Teperature control on boiler.

[richardagutteridge]

: Hi all. First of all if I have posted in the wrong section then sorry in advance.

I have been doing AG for 3 years now.

I am having problems with my brewing efficiency, which I discovered was due to my very old mash tun. ( yes I know I could just make a new one)

I do have a Bruheat boiler, the old type made by Richie products. I have fitted a new Peco themostat/simmerstat to it and want to use it as a mash tun.

However I'm having a problem getting the setting right, and the advice I was given was to keep an eye on it and ajust accordingly which I think would be a waste of time, and might as well go back to the old mashing method.

I have been looking at the temp. controllers at the top of the page. please not that I have no idea what a PID is or how the controllers work.

If I bought the one pictured at the bottom would all I have to is plug the Peco controller into the socket or would I have to dispence with it and use other method to connect the heating element to the controller?

Hope this makes sense to someone :drink:

cheers Richard G

 

[bobsbeer]

Hi Richard. I have moved your post to General Beer Brewing Equipment Discussions, hope you don't mind as it seemed more appropriate.

I'm not sure what you are trying to do? Are you trying to use the element in the boiler to control the mash temp? Or use the boiler as a HLT? Or are you planning on BIAB? The PID unit will control the temperature via a PT100 temperature probe. So you would need to disable the thermostat in your PICO unit, and wire the PID unit direct to the element. The element will be controlled via a SSR, being switched on and off according to the temperature sensed by the PT100. You set the temp you want on the PID and then leave it to do the controlling. I hope that makes sense. :grin:

 

[prolix]

you can heat the mash but the thermal properties of the mash mean the grains near the element will get too hot I had one of those mash tuns and the grains would get scorched.
the best thing is insultation, get the right strike temp and insult well so the heat doesn't disipate mix well and there should be no problem.

try using carry mats for insulation and a sleeping bag to improve it get the strike to 72ish thenmix well and insulate.

if you do biab they are great, heat the water drop in the ag and grain mash pull out the bag boil

bit rambly too much beer :lol:

 

[richardagutteridge]

: Are you trying to use the element in the boiler to control the mash temp.

Hi Bob yes this is exactly what I want to do.

I don't need to disable anything as I have a spare lead that I can plug directly into the element, thus bi-passing the Pico controller without having to remove it.

What I wanted to know is would the temp. controller advertised above, it is the third one down priced £65 ish, do the job of keeping the mash at 65-68c without me having to watch it, and would I be just able to plug it in. ( I'm good at following instuctions)

ps will send pics tommorow via the other site so you know what I'm on about also if you could explain in really simple terms how these things work I would be really gratefull
Richard :drink:

 

[bobsbeer]

The problem you will encounter is that the grain nearest to the element will be hotter than the rest, as has been said above. You would need to stir constantly which kind of defeats the object of what you are trying to do. I.e less effort and watching. I am no expert on this, but I do have a PID system to control the HLT temp. People seem to use the STC-1000 to control fermenting fridges or kegerators that have both a heater and cooler. I don't have either so never used one. My mash tun is an insulated thermo pot and keeps the temp very well over 90 mins. I think you would be better spending your money on a better insulated mash tun. Or add more insulation to the one you have.

 

[tazuk]

am i reading this wrong why not build a herms unit or am i on the wrong track :wha: :wha: :wha:

 

[bobsbeer]

If I'm reading Richards post right I don't think he want to get that complicated, but wants to use his boiler to control the mash temp.

 

[richardagutteridge]

: Bob is right tazuk and I have no idea what you are talking about, I was for part of my working life an engineer so building things comes easy for me but lekky leaves me bewildered, and believe me I'm already bewildered enough.

I know the problem with my BHE is my mash tun so I might take Bob's advice and have a look at what he rcommends :drink:

 

[tazuk]

:rofl: its not hard to build a herms tesco kettle :thumb:

: Bob is right tazuk and I have no idea what you are talking about, I was for part of my working life an engineer so building things comes easy for me but lekky leaves me bewildered, and believe me I'm already bewildered enough.

I know the problem with my BHE is my mash tun so I might take Bob's advice and have a look at what he rcommends :drink:

 

[richardagutteridge]

: Sorry mate still don't know what you're on about or what it does.

However I have just found the instructions for my old boiler and it does state that it can be used for mashing, using a mashing bag.

I have just found the bag in my drawer, forgot it was free with the boiler, also David Lines in his book recommends the use of this type of boiler for mashing and boiling.

Will give it a go :drink:

 

[bobsbeer]

I don't understand how doing it in a boiler is going to give you an even mash temp unless you continually stir. The top and the bottom are going to heat up differently and cool differently. So keeping the mash temp the same throughout must be difficult? But as I haven't tried it, I may be over thinking this. :wha: :hmm:

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

I've read this thread and I agree with the others Richard.. The element will scorch the grains and you'll get off flavours in the final brew, the best thing to do is heat the mash liquor to 75c and drop the grains in and it should settle to around 66c...... (If the grains are at room temperature before doughing in)...
Make sure you insulate the tun, lid and base, anything will do even an old rug....... which is what I used for years tied around with bungees with an old pillow on the lid.. :thumb:

BB

 

[richardagutteridge]

: Thanks for all the advice guys, I have plenty of insulation for my MT that I have bought/made over the last 3 years. As I have to brew in the garage I get a wide temperature varience so I can't just use a standard strike temp, and have to guess/trial and error the strike temp on the day. I think this is why I am not getting my BHE of 70% as standard.

The instructions with the boiler recommends mashing at only 1lb to a gallon of water, even Lines always starts with about 3-4 gallons so that you don't get a "porridge" mash.

I am going to buy some camping mats and permanently insulate my MT and boost it with my boiler lagging I bought when I first started AG.

:drink: Richard G