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Spike Innovations TheElectricBrewery.com manufacturer
Joined: 26 Feb 2011 Posts: 245 Location: ME
Working on: Your Brewery!
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Link Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:15 pm Post subject: Introducing our manufacturer |
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Hello Everyone!
I wanted to formally introduce myself to the forum after stalking it for nearly the last two months .
My name is Mike, I live in CT, and I am ecstatic to be Kal's US manufacturer of The Electric Brewery systems! Over the last month I have been working closely with Kal to build my own, production-ized version of his control panel to be able to sell through this website. I am proud to say that we are nearing completion of all our preliminary planning and setup.
I hope to stay closely involved in this forum not only for support alongside Kal, but for advice and even the chance to learn even more! Please stay tuned for news on product releases, and feel free to ask any questions at all.
UPDATE: Products are now available for order.
See: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/products
Cheers!
Mike
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Link Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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After many weeks (months?) of interviewing and talking to potential partners, I'm really excited to get Mike on board here helping us build and sell our Electric Brewery setups and components!
Individual parts, DIY kits, and complete setups will be offered, all built to our exacting standards. We intend to offer it all, from pre-built control panels, to control panel kits, to hard to find individual parts (like those from McMaster-Carr and custom heat sinks).
Mike's nearing completion of a prototype control panel and I have to say, his attention to detail puts mine to shame! Mike comes with an extensive background in materials, manufacturing, and electrical experience, which is why I put him at the top of the list of candidates. Mike's also a home brewer of course!
I probably shouldn't be doing this, but I can't help resist showing off some of Mike's work on his prototype (not entirely complete) control panel:
Custom anodized heat sink built specifically for our setup:
Check out how cleanly installed and perfectly aligned the components are:
Clean wiring (puts mine to shame!):
Temp probes:
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
Last edited by kal on Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:35 pm; edited 5 times in total
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JP
Joined: 12 Jan 2011 Posts: 41 Location: K Town South Of Ottawa
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Link Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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Welcome to the forum Mike!
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Castermmt
Joined: 03 Jan 2011 Posts: 863 Location: Lowell, In
Drinking: Steelhead Porter, Alt-Toids, Hefty-Weizen, Terry's Kolsch, African Amber, Pumpkin Ale, Double Dog Ale
Working on: Janet's Brown Ale, Terry's Kolsch, Pilsner
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Link Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, looks very nice. Now I need to redo mine
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milldoggy
Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Posts: 569 Location: Pottstown, PA
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Link Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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Mine looks ugly now
Very nice, that is some nice work.
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crush
Joined: 28 Dec 2010 Posts: 706 Location: Telemark, Norway
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Link Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:27 pm Post subject: |
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Was this built by hand, or is there some magic to getting the exact alignment?
_________________ ...just one more.
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coffeediver
Joined: 18 Dec 2010 Posts: 174 Location: Kiowa CO.
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Link Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:26 am Post subject: |
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Looks good.
Barry
_________________ All beer is good, the one you are drinking may not be your favorite. Enjoy it for what it is and move on.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Link Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:46 am Post subject: |
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crush wrote: | Was this built by hand, or is there some magic to getting the exact alignment? |
This prototype was custom built by hand. Mike's extremely good with tools and this sort of work. His attention to detail shows. He's as anal as I am about this stuff.
The production versions will likely be punched with a CNC machine, not to make it better but to cut down on the amount of labour involved. Those of you that have done this know that punching holes by hand is extremely labour intensive.
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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Spike Innovations TheElectricBrewery.com manufacturer
Joined: 26 Feb 2011 Posts: 245 Location: ME
Working on: Your Brewery!
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Link Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:25 am Post subject: |
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crush wrote: | Was this built by hand, or is there some magic to getting the exact alignment? |
Yes, this one was done by entirely by hand with some help with a drill press. Simply used Kal's method, although I only drilled pilot holes for all 22mm devices and used a GreenLee Punch to get those exact. Everything else was all jigsaw.
As Kal said, I hope to do all future runs on a CNC machine simply to cut down on the labor involved and have the cuts exactly where they need to be. That way there is no need to constantly fiddle with parts as they are secured to the panel.
The magic is simply being extremely careful and methodical in regards to making your cuts. Measure twice, cut once!
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rgrrbt
Joined: 08 Jan 2011 Posts: 13
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Link Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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Welcome to the forum Mike. What ac dc rectifiers are you using?
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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Link Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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They're 5 volt DC power supplies that have been slightly modified. Matching them with the meters is important, which is one reason why I recommend using the variable DC supplies per my build if you build your own from scratch. It gives you flexibility to not have to use the exact right meters. When you build the whole thing yourself from scratch as Mike is doing and are careful with sourcing parts that match, you can take a few 'shortcuts'.
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
Last edited by kal on Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:32 pm; edited 1 time in total
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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milldoggy
Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Posts: 569 Location: Pottstown, PA
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Link Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:13 am Post subject: |
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Again, makes mine look like Cr@p, h8u mike, in a jealous way.
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milldoggy
Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Posts: 569 Location: Pottstown, PA
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Link Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:15 am Post subject: |
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Btw, can we ask were those switches are from, the gray backing looks different than the switches us home builders are using.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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milldoggy
Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Posts: 569 Location: Pottstown, PA
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Link Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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Ok, thanks
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crush
Joined: 28 Dec 2010 Posts: 706 Location: Telemark, Norway
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Link Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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I nearly bought the other switches too with plastic contactors. electric parts/pioneer breaker list the switches Kal uses as "telemechanique", and didn't come up in my first few searches for switches, so easy to miss.
edit: it's "telemecanique" without the h.
_________________ ...just one more.
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doc62
Joined: 30 Aug 2011 Posts: 5 Location: Missouri
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Link Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject: Control Panel DIY Kit |
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Got our DIY Control Panel and Temperature Probe kits yesterday! My son and I will be building the brewery together and we're both pretty excited. We will probably take a year to complete the project due to work and financial constraints and thought the panel would be a good starting point. We plan on posting pictures/progress on the forum once we start.
Thanks to Mike at Spike Innovations for making this kit available. He does a great job packaging everything and our shipment arrived via UPS after being unavoidably delayed due to flooding in NJ and PA. Mike obviously pays a lot of attention to detail and hand counts the 1.2 billion small screws and nuts! Hats off Mike, because you couldn't pay me enough to fill those little bags! We decided to get the kits after pricing all the individual materials separately. After shipping and handling charges, time spent ordering, and almost surely, returns on incorrectly ordered items, it was easier to get the kit from Mike.
Thanks again Mike, and Kal!
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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KES
Joined: 13 May 2011 Posts: 472 Location: Iowa
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Link Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:19 pm Post subject: |
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Good luck, doc62 and son. I believe you both will find the build rewarding.
_________________ “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” B. Franklin
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