Buffalo 40L

[noble ox]

Hi Brewers
New to ag brewing and am researching boilers............I read an old thread here on these boilers ,so was wondering about any problems are they worth the money etc
Also replacing a new tap (ball valve) for what reason ? also would you leave the original tap in place or make new hole what is the size of original hole ?
Thanks in advance
Mick

[vacant]

A link to the thread you found would be useful.

[FutureBrewer]

Hi Nobel Ox,

Yes, I have a Buffalo 40 litre.

A link to an old thread I started about tap replacement is here. You should find plenty of answers to your questions...

Also -

Upside: It's shiny and well made.

Downside: You may want to bypass the thermal fuse and the thermostat/thermal cut-out on the base of the element. Easy to do though...

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers,
FB.

[noble ox]

Thanks FB for the link very informative.
I read somewhere that the stat will allow 110 c so I would hope it roll boiled at 100c ish.
I know my limits so will not want to tamper with the electrics .I am now wondering whether to go for the new brupak purpose made HLT ready to go ....almost the same price more research.I will not rest until I am watching the wort bubbling away
Thanks

[FutureBrewer]

I get a good rolling boil with it - although I did have problems with the thermal cut-out recently. I seem to be in the minority though - most brewers are using them unmodified, straight out of the box.

Bypassing the cut-out is easy - If you do end up buying one I'll post pictures & a guide of how to do it.

When it's at full-pelt on a rolling-boil, you'll lose around 2 litres per 30 minutes to evaporation - whether that's good or bad, I'm not sure. It's the only boiler I've ever used!

Keep an eye out on eBay for them. I bought mine here, which is Nisbet's clearance shop.

I bid for my one by clicking 'make an offer'. Bought it for 70 quid, delivered. It was in perfect nick, not a mark on it.

Cheers,
FB.

[Valley Commando]

I got mine from the main Nisbets site and paid considerably more than that: £140 with delivery. But it has performed well so far for me, and makes BIAB a cinch, so no grumbles from me. I have seen the internal wiring, which is not that hefty so how long it will last I dont know, but there is a how-to repair guide with photos out there on the forums somewhere, where arcing was causing faults due to cheap spade connectors being incorrectly fitted: I checked mine were ok by taking the baseplate off, but the fix looks straightforward even if you do have a problem.

Nisbets clearance looks to be the way to go to get hold of one FWIW. This has got me thinking, I could easily do a double batch BIAB if I got a second one to go side by side with my original! My liver would be proper screwed if that happened....

My 2cents for what little its worth: I think the way ahead for a newbie in AG brewing is BIAB. I wouldnt bother with all the kit, cleaning,and connectors for 3V until I was sure it was for me. BIAB is just too damn convenient, no faffing around with soldering copper , fiddling with hop strainers, sparging arms and mash tuns, less vessels means less storage hassle, less cleaning and thus less time spent to get to the end result: A brew in the FV with a clean brewroom, a beer in hand and a happy wife. Do yourself a favour and go BIAB!

[FutureBrewer]

there is a how-to repair guide with photos out there on the forums somewhere...

Yep, again that's one of mine - the thread starts here.

arcing was causing faults due to cheap spade connectors being incorrectly fitted...

Nah, just a loose spade connector causing arcing, creating a dirty/bad contact, equaling heat. This was tripping the thermal cut-out.

...no faffing around with soldering copper , fiddling with hop strainers, sparging arms and mash tuns...

Each to his own, but I LIKE faffing around For me, that's another facet of homebrewing. I'm learning not only how to brew, but how to solder, how to build hop filters, how to fix my boiler when it fails during a brew It's problem solving... and it's all good for the brain

Cheers,
FB.

[jasons]

I have a buffalo 30 for hlt and 40l for boiling.

The thermal fuses are hopeless, I went through a few, then bypassed them, never had much issue with the thermal cutout, except when I did a back to back brew and didn't scrub out the heat plate after the first brew which caused the thermal to cutout.

The best mnod I did was this\;

the heat plate is made up of 2 elements to make the 2.2kw, one was around 400w and the other at 1800 (from memory).

You can split these and tap a new thread to create 2 seperate elements.

I run the 400 constantly when turned on and the 1800 on the thermostat, you could do this the other way round, I chose this way as I often use the lid and the 400 does a great rolling boil when up to temp.

For lid off (outside brewing due to steam?) the 1800 may be ok.

The thermostat is still there to kick in the 1800 element as and when required, but this way it keeps a constant rolling boil rather than on and off.

[Bribie]

The best thing about a 40L boiler / urn is that you can do a full size brew-in-a-bag (BIAB) to make top quality beer, with no other vessels required - the urn starts off as the hot liquor tun, becomes the mash tun, and finally when the grain bag is removed / squeezed / discarded, the urn then takes on its role as boiler.

Plenty of info around this forum or on other forums such as here: http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=80

[jampot]

I get a good rolling boil with it - although I did have problems with the thermal cut-out recently. I seem to be in the minority though - most brewers are using them unmodified, straight out of the box.

Bypassing the cut-out is easy - If you do end up buying one I'll post pictures & a guide of how to do it.

When it's at full-pelt on a rolling-boil, you'll lose around 2 litres per 30 minutes to evaporation - whether that's good or bad, I'm not sure. It's the only boiler I've ever used!

Keep an eye out on eBay for them. I bought mine here, which is Nisbet's clearance shop.

I bid for my one by clicking 'make an offer'. Bought it for 70 quid, delivered. It was in perfect nick, not a mark on it.

Cheers,
FB.

Thanks a lot for pointing the ebay offer link. I already have one of these and there great. Paid £120.00. I put in a cheeky bid on one of the clearance ones and got it for £66.00 inc postage... Can have as a back up or as a hlt

[greenxpaddy]

I use a Buffalo as a copper and HLT. Unmodified, original tap. I get a length of wide bore silicone tubing and slide it over the tap it makes a good seal. I managed to slide a cut/reduced piece of 15mm copper pipe into the tap from behind and then cable tie a stainless steel braided hose hop filter to it....It works perfectly. That was just for ease. Recently because I feel a bit 'heath robinson' and accidentally ordered 2 bulkhead watertight fittings in error I have been considering buying a qMax to do the job right - it would be handy to have the tap stay on on its own!

It has always boiled rolling boil no problems. The thermostat is way out but it doesnlt matter an dI now know by how much so can mentally adjust for the thermostat.

The element in the centre scorches the middle of the base but I find if you leave the whole lot for at least 24 hours with the hops still in then the acid in the hops gets working on the area and it scrubs off with a foam scourer without a problem