Brew Bin Heaters

[Keith]

Finally I have had enough of this Thorn Electrim heater & thermostat - it now seems only to operate in cycles of 1min on & 1 off & takes 2/3 hrs to boil!!!!!!!
From the site a Variac seems the thing to use - but which one from where? there are 'millions' which seem to come out of the states and would almost make going to the pub every night for a year cheaper!
Suggestions please.
Thanks.
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Sad

[Graham]

Finally I have had enough of this Thorn Electrim heater & thermostat - it now seems only to operate in cycles of 1min on & 1 off & takes 2/3 hrs to boil!!!!!!!
From the site a Variac seems the thing to use - but which one from where? there are 'millions' which seem to come out of the states and would almost make going to the pub every night for a year cheaper!
Suggestions please.
Thanks.
javascript:emoticon(':(')
Sad

Don't have an Electrim, but I guess that it is not really a thermostat, but a simmerstat. They are not very accurate or efficient. I had similar problems with the one fitted to my Burco catering boiler inasmuch as it wouldn't stay on permanently when turned up to full; it cycled like yours did. I took mine apart and adjusted it so that it did stay on. You probably can't get inside modern ones.

Quite frankly, for boiling you always need full power. You should never need to turn it down. The more vigorous the boil the better. It is probably a good idea to bypass the simmerstat and wire the element in directly, or fit some sort of switch if you also use the Electrim for maintaining sparge water.

[Keith]

Thanks Graham, I think it is an adjustable thermostat in that you dial up the setting you have found to produce the temperature you want and it will maintain it there. I do use full power for the boiling cycle but it seems to think boiling should be arrived at more slowly now - it used to work, but it seems to have slowed down with age (bit like me I suppose). The bypass switch sounds a good idea as I use a lower setting for mashing.
Keith

[prolix]

solid state regulators just can't hack the load at 2.4kw they are not designed for 10a constant load, unless you buy expensive ones ~£100
variacs arn't cheap either mind but something like this would be grand

variac

though you can build a solid state one much cheaper using one of these (£4.10 each) as they will take it if you have a large enough heat sink and a simple triac diac circuit

[bluesboy]

I added a second kettle element 2.4kw direct to my electrim I use both to heat up then just switch off the one with the thermostat and let the kettle element boil away, it has worked ok for past 2 years. I also got sick of the thermostat stopping and starting.

Bluesboy

[landy813]

This could be used with a correct rated triac and pot as a cheaper option
http://www.sutronics.com/acatalog/BFM_T ... rcuit.html

or a more expensive route
Subtronics

This sort of circiut is used on some of the basic autoclaves so are capable of being fine tuned to hold a certain temperature.

The cheapest route is to get a simmerstat of an electric cooker
Simmerstat

Wiring diagram for it

Or get an old oven off freecycle.

If your not an electrician make sure your sure how to connect it all up, just so you dont burn the house down

[prolix]

thanks for those links landy

the first one needs the [url removing off the end to work though

[landy813]

Cheers only just sussed how to do them

Removed.