I was in the process of building a 3 vessel propane system and have decided I might want to go a different direction. The reason is I really want to go electric and like BIAB to keep cost down a little, the simplicity of it, the small footprint and somewhat portability of it. My garage is already packed with motorcycle stuff, tools, and kids outdoor toys and bikes. I only do 5 gal batches at the moment but might do 10 gal in the future.
My initial thought is to do a keggle setup since I can do sanity welds and the local scrap yard has a bunch for $1 a pound which works out to about $30. I also already have two, one is already welded and I have the parts for the other. Downfall here is I will have to do some sort of sparge to get a 10 gal batch. Not a huge issue in my opinion if I want to go down that route. I was going to maybe finish the 3 vessel setup and sell it to help fund this project too. So if I do that I would have to buy another keg or get a pot. So first couple questions
1.) do I get a keg or 20 gal pot?
2.) If keg do I do bottom drain or side pick-up with whirlpool? What are you bottom drain guys doing to deal with the hops?
The other issue is power. So I am active duty military and live in privatized base housing and I cannot make any permanent changes to the house. The good news is the dryer is right inside the door to the garage. The bad news is it is a 10-30R so it is only 3 wire. So I will need to figure out how to best utilize what I have and safely. I will want to do the in line GFCI or incorporate the SPA panel into the control panel in some way or another. I do have about 70' of SOOW 8 AWG 3 wire cable that I had for an extension cord for my welder at my last place. So I do have some cable already and can hopefully use that somewhere to cut down on cost right now. I see in the wiring diagram in DaSwede post(https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/240v-5500w-ebiab-planning-please-help-401409/) it has 3 wire coming into the SPA panel so that keeps my current plug and if it is safe to have the panel on the rig I could reuse that cable I already have.
3.) Is it safe to have the SPA panel on the brew stand?
4.) Is there a way to use a in-line GFCI with the 3 wire plug and cable I have?
I plan on building a stand similar to fortydegnorth (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/biab-brew-stand-hoist-pump-310459/) but with a control panel for the electronics. I will build it in SS and have it so I can add to it as I get a pump and want not.
I have been reading up and see others designs and ideas and think I want to go with a 5500W element and a pump for recirculating the mash. The pump might come later but would like to build it into the control panel. I also would like the ability to add a second element down the road if space and funds allow to turn it into a 3 vessel system. So I will need to do some more research on enclosures and see whats out there. As this is still the idea/planning phase I open to any suggestions so just let me know what you think.
My initial thought is to do a keggle setup since I can do sanity welds and the local scrap yard has a bunch for $1 a pound which works out to about $30. I also already have two, one is already welded and I have the parts for the other. Downfall here is I will have to do some sort of sparge to get a 10 gal batch. Not a huge issue in my opinion if I want to go down that route. I was going to maybe finish the 3 vessel setup and sell it to help fund this project too. So if I do that I would have to buy another keg or get a pot. So first couple questions
1.) do I get a keg or 20 gal pot?
2.) If keg do I do bottom drain or side pick-up with whirlpool? What are you bottom drain guys doing to deal with the hops?
The other issue is power. So I am active duty military and live in privatized base housing and I cannot make any permanent changes to the house. The good news is the dryer is right inside the door to the garage. The bad news is it is a 10-30R so it is only 3 wire. So I will need to figure out how to best utilize what I have and safely. I will want to do the in line GFCI or incorporate the SPA panel into the control panel in some way or another. I do have about 70' of SOOW 8 AWG 3 wire cable that I had for an extension cord for my welder at my last place. So I do have some cable already and can hopefully use that somewhere to cut down on cost right now. I see in the wiring diagram in DaSwede post(https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/240v-5500w-ebiab-planning-please-help-401409/) it has 3 wire coming into the SPA panel so that keeps my current plug and if it is safe to have the panel on the rig I could reuse that cable I already have.
3.) Is it safe to have the SPA panel on the brew stand?
4.) Is there a way to use a in-line GFCI with the 3 wire plug and cable I have?
I plan on building a stand similar to fortydegnorth (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/biab-brew-stand-hoist-pump-310459/) but with a control panel for the electronics. I will build it in SS and have it so I can add to it as I get a pump and want not.
I have been reading up and see others designs and ideas and think I want to go with a 5500W element and a pump for recirculating the mash. The pump might come later but would like to build it into the control panel. I also would like the ability to add a second element down the road if space and funds allow to turn it into a 3 vessel system. So I will need to do some more research on enclosures and see whats out there. As this is still the idea/planning phase I open to any suggestions so just let me know what you think.
