Buying used equipment. What to look for?

[supermutantbrewmaster]

I was recently offered another home brewers old all grain set up for a ridiculously low price. His kit includes a 48 qt mash tun, immersion chiller, two 5 gallon boil kettles, two 6 gallon fermentation buckets with lids, auto siphon, wing style bottle capper, and a few other odds and ends.

Since his equipment is used and 3-4 years old, I'm wondering what I should look for when I'm inspecting it before I buy it. I don't have a lot of money and while this deal is amazing, it is still a good chunk of change for my budget. Normally I wouldn't even float this idea if it weren't for the fact that it would upgrade my entire production process for a fraction of the cost.

 

[atom]

i'd toss everything that's plastic just to be safe (the buckets could have other uses, but i wouldn't use them for fermentation). other than that, most of that equipment is pretty basic, so a visual inspection should do it.

what's a "ridiculously low price"?

 

[kh54s10]

Sounds good, look at the mash tun for signs of leaking around the valve. Look at what is in there for a braid or manifold and see that it is not damaged. Look that the walls of the cooler are not warped a lot. Some will warp with the heat.

Pots? Stainless steel? Banged up? (affects the offer price)

Heating source?

A 5 gallon pot is good for heating your mash water but you will probably want at least an 8 gallon pot for your boil kettle. I have a 10 gallon pot and get boil overs, usually when I am on HBT when the hot break foams up.

3-4 years old I would look to get that for $100 - $175.

Used mash tun and hardware $75
Immersion chiller $25
Two 5 gallon pots $25
The rest thrown into the mix.

 

[supermutantbrewmaster]

what's a "ridiculously low price"?

The ridiculously low price of 100 bucks for the lot.

One kettle is a little banged up and enamel coated. The other is stainless steel and supposedly in good condition.

There's no heat source included. I planned on brewing with my stove top, boiling 3 to 4 gallons and using top up water. I'm thinking of using the stainless for the boil and the enamel for hot water production.

I currently boil 2.5 gallons in a 3 gallon pot with only minor boil over. I also use an ice bath for quick chilling but it costs me 5 bucks in ice every time. The immersion chiller would save me a bundle.

 

[madscientist451]

Its an ok deal for $100. If the buckets aren't scratched they might be usable. Mix up some star san and soak one bucket for a while then pour the same star san in the other one. Or those buckets would come in handy just to mix star san up in. Look at the enamel pot for chips. I have an old one I use to soak my bottles in the get the labels off.
Take the auto siphon apart and soak it the bucket w/star san, but a new one is like $10. I'd replace any hoses. You should be able to do 3.5 gallon batches with that pot. Just use 5 gallon recipes and multiply all the ingredient amounts by .70.
Save up and get an 8 gallon pot. You also need a hydrometer, thermometer and I like using a BIAB bag in my mashtun and not worry about stuck sparges.
You can get more experience anyway making more numerous smaller batches. Save money on ice by saving 1 and 2 liter soda bottles and 1/2 gallon milk jugs and filling them with water and then freezing them.
If the mash tun looks ok, I'd buy it. Maybe he has some reusable bottles or brewing books that he'll throw in.

 

[supermutantbrewmaster]

If the mash tun looks ok, I'd buy it. Maybe he has some reusable bottles or brewing books that he'll throw in.

He's throwing in 12 swing top bottles, a bunch of caps, a thermometer, a hydrometer, and a carboy brush. The buckets look too old to use for anything except as a soak bucket or maybe a bottling bucket.

 

[heckels]

What are you planning to brew volume-wise? Typically all grain is done with a full boil. Otherwise you'll need to have a larger grain bill to get to the gravity you'd want with top up water. If you're doing 2.3-3 gallon batches it's probably ok. Either that or you would need to use some DME or similar to bump up your gravity.

As mentioned, you'll likely want to get an 8gal or larger (always go larger if possible) kettle.

 

[snow16]

If you wouldn't ferment in it why on earth would you use it as a bottling bucket?

 

[supermutantbrewmaster]

If you wouldn't ferment in it why on earth would you use it as a bottling bucket?

Actually up to this point I've never used one. I figure that the less time the beer is in contact the better if it had a few scratches, I could soak it in bleach and rinse thoroughly then use as a bottling bucket.

Volume wise I was thinking either one 5 gallon batch or two 2.5 gallon batches that would fit my current fermenters. I've used top up water with BIAB and hit my numbers or very close to. I figured I would mash with the standard 1.25 qts to 1 lb. Sparge with enough to clear out the remaining sugar and make up about 3.5 gallons. Then I would boil for 60 and use 2 gallons boiling water at 5 minutes to top off the batch. If all goes well I should hit pretty close.

 

[supermutantbrewmaster]

Thanks to everyone who responded.

I picked up the mash tun and gear today. Apparently I read the ad wrong and it was a 5 gallon mash tun. Still works for my purposes as I typically make 2.5-3 gallon batches. It's small for making a full 5 gallons but lucky for me I don't make them anyway due to space constraints. The tun was in great condition with no warping and a good ball valve sealed on.

The guy even threw in three books and some extra gear he found while cleaning out his garage. Everything looks very clean, well kept, and in good condition. I think the hundred bucks was worth the cost to upgrade my system.

 

[MaxStout]

Since you're doing 2.5-3 gal batches, those kettles should work fine. Sounds like a good deal.

The plastic buckets should be relegated to something other than fermentation. Use them for cleanup, mixing Starsan, storing grain, etc. Sure, you could try to sanitize them, but new buckets are cheap so why risk it?

 

[supermutantbrewmaster]

They're not in great condition so I'm using them for sanitation. Starsan buckets mostly. I've got five 3 gallon fermenters so I don't really need another.