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Kettle orientation

 
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chrisjpryor




Joined: 28 Sep 2017
Posts: 11



PostLink    Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:07 pm    Post subject: Kettle orientation Reply with quote


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Hi all
I was wondering if there is any reason for having the boil kettle on the left as opposed to the right? Is there any "standard" or "tradition" for a 3 vessel system, or is it purely arbitrary?
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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 Jul 26, 2018 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can go either way. It won’t make a difference. I put my boil kettle on the left as in my original brewery I was forced to put my sink on the left and wanted the boil kettle beside the sink.

We can build control panels or supply kits for either orientation. Just let us know. See: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/collections/control-panels

Cheers!

Kal

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itsnotrequired




Joined: 15 Sep 2015
Posts: 177
Location: central wi


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

a second vote for boil kettle next to sink, very convenient to be able to tip it in there or swing the spray arm over. the boil kettle is the hardest kettle to clean, makes total sense to have it closest to the sink. if you do not have the luxury of a sink and have to, say, drag the kettle outside to wash with a hose, then where it goes doesn't really matter.

with hoses/pumps, any of the kettles can sit anywhere (within reason), provided the hoses are long enough. placing the mash tun in the middle makes for the shortest hoses and creates a 'logical' process flow from R-L (or L-R).
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Tungsten




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


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BK next to the sink is nice (which I have too)... but for me that was going to be doable whether I went left to right or right to left. The "directional" choice to me was all about where I needed to vent out of the house. For my setup, that was on the left side, so my setup goes right to left.
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djp0318




Joined: 17 Apr 2014
Posts: 16
Location: Belgium


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had mine positioned out per Kal's but swapped the BK and HLT around as I can pump my wort straight to my conical. I have to think twice sometimes with turning on the heating elements though.
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Ozarks Mountain Brew




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


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

my sink is on the left so I have my boil kettle next to the sink, that way I just tip and spray, mash is in the middle and hlt on the right
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rcrabb22




Joined: 23 Dec 2010
Posts: 462
Location: Illinois


PostLink    Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 9:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

djp0318 wrote:
I had mine positioned out per Kal's but swapped the BK and HLT around as I can pump my wort straight to my conical. I have to think twice sometimes with turning on the heating elements though.


After dry firing my BK element by mistake and ruining it, I plug in or unplug my elements from the control panel when not in use to guard against my carelessness.
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dp Brewing Company




Joined: 08 Jul 2013
Posts: 664
Location: Midwest

Drinking: Chocolate Taco, Raspberry Mango Cider, American X, Sandy Dunes

Working on: Nothing


PostLink    Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 11:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On my very first brew I burned up my HLT element while sparging. I didn't read the instructions correctly and left the HLT element on while sparging. I now cut the power to my HLT once I start sparging.
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iBrewBeer




Joined: 21 Oct 2014
Posts: 87
Location: Western Springs, IL


PostLink    Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 2:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think the orientation plays a huge role, but I just prefer to have the mash in the middle.

I built a barrel rack that I have on casters. I purposely made this height relevant to the sink so that I can wheel the kettles over to the sink and then spray and dump. The handles on the blichmanns are what I use to tip each kettle into the sink after I have sprayed or PBW'ed them.

Orientation is important however when deciding length of cords used, both for the temp probes as well as the HLT or boil kettle heating elements.
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Tungsten




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


PostLink    Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have mine right to left, and that does happen to align the BK with where my sink is. But it also puts the BK closest to where the steam will exit the vent hood, which I thought was more important (it just happened to work out to be the same thing for me).
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perogi




Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 850
Location: NH

Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone

Working on: Max's Maibock


PostLink    Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I changed the way I originally had my set up (BK on the left) to BK on the right but because of the orientation of the outlets of the HLT, I actually have the HLT in the center and the MT on the left.

Depending on how well the steam condenser works, I might be moving it back to the BK on the left.
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DFB




Joined: 03 Aug 2019
Posts: 32



PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kal wrote:
You can go either way. It won’t make a difference. I put my boil kettle on the left as in my original brewery I was forced to put my sink on the left and wanted the boil kettle beside the sink.

We can build control panels or supply kits for either orientation. Just let us know. See: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/collections/control-panels

Cheers!

Kal


Kal
I purchased a 30A kit a week or two ago with the BK on the right side. I've basically completed Control Panel Part 1 and read all the directions online & print and I realize I can't really tell how this is different from the default left side. What am I missing?
Thanks
Kris
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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 Sep 19, 2019 12:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Kris! There is no wiring difference. The only difference is positioning of the PID and receptacle tags on the enclosure: The boil and HLT tags are flipped. In your case install the tag for the boil PID/receceptacles on the rightmost ones and the HLT on the leftmost ones. This includes both the heating element and XLR temp probe receptacles. The only difference in the actual kit you got is that we printed your ELEMENT SELECT panel tag for the orientation you selected when ordering. It says "HLT - OFF - BOIL" instead of "BOIL - OFF - HLT". That tag is the only physical part difference. Some pics below for reference.





Cheers!

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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