Up grade to HERMS (with pics)

[fifebrewer]

I have been in the process of up grading my brewery to a HERMS system. this is the post of the original build viewtopic.php?t=34087

as with the original build I'm still on a students budget so it had to be a cheap as possible

The most expensive single item was the false bottom from the home brew shop but worth it as it works really well and is top quality.

This is the pump I used.

took me ages and a lot of googling to figure out how to get the thermocouple into the system but come up with this

Plumbing all done. I went with all compression fittings after my complete fail trying to solder the connections on my CFC.

for the heat exchanger I went with a asda kettle with a copper coil in side

There was not enough space on the one shelve to fit the mass tun and the heat exchange. so it went on the shelve bellow.

also as part of my upgrade I moved all the electrical components to a control panel. all the suitable containers I could find where quite expensive so I went with a storage box.

the finished product minus my boiler which sits on top of the hob (but is electric)

holding temp spot on during testing

just done the first brew with the system and all went really well with no leaks and holds temp well. :

Thanks for looking :)

 

[31bb3]

great pics dont forget to flush the wort out of the herms after sparging as you will have a bit in there going to waste

 

[fifebrewer]

great pics dont forget to flush the wort out of the herms after sparging as you will have a bit in there going to waste

Good point. Thanks for the advice.

 

[bobsbeer]

Looks great. Well done. :thumb: :

 

[joe1002]

Looks great, well done :thumb:

 

[Equinox101]

Looks great, really impressed.

What's the pump you used?

 

[fifebrewer]

Looks great, really impressed.

What's the pump you used?

Thank you very much.

This is the pump I used. only had it running twice but seem well built and reliable. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0875510167

 

[Cononthebarber]

Hi thats a nice setup you have, well made and put together :thumb:

I notice that you are using the same (or very similar) pump to myself for my HERMS...in my other post today I was saying that my pump has stopped working after only being used on 4 brews, I have also noted that yours is placed on its own. I decided in my dubious wisdom to put it inside a box for neatness...perhaps this is the source of my troubles? i.e. the pump over heated in the box?

 

[fifebrewer]

Hi thats a nice setup you have, well made and put together :thumb:

I notice that you are using the same (or very similar) pump to myself for my HERMS...in my other post today I was saying that my pump has stopped working after only being used on 4 brews, I have also noted that yours is placed on its own. I decided in my dubious wisdom to put it inside a box for neatness...perhaps this is the source of my troubles? i.e. the pump over heated in the box?

hmmm could be mine is not to hot to the touch after running of 90 minuets but as you say its not inside a box. when you apply power is nothing happening at all?

 

[Cononthebarber]

No nothing happens, as I say there is definitely power going to the pump...MacKiwi posted that the pump may be gummed up after getting sticky? I will try and give it a good clean out and see if I can get it going...I'll let you know

 

[Vossy1]

Good work Fife, and a trouble free 1st brew...doesn't get much better :party: