50l Brewery Build

[LeeH]

Mag pump?

[Kyle_T]

Fraid not mate, too expensive at the minute so we're going with a solar pump and will see how we get on with that.

[Kyle_T]

Little update:

Spoke to Mr Lard and got confirmation that my order will be here Wednesday, all that is left is to get the QMax cutter from fleabay, here is what's on its way:

1 x 1/2" Cam & Groove - Part F
4 x 1/2" Cam & Groove - Part A
6 x 1/2" Cam & Groove - Part C
1 x 12v DC Solar Pump
10 Meters Silicone Tubing
1 x Standard Sight Glass Kit

Once we have these arrive and the cutter we will be well on our way to getting the brew build up and running.

Cheers

[LeeH]

Nice one Kyle!

I'm on hold until I can afford a shiny tun

[Kyle_T]

No luck with Mr Lard or Powell?

Next step is to pull my finger out and get the DIY shelf in place for the HLT and then I can start giving you lot some photos to look at.

[Kyle_T]

At last a picture! Not quite the photo I was after but a photo none the less:

The grains have arrived for 1 of 2 choices of the first brew after completion, either a Traditional Mild or this lot, the Black IPA:



The hops are ready and waiting in the freezer.

Cheers.

[Kyle_T]

Todays delivery:

I apologise for the carpet lol...



Now to start putting the thing together.

Cheers.

[Kyle_T]

And here we have another update! Arrived early(ish) and put in a good few hours work to arrive at this point:




Connected the gas bottle back to the burner and the burner back to the stand, then added the hosebarb and a length of silicone tubing to drop into the fermenter.



Connected the camlock fitting to the mash tun and then drilled a 10mm hole through the lid and poked the sparge arm through and held it in place with bluetac until we get the 10/15mm adaptor tonight.



Same again with the HLT, then replaced a split poly washer on the element to seal it up again and added the sight glass.



HLT with retro fitted sight glass.



HLT on a temporary stand with camlock connectors on the tubing cut to length ready for under letting the mash tun.



Mash tun with it's tubing and connectors in place and long enough for the solar pump to reach the floor incase it gets knocked.



The pump with both connectors fitted and the tubing cut to length to reach the boiler.



A wider view of how it looks in place.



And a final one for this post including the HLT.

Cheers.

[LeeH]

Wow! Are you brewing this weekend then?

[Kyle_T]

Wow! Are you brewing this weekend then?

Thanks mate, not yet, a couple of minor jobs to do over the weekend for prep work and then I am away on holiday for the week but might find time to get everything ready.

And a couple more pictures of the mash tun, quickly picked up and fitted the adaptor and camlock fitting, 2 more part c's in the post to cut another piece of tubing shorter to connect the HLT to the sparge.





All that is really left now is to PTFE tape the lot, calibrate the HLT sight glass and get the shelf in place.

Cheers.

[Kyle_T]

More time spent there today, taped up all the threads and no leaks on that part, calibrated the sight glass and need to fix a small leak on that, rewired the STC with 4 meters of bright orange 13A cable and a new rubber backed plug, cut the sparge arm tubing and ran a complete cold water test.

All went well up to this point. Pump took 5 litres of water from one pot to another and just stopped working. Had a little fiddle and I'm still none the wiser but I have a feeling my train controller has had it as it is 14 years old, also the flow rate was barely moving and the dial had no effect. Any idea?

Cheers

[Fil]

Did the pump get warm/hot?? any magic smoke escape?

check the amp rating of your control device for the pump, it should be larger than the pumps rating. if lower the pumps greater demand could burn it out. - no im not a qualified electrician, and yes i know it shows..

u didnt leave a stray length of ptfe tape floating in the water you pumped??? if so its possible its got sucked in and wound round the impeller ?? unlikely in know but pulling the pump head is just 4 screws..

a good 9v battery like the ones in smoke alarms, has enough juice to run a 12v sloar/lil brown pump for a short test..

[Kyle_T]

It got a little warm but that was it. As far as I know it's at least 1A. As for the PTFE I'm fairly certain I removed all the loose bits but it is possible, will have a check when I come back from a works holiday.

I did think about a 9V battery test but could I find one, not for the life of me.

[LeeH]

Good news it failed on a test run though.

[Kyle_T]

Aye, we still have the tried and tested method of filling up an FV and just pouring it in, not far to lift it either. Only the shelf needs to be made now and that small leaky sight glass to be patched up and we should be good. Already lined up the next four brews, 2 will be 23 litres and the other 2 I will see if I can push it up to 34 litres.

Will also be looking at buying grain by the sack and maybe, just maybe look at buying one of those 80 litre conicals from Poland.