ArdBir (formally BrewPi Spark) Herms Build

[armedcor]

Yeah whirlpool is brewpi. They just got in pumps, elements and motorised valves too, so they really have everything you need now.

No idea on the dead space. Once I get the lids cut out of them, I'll be popping the hauter into Tue base of one and doing a water test to see. I'm guessing about 2L, which is my hop loss rate already.

Nice, let us know anyway. I've a centre diptube on mine which makes whirlpooling slightly pointless so I'd be pretty interested in something like the hauter

[neoanto]

Great settup.

Ive a few questions about where you got some of the bits.
Where did you get the Igloo Cooler, the motorised pumps and the disconnects?

I want to add the pump items to my own build. I wouldnt mind upgrading my cooler as mine is quite small.

[molc]

Igloo cooler is from GetErBrewed. It's a 45L cooler, which gives you plenty of capacity for anything you need to brew, though you need to account for the cooling effect of the extra headspace in smaller beers. I'm planning on moving over to a keggle for this eventually, but I like the extra insulation so I'm slow to change.

The rest of the parts came from the BrewPi store. The connections are camlock fittings, which are a breeze to use, though are a little head wrecking to figure out at the start. It's better to put the female parts on your tubing and then male outlets on everything you are connecting too, both for ease of connection and cost.

The pump is a solar pump, which I will actually be selling on quite soon, as I have two much larger pumps on the way in a group buy from the States. It's perfect for recirculating a mash but not powerful enough to generate a decent whirlpool.

I hope to get the next step in the build up over the next few weekends. I'm going to build a dedicated brewstand for everything and put it in the other side of the room, as well as mount the pumps etc so it's  finally a single level setup and no longer will require lifting liquids on brewday.

[neoanto]

Thanks for the info.
Yea i also want to get away from lifting liquids, for one i wont always be able to lift it! and 2 if it spills and its hot then it could be dangerous.

[molc]

Starting to work on the keg conversion work now. Going to cut the lids in about two weeks,  but want to do another brew on the current system in its final configuration with the new chugger pumps first.

In the meantime I decided to clean up the kegs a bit. They have paint on them as well as a lot of nicks. Going to be staring at these for hours in end in the final system, so I want a nice brushed metal look.

Most posts online are for cleaning products in the US, so hard enough to get a reference for this part of the world.

Tried using a paint scraper and oven cleaner first. An hour later and a bit of polishing with some stainless steel polish and all I had done was this:

[molc]

So a new approach was needed or I'd go insane. Found a 3M paint removal disk for the drill and tested on a small patch. Not only does it remove the paint but it also brings up a lovely polish on the metal. It's not fully uniform but still looks the business. If I really get bothered, I'll go over it once with my polishing disk to give the uniform finish.
30 minutes has removed most of the paint and now the drill needs to charge before I finish it off. Going to also give the rest of the keg a run, though that's much easier when you're not stripping paint as well.

[molc]

So today I finally got the right size angle grinder in the house and started to work in the BK conversion. Made a jig for the grinder and had a stainless steel cutting disc, so it flew through.



Filled the keg with water first as well so there was no pitting on the inside. A quick washout after and good to start putting in the holes for the fittings.



This was much much harder. As Ciderhead pointed out before, kegs have some pretty thick stainless, so even with plenty of lube and going slow and hard, a few bits broke and it took ages to drill the pilot holes for the hole punch. Then after the second it looks like the punch has seized and the threads are ripped from the central barrel. Going to need to do a bit of reading and find a better way if doing the 1/2" holes.


That said, once they were punched, they were perfect and everything fit like a glove.


Still need to make the 1" hole for the heating element which I hope to try and finish tomorrow. After that, need to finish polishing the keg and were good to go. Also will be fitting a sight glass, but initially I'll just find some sort of marked stick for the first brew.

The hauterhexe is the perfect size, though it is pretty high in a keg. After whirlpooling, it might not even be necessary and a dip tube might work better, but won't know until I do a brew. I can always just mash a little more to compensate anyways, as the setup has enough space!

Oh also picked up a 34" stainless lid in Ikea and it fits perfectly!

[armedcor]

Jesus man surprised about the hole punch. I've done 6 holes on keggles with the punches and they were perfect. Definitely gets a bit tough right before it pulls through but they're perfect holes and the punch is still in great shape.

[Shanna]

Molc,

If your having issues with the hole punch I have a set of holes saws and a hardened step bit that you could use if you want. Could the issue with the bits/punch giving you problems be that your drill is not strong enough? I used a wired drill for holes in all three of my ss vessels and while it was slow to get them done they did not cause major problems. I did break one drill bit adding holes in the skirt of the keg to attach bolts for some additional clearance space, but that was because I got impatient and did not use anything to lube/cool the drilling area.

Shanna

[Leann ull]

The trick is to run it as slow as you can whilst also putting huge pressure on it and allowing the hose to trickle water to ensure the bit doesn't make the steel hardened., nice lid!

[molc]

Shanna, I might take you up on that. The hole punch doesn't use a drill, so that's more a case of the bolt that goes through it being too soft. I think I can replace it as the punch itself seems ok, if I can just manage to take it apart again.

Didn't realise the metal can harden if you go too fast. I was spraying both with wd40 but the second one was crazy hard, so that probably explains it.

More practice tomorrow doing the 1" hole

[Leann ull]

Get the hose out, I'm not convinced about WD.
Mr Dempsey showed me that it's better long and slow with pressure cutting like butter, you will visibly see the flakes come off rather than whizzing away.....wait for it

[molc]

Yeah near the end, I started to see that, so will try again tomorrow.

Also finally managed to take apart the hole cutter. The tool itself is fine but the bolt that it uses for leverage has its threads ruined. Will see can I find something to fit in woodies tomorrow that I can get a better grip on with the vice grips.

[Shanna]

Get the hose out, I'm not convinced about WD.
Mr Dempsey showed me that it's better long and slow with pressure cutting like butter, you will visibly see the flakes come off rather than whizzing away.....wait for it

Slow and steady wins the race Got to get me a couple of those lids!!!!

Shanna

[Leann ull]

looks like an M8 bolt bring the cutter base to try a few in woodies
OMG what did you use to tighten it or was that getting it off
I never used those even though I have one but I'm guessing a really good correctly sized allen key on a long handle will give you the torq or a bit of metal pipe as an extension just to take it home
I still think my chinese bits and a very expensive step drill (50stg) are the dogs and have done 20+ holes at this stage
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs-set-16-32mm-Carbide-Stainless-Steel-Tipped-Drill-Bit-Metal-Heavy-Duty-Hole-Saw-tool/32344651179.html