Recent content by Bartp

Many brewers constantly ask if they can brew using 120v. The default answer is "no", but from my experience, the answer can be "yes". It will just take a while longer. Over the weekend I've brewed a 12 gallon batch on 1300 watts. Total boil volume was 14 gal. The control panel I've used...

Sorry I've missed your Post! This is way cool! fantastic work!

Lol 15 months later I'm finally done! Needless to say, it took longer than expected. Over the last 15 months I've been slowly working on hanging the cabinets, installing counter tops, water hookups and sewer, hooking up the sink, running a conduit for 240 service, installing a 50a GFCI...

YES! I used to have a small 900sqft condo with tiny kitchen. Did not stop me from brewing 10 gallon all grain in it, but after few major spills (aka, pump blew spraying kitchen with hot wort), I had to upgrade to a larger house. Money well spent :)

Lol. BrewMaids, Uber style. Too small of a niche?

Totally agree, nothing worse than spending 2-3 weeks and ending up with a funky beer. Especially when it infects the plastic fermenter and plastic hoses. Multiple batches ruined, time wasted, and money dumped into new equipment. Luckily no infection here in few years (knock on wood) due to...

What about brewing do you dislike the most? Obviously we love brewing, that’s why we’re here. But there are things we could go without. The reason I ask is so we can identify what causes homebrewers the most pain, and as a community try to solve it. Also, there are lots of...

I've been using the same step bit from Harbor Freight for about 2 years now. They are surprisingly strong. Just be careful with them and clamp whatever you're drilling FIRMLY. 10 stitches on my finger taught me that lesson. I also punched a hole in the Bayou Classic kettle with a die punch set...

Fotek SSRs are fine. They'll work just as well. You're only pushing 240v through it, well withing the range.

I make steaks in my kettle quite often, once you start "brewing" them it's hard to got back. Throw all the seasoning plus some butter in the bag, seal it, throw it into the water at 132 degrees for an hour or whenever guests show up. Pan fry on a cast iron skillet for a min on each side for...

If using lower gauge wire than total possible amperage, it's smart to protect wiring with fuses. In case of failure, 24 gauge wire will burn out quite quickly if exposed to any real current. A simple .5A fast blow inline fuse will protect the wiring (and possibly the PID) in case of a short.

What GotPushrods said. Wattage is function of voltage multiplied by amperage. For instance, we know that the element produces 5500w at 240v. Therefore we can extrapolate that this element needs 22.9 amps of current (5500/240). Your 15amp 120v breaker at most can only provide 1800w (15*120). To...

You want to apply the 19.5v DC to switch the SSR on? Yes you could but I'm not sure why you would want to do that. SSR is usually used in conjunction with a controller like a PID. SSR turns on or off the power being supplied to other devices, like a switch. If you want to plug the element...

I think a little lower but not by much. Math time. Lets start with 7 gallons of 68 degree water. 80c * 30834g * 4.186J = 10325689.92J 10325689.92J/3000J/s = 3441.9 sec 3442 sec/60 = 57.36 min 80 degrees C is difference between 20C (68F) and boiling 100C (212F). 7 gallons of water =...

Thanks for the heads up. Makes sense. :mug: