New BIAB boiler build.

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wolfenrook
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:46 pm

A few more pics.

First up, the boiler with the recirc system in place, you can see how I've used pipe lag to reduce heat loss a little:-
BoilerPlusRecirc1.jpg
I've also put my (temporary) whirlpooling widget back together. It's not perfect as the bed of the outlet is only 45 degrees, 90 degrees would be better, but it does the job when it comes to cooling the wort (I can always whirlpool with my wine degassing drill attachment if I need to). You can see how it hangs over the rim of the boiler, the weight holding it in place:-
Whirlpool1.jpg
Whirlpool2.jpg

wolfenrook
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:06 pm

Finished the false bottom. The gasket isn't going anywhere now, and it's a VERY tight fit (the handle actually cuts into me if I try to remove it using it, have to slot something through it to pull with).
FalseBottomFitted.jpg

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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by vacant » Mon Jun 18, 2018 2:11 pm

I've been using an Ikea splatter guard for many years in my thermopot mash tun. I insert the guard into sliced-open thick silicone hose.

Some husks can creep through during the sparge (hardly any, at most 20 or so), as although the length of hose can be cut to make it a tight fit against the mash tun, the splatter guard has room to move around a bit. To plug that movement I circled a length of thin water hose (left over from my Reverse Osmosis kit) inside the silicone.

The silicone raises the mesh a few mm from the base of the tun at the side. I have a 2mm diameter piece of metal stuffed in the centre drain hole supporting the splatter guard's metal centre plate to raise the mesh around 10mm above the tun. Perfect filtered drainage.

I guess what I'm saying is that a stainless plate false bottom would be redundant :(.

Anyway, those splatter guards are strong, won't rust and will last for years.
I brew therefore I ... I .... forget

wolfenrook
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Mon Jun 18, 2018 4:46 pm

In a mash tun maybe, but this is a biab single pot system, with recirculation. A spatter guard alone would just bend under the pressure in this usage scenario, putting it right on top of the 2.4k heating element, hence the steel false bottom under it.

wolfenrook
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Wed Jul 04, 2018 7:18 am

A quick update after some testing yesterday.

First up, the false bottom failed miserably. Within a short time of been submerged in water and heated up it went rusty.... So discussed it with my wife, and I am throwing in the towel on building my own, and probably going for one of these https://powellbrewing.co.uk/product/33l ... se-bottom/.

Everything else worked nicely though, including the controller. It did however turn out that I had the mash switch labelled back to front. Had to swap the No PR and PR labels (PR been power regulation) as otherwise I would have been trying to reach strike temps at reduced power when it came to an actual brew day... lol I found this out when I set the power regulator to 20% and noticed the lamp on the cut off switch to the element dim whilst the mash switch was set to No PR.... When switched to PR it was at full brightness, indicating quite clearly that I'd marked it up wrong... lol This also however was a good test of power regulation during mashing to maintain temperature, as temps didn't budge at all whilst it was set to this (even though it should have been increasing... lmao).

I didn't do a boil test for 2 reasons for 2 reasons. 1, My wife wanted the kitchen back, and 2, wort behaves very differently to water when it comes to boiling anyway.

I did however find that the water heated up VERY quickly, and temps took an age to drop even with just water in there, so I have high hopes it'll work well, once I sort out a new false bottom.

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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by sbond10 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 8:03 am

What thickness hoe are you using for your false bottom gasket

wolfenrook
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Wed Jul 04, 2018 12:36 pm

It's not hose bud, I used a pressure cooker gasket ordered from China via eBay. I couldn't find a hose that would do the job properly.

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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by sbond10 » Wed Jul 04, 2018 6:30 pm

Got a link ?

wolfenrook
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:52 pm

Yeah sure: eBay Link

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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:37 pm

The new false bottom arrived. Switched out the "legs" though as they didn't even give me 4cm of clearance beneath the false bottom. No problem though, 5 x 70mm M8 316 hex head stainless bolts and job done (bit of an upgrade even, as ones supplied were only 304). Now sits nicely just on top of the taps.

Out of boiler pics are pre legs switch:-
PowellFB1.jpg
PowellFB2.jpg
I'd switched the legs for this one, not that you can tell... lol
PowellFB3.jpg
I wouldn't want to use it without a bag (couple of small gaps between the "gasket" and the pan here and there), but will do the job nicely.

wolfenrook
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:06 pm

Right, as mentioned in my brew day thread I needed to make some alterations after doing my first brew with this build. The pump rather obviously got clogged when I tried to whirlpool (although this turned out to mainly be thanks to a massive lump of kitchen roll that had found it's way in there somehow... All I can think of is that it got in there during testing or something.) so needed some kind of filter on it's inlet. Also pick up and spontex method failed dismally. The Spontex scourer blocked completely within milliseconds of turning the tap on even a tiny bit to transfer the wort, and even after pushing it off the end of the pick up tube the tube itself got blocked with hop matter and I ended up transferring using a jug via a sieve to try to filter out the larger hop matter... So yeah...

So, my solution is to put my old bazooka filters back into play. Whilst I was at it, I decided to pretty much retire the transfer tap idea. I still put my finer bazooka on it though, and also replaced the hose barb I had fitted with a male DQ fitting. This way I have that tap as a back up for either attaching the pump to, or the hose to, should my primary tap become blocked or something. My primary tap will now function for both the pump tap and for transferring the wort at the end.

I also had trouble with the whirlpool fitting getting knocked when removing the false bottom. My solution to this is to fit a short length of silicone hose to it.

Final internal tweak, I found that I couldn't get to the underside of the element to clean it, there just wasn't the clearance. So I inverted the element and there is now clearance to get at both sides for cleaning (note to self, make sure you clean the what is now the top of the element, especially that tiny bit of scorch...).
Tweaks.jpg
I then moved onto the outside of the boiler.

First up, the pump. It's positioning seemed awkward, not quite right. So I changed the fittings around a bit. It now seems to sit better.

Another thing I found was that the flow control mini tap was fiddly to get at sat so close to the pump, so I moved it to the top of the boiler. This is only used to control the flow when mashing, so I figured the best place for it was on the return on the mashing recirculation plumbing. It's now much easier to access.
OutsideTweaks.jpg
I'll be doing another brew soon to test out my tweaks, probably another Patersbier as having brewed this recipe before I know how it should turn out more or less. :wink:

Fil
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by Fil » Wed Jul 25, 2018 5:26 am

sounds like the different tap options came in handy on your blockage brewday..
it was about this stage in my big shiny build i started feeling nostalgic about the simple plastic ghetto set up i knew like the back of my hand and was only limited in output volume..


good luck with the next brews. Your getting there..
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

wolfenrook
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Re: New BIAB boiler build.

Post by wolfenrook » Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:20 am

Sadly none of them worked on the 1st brew day, as I didn't have any good enough filters fitted. So they ended up so much decoration. lol

The second brew day, where I fitted bazookas to both, both worked as they should, but I used the pump one for transfer AND pumping purely for the sake of simplicity in the end. So in the end, it was a simple case of going back to using the good old bazooka filter, rather than trying to faff around with the American idea of using a pick-up tube and spontex scourer... lol
Transfer.jpg

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