The Bread Maker

[pete57]

Nice job. I have built my own breadmaker and have similar problems ie stopping grain passing the top sieve. After several rebuilds of the tube I think i'm getting there. The other interesting point i'm now looking at is the steam vent, will you be using tube or flexi pipe for the rest.

[barneey]

The main problem yesterday was the "tilting" of the FB`s, especially when an air bubble would pass through the system.

I`ve identified the problem and with a couple of shims on the central upright rod will sort it out, there is too much of gap between the rod and the FB stems at moment.

As for the top sieve - if the above solution doesnt solve the problem the easiest way around the problem would be just to make another FB/ sieve slightly larger than the malt pipe secured in position by the cross bar.

As for the steam vent its the same as the one I use on my big rig, 2" camlocks + a silicone 2/3layer flexi hose - very simple but works very well.

I must try my original BM out to see if any of the above problems exist on that.

[Andy]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Braumeister-p ... 3386deb8c1

£200 a tad steep!

[barneey]

I saw that a few weeks back but decided against it going for an exact replica design instead which for £200.00 you could get both the boiler and tube as a single lot, so yep a tad expensive .

Another little gem for you is that you can actually buy an original 20ltr BM tube to fit in a 50ltr set up (ie. if you already own a 50 BM but want to do a 20 brew) you still need the FB`s etc though.

The ebay one doesn't appear to have the stems on the FB - so it will tilt without them.

[barneey]

Just ordered my shim pieces + had another brainwave.

to the SPARES BOX

I found a stainless cover that fits nicely

[Belter]

Your signature should be 'always think inside the 'spares' box'

[mrlard]

Looks like some serious progress has been made here

[barneey]

Looks like some serious progress has been made here

With the future / existing improvements now underway I think everything will work as it should, from the brewday so far though I`m more than impressed with the speed of both brewing (no real jiggling about of hoses or pots) an easy to clean up afterwards + if your short on space it doesn't take up much room.

[IPA]

I saw that a few weeks back but decided against it going for an exact replica design instead which for £200.00 you could get both the boiler and tube as a single lot, so yep a tad expensive .

Another little gem for you is that you can actually buy an original 20ltr BM tube to fit in a 50ltr set up (ie. if you already own a 50 BM but want to do a 20 brew) you still need the FB`s etc though.

The ebay one doesn't appear to have the stems on the FB - so it will tilt without them.

The malt tube that Speidel offer as an extra for the 50 litre is not the same size as the one in the 20 litre model!!

[barneey]

I saw that a few weeks back but decided against it going for an exact replica design instead which for £200.00 you could get both the boiler and tube as a single lot, so yep a tad expensive .

Another little gem for you is that you can actually buy an original 20ltr BM tube to fit in a 50ltr set up (ie. if you already own a 50 BM but want to do a 20 brew) you still need the FB`s etc though.

The ebay one doesn't appear to have the stems on the FB - so it will tilt without them.

The malt tube that Speidel offer as an extra for the 50 litre is not the same size as the one in the 20 litre model!!

I guessed as much from the difference of sizes of the pots, (assume if you found a shallow donor pot it would still work tho for a 20ltr set up - but cost wise I don't think its worth it on reflection) I`m still looking around for a suitable donor 50ltr pot for a larger setup but cant find anything suitable in the bergland range at the moment (all too short in height). The 80ltr would be the correct diameter - but you would need to reduce the height of the tube. One would imagine that as long as the space between the pot and the tube was constant throughout the range any combo could be made

Just one question for you please mate, does an original pot suffer with any grain escaping over the top sieve/false bottom? - I must try mine out but wondered if it existed?

Cheers + thanks for the help

[themadhippy]

an easy to clean up afterwards + if your short on space it doesn't take up much room

clean ups a doddle aint it,no more digging out a mash tun,just tip the pot into a bin linner,the hops take a bit more effort on my system,youve got to be carefull not to tilt the false bottom as you pull it out and tip into the bin,then just run a few litres of boiling water throught the system for 5 minutes,job done,it takes longer and more effort to sterilise the fermenting bucket.

[barneey]

Just been working out a parts list for the build.. at the moment its works out at £368.51 (this includes the late mesh addition to the top of the malt tube £25.00 + the 2" cam fitting £12.00 for the vent). Its amazing how much the parts add up..

