Ace electric boilers?

[MickDundee]

This is definitely on my birthday wishlist now.

Funny you should say that - today is my birthday and I got one!

 

[MickDundee]

Funny you should say that - today is my birthday and I got one!

Finally had a chance to unpack this, put the false bottom together etc. I'm very impressed with the quality and SWMBO feels it looks much safer than my old plastic boiler. My only concern is that the tap seems to move about a bit but if I peer inside when I jiggle it it looks ok - I assume this is just because of the insulated wall?

 

[BeerCat]

Finally had a chance to unpack this, put the false bottom together etc. I'm very impressed with the quality and SWMBO feels it looks much safer than my old plastic boiler. My only concern is that the tap seems to move about a bit but if I peer inside when I jiggle it it looks ok - I assume this is just because of the insulated wall?

Make sure you test it before doing a brew. Mine did leak but fixed it with some plumbers tape. It is somewhat loose but works and doesn't leak. Happy Birthday Mick and congrats on your new toy. :)

 

[Zephyr259]

Funny you should say that - today is my birthday and I got one!

Awesome, hope you have good fun with it. Let us know how you get on?

 

[donchiquon]

Finally had a chance to unpack this, put the false bottom together etc. I'm very impressed with the quality and SWMBO feels it looks much safer than my old plastic boiler. My only concern is that the tap seems to move about a bit but if I peer inside when I jiggle it it looks ok - I assume this is just because of the insulated wall?

Happy Birthday Mick....fully impressed with whoever is choosing your birthday gifts :thumb:

The tap is a bit tricky to tighten up - I struggled for a while to get a pair of grips to make contact properly, and ended up positioning the tap on the outside so that I could then give it an extra half turn to finish tightening it up.

The end result is not rigid, as the stainless wall of the ACE is still relatively thin, but it shouldn't be wobbling about.

As @BeerCat says you can always use PTFE if you have trouble sealing it. I've not had to do this (yet!) despite stripping down the tap to clean several times.

I've just ordered a second ACE and Inkbird to use as an HLT to try and save a bit of time on brewery. They are great bits of kit.

 

[MickDundee]

Happy Birthday Mick....fully impressed with whoever is choosing your birthday gifts :thumb:

That would be me! My £20 plastic boiler from Gumtree died during my last brew so my parents offered to buy me a new one. After reading this thread I, naturally, asked for an Ace!

 

[lagerlad]

Hi mick are you gonna be doing biab in the ace boiler looks like it would be good for that style of brewing,I too at the moment have the plastic peco for biab which is fine just seems a bit flexible when you got the boil on I would rather have something a bit more rigid,would this be suitable for replacing the peco or anyone got a better suggestion cheers lagerlad

 

[MickDundee]

Hi mick are you gonna be doing biab in the ace boiler looks like it would be good for that style of brewing,I too at the moment have the plastic peco for biab which is fine just seems a bit flexible when you got the boil on I would rather have something a bit more rigid,would this be suitable for replacing the peco or anyone got a better suggestion cheers lagerlad

Yeah, I'm planning on doing BIAB with it. The element isn't the biggest but it should be ideal. It'll be a couple of weeks before I get a brew on though, probably an American wheat beer.

 

[GlentoranMark]

Has anyone rigged up a pump for continuous sparging?

 

[monkeyboy79]

I've had this boiler for a few brews, in the winter it worked ok, with just some issues with draining wort due to hop debris blocking the bazooka.

However, the last few boils have been really stressfull, this boiler just wont keep on and the "keep warm" light keeps clicking on. The last attempt it was probably only boiling for 20 mins out of a 60 min shedule.
Has anyone found a (safe) way of removing this "feature"? As Im contemplating smashing the ACE into tiny bits

Cheers, MB

 

[donchiquon]

I've had this boiler for a few brews, in the winter it worked ok, with just some issues with draining wort due to hop debris blocking the bazooka.

However, the last few boils have been really stressfull, this boiler just wont keep on and the "keep warm" light keeps clicking on. The last attempt it was probably only boiling for 20 mins out of a 60 min shedule.
Has anyone found a (safe) way of removing this "feature"? As Im contemplating smashing the ACE into tiny bits

Cheers, MB

Is there a layer of white scale on the bottom of the boiler?

