http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 93&alt=web
What do people think of the item attached here a boiler on ebay and downsides people see ?
Boiler opinion
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AnthonyUK
Re: Boiler opinion
Someone who bought one has posted their findings on the forum somewhere and I think they recommended avoiding.
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Tony1951
Re: Boiler opinion
I have a very similar spec ACE mash tun boiler and have been very happy with it. Mine cost me £100 last June and I have used it in about twenty full brews. Mine has worled well, but I am aware that some users of the spec of boiler I have had some problems with the rolling boil stopping for a time when the thermal cut out operated and switched the thing off. Mine did this once only and I swirled the thermostat back and forth and it cut straight back in again. I can't swear to you that this action of rapidly working the thermostat back and forth from one extreme to the other was the solution.... It could have just been a coincidence that it came straight back on. I know of one boiler which had an electrical fault and had to be sent back unused.
I love my boiler. It seems well made and reliable. It is easy to clean and the double walled design means you can mash in it though I do pull an old sleeping bag over the thing when I am mashing in the shed in winter. Doing this it loses maybe a couple of degrees over the hour long mash.
My boiler has a 2.5KW element and the new design has a 1.6Kw one. This change may have been made to stop the cutting out problem I referred to above. The smaller element will make the boil more tame, which would be no bad thing, but it will also take a lot longer to come up to the boil than my more powerful one. Mine takes about 35 minutes to raise the mash liquor to boiling point - that's a rough estimate.
I have had to come to a work around to end up with 23 litres of wort in the FV after the boil because the maximum capacity of the boiler up to the full mark is 25 litres. Given that I lose about 3 litres to the boil. This is really not a problem. I usually end up after my sparge with about 28 litres of wort so I put about 24 - 25 litres in the ACE boiler and start the boil then I boil the balance on teh stove and top up the boiler with that stove top boil as it evaporates. THE NEW DESIGN WILL LOSE LESS TO EVAPORATION THOUGH so maybe this would not be needed. On some brews I made, I made less wort (stopping at 25 litres) and topped off the boiler with a boiling kettle as the wort evaporated.
The machine is easy to clean.
I have had the filter block up quite often but this may be due to my high gravity brews and hoppy recipes. It didn't used to block up as much before I started going for 7.5% IPAs.
If you are new to fulllength brews - make or buy a wort cooler. I find this essential. The boiler will take a very long time to cool from boiling to 20C if you don't have a cooler. Mine takes about 24 hours to cool down naturally. I bought a wort chiller on the auction site for about £35 and it was a good investment, but it could easily be made for a fraction of that price if you are a bit handy.
Cheers
Tony
I love my boiler. It seems well made and reliable. It is easy to clean and the double walled design means you can mash in it though I do pull an old sleeping bag over the thing when I am mashing in the shed in winter. Doing this it loses maybe a couple of degrees over the hour long mash.
My boiler has a 2.5KW element and the new design has a 1.6Kw one. This change may have been made to stop the cutting out problem I referred to above. The smaller element will make the boil more tame, which would be no bad thing, but it will also take a lot longer to come up to the boil than my more powerful one. Mine takes about 35 minutes to raise the mash liquor to boiling point - that's a rough estimate.
I have had to come to a work around to end up with 23 litres of wort in the FV after the boil because the maximum capacity of the boiler up to the full mark is 25 litres. Given that I lose about 3 litres to the boil. This is really not a problem. I usually end up after my sparge with about 28 litres of wort so I put about 24 - 25 litres in the ACE boiler and start the boil then I boil the balance on teh stove and top up the boiler with that stove top boil as it evaporates. THE NEW DESIGN WILL LOSE LESS TO EVAPORATION THOUGH so maybe this would not be needed. On some brews I made, I made less wort (stopping at 25 litres) and topped off the boiler with a boiling kettle as the wort evaporated.
The machine is easy to clean.
I have had the filter block up quite often but this may be due to my high gravity brews and hoppy recipes. It didn't used to block up as much before I started going for 7.5% IPAs.
If you are new to fulllength brews - make or buy a wort cooler. I find this essential. The boiler will take a very long time to cool from boiling to 20C if you don't have a cooler. Mine takes about 24 hours to cool down naturally. I bought a wort chiller on the auction site for about £35 and it was a good investment, but it could easily be made for a fraction of that price if you are a bit handy.
Cheers
Tony
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Kev888
- So far gone I'm on the way back again!
- Posts: 7701
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:22 pm
- Location: Derbyshire, UK
Re: Boiler opinion
I'd be suspicious of 1.6kw being enough for a decently vigorous boil. It could be, given that the thing is insulated and small capacity, but worth checking up on perhaps.
The volume also seems slightly too small for my taste, but whether you are happy to cope with getting around that or not only you can decide.
The volume also seems slightly too small for my taste, but whether you are happy to cope with getting around that or not only you can decide.
Kev