Home Distiller

After all these years of working with 110.. i finally upgraded my SCR controller with some 10/3 and L6-30 plugs and whatnot, hooked it up to the extra dryer outlet in the basement wash room complete with slop sink, floor drain, two windows and an un-used dryer vent for exhausting the fermenting closet and hit the switch..

I was a little unprepared for just how fast an 8 gallon boiler boiled when you give your 5500 watt element what it really wants.. 240 powah!

240, or 241. Whatever it takes.
My 8-gallon is running 1500-watt @ 120v and takes 2+ hours.
What, pray tell, did it take for yours to boil? Jealous, Pesty.

i'm putting my money on about a half hour.

In my 15.5 gal with 12-13 gals I have 5500w on controller and a switched 4500w on 220 volts 20 mins max from 55F to 212F over kill yep but just have the shit laying around and had to see.

HDNB wrote:i'm putting my money on about a half hour.

I didnt time it per say but yep, right around half hour on the test run. Just about 45 minites for the strip run from 60 to first drip. That first drip used to take almost 2.5 hours.

Welcome to the club! I’m looking to add another 30A 220V drop for a second element on a controler and better power distribution.

I’ve got a 13gallon milk can boiler that takes about 1h to bring up to temp with the 5k5W element. New boiler will be 16gallon with two heating element ferrules.

I wonder how long it’ll take to get up to temp in thumper strip mode with 2x 5k5W.

Cheers,
Jonny

I just did the same thing, those 5500w heaters are killer! My major mistake though was running with a 25a SSR on a 30a circuit, so it fried the SSR closed and I had boiling sugar wash spraying all over the place. That bloody magic smoke, so confusing!

I'm in the Acfixer class.. but the only difference with him is that I have 2 -5500 ULHD.. depending on the basement temp, summer under 13 min, and winter under the 16 minutes to power back for 40 litres..

So welcome to the club of 240v.. best way to go in a set up for sugar wash..

Mars

Congrats.

70 watts per liter for a one hour heat up (Notwithstanding ABV mind you) is a good rule of thumb .

You'd have 183.333 watts per liter with a 5500 watt element.
150 watts per liter with a 4500 watt element.

Way, way gooder than a 1500 watt input.

Switching to 240v is literally getting hours of your life back, currently running a 4500w element (with a 5500w replacement in the drawer). On a 5-6 gal charge is about 20mins to the first drop, and last drop at 60mins for a stripping run.

Just yesterday I finished work and decided to do a quick stripping run, probably a total of 90mins to setup, run, and a quick cleanup. Only wish I'd made this change YEARS ago....

LWTCS wrote:Congrats.

70 watts per liter for a one hour heat up (Notwithstanding ABV mind you) is a good rule of thumb .

You'd have 183.333 watts per liter with a 5500 watt element.
150 watts per liter with a 4500 watt element.

Way, way gooder than a 1500 watt input.

Excellent info! Thanks! I have 4500W in my 57L keg and fill it with about 40L or so. That's 112WpL and it takes about 45min or so to start getting fores. I'm in the middle of Tiging 2 kegs together to give me about a 100L still (some loss) and at 4500W, that's 56WpL for 80L. If I order a 5500W from the states (can't seem to buy them in Canada...grrr) that will put me at 68WpL so about ideal for a one hour heat time.

Haven't been on here in a while, pop in and voila! the exact info I was looking for!

I have the pic's of the build on my blackberry...but I can't seem to get them off of it. Once I figure it out I'll post in the building threads.

Pesty wrote: I was a little unprepared for just how fast an 8 gallon boiler boiled when you give your 5500 watt element what it really wants.. 240 powah!

Sounds like it's time to start planning a 15 gallon boiler

Desvio wrote:Switching to 240v is literally getting hours of your life back.

It really is. It used to take me all day sunday to strip twice and mash in for next week.

I was done and on the couch by 1pm this time.

shadylane wrote:
Sounds like it's time to start planning a 15 gallon boiler

Ive been planning that keg for over a year now. Finally in a place where i have the space and the power to build the ole boy. Got all my copper ready, ferrules for 6” cut out top, tig is at my buddys house. Just rewired the new controller and working on harware to convert this milk can to a real 8” tri clamp top for steamer thumber duty. Once i have all the parts and the keg i can get busy cutting and welding.

fizzix wrote:240, or 241. Whatever it takes.
My 8-gallon is running 1500-watt @ 120v and takes 2+ hours.
What, pray tell, did it take for yours to boil? Jealous, Pesty.

Very obscure reference to Michael Keatons line in 'Mister Mom'. I caught it, Fizzix lol.
Well played!
"Yea, 240...241... Whatever it takes".