Jim’s Heat Stick
UPDATE!
Here is the last pic in the series…. I used the heatsticks to brew a batch… they worked pretty much as expected, although it helped to put a bit of insulation on the boil kettle to maintain a more vigorous boil. Ambient temp was about 20F. No scorching, and no roar from the burners… Pretty cool.
Jim
Member Submitted Content!
Thank you Jim Ogren for sending this in. I always encourage anyone if they have something to share send it in. Jim did just that.
Andy
This is kind of a before and after set of pictures. Anyway, it is a heat ‘stick’. I plan on using a couple, maybe 3 of these to boil my wort, and to heat the sparge water. After all the cold and snow lately, I think I will move the brewery to the basement in the winter, and an electrical heat source would be just the ticket for indoor brewing. I think i remember reading an article in Zymergy maybe 6 months ago about heat sticks… but I just googled for details on building them. Here is the link I used. http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm
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5 Comments, Comment or Ping
JRT.Sr.
What kind of epoxy or glue do you use to seal the fittings with? I’ve had some go bad I think because of water leaking into the tube. Also the people should be told to protect the system with GFIC. Thanks Jim
Jul 4th, 2009
Jim
The plans i used just called for using JB Weld, and that is what i used. The guy recommended that in addition to sealing the fittings with it, to actually put it on the electrial connections where the wires attache to the heating element, as an added protection against moisture. That’s what I did and I have had no troubles after using them for about a dozen batches of beer. As far as how food safe JB Weld is…. I don’t know. I didn’t research it, but i know I am not the first on to use it on heat sticks. I can tell you that JB Weld is pretty shiny after it is cured. After a few batches the shinyness is gone.
Also, yes, they have to be GFI protected. And for whatever it is worth, these things use a lot of power. Only one per circuit on most household circuits. That said, I think they are cheaper than using propane, and in my opinion more convenient too.
Jim
Jul 6th, 2009
Jim
Also… if you use these things to adjust the mash temperature…. be careful…. Unless the mash is rather ‘thin’, they will scorch the mash in a heartbeat. By the time you realize it…. it is too late. I have used them in a thinish mash and kept moving them, but i consider it a dicey idea. I recommend just going with whatever temp you get in your mash rather than chance scorching it with a heat stick…. Of course, if you came up with some sort of rheostadt to turn the heat down a bit… that would probably work good.
Jul 7th, 2009
Tom
Any chance of you listing the parts for this project? Sizes of pipe used, element watt size (s), type of cord and what is that gray part. Other helpful hints and what to avoid in the build would be helpful.
thanks
tom
Jul 9th, 2009
Jim
The plans I used I got from the website I listed earlier in this thread. The guy said he used a 2000 watt element, but by my math, that is too large for a 15amp circuit. He must be on a 20 amp breaker. Other than that, I would use his plans. Also I think 14 gauge wire is undersized, but then the fire hazard should be minimal because you will never leave these things running unattended, right? .