Can I get some feedback on a RIMS Build?

[sdillow]

I've been brewing a few years now with the old turkey fryer and a 10 gal Igloo cooler mash tun and enjoy myself immensely and have made some great brews. I only do 5 gal batches and have no desire to go to 10. I would continue along doing it this way, but there's a couple things lately that are making me think it's time to take it to the next level.

For one, the old back doesn't like it when I lift 5 gallons.

And two, dialing in my mash temps sometimes feels like a crap shoot.

With that said, I still enjoy getting my hands dirty and don't want to spend $1,000s upgrading. So I'm thinking about keeping my kettle for an HLT and my MT for now and adding a 40 qt BK. I'd also add a RIMS for better temp control, recirculation, and possible stepped mashes, with two burners. My questions for now, can I go with a two tier and one pump system? I currently batch sparge but the second tier could enable fly sparging if I wanted. Can I use just one pump for the RIMS, transfer to the BK, whirlpooling at end of boil, and (if not just gravity) transfer to fermenter?

If I can, does it make sense to use valves for everything or can I just move tubing around via quick connects? I'm just getting in to the research so hopefully this makes sense. I'd appreciate any insight.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

one important issue, in order to use a rims tube with element inside, you must run the pump even after the power is off for a few minutes or you will dry fire and burn the element, it doesn't take but 15 seconds and its cooked, so if your doing multiple things with one pump keep that in mind

 

[sdillow]

Thanks! That's one of those things that's good to know. I don't think that would impact anything, just would have to let the pump run a bit before switching it over to drain the MT.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

yes it sounds simple but after 3 mishaps due to too much drinking too early in the brew day Ive taught my self to wait until the boil before drinking, stupid mistakes always happen otherwise

 

[Northof9]

You can do it with one pump but a second pump is very helpful. it will allow you to also recirc the HLT water preventing "thermal soak" around your coil. this second pump will also get your HLT up to temp faster for strike, recirc, and sparge by drawing the cooler water from the bottom and pumping to the top. and you can match flow rates for sparge to mash and mash to boil.

As far as the valves... I dont see how this would work without them.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I think the real question is how much work or money is it going to take you to make a second tier on your system.

I would just buy a cheap 12V chinese pumps (P38-i) for $20 on Ebay, wire in a 12V 1A supply and use it to recirc your HLT and do other recirc type duties where flow isnt a huge issue, save your larger pump for flow through your RIMS to ensure it has a high enough flow. You can find tons of power supplys at GoodWill or Salvation army for a few dollars you can chop the end off and connect up to your new pump.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...12.TRC2.A0.H0.XP38-i.TRS0&_nkw=P38-i&_sacat=0

 

[ross_daly]

If you aren't looking to spend a ton of coin then you could focus on simply hitting your initial mash temp better. I used an anova sous vide machine (shaped like an immersion blender) on my last brew and it hit and held my mash temp perfectly. Some people are concerned about using it during the actual mash, so you can make that decision. Even if you only used this and dialed in the strike temp vs mash temp variables (ie figured it out in beersmith) then you could still gain a lot of precision and repeatability for under $150.

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

Lots of options, I use 3 of these on my system. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01711Z6GS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20.
I'd recommend these over the other cheap pumps because the Ryton material is food grade and rated for boiling temps

They work like a charm and you can run all 3 on a single old laptop charger....and with two or more pumps, you can go single tier .

 

[hou_me]

After about a year of research I just started my own rims. (Yet another brutus variation) If you're concerned about the ol' back then single tier is the way to go. Pumps are cheaper than injuries

 

[Tularac]

I am currently building my RIMS as we speak.

quick disconnects would certainly be helpful. But valves on the "Out" side of the pump will be a MUST to control flow. You can leave the "IN" full open so as not to cavitate the pump.

You will still end up spending a couple hundred dollars for the upgrade to rims. Between the electrical, ss pipe fittings, pump and element i am approaching $300.
I would shop around. Also note i did sprint for a chugger pump so i spent over $100 on that alone.