Bobby_M-I hope the guy is good. Man, I have seen some horrible Rhino and Line-X jobs as if it was their first time on the gun. I've also seen some amazing jobs.
He seems to do good work. I explained how much work I put into it and what I expected. He just smiled and told me I would be more than happy. I don't have much to tape off on the tuns anyway. The tops, of course, will be stainless and he will run the wired-edge tape right at the top skirt weld-line. The only other things are the power cord and the Ranco/ball valve. I told him I wanted the Ranco taped right below the front cover so I could get into it if needed in the future. Everything else that I need a hole for will be drilled and cut out later. I taped over the bottom coupler in my MT so a utility knife will take care of that and the sight glass hole as well.
Bobby_M-What do you suppose the max temp for that stuff is before it starts emitting noxious fumes?
I am not sure, but I will ask. I assume you don't want it that close to a heat source or open flame. It is reinforced with Kevlar so it is really tough. Their site says, "Professionally installed by an authorized LINE-X Dealer, the surface dries in 3 to 5 seconds...the total job including masking and spraying, only takes about 2 to 3 hours. Your truck is ready immediately, but wait 24 hours for rugged use." I was worried about the heat messing with the insulation, so I taped it all up. Then I was worried about the 3M adhesive releasing during the shoot. Both problems I was told won't be an issue, so it sounds like it goes on and just hardens real quick as it is cooling in the 3-5 seconds. It says, "LINE-X is environmentally friendly; no hazards like V.O.C.'s or C.F.C.'s, and it's solvent free."
You guys can check out their website.
Well, it chose me, lol. It is the only thing on my brewery that came from Home Depot. You can read my rant thread about HD, but needless to say I had to argue with the guy to show me where they were. They did not have 120V elements or horizontal mountable ones either so I went with a 240V 5500W. I told the guy I was going to run it at 120V for less wattage (1375W) and he told me it wouldn't even turn on, lol. So, this element isn't beefy at all and that is ok for my application.Killian-How did you decide on the size of the element to use ?
I plan on using constant circulation via a small fan stirring the water and my good insulation to heat the HLT water as fast as possible. After a true test I will determine if if is fast enough to work with my "topping off" during the mash and sparge (I really need a larger HLT). If it doesn't work fast enough, I will simply incorporate my kettle for initial fast heating and then transfer to the HLT where the element and ETC will keep me at constant temperature. I am really optimistic though that I shouldn't need any extra heat source and I will be able to refill after dough-in and get to temperature before infusions. We will see and I will write down all my info once I run these tests.