This can cause boiler thermostats to cut out early....

 

[donchiquon]

Has anyone rigged up a pump for continuous sparging?

Yes, this works well. Do you mean for a recirculating mash and then fly-sparge?

The mash works well, although it is useful to use a couple of eBay purchases to dial down the power of the element to help regulate the mash temperature - I have found a simple dimmer/speed controller and an Inkbird 308 work pretty well - see the earlier pages of this thread.

I'm currently putting together a box with a PID, dimmer, and temperature probe tee'd into the boiler outlet in order to try and get a really stable mash temp....or just electrocute myself! [emoji1]

 

[GlentoranMark]

Sorry for confusing, I meant mashing without using a sparge. Just continually recirculate the wort while the heater keeps the mashing temperature.

I was thinking about one of these along with some tubing and a sprinkler head.

I don't own one of these boilers but I'm considering one.

 

[donchiquon]

Sorry for confusing, I meant mashing without using a sparge. Just continually recirculate the wort while the heater keeps the mashing temperature.

I was thinking about one of these along with some tubing and a sprinkler head.

I don't own one of these boilers but I'm considering one.

That's the one - you can find them for £10 from China, which is good value for a test if you arguing out different methods of mashing and sparging.

 

[GlentoranMark]

I just seen your and other posts on page 26 that answers my questions.

I've spotted this on Ebay, worth a punt for £5.

My Inkbird arrived yesterday, I can use it to control my mash temperature as well as using it for my brew fridge.

I don't own one of these shiny's but I fancy the false bottomed version.

 

[BrannBrew]

This has been a great read, I've got a very basic makeshift setup and this could be the step to making my own kind of electronic brew system.

1 thing though is has anyone been successful in brewing 10-15l batches? As im not sure if the ace would be too vigorous boil for any smaller batches i may make, abit unsure of the water levels for each stage and if I need to adjust the amount of grains compared to literally 1/2 the recipe

 

[BeerCat]

Sorry for confusing, I meant mashing without using a sparge. Just continually recirculate the wort while the heater keeps the mashing temperature.

I was thinking about one of these along with some tubing and a sprinkler head.

I don't own one of these boilers but I'm considering one.

I have seen seconds on sale for £85. Probably only cosmetic.

 

[BeerCat]

Yes, this works well. Do you mean for a recirculating mash and then fly-sparge?

The mash works well, although it is useful to use a couple of eBay purchases to dial down the power of the element to help regulate the mash temperature - I have found a simple dimmer/speed controller and an Inkbird 308 work pretty well - see the earlier pages of this thread.

I'm currently putting together a box with a PID, dimmer, and temperature probe tee'd into the boiler outlet in order to try and get a really stable mash temp....or just electrocute myself! [emoji1]

I just won an Inkibrd PID but after days i cannot really suss how to wire it up. Any chance you can share some info. As requested i will start a thread about if but got to connect it up first.
Also i sussed out my leak was caused by a dodgy washer. Does anyone know the size or have a link for a replacement? Find it hard to measure.
And also again been having problems draining. Guess its the hop debris. Does anyone have a link for spare bags as wanna try using one for hops. Thanks :)

 

[BeerCat]

Sorry for confusing, I meant mashing without using a sparge. Just continually recirculate the wort while the heater keeps the mashing temperature.

I was thinking about one of these along with some tubing and a sprinkler head.

I don't own one of these boilers but I'm considering one.

How would i wire this up? Mates a leccy but hard to get hold off.

 

[GlentoranMark]

How would i wire this up? Mates a leccy but hard to get hold off.

The Inkbird is automated. I was going to wrap the sensor around my hop filter and then plug the boiler into the heating plug of the inkbird. Set the temperature to my mashing temperature and then mash away.

The pump (listed above) is 12v so I have a 12v car starter battery to run it. Just connect the tap of the boiler to the pump and then pump the wort back into the so it's continually recirculating.

The inkbird will (hopefully) hold the correct mashing temperature so no electrical knowledge needed.

I've ordered that pump btw.