My Electric Brewery Build

[johnrm]

I like it.

I noticed McQuillans Tools on Oliver Plunkett St. in Cork the other day.
Does the discount apply there too?

[DEMPSEY]

I will sort it so it does on Monday.

[Ozbrewer]

@johnrm - I got mine from handyhardware.ie - I do most of my shopping on-line these days. I felt they were cheap enough to buy from but a bit slow in delivery and their website doesn't really keep you informed very well. However, everything arrived in proper order.

@SA - the gang box comes with a grounding screw. If you look inside the gang box you can see where it screws in to. As you said, the brother in law will be checking everything out. Thanks for the link you posted though, I'll run it past him when we are doing the wiring just to make doubly sure.


I did a wet test overnight and all was good, and have spent this afternoon doing up the HLT. I have some photo's I will post later. Having a right tough time of getting the herms coil in though. Just taking a break while the dremel charges so I can shave some length off the bends on the herms coil.

[Ozbrewer]

Ok - Finished the HLT. Have one minor leak, annoying, but I will fix during the week. A bit of plumbers tape and a little tighten and it will be all sorted.

I have to say that was rather gruelling. I started at 2pm and finished about 8pm. Now there was making and having dinner within all that and a beer or two while the dremel charged for 30 mins, but it was a lot tougher and took a lot longer than I thought it would. I did a wet test and that took a bit of time to fix the couple of leaks I had.

The toughest part was the HERMS coil. See pics below as to why. And the sight glass was a pain. I snapped the thread on it twice, but luckily there was just enough thread for a third go to get it right, and so far no leaks.

I have the HLT full of water at the moment doing an overnight leak test just to make sure all is ok.

Overall though, I think it looks great and will function as designed without any problems. Delighted it's finished. Next one will be the mash tun.

Ok - on to the pics.

The main tap installed. Punching the hole was easy, but working out the fittings and getting them all in the right direction took a bit of time, longer than expected. But overall, it is easy enough to do. You can also see the sight glass installed.



Compression fitting and dip tube inside the HLT.



HERMS coil inside the HLT. I've installed it as low as possible, but unfortunately one part is resting on the element. I'm going to have to build a stainless steel prop to hold it up off the element I think. The other thing you will notice is that the coil is touching the back wall of the kettle. On reflection,  : , I think the coil diameter is too big. I bought the coil from stainless brewing in the USA and could have chosen a smaller diameter. I didn't account for the size of the compression fittings, oh well. As it was I had to cut some tubing off the coil to get it to fit that tight, and in the process almost ruined the coil. Cutting the tubing off the coil bends, I cut far enough back to the bend that the compression nut and ferrules wouldn't slide onto the tubing probably, or into the fitting, so I had to use a hammer and once I got the threads to connect it was just brute force tightening them into place. It seems to have worked as I did run water through the coil, close all the valves and let it sit full of water - an no leaks thankfully. I don't think it being against the back wall of the kettle will effect it's efficiency that much and it should still perform as required.



A better picture of it against the back wall of the kettle. You can also see where it is resting on the element as well.



This is the water return.





And the finished product, in situ with the other kettles. It's good to see the brew stand is just the right length as well.



All in all - satisfying but tough day. I do feel more confident progressing onto the other kettles now, and hopefully they will be a breeze.

[CARA]

Build envy!!! Looks cracking man

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Looks great, first carpenter next plumber, where will he go next ? 

[Ozbrewer]

@ SA, CARA - thanks gents. It's been fun. Just in the process of another update......

[Ozbrewer]

Ok - finished some more of the kettle work.

This is the mash tun. On the output tap you can see the RTD sensor which will connect to the control panel.



Here you can see the blichmann false bottom. Need to change the hole for the pickup tube, need some beer tubing around the edge and have to get some bolts to create "legs" for the false bottom. You can also see the wort / sparge return tap and hose.



This is the boil kettle. I was doing a wet test here, and all was good. You can see the output tap and the whirlpool return.



Inside the BK - hop-filter from homebrewbuilder in the UK, whirlpool return, heating element and the RTD sensor at the back of the kettle.



And this is all the kettles in situ on the brew stand as they would be for a brew day. 90% complete. Have to raise the HERMs coil, false bottom fixes as described above, and wire in all the elements. Otherwise all done.



Overall, it took longer than I thought, was more physically demanding than I thought, but was immensely fun and satisfying. Really stoked with it all. All wet tested and perfect. Very happy.

Any questions on any of it, please let me know.

[acaoshes]

Well done. Excellent progress so far. I'm following this thread with great interest.

[Ozbrewer]

Thanks acaoshes. Let me know if have you any questions. Happy to chat about my experience of building this.

I got the panel spray painted and spent yesterday installing all the components. I'll see if I can post pics later today or tomorrow.

[Motorbikeman]

Inspiring build.    Looks great. 

Keep us informed with its first run..

[Ozbrewer]

Ok - so I got the panel powder coated during the week. Picked up on Friday, just in time for the weekend thankfully. Colour is Antique Copper, got it down by Quality Powder Coating in Greenhills industrial estate. Damien was the person I dealt with, who is the owner I believe. Really helpful guy as well, and very easy to deal. Cost for this was 80 euro.

So, I'm pretty happy with it. It looks a different colour in different light, so I've posted a few pics. The middle panel meter which is a temp gauge is a bit off, so a little filing will get that back level I think. I was originally after antique silver or a ceramic black colour but no-one in Dublin was doing it. So in the interest of moving it along I went with the Antique Copper. It's different but I do like it.

So here are the pics:

Panel without any additions.


Panel with the base plate in place.


Panel with all the power inputs and temp probe connectors - I'm sure there is a more technical name for it. And yes that is a standard 63amp panel mount socket. It's bloody huge.


With all the components installed.




And the inside of the panel.


Next steps is to start the wiring with the brother in law.

[Ozbrewer]

OK - so progress has been made. I have completed putting all the hosing together (dead easy) and we have started to put the internals together in the panel.

I also got all my cabling for the pumps and the heating elements. The cables for the heating elements are 10 sq rubber cables for flexibility - pretty expansive at 8.95 euro a meter. Pump cables are 1.5 sqr rubber flex cables (0.95c a meter), pretty close match to the actual and rather short cables that are attached to the chugger pumps. I will be looking to build the cables sometime over the weekend, or during the week. I'll post photo's of them as I go.

Anyway, recent photo's are:

All the hoses assembled and in place on the brewery. It's not the best photo as we were having one of those rare sunny days and this was taken on an iphone.


Front of the panel again. Nothing changed here.


Internal components on installed on the back plate.


The contactors (relays):


The breakers:


The interlocks on the left so I can only ever have two elements on at once. And the step down transformer - 240v to 12v.


The converters for the panel meters.


A 50amp shunt for those that are really interested.


Close up of the contactor (relay);


Close up of the interlocks:


And the inside of the door.


Any questions, let me know.

[Will_D]

Awesome quality! Well Done!

I have one teensy, tiny little question:

Can you please post up the links to all the suppliers you used!

No rush, when you are finished as a definitive list of links stickied somewhere will answer the age old questions that are continuously asked on the fora: "Where can I get ...."

[Will_D]

Oh and when you label up the panel with a nice engraved makers plate that says something like:

"OzBrewPanKit    Version xxx"

Never say version one - it looks like you've only just made it and it may still have bugs!

Much better is like Version 2.3 Revision Ozz_9

It really kills joe public to think you have had so many iterations!