The right heating element

[BrooklynBrew]

Hi Everyone,

I just finished building what I thought was going to be a killer 1 gallon BCS controlled system. I fired it up last night with some grain for a quick test batch and everything works well but I've discovered an annoying flaw- very slow heating times. Since I'm dealing with small volumes I chose to use some fairly simple hot plates that could be plugged into wall outlet that are wired into my panel and controlled with SSRs. They work but they're way underpowered so now I'm thinking of installing a heating element in the pot instead. I shied away from the heating elements at first thinking they would be more complicated to wire but now that I've built a fairly complex control panel without starting a fire or killing anyone I'm thinking I can handle this. So, I have a few questions

1) what sort of wattage (@120V) would I need to boil 1-1/2 gallons in a short period of time (~20 minutes or so)
2) do electric brewers normally put a heating element directly in the mash? or should I set up a RIMS for the mash?
3) I have 2x 2 gallon pots that are about 9" in diameter. Will I have a hard time finding an element that will fit? can they be bent into different shapes?
4) wiring- say I get the heating element housing from brewers hardware- is it just a mater of putting hot and neutral wires on the element screws? and the ground on the grounding screw in the housing?
can I get a three prong cord from lowes and wire it to the element so that it can be plugged into my wired outlets (they have 40A SSRs attached)?

Thanks in advance for any help!!


Sean

[brewstarke]

1) I seem to remember a standard rule of thumb for boiling times using electric elements that has been posted on other homebrew forums. A quick scan around some of the electric brewing forums may help you get an idea.
2) I'd say the trend is moving towards putting it in the mash but the rims tube approach is still a good method. You may want to consider the amount of wort that may be left behind in a rims tube, on a small system like that it may be a significant proportion.
3) if you're careful.

Have you considered an induction cooktop/hot plate? They're supposed be super efficient. I imagine they'd bring 2 gals up to boil pretty quick. They make single "burner" styles for relatively cheap.

[BrooklynBrew]

Thanks Brewstarke

I was thinking 2000w would be sufficient? The hot plates I have are 1000w but I figure a heating element will be much more efficient Everyone seems to have different expectations of heating times though.

good point on the lost volume in the rims tube

I have thought of induction hot plates, they were definitely my first choice over regular hot plates, but I want to control the heat source with my BCS and most inductions have buttons or digital screens that need to be pushed to turn on. I'm trying to make this as hands off as possible and the hot plates have simple knobs that I can set to the on position.

Any advice on wiring the heating element?

[oakbarn]

1500 watts is about the "normal" max for 120 vac. Without knowing your wiring and circuit breaker, no one could suggest a heater. They have some that hang to the side and you just plug them in

[oakbarn]

1500w X 110 vac = 16.5 amps = 20 amp Circuit Breaker with 12 ga wire
2000w x 110 vac = 22.0 amps = 25 amp Circuit Breaker with 10 ga wire

http://www.phpdoc.info/brew/boilcalc.html

1 gal with 1500 w from 60 to 212 F in 16 minutes

[BrooklynBrew]

Thanks Oakbarn

I've attached a copy of my wiring diagram. I'll have two heating elements (not on at the same time) and a march pump (will be on with one element) wired into my circuit. I found a 1440w 120V LWD element from Rheem. Hopefully that's enough to boil about a gallon and a half of wort.

Does this look possible? or am I overloading the panel?

[kbar]

1500w X 110 vac = 16.5 amps = 20 amp Circuit Breaker with 12 ga wire
2000w x 110 vac = 22.0 amps = 25 amp Circuit Breaker with 10 ga wire

http://www.phpdoc.info/brew/boilcalc.html

1 gal with 1500 w from 60 to 212 F in 16 minutes

OK, what I am missing here; 1500W/110V = 13.6 amps and 2000W/110V = 18.2 Amps. Adhering to the 80% rule, the circuit breakers would need to be 17 amps so a 20 amp circuit and the 2000W would be 23 amps so a 25 amp circuit. The end result is the same, just confused by the calcs above in your post. Thanks for clarifying!