Best Kettle to dismantle for boiler

[escapizm]

Hi Guys

Gathering momentum now on my AG kit, which is best kettle to dismantle for addition into the Hop & Grape 10 Gal boiler and what hole should I ask them to fit.

I’d rather not have the electrical guts of the kettle exposed (splashes etc) so one that had some cover would be best. I’ve seen excellent thread on here for DIY kit but the kettles innards worry me a little as I’m not a big fan of electricity, I appreciate its hard work and all but makes me a little nervous...

Ill be making mash tun this weekend with a cooler box

[nofe4r]

I am afraid if you intend to gut a kettle for an element then you will have to play around with innards as you have to remove a pin to stopping the element cutting out when it reaches a boil. Though its not hard.

I thought the H&G boiler already had elements fitted?

[booldawg]

I'm sure theres a thread in the 'equipment' section with pics that takes you through the process. TBH its a very easy task.

Tescos cheap kettles worked for me. They are around the fiver mark. I went down exactly the same route as you; got the HBS to drill holes in a 50L plastic boiler and fitted my own elements. I'm sure HBS can provide elements but they around 15 pounds each as opposed to less than a fiver for a cheap Tescos kettle.

For splashguards I simply cut the bottom out of a muller rice pot and stuck in on the side of the boiler over the element.

[escapizm]

The boiler bucket is £9.99, with 1 element its + £27.50 with 2 its + £47.5

[booldawg]

May be worth checking with H&G but I got my 50L boiler from Leyland homebrew. Les was happy to drill the holes for me and I simply fitted the elements myself when it arrived. As I said before, elements are very expensive if bought as a separate product.

What size boiling bucket are you looking at?

[bevanjon74]

HI Escapizm
I followed the DIY brewery thread on here and built mine from the Sainsburys Value Kettles.. I am an absolute nightmare with anything DIY but following the thread I have managed to make a fully functioning boiler!
Used a 40mm hole saw on the holes for the elements and a H and G 10 gallon bucket.
To be honest it was not half as scary as I thought it was going to be taking apart a kettle..
BJ74

[ChrisG]

I use the Tesco kettle elements. They are great and easy to install.

Just had my first failure after 14 brews, one broke but had a spare to fit. Work well and thinking of stocking up on them.

[escapizm]

Using the excellent batch sparge and boil calculator on 18000feet i need 27.1 litres for the boil. is that the qty in the HLT, i put in the final FV vol was 20 litre and used the eg's for the rest of the figures. ie 4kg, 2.5:1 etc etc

I think Im gonna need a large bucket say 10 gallon as a HLT and would a normal 5 gallon do as the kettle for the boil? should i put two elements in both? as back up and for getting to boil quicker then i can turn off 1?

Thanks

[Hawkinspm]

I used Tesco elements and that was really easy. Also, as per someone else here, I got Les at Leyland homebrew to pre-drill holes for me which made it even easier.

Regarding batch sparging, you won't need all the water at once so a similar sized HLT to your kettle is fine. I start with around 10 litres of water to mash, add another 5 post mash then sparge in 2 batches for which I add 10 litres for each. I find I have enough time to do heat these separately if needed ( using 2 elements ).

[Parva]

Using the excellent batch sparge and boil calculator on 18000feet i need 27.1 litres for the boil. is that the qty in the HLT, i put in the final FV vol was 20 litre and used the eg's for the rest of the figures. ie 4kg, 2.5:1 etc etc

I think Im gonna need a large bucket say 10 gallon as a HLT and would a normal 5 gallon do as the kettle for the boil? should i put two elements in both? as back up and for getting to boil quicker then i can turn off 1?

Thanks

I think you're getting this a bit wrong. I use a 27l Cygnet (Burco) as my HLT for 5g brews and have no problem at all. Firstly, assuming 5Kg grain bill that means you need to mash-in with 12.5l of water. Mash-in, refill HLT and leave mash for 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, add first sparge addition and whilst leaving it to rest add a little more water to the HLT to ensure you have enough for sparge 2. You can almost get away without the last step but I usually run out just short so tend to heat more water up now.

The quantity in the HLT does not need to equal that of the boiler as in effect you are using the water three times and can therefore top-up between each addition. You can easily get away with a 27l HLT, perhaps even smaller, what you really need is a big boiler as it's here where shortcomings will give you boil-overs. I personally use the H&G 10g plastic boiler and there's no way on this earth you'll ever get a boil-over with a 5g brew and I've managed several 10g brews in it too with few problems.

[booldawg]

I used Tesco elements and that was really easy. Also, as per someone else here, I got Les at Leyland homebrew to pre-drill holes for me which made it even easier. Somewhere on here is a post that says remove the yellow wire - don't do this, I did and then had to join them back together.

Regarding batch sparging, you won't need all the water at once so a similar sized HLT to your kettle is fine. I start with around 10 litres of water to mash, add another 5 post mash then sparge in 2 batches for which I add 10 litres for each. I find I have enough time to do heat these separately if needed ( using 2 elements ).

Whats this about a yellow wire? I didnt have to leave any wires on my ones, unless they've changed the design?

[Northern Brewer]

Asda Smart Price kettles at around fiver, appear to be the same as the Tesco ones

[Hawkinspm]

Whats this about a yellow wire? I didnt have to leave any wires on my ones, unless they've changed the design?

Ah - I got that all the wrong way around - there is a forum on here saying to remove the light and join the yellow wires... Don't do that as it shorts it out - cut them off...

Sorry for confusion caused...

[Northern Brewer]

You can in fact pull them straight out.

[Tequilla6]

Or you can do like I did and keep the light and wires and use them as an indicator for power