly, or (God forbid) any cutting!!

+100

Before punching a kettle, always have all the parts first and do a dry fit test!

Kal

_________________
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Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
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Marc




Joined: 15 Mar 2023
Posts: 28
Location: Upstate New York


PostLink    Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a quick note. I know everyone has experienced this, but this is my latest iteration:
When you are neck deep in a project and you have everything tenuously held together in your head and on paper, you have those well meaning friends who show up with that old stainless steel restaurant kitchen table they got at an auction somewhere for $50.00 bucks and it looks like it was used for human sacrifices at some point. "You can use it for a work table for your pots!" It's about 48" high 24" long and some weird custom shelving that is welded. I find that saying "Thanks so much for thinking of us, but we have it covered." Smile, shake their hand and because they hauled the thing all the way over to your house you accept it anyways and assure them you can use it somewhere for something. It's in my buddy's garage.

The other delightful thing is the "advise" people who think they know what they are talking about give you for free. "Oh, you should have gotten this other thing for a lot cheaper and done it this way." ...

Smile and wave boys, smile and wave.


Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

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Marc




Joined: 15 Mar 2023
Posts: 28
Location: Upstate New York


PostLink    Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok, so the heating elements and temp probes have come in. Kal, are you guys building these components to survive the apocalypse?? I haven't seen hardened and ruggedized equipment like this since i was in the military.

Marc

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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: Sun May 07, 2023 9:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Marc wrote:
Ok, so the heating elements and temp probes have come in. Kal, are you guys building these components to survive the apocalypse?? I haven't seen hardened and ruggedized equipment like this since i was in the military.

Ha! We build them to survive big burly brewer hands / feet / etc. Especially after they've had a beer or two. Wink

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
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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Marc




Joined: 15 Mar 2023
Posts: 28
Location: Upstate New York


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The majority of the build is done and we're just waiting on the control panel. No worries as I know there are parts on back order and we're not planning on another brew for at least a month.
Everything went well, with the odd skinned knuckle and expletive here and there just to encourage inanimate objects... Your very clear step by step instructions were dead nuts on so confusion was relatively nonexistent. There were only 2 things that had me scratching my head for a few minutes before continuing.

1.) Our HERMS coil was a tad large both in height and diameter, so it simply needed a bit of modification by cutting about 1" off the ends going into the compression fittings. After that the coil was centered nicely in the HLT with about 1/4" clearance from the sides. The height issue could have been mitigated somewhat by compressing the coil vertically, but that would have all the coils touching the ones above and below which I thought might affect efficiency.

Side question: would that really even matter in this system?

The compromise height came out to be 12" as measured from the compression fittings which put the bottom coil about 1" from the heating element. This put the top of the HERMS coil at around the 17-gal mark on the sight tube. A bit high, but as we will be brewing 10gal batches, adding a few gallons after mash in won't be a hardship.


2.) Getting any fittings that have a 90-degree component to align where you want them. This is where dry fitting came it real handy. This was accomplished by the appropriate number of teflon tape wraps.

All in all I got it done by myself in about 7 hours of UNINTERRUPTED steady enjoyable *me time*.

BTW those weldless connections are the freakin' nuts. This system is built for, as you said, burly brewers after they've been sampling their work...

Marc

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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 Jun 01, 2023 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Marc wrote:
1.) Our HERMS coil was a tad large both in height and diameter, so it simply needed a bit of modification by cutting about 1" off the ends going into the compression fittings.

That's all normal. From the order page:

"The ends of the coil extend approximately 2" past the diameter to allow the user to cut to the exact length they need as every kettle will be slightly different. Cut the ends using a hacksaw and file the edges smooth with a metal file so that there are no burrs. If you want to get a nice clean cut, use a stainless steel tubing cutter instead as it will create a perfect cut without burrs."

Quote:
The height issue could have been mitigated somewhat by compressing the coil vertically, but that would have all the coils touching the ones above and below which I thought might affect efficiency.

Nah, that would be fine.

Quote:
2.) Getting any fittings that have a 90-degree component to align where you want them. This is where dry fitting came it real handy. This was accomplished by the appropriate number of teflon tape wraps.


In most cases you can hold the item you want positioned in a particular way in the right location and turn the other thing attaching to it as it's often just a nipple or coupler (no orientation) so where it "lands" doesn't matter.

Exception is the 90 degree elbow on the pump outputs but you can always get in an extra turn in if you're using your recommended pumps with stainless heads (they won't break like the plastic/polysulfone housings). Same with the HLT water input.

Quote:
BTW those weldless connections are the freakin' nuts. This system is built for, as you said, burly brewers after they've been sampling their work...

Yup. They're completely solid. Exactly how Blichmann attaches fittings to their kettles like the ball valves and more.

Cheers!

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
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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View user's photo album (21 photos)
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