1/2 Hose Tails
19mm Shims
2" Camlock
2" Nut
3/8 Ballvalves
3/8 Hex Nipples
3/8 hose elbows
3/8 Hose Tails
3/8 Stop End
3/8 Tee
3/8 to 1/4 Reducer
3/8 Washers
3/8 Weld Nipples
40 ltr Boiler
Dome FB
Hex Nuts
JB Weld
Jubilee Clips
Jubilee Clips
Malt Tube
Nuts 3/8
Pump
Pump Power
Silicone Hose 1/2
Silicone Trim
Stainless Braid

I`m going to be doing a few more tests on it / brew with it again. Then its up for sale only looking to get the cost of the parts back. Reason for sale - well I do own an original BM

Cheers

[pete57]

As for the steam vent its the same as the one I use on my big rig, 2" camlocks + a silicone 2/3layer flexi hose - very simple but works very well.

Having trouble finding camlocks with the screw fitting etc that you show. Can you give more details of fittings and hoses required .
p.s. the top mounted perforated disk looks a very good solution. Cheers in advance.

[Fil]

Cheers barneey, couple of Q's
first 19mm shims?? wot are they?? only shims ive come accorss are thin bits inside engines to pack a precise fit, and tend to be specific bits for each job not a general part??
And the grain tube? how did you arrive at the volume/dimensions? or was it as big as you could fit/make?

Im tempted to offer you your costs+ for it but quite fancy copying/modding the build, thing is if i do i kinda painted myself into the corner of implimenting mathos control box , and while the s/w side isnt a prob for me its gonna be a stretch for me to do the electronics even with the well laid out roadmap.. ..

the mod/improvement i have in mind (u probably done it and i missed it ) is to have a variable capacity grain tube. perhaps with a 'floating cap' secuted with grubscrewed collars on the central tube ..

Ive sold my 23l kit ;( - sad moment today as it left with its new owner sob sob.. and while I can brew 23l in the b ig kit (theoretically) i like the idea of a single pot recipie test rig with a variable capacity of 10-25l brews and this is a fantastic model to follow

Thanks again on behalf of the collective

[barneey]

Shim = As I wanted to build the thing out of "standard" stock BES / ASAP fittings I made the central rod out of 16mm diameter stainless steel, to this threading a 3/8 BSP thread is quite straight forward - so everything else is also 3/8.

I didn't realise at the point of asking Scotia to make the internal tube + FBs that the "upstand" to central rod fit would prove to be an important part of the build. The uprights on the FB were made from stock items - 19.5mm internal diameter tube - so a nice easy fit.

It was only in use that the importance of the fit became apparent + the reason why the upstands are even there in the first place - which with hindsight - 20/20 vision is obvious. As the pump pushes the wort around the system (albeit I have 2 outlets on the build to balance) it tends to "tilt" the FB`s which although not much can let a small quantity of grain passed the FB - once this grain is in the main boiler it will sit there - you cant get it out (IF YOU HAVE A FILTER inside).

The solution to the problem is simple - either make 2 new FB (no go) - buy a small tube of 19mm stainless to fit over the central rod to act as a shim thereby producing a tighter fit (my solution) or buy a stock piece of 19mm stainless rod and thread that (trouble is I don't have a metal lathe) .

Whether the original "81?3913?211" has the problem or not I don't know as the central rod / upstand isn't exactly a tight fit either.

As a belt and braces approach I`ve also now included the top FB screen to catch any possible other bits (this may prove obsolete).

the mod/improvement i have in mind (u probably done it and i missed it ) is to have a variable capacity grain tube. perhaps with a 'floating cap' secuted with grubscrewed collars on the central tube ..

The top FB does float so is variable - but you cant use a grub screw - as it wouldn't be possible to remove the malt tube. the malt tube as rim on it at the bottom thus providing support for the bottom FB


As for the size the inner tube is near enough the same dims as an original, the boiler pot is near enough the same diameter but slightly shorter in height - but again this is a stock item.

I`m in a catch 22 at the moment, I have a virgin original pot (which is worth more unused) + this build - but don't need them both - so the idea was to advertise them both for sale to see which one sold first. I`ve have had several PM regarding interest in this build - which I only want the cost of parts for (+postage) nothing else, the enjoyment for me after a couple of years of trying to reinvent the wheel is to finally have a working example.

With either a Matho build or PID / Timer setup (possible £50.00 for the PID/ Timer) it could very well be a hybrid of the original item.

Cheers