kenc_zymurgy
Well-Known Member
I'm planning an Electric Brewery. For years I've been doing 5.5 G batches on the kitchen gas stove, splitting an ~ 7 G boil across two 5 G brewpots and two burners, which has worked OK ( ~ 20~30 minutes to go from mash to a boil with ~3.5 G per pot). So my thoughts are to add a 1650 watt 120V element to each 5 gallon brewpot, with each on a separate 120V circuit (so that I'm not dependent on a 240V circuit).
So I know you want to avoid running an element like that dry. I've seen some plans for float switches, but that seems like a bit of a pain, it's going to get in the way, has to be mounted, cleaned, etc.
So my idea was to use the weight of the water/wort in the pot to close a switch. That switch would go to the controller and would need to be closed to enable the element power. I envision a piece of plywood for the pot to sit on, with the momentary contact switch mounted near the middle of one edge, pointing down, set so that it is only closed when flush. A spring would push down a pin near the switch, adjusted so that the pot needs to have enough water to cover the element to compress the spring and close the switch.
Does that seem reasonable? It sounds easier than a float switch to me, but I haven't built it yet, so maybe I'm missing something?
So I know you want to avoid running an element like that dry. I've seen some plans for float switches, but that seems like a bit of a pain, it's going to get in the way, has to be mounted, cleaned, etc.
So my idea was to use the weight of the water/wort in the pot to close a switch. That switch would go to the controller and would need to be closed to enable the element power. I envision a piece of plywood for the pot to sit on, with the momentary contact switch mounted near the middle of one edge, pointing down, set so that it is only closed when flush. A spring would push down a pin near the switch, adjusted so that the pot needs to have enough water to cover the element to compress the spring and close the switch.
Does that seem reasonable? It sounds easier than a float switch to me, but I haven't built it yet, so maybe I'm missing something?