Home made HLT

[gibbiem]

Does anybody that uses a home made know if something like this would suffice?

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... 2dqE8twbqA

Then a standard kettle element?

Cheers

[asd]

Blue mango tub.

[gibbiem]

Where do you get them?

[joe1002]

Ebay or try your local Indian.

[gibbiem]

Local Indian! I live just round the corner from the biggest Indian area in Newcastle!

[sbond10]

Have a look in the Asian/Indian spice supermarkets been told there a source of cheap cook wear

[Rick_UK]

I use one of these with an immersion element (used to be my boiler before I upgraded to SS. Works great as a HLTand its comforting to have a spare boiler if I run out of gas! I would imagine the mango chutney barrels would be just as good if you can get one for free though. Would recommed an immersion element over a kettle element though - more powerful and robust - should last decades - and much easier to wire up.

Rick

[asd]

Agree on the immersion element!

[gibbiem]

I use one of these with an immersion element (used to be my boiler before I upgraded to SS. Works great as a HLTand its comforting to have a spare boiler if I run out of gas! I would imagine the mango chutney barrels would be just as good if you can get one for free though. Would recommed an immersion element over a kettle element though - more powerful and robust - should last decades - and much easier to wire up.

Rick

Something like this? Do you just wire up to a normal three pin plug using flex?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221417569925?redirect=mobile

[Rick_UK]

I use one of these with an immersion element (used to be my boiler before I upgraded to SS. Works great as a HLTand its comforting to have a spare boiler if I run out of gas! I would imagine the mango chutney barrels would be just as good if you can get one for free though. Would recommed an immersion element over a kettle element though - more powerful and robust - should last decades - and much easier to wire up.

Rick

Something like this? Do you just wire up to a normal three pin plug using flex?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221417569925?redirect=mobile

That looks fine. Just remove the thermostat (long copper probe in the middle of the elements)- should just lift out from the terminal end (you may need to snap it off a mounting but should be pretty obvious). Then just wire it up with some decent cable that wont melt. You may need to get a back nut to mount the element as mine didn't come with one - picked one up from local plumbers merchant for a couple of quid.

Much less hassle than hacking a kettle though!

[gibbiem]

I use one of these with an immersion element (used to be my boiler before I upgraded to SS. Works great as a HLTand its comforting to have a spare boiler if I run out of gas! I would imagine the mango chutney barrels would be just as good if you can get one for free though. Would recommed an immersion element over a kettle element though - more powerful and robust - should last decades - and much easier to wire up.

Rick

Something like this? Do you just wire up to a normal three pin plug using flex?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221417569925?redirect=mobile

That looks fine. Just remove the thermostat (long copper probe in the middle of the elements)- should just lift out from the terminal end (you may need to snap it off a mounting but should be pretty obvious). Then just wire it up with some decent cable that wont melt. You may need to get a back nut to mount the element as mine didn't come with one - picked one up from local plumbers merchant for a couple of quid.

Much less hassle than hacking a kettle though!

Nice one, cheers. Do you have a sight glass? Not sure if I will bother with one

[Rick_UK]

No, can't really see the point TBH. Would be easy to cobble one together with modern fittings though if it floats yr boat.

[Brighteyebeer]

Nice one, cheers. Do you have a sight glass? Not sure if I will bother with one

No, can't really see the point TBH. Would be easy to cobble one together with modern fittings though if it floats yr boat.

Yeh, for my HLT I use one of the Copper Kettle 60 litre (67 to brim) PP bins, with a 3kw element. I think a sight glass is pretty much essential for an HLT. (Don't have one in my boiler, tho'). The bin is insulated to get to strike temp asap, and to retain the heat of the sparge liquor. So the insulation is also an essential, but it means I can't just mark the side of the bucket with measurements. The sight glass lets me hit the right total volume, and measure-out the strike liquor. The insulation then maintains the temp for sparging, without using the element again.

Did you get your element yet? Mine is one of these:
http://www.all-spares.co.uk/pages/kettl ... ersal.html
Needs the same hole as a standard kettle element, and comes with the washers and plastic shrouds in the pic. The large shroud seals it against my PP bin, and protects the connections from boil-overs, etc. Comes wired as in the link's pic, so just drill the hole, secure with the shroud, fit a plug and job's done. Simples!

Cheers,
Chris

[floydmeddler]

I bought acrylic pipe form this seller and made 2 sight glasses. One for my HLT and one for my boiler. I ordered 15mm with 3mm wall.

[gibbiem]

Nice one, cheers. Do you have a sight glass? Not sure if I will bother with one

No, can't really see the point TBH. Would be easy to cobble one together with modern fittings though if it floats yr boat.

Yeh, for my HLT I use one of the Copper Kettle 60 litre (67 to brim) PP bins, with a 3kw element. I think a sight glass is pretty much essential for an HLT. (Don't have one in my boiler, tho'). The bin is insulated to get to strike temp asap, and to retain the heat of the sparge liquor. So the insulation is also an essential, but it means I can't just mark the side of the bucket with measurements. The sight glass lets me hit the right total volume, and measure-out the strike liquor. The insulation then maintains the temp for sparging, without using the element again.

Did you get your element yet? Mine is one of these:
http://www.all-spares.co.uk/pages/kettl ... ersal.html
Needs the same hole as a standard kettle element, and comes with the washers and plastic shrouds in the pic. The large shroud seals it against my PP bin, and protects the connections from boil-overs, etc. Comes wired as in the link's pic, so just drill the hole, secure with the shroud, fit a plug and job's done. Simples!

Cheers,
Chris

This makes sense actually. So your sparge water stays at the correct temp for the whole of the mash? And when you say PP bin is it the bin in my initial link?