My first RIMS tube and stand!

[yuri927]

Hey guys, I just built my new RIMS tube setup. Let me know what you think!

The tube (18"), heating element (12"), pump, connections and tubing are all from BrewHardware.com. Thanks to Bobby for posting all the helpful videos on YouTube. I got the ThermoStar temperature controller from Northern Brewer. Very simple to operate. I also got a welded one piece thermowell from Brew & Grow. The stand is made of a round piece of wood I got from Lowes (they also have them at Home Depot), a 2x2 that's 3ft tall, and some L brackets. The RIMS tube tri clover clamps that came with the RIMS tube actually had the mounting bolts included, which was a great surprise.

Everything worked beautifully on my test batch. The wort was super clean and clear after the mash. Let me know if you'd like a full list of parts and any questions!
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[dmcman73]

Very nice job!

Two things I would recommend:

1. Verify the Current rating of that temp controller that it can actually handle the heating element that it's driving, compare the current requirements for the element and the temp controller.

2. Stain the stand and/or clear coat it to protect the wood from liquid.

Otherwise, very clean setup!

 

[yuri927]

The element is 5500 watt at 240V, but running at 120v, so really 1375watts. The controller is rated up to 15 amps or 1800 watts. Will likely stain/coat it in the next couple weeks.

When I was doing my first mash, I had a good quality submersible (sous-vide) thermometer probe inside the mash tun in direct contact with the grains. The thermometer is from ThermoWorks and is quite accurate. The temp it read was about 4.5F higher than the Thermostat sensor in the RIMS thermowell. I'm guessing it's because the temp probe in the thermowell has a tiny gap of air and isn't coming in direct contact with the wort. Any ideas to fix that? Put thermal paste in there?

 

[BeardedBrews]

Put thermal paste in there?

That is the common solution.

You have a very clean setup there! If you mount the temperature controller onto the stick then you'll basically have a tower of power without the Blichmann price tag

 

[Firewalker11]

Easy and portable, very nice!

 

[dmcman73]

The element is 5500 watt at 240V, but running at 120v, so really 1375watts. The controller is rated up to 15 amps or 1800 watts. Will likely stain/coat it in the next couple weeks.

When I was doing my first mash, I had a good quality submersible (sous-vide) thermometer probe inside the mash tun in direct contact with the grains. The thermometer is from ThermoWorks and is quite accurate. The temp it read was about 4.5F higher than the Thermostat sensor in the RIMS thermowell. I'm guessing it's because the temp probe in the thermowell has a tiny gap of air and isn't coming in direct contact with the wort. Any ideas to fix that? Put thermal paste in there?

Thermal paste is one option but the other culprit is the wort does cool down a bit when leaving the MT through the hose going to the RIMS tube PLUS temps within the Grain bed fluctuate quite a bit depending on the depth you go with the temp probe. Measure from near the middle then towards the bottom, you will see a temp difference alone in the Mash.

Couple those two things and there is where you are most likely getting your 4.5F discrepancy.

If you're up to it, make an ice bath by using crushed iced in a cup and filling it with water just up to the top of the ice. Use your Thermoworks temp and measure the temperature, should be 32F. Now take out the thermowell from the RIMS tube and put it in the same ice bath and insert the temp probe from your controller into the thermowell, are there any discrepancies between the thermoworks and thermowell/temp probe? If there is, see if you can calibrate the temp controller to read as close to 32F as possible. If you can't calibrate it, note the differential and make sure you add/subtract it from all future temp readings and set it to turn on at that temp.

 

[dsniegocki]

Great job. Nice to see be of these with a bag in the MT, that's what I do as well. My next step will be going RIMS or HERMS... I have to ask, does the heating element kick in that much considering that you use a cooler for the mash tun? I definitely get that the recirculation helps with wort clarity... With the cooler setup, is it more about "hitting" the target temp than maintaining it?

 

[yuri927]

Thermal paste is one option but the other culprit is the wort does cool down a bit when leaving the MT through the hose going to the RIMS tube PLUS temps within the Grain bed fluctuate quite a bit depending on the depth you go with the temp probe. Measure from near the middle then towards the bottom, you will see a temp difference alone in the Mash.

Couple those two things and there is where you are most likely getting your 4.5F discrepancy.

If you're up to it, make an ice bath by using crushed iced in a cup and filling it with water just up to the top of the ice. Use your Thermoworks temp and measure the temperature, should be 32F. Now take out the thermowell from the RIMS tube and put it in the same ice bath and insert the temp probe from your controller into the thermowell, are there any discrepancies between the thermoworks and thermowell/temp probe? If there is, see if you can calibrate the temp controller to read as close to 32F as possible. If you can't calibrate it, note the differential and make sure you add/subtract it from all future temp readings and set it to turn on at that temp.

Thanks! I'll definitely try this.

 

[yuri927]

I got this for a few reasons:

One is maintaining the temperature and being able to really dial into the temperature I want without having to worry about getting the strike water temp exactly right. Even using a good calculator, you're still going to be within 5 degrees of your strike temp, and I just wanted to be more precise. I like the set it and forget it factor.

With a RIMS or HERMS you're able to do step mashes. Mine is able to raise the temp pretty quickly. Although I haven't done a step mash, after the mash was done this weekend, I raised the temp from 154 to 170 in 5-7 minutes...faster than it would take to vorlauf...which you don't have to do since you're effectively doing it throughout the whole mash. Then I got right to sparging.

The fact that the wort is recirculating and clarifying itself throughout the whole mash is a really nice bonus that I didn't even consider before. My cooler has a false bottom and I also used a brew bag, just to make sure no grains went into my pump or got stuck in the RIMS tube. In either case, the wort was SUPER clean and clear. Not cloudy at all. It may be worth it just for that fact.

The controller did still kick on and off quite a bit. Because you're recirculating the wort, it's coming out of the cooler, and is being cooled down as it's traveling through the tubing. If it was all enclosed (theoretically) inside the cooler, then the heating element probably would never kick in, but by circulating it you're "exposing" the wort to cooler temps. The tubing acts like an immersion chiller for the wort, which is being cooled by the room temperature air.

 

[beerclone]

I'm a little late finding this thread, but a couple question. What do you do when you sparge? Are you fly or batch sparging? Also, can you list parts and approximate cost? Thanks. Looks nice!

 

[badgerbrewer1]

I would also be interested in the same as beerclone

 

[TheGoatman]

Best way for this is to batch sparge using the pump to recirculate it and keep the runnings clear. If you can do two batch sparges, a small first one and larger last one, your efficiency will be through the roof. Fly sparging is great if you don't have a pump to recirculate, but dual batch sparge will get you some pretty great results. Just have to watch the sparge water pH to make sure you don't extract any astringency.