New homemade boiler and cooler (lots of pics)

[chazzb]

Hi Bobba,

Like the boiler - I have a similar one.

What was the tank-connector set-up you used for the tap? I have a basic tank-connector but it doesn't allow me to securely connect my hop-filter like yours does (consequently, it fell out the first time I brewed!).

Thanks

Charlie

[kevinjersey]

Can I just ask...... Do you ever have to top up during your boiling due to the mango chutney tub only holding 35litres?
What size batch of beer do you make. Is it 5 gallons?

[CJBrew]

I can't help worrying whether the plastic is actually safe to use at 100'C for an hour or more, and what it's leaching into your beer.

Any thoughts? Although I could well go for one of those (clean) ones from Key Online, http://www.keyonline.co.uk/open-top-keg ... 65276.html

Might get a 60 litre one as 30l just doesn't seem enough for a comfortable 5 uk gallon boil. I have a alu stockpot around 33l which I used to use (before I got my rusty, trusty 10 gallon Burco Washboiler), and it was frequently right on the edge of boil-over.

Have asked Key's sales team what the temperature range of those kegs is and I'll get back to you

[Bobba]

I can't help worrying whether the plastic is actually safe to use at 100'C for an hour or more, and what it's leaching into your beer.

Any thoughts? Although I could well go for one of those (clean) ones from Key Online, http://www.keyonline.co.uk/open-top-keg ... 65276.html

Might get a 60 litre one as 30l just doesn't seem enough for a comfortable 5 uk gallon boil. I have a alu stockpot around 33l which I used to use (before I got my rusty, trusty 10 gallon Burco Washboiler), and it was frequently right on the edge of boil-over.

Have asked Key's sales team what the temperature range of those kegs is and I'll get back to you

I haven't noticed any off tastes in the beer, or when just boiling up tap water in there and tasting it after a good 15 min boil. Tastes just fine.
The boiler wall does start to go a little flexibile when boiling, but not much. You're still right CJBrew to worry about the leeching.....if you find out anything we should know, please post it here!

Can I just ask...... Do you ever have to top up during your boiling due to the mango chutney tub only holding 35litres?
What size batch of beer do you make. Is it 5 gallons?

Yep I do a 5 gallon boil is this one. I tend to make it up to 22litres after dissolving the spray malt and then top it up later up again. When I get around to properly calibrating the barrel and putting volume measurements up the side and calculating boil off and hop volume I plan to fill it up to the full volume required at the start. You don't really need a larger one for a 5 gallon brew

[CJBrew]

The reply from KeyOnline:

Hello Chris,
Unfortunately I can not recommend the kegs for this use as they are purely for the storage of materials and are not heat resistant.

They obviously wouldn't 'recommend' them for use as a boiler as it could potentially open them up for litigation and whatnot. I would guess if it's food grade plastic the chance of dodgy chemicals leaking out is lower.

Having enquired at H&G and Leyland it seems it's difficult to get hold of the really heavy duty plastic containers they make (made?) their 10g boilers from. The specific plastic buckets they used may in fact have been discontinued...

Chris

[sparky Paul]

As Chris says, HDPE containers are not rated for boiling temperatures, and it has been said many times that they go 'a bit floppy'. Personally, I would be more concerned about the long term effects of boiling and cooling on the material. If you must use a HDPE container, I would pay particular attention to the area around the element/s for signs of deterioration.

Polypropylene is preferable if you can get hold a suitable container.

[JackA]

85 deg c at 0.46 MPa

0.46 MPa is 66psi a pretty high pressure... it's roughly like having the contents of the boiler resting on 1 square inch. Reading about how this test is performed (http://www.matweb.com/reference/deflect ... ature.aspx) it seems to me that a result of 85 degrees is perfectly good for what we're doing.

[Graham]

The problem with that test is that the thickness of the material is not specified (or indeed what the deflection is); it is probably a standard thickness that is much thicker than the walls of these containers. Obviously a 15mm wide strip of test material is going to deflect less than the 1.5mm or so wall-thickness of our buckets. Certainly, ordinary polythene brewing bins go awfully squidgy, unstable and dangerous to move with hot water in them. As wort will boil at a somewhat higher temperature than water due to the solids in it, less than 30°C safety-margin before the ruddy stuff melts is not very good. At the very best 85°C should be regarded as the softening temperature for thin-walled stuff.

Many food containers are "Hot Fill", for pasteurisation purposes, and if made of polythene are relatively thick, but more often are made from polypropylene. The specification given by the original manufacturer will usually give the maximum, safe, hot-fill temperature. Not quite the same as a 90-minute wort boil, but probably a good indication. I would imagine that something like a mango chutney container is filled hot.

[Hogarth]

Although there is one problem I've found ....It's pretty tricky to get the water out.
As a result I wouldn't want to reuse any of the water coming out of it (for rinsing buckets etc) in case i got bugs growing in side.

I shouldn't worry about that, Bobba. There's no reason bugs should suddenly start breeding in there just because it's not properly drained, and even if they did you'd kill them off when you sanitised the chiller in the boiling wort.

[Jim]

.......................Jims original boiler had probably seen around 30 years service before it was retired in favour of a metal stock pot.

It's still in use as a mash tun.

I have to say that the old sphincter always use to be pulsating when I lifted the plastic boiler full of hot wort. I never had an accident in all that time, though.

[floydmeddler]

I made mine back in February and have done 14 brews (560 pints) totaling 21hrs of boiling time. I also used it as a HLT for 10 of these and have had no problems whatsoever. It does go ever so slightly flimsy but never near enough to cause me any kind of concern. It hasn't gotten worse over time and I've never had a complaint about a single one of the 560 that have been consumed... albeit, mostly by me of course!

[CJBrew]

Personally I wouldn't take a chance on using these tubs as boilers as I don't relish the thought of dealing with 30L of boiling wort leaking from a boiler but perhaps i'm being overly cautious.

Well I guess any boiler could develop a leak and it'd be just as disastrous to your kitchen and your beer (and your relationship with SWMBO) if it was a stainless steel boiler...

[floydmeddler]

Could you imagine it!! The guy at my local HBS told me it happened to him. Not with wort thankfully but with water. He was filling it up and left the room. Little did he know the nut on the tap was loose and it poured through his floor into his neighbour's flat. My worst nightmare.

[CJBrew]

Moral of the story should be never, ever, leave a pot that you're filling, no matter how long you think it's going to take to fill.

The number of times I've had a HLT overfill and create a (small) flood in the kitchen, while I was weighing out grain or whatever.... I should have learnt by now

[Deebee]

Just a question, could a normal bulk standard 30 liter fv be used as a boiler if the kettle elements were fitted?

Thanks and sorry for the hijack of thread.