hybrid fermenter boil kettle

Post by **jward** » Thu Jun 18, 2020 10:17 am

Inspired by content here and necessitated by moving I am converting my brewing rig from natural gas to propane and electric to future proof it. It looks like my new locale will have reasonably priced electricity and I will concentrate on documenting that. Also, I decided to upgrade my sanke fermenter which has also prompted mods to enable its use as my boil kettle. The electric elements will be controlled by a BCS. I hope you don't mind some homebrew tech with so much overlap.

Post by **jward** » Thu Jun 18, 2020 3:27 pm

Here is my sanke fermenter pre HD:

This started as an ordinary sanke keg I picked up from a scrap yard long years ago. I used a Brewershardware Sanke Fermenter kit. Later I cut the ~8" hole in the top of the keg to be able to get in and really clean. The top was a loose keg top from a keg used as a boil kettle. This was secured with bolts to the nuts you can see on the lid. That never worked well. For a time this was chilled with in a fridge. Later, I purchased a jacketed conical and only use the sanke for larger batch sizes. This was cooled by recirculating the chilled water in a bath/tub made from a rain barrel. (As an aside, getting images usable here on the interwebs was serious pain.)

Post by **jward** » Fri Jun 19, 2020 8:43 am

Here are the latest mods. I had an 8" TC ferrule welded in the top and a 2" TC ferrule welded in the side near the bottom. I can drop a heating element in the 2" port and use directly as a boil kettle. I'll get a pic of the fermenter top. I am still waiting for the 8" TC clamp as it was back ordered.

Post by **Jack C** » Fri Jun 19, 2020 9:55 am

Very nice. That should do a treat.

Post by **Twisted Brick** » Fri Jun 19, 2020 10:20 am

Nice job, jward. Clean, versatile rig.

Post by **greggn** » Sat Jun 20, 2020 10:53 am

jward wrote: ↑Fri Jun 19, 2020 8:43 am I can drop a heating element in the 2" port and use directly as a boil kettle.

How do you drain it when running electric ?

Post by **jward** » Sat Jun 20, 2020 12:34 pm

greggn wrote: ↑Sat Jun 20, 2020 10:53 am
jward wrote: ↑Fri Jun 19, 2020 8:43 am I can drop a heating element in the 2" port and use directly as a boil kettle.

How do you drain it when running electric ?

I will have pictures to follow. I have two options. I can put the fermenter lid on the keg and push the liquid out a racking cane with a bit of pressure through a corny gas QD or I can tilt the keg enough to remove the element and add a valve. The fermenter lid is an 8" TC cap with one 3" and two 1.5" TC ports. While boiling wort it will be open on top. While fermenting the lid is on with the 3" port having a plastic window or a hose barb for a blow off tube. One 1.5 port will have a thermowell. The other 1.5 port can have an hose barb for an airlock or blow off tube, or I could borrow the spudling valve from a different fermenter for fermenting under pressure. Once done fermenting the thermal well can be pulled and a racking cane added. The airlock replaced with a gas QD fitting.

kornflake · Post by **kornflake** » Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:24 pm

Looking forward to seeing what you do.

Post by **jward** » Sun Sep 13, 2020 11:38 am

I have been busy moving from one coast to the other but finally made it. I had hoped to reveal a special fitting, a loop of CSST welded to a 2"TC used to circulate coolant taking advantage of the bottom 2"TC. The CSST has been too thin and/or not flat enough to weld. I was quite hopeful of the CSST working since I picked up using CSST on this forum. I'll share the new design of a through the top SS coil once I get it.

The previous keg welded photo disappeared. This should be good to go as an attachment. If this work, I think I finally understand how to add photos correctly here.

Post by **jward** » Sun Sep 13, 2020 11:55 am

I have started on the power control parts for the electric elements. I think this is a fairly common approach here using SSRs for power control. Since I have a 240v 30 amp dryer outlet I will use that to provide load protection. In the photo you can see the 10' dryer pigtail go to a 50 amp SPA GFCI panel. I wanted GFCI protection now and may upgrade to 50 amps with a dedicated circuit some day. I decided to use an extension cord cut in two to provide the outlet connected to the controller and the plug connected to the heating element. The first box will hold an amp meter/power meter. The next boxes will each hold the connections for a heating element.

Post by **jward** » Mon Oct 05, 2020 6:01 pm

Live fire test went great.

Post by **shadylane** » Mon Oct 05, 2020 8:30 pm

Nice build

Post by **Yummyrum** » Tue Oct 06, 2020 2:06 am

Very nice ... but I’m cringing at those SSRs with exposed terminals . Would be nice if they were all in the one box

NineInchNails · Post by **NineInchNails** » Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:17 am

Very cool! Wow how big is that top Tri-Clamp ferrule? I use a 6", but yours looks a bit bigger.

Post by **jward** » Thu Oct 08, 2020 4:14 pm

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 2:06 am Very nice ... but I’m cringing at those SSRs with exposed terminals . Would be nice if they were all in the one box

I will cover the exposed AC side with some insulation to keep from touching them but they wont go fully in their own box.

Post by **jward** » Thu Oct 08, 2020 4:22 pm

NineInchNails wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:17 am Very cool! Wow how big is that top Tri-Clamp ferrule? I use a 6", but yours looks a bit bigger.

That is an 8" TC which is the same as on the conical fermentor I use. This will run as a boil kettle and fermentor when I make a larger then ~5 gallon batch or for mead.

Post by **jward** » Tue Oct 05, 2021 4:04 pm

greggn wrote: ↑Sat Jun 20, 2020 10:53 am
jward wrote: ↑Fri Jun 19, 2020 8:43 am I can drop a heating element in the 2" port and use directly as a boil kettle.
How do you drain it when running electric ?

To that end another port has been added since I am going electric and want to drain not rack the wort.

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