Turn a 50L sankey keg into a HLT

[Frothy]

1/2" mates up well with 15mm copper pipe fittings etc. And 1/2" hose is pretty standard to connect to any pumps.
The fittings are Ready available and cheap never had any problems. Just be sure to use a hop strainer as hops don't fit throughthrough u less you go for 3/4" or larger.

Q-max cutters do cut kegs no problem. I use them to fit my elements and taps etc. In kegs (repeatedly). Just follow Newton and use a good long bar for leverage.

[Mther]

Ok guys I finally opened the kegs. One more is left to open, a coated one.

So in the pictures its the 100 litres kettle and 50 litres mash tun.

1st question. do you go with faulse bottom on both? Or do u use that washing machine pipe in mash tun?

2nd question. Go electric or gas for the kettle and HLT (which I didnt open yet)?

Cheers

[Fil]

Very clean job how did u do it?? pics of the process on the last keg cld be useful for anyone else following suit.

Washing machine pipe??? do you mean SS braid??, if so it may need something like short lengths of copper pipe inside to help maintain its shape under the grain mass.

I am surprised you didnt cut off the bottoms and use the top as the bottom as its already got a nice hole for the drain.. A SS false bottom would be my choice for the tun. one of the off the shelf 12"/30cm domed fb's might be a good choice, it may sit in the concave bottom nicely??

electric v's gas??.. ive gone electric with my stock pots. but depends on your electric supply to where your brewing.. afaik the limit for an element run off a domestic ring main is 3kw, im using 1 x 3kw and 1 x 2.4kw in my 98l stockpot kettle fed by extention leads from 2 seperate domestic rings which works well.

[Mther]

Thanks Fil. I will post pics from the whole procedure soon! I used an angle grinder and just one metal cutting disk 115x3mm. It was quite easy for a first time grinder user (all my fingers are still on:) )!

I decided to stay with these 2 kegs now. The 100L will be used as HLT and boiler for now in order to reduce some costs.

I will use a 10" false bottom for the 50 L mash tun and a 12" for the 100 L mash tun/boiler.

I would love to go electric, so I wont be weather dependent since I dont have a garage and I would like to brew in the pub room. So I would like to ask you, having these 2 kegs I would imagine I can brew up to 70 L? What rated power elements would you go? I found a 2.4kW for £24. But I think I would need at least 5kW, otherwise I would wait for the whole day! What do you think about that?

Also, are there any tutorials out there on how to install an electric element for dummies? I am a bit scared of the procedure really so a step by step guide will make me a bit brave hehe

Where did you buy your elements from and what are the exact components I will need? From the plug to the element?

Many thanks to everyone!

[Fil]

Thats very impressive and neat grinder cutting, Kudos..


the elements i used came from mrlard via his homebrewbuiulder.co.uk site and are about 330mm long.

the benefits of em are they are 100% ss and have a low watt density, the length also brings the boil up through the whole pot where ex kettle elements can just boil up the side.. the smaller 32mm hole would also be easier to seal with a thicker curved wall. tho they are not budget options, however when you consider they come complete with a seal, locknut and backing shroud, i think they represent VGVFM

to wire up all u need is suitable flex ive used heat proof butyle rubber sleeved 2.5mmsq flex. a cable gland (20mm/22mm) to grip the flex into the supplied shroud, crimp on eyes, insulation tape, and a plug.




the electrical connections are earth (central) and live/neutral can be wired to either of the 2 power poles.

once connected i wrapped up well in insulation tape And just to be double safe i cut a strip from an old pet bottle to wrap around the electrical connections when screwed onto the SS backing shroud.



i got my elements in 2 installments.. the 2nd set i got came with slightly squatter shrouds, with these a standard cable gland interfered with doing the thing up as the retaining nut and thread it gripped on intruded too deep.. SO.. i got the hacksaw out and chopped off the length that intruded into the shroud, and epoxied the gland stub into the shroud eye..


a minor pita..

i then terminated the flex with a 16a commando plug..




as they are all metal and being powered by electricity its worth while continuity testing with a multimeter before plugging in. use a resistance setting on a multi meter and see the difference in reading between the probes seperate and then touching.. the live wire should not conduct with the earth wire but should with the neutral pole which also should not conduct with the earth wire.. neither live or neutral should conduct with any external metal surface of the element or shroud, but earth should... it those tests pass your ready to test with juice.




all gunked up post a 90min boil..

