$50 Dedicated HERMS

Williams 728
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It wasn't. That is why I decided on going with a 2000 watt element in a halt w/ a HERMS coil.

I posted some specifics earlier in this thread . Maybe 1 degree per minute?

It improved a lot when I added a lid.

Approx 1 gallon in that little pot.
 
just upping the size of the heating element won't help though right? You would also need to up the size of the coil....correct? which is how one would get into true HERMS territory....?
 
no, upping the element would help a ton. the coil as is does a great job of picking up heat in that small of a vessel. simply getting a 2000 or 1500w element and using that instead of the hot plate would more than double the performance of this system.
 
poptarts said:
no, upping the element would help a ton. the coil as is does a great job of picking up heat in that small of a vessel. simply getting a 2000 or 1500w element and using that instead of the hot plate would more than double the performance of this system.
Click to expand...


Without a doubt assuming adequate space in the pot.
 
interesting....so i would also need to find a controller that could handle that kind of power need....
 
never really played in the electric side of things but i'm very interested... gonna have to look into this!
 
i wouldnt go above 10 amps, a ac to ac ssr is like 10$ on ebay and would prevent you from burning out your stc.
 
So I am going to be setting up this system, pretty much exactly as in the OP except I will be using a US-Solar pump to recirculate. I am not interested in doing steps (at this time) but wanted the other benefits of recirculating so this seems like the perfect budget solution. I already have a couple of STC-1000's built that can be dual-purposed for running the heat-plate, and I already have a pot that will work for this. So including the price of the pump I'm in for about an additional $120.
 
opiate82 said:
So I am going to be setting up this system, pretty much exactly as in the OP except I will be using a US-Solar pump to recirculate. I am not interested in doing steps (at this time) but wanted the other benefits of recirculating so this seems like the perfect budget solution. I already have a couple of STC-1000's built that can be dual-purposed for running the heat-plate, and I already have a pot that will work for this. So including the price of the pump I'm in for about an additional $120.
Click to expand...

You are getting close to the cost of a full blown HERMS..
 
opiate82 said:
So I am going to be setting up this system, pretty much exactly as in the OP except I will be using a US-Solar pump to recirculate. I am not interested in doing steps (at this time) but wanted the other benefits of recirculating so this seems like the perfect budget solution. I already have a couple of STC-1000's built that can be dual-purposed for running the heat-plate, and I already have a pot that will work for this. So including the price of the pump I'm in for about an additional $120.
Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E0FXR6K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I would look into these, pretty sure they are the exact same pump for 1/3 of the price.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok so i've been looking at RIMS and ghetto herms...I'm having difficulty finding people that actually do steps with a RIMS and it seems like a HERMS would be a pain in #@$ unless you go electric.....as you did in the ghetto herms.....so now i'm back to contemplating the ghetto herms because maintenance of temp is really good and steps don't buy me that much....
 
TipsySaint said:
Ok so i've been looking at RIMS and ghetto herms...I'm having difficulty finding people that actually do steps with a RIMS and it seems like a HERMS would be a pain in #@$ unless you go electric.....as you did in the ghetto herms.....so now i'm back to contemplating the ghetto herms because maintenance of temp is really good and steps don't buy me that much....
Click to expand...

RIMS is supposedly more quick to ramp temps than HERMS based on what I have read. It makes sense when you consider coming into direct contact with the wort. Much more rapid heat transfer.

I have never tested it so don't know for sure. I would think that if you stand a much better chance of scorching wort in a RIMS system though.

Unexpected slow rate of flow from a compacted grain bed come to mind. And probably while unattended.
 
So all the RIMS people seemed to indicate that RIMS still takes like 1 - 1.5 minutes to raise a 5 gallon mash setup by 1 degree which or you risk scorching....this means that steps are still pretty undo-able... I just haven't found anyone that says "yep you can raise your mash temp by 1 degree in 30 seconds and your wort will be fine."
 
I've got about 10 feet of 3/8" (1/4" ID) copper tubing left over from another project. Would that work as my HERMs coil? It seems like it could possibly work better than 1/2" tubing because of the higher surface area to volume ratio allowing for better heat xfer...??

I apologize in advance if this has already been brought up.
 
thekraken said:
I've got about 10 feet of 3/8" (1/4" ID) copper tubing left over from another project. Would that work as my HERMs coil? It seems like it could possibly work better than 1/2" tubing because of the higher surface area to volume ratio allowing for better heat xfer...??

I apologize in advance if this has already been brought up.
Click to expand...

Everything that I have read suggests that 3/8" tubing restricts the flow too much.

Turnover volume is more desired than surface area in a HERMS application.
 
I've been using a 3/8 coil for HERMS since my 1/2 broke. it works fine. I run the pump full open now instead of partly like I was with the 1/2 but no noticeable difference for maintaining temps.
 
The required flow rate really depends on the mlt. A cooler doesn't require much flow. A big metal pot outside on a windy cold day will require much more flow through a longer coil to maintain temps without having to have a boiling tank of water.

I agree completely, turnover volume is absolutely critical
 
Fair enough, but if you are planning on using this system in that situation your probably going to have a bad time.
 
TipsySaint said:
So all the RIMS people seemed to indicate that RIMS still takes like 1 - 1.5 minutes to raise a 5 gallon mash setup by 1 degree which or you risk scorching....this means that steps are still pretty undo-able... I just haven't found anyone that says "yep you can raise your mash temp by 1 degree in 30 seconds and your wort will be fine."
Click to expand...

I know this is old but I. Have to comment.... my small 1000w (actually only about 750w) cartridge heater rims tube raises the mash temp faster than that. there is a time delay in the beginning as the wort drains through the grain bed but it raises pretty quick once it gets going. More than a degree a minute on smaller 5 gallon batches... possibly 2 degrees a minute... much faster than my 25 ft 3/8 herms coil... of course I didn't have good water recirculation in my hlt so the temps weren't all that even.
 
augiedoggy said:
I know this is old but I. Have to comment.... my small 1000w (actually only about 750w) cartridge heater rims tube raises the mash temp faster than that. there is a time delay in the beginning as the wort drains through the grain bed but it raises pretty quick once it gets going. More than a degree a minute on smaller 5 gallon batches... possibly 2 degrees a minute... much faster than my 25 ft 3/8 herms coil... of course I didn't have good water recirculation in my hlt so the temps weren't all that even.
Click to expand...

do you get scorching? Can you effectively do mash steps?
 
cantrell00 said:
You could run a RIMS on 110 volts.

Most run a 5500 watt / 240 ULWD element @ 110 for a total of 1375 watts.

Not sure how efficient it would ramp though.
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correct.... I run a 1/2" 10" long straight stainless element though a cheap 3/4 copper soldered rims tube and use a small 12v pump which only flows about 3 gallons a minute so its all matched very well.... I brought a 5 gallon amber ale mash from a very low 121 degrees (goofed up on strike water) to 152 in under 20 minutes but I dont remember the exact amount of time it took. it was my first experience with the new hardware changes I made...
 
If we're getting too far off topic, we could start a "Slightly More than $50 Dedicated HERMS for step mashing" thread.

Here's my layout so far:

MyPin PID: $9 (ebay)
PT100 probe: $10 (ebay)
SSR & Heat Sink: $10 (ebay)
1500w Water Heater element 110v- $8 (amazon)
Extra stuff to install Water Heater element: $8 (nut, gasket, waterproof box)
Electrical box and wiring: FREE (or super cheap- check Goodwills/thrifts for old dryer plugs - I got a bunch of 4awg wire for about $2) I had the electrical box laying around from some remodeling

So you can put together a poor man's PID controlled HERMS that SHOULD be good for step mashing for only a little more than the STC system, plus it will actually be geared for doing what we're doing with it (if you were making it from scratch- $20 STC, $16 hot plate)

I guess it all depends on how much extra junk you've got laying around to set it up-ALSO I ruined my StC on my "$50" setup- the hot water got to the temp probe and the only temp it would show was 99 degrees- I checked it out and the insulation around the probe wire where it attaches to the end of the probe got cracked, letting water get in.
 
hmm thats not good to hear about the probe, mine is running strong still but that makes me want to pick up a SS probe for it now.
 
TipsySaint said:
I'm aware that 110 is possible, i'm just trying to figure out if I can achieve step mashing with 110
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I understand.
If its the same size and same wattage as the 220v element than it doesn't matter whether is 220v or 110. surface area of the element and total wattage is all that matters.
I just purchased a longer 15" 1000w element for my tube... Just because I'm curious really to see if theres a difference in performance and may be building another for a fellow homebrewer.
 
augiedoggy said:
I'm not sure I understand.
If its the same size and same wattage as the 220v element than it doesn't matter whether is 220v or 110. surface area of the element and total wattage is all that matters.
I just purchased a longer 15" 1000w element for my tube... Just because I'm curious really to see if theres a difference in performance and may be building another for a fellow homebrewer.
Click to expand...

I read it to mean that the OP is implying that the 110v element would be at a lesser wattage.
 
a 220v element rated at say 2000w will only run at 500w on 110v. so if your running at 220v element on 110v you are going to need to look for somthing in 5000w - 6000w range for it to do what you are wanting.
 
running on 120, that 240v is going to be a equivlient to a 250w element, also known as pointless. So defiantly the first 120 one over the other one.
 

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