[Mther]

Wow! Thats very impressive!!! I will have a look at homebrewbuilder and come back to you again! You made it look easy! Thank you very much Fil, once again!

Ok I am editing the post...

Is this coming with all the things I need? 2.4kW
http://homebrewbuilder.co.uk/hlts%20&%20kettles.html

2 of these should be ok ....

[Mther]

Ok guys my order arrived today and more questions seem to arise!

First one, how do I connect the inside connector of the tap with the false bottom? See image



And second question... Do I need to add a pipe below the false bottom? It is almost flat, probably 2cm distance from the centre of the false bottom to the kegs bottom.


Cheers

[Fil]

depends on your tap point.

With a tap exit on the side stick a hosetail to the back of your tap fitting. and then connect the hosetail on the FB to the tap with the correct length of hose,

then to create a syphon effect to drain attach hose to the tap output to hang below the bottom level..

with a bottom drain just plug the central hole and sit it over the drain

[Mther]

depends on your tap point.

With a tap exit on the side stick a hosetail to the back of your tap fitting. and then connect the hosetail on the FB to the tap with the correct length of hose,

then to create a syphon effect to drain attach hose to the tap output to hang below the bottom level..

with a bottom drain just plug the central hole and sit it over the drain

Hi Phil thanks for your help again. I have never thought of draining from the bottom!!! How would this work, since I will using a gas burner?

Should I open a hole at the bottom, and according to the picture, put A piece inside the keg (under the FB), piece B outside the keg and a X piece of stainless steel pipe between B and C to connect the tap? Sound very cool, it will drain much quicker than trying to syphon.... What do you think?

[Mther]

Sorry I can't edit the comment above so I will start a new one.

May I ask, if I decide to drain from the sides, how do I achieve the syphon effect? Is it by placing the tap lower than the FB connector (i.e. Elbow)?

Or just do it on the same level and add a long tube on the tap outside as you mentioned? I think this does sound better since the air will not go into the keg when the wort level is the same as the tap level....

Also, regarding the picture I attached above, it does sound like a great idea, similar to what they do in the breweries, however, because I am using a gas burner I am afraid I will have leaks since I will not be able to put any silicon washers. Also, maybe I will have long term degradation of the connectors? It would be a great idea for electric boilers...

[Heron1952]

A bottom drain would usually be used with a mash tun not boiler or HLT.

[Fil]

the tap exit can be at any level below the liquid to start off the syphon effect.
with an internal dip tune/feed tube, near the pot bottom and,
with a drain tube attached to the tap exit hanging below the pot bottom it will continue to suck the liquid out when the pot level drops below the tap.
to stop and start once the level has dropped below the tap exit u will need to add an extra tap at the bottom of the syphon exit to control and keep the liqiuid in a syphon state (excuse the impresise language), so it can restart.. if you shut off at the pot valve and let the syphon exit rube empty u will need to suck it out to restart, painfull with 80C+ water

[Mther]

A bottom drain would usually be used with a mash tun not boiler or HLT.

Is there a specific reason for that? I am asking just for curiosity.

[Mther]

the tap exit can be at any level below the liquid to start off the syphon effect.
with an internal dip tune/feed tube, near the pot bottom and,
with a drain tube attached to the tap exit hanging below the pot bottom it will continue to suck the liquid out when the pot level drops below the tap.
to stop and start once the level has dropped below the tap exit u will need to add an extra tap at the bottom of the syphon exit to control and keep the liqiuid in a syphon state (excuse the impresise language), so it can restart.. if you shut off at the pot valve and let the syphon exit rube empty u will need to suck it out to restart, painfull with 80C+ water

Well... I should have my buckets ready below the tap so I dont need to stop and start again

I think I will go for a side draining for HLT. Regarding the mash tun I am not sure what I should do because of the coating. I will keep you updated, I am waiting for the drill bits at the moment. I will take plenty pictures or maybe a video.

Thank you guys

[Heron1952]

A bottom drain would usually be used with a mash tun not boiler or HLT.

Is there a specific reason for that? I am asking just for curiosity.

Dead space not so critical, and gas heating might burn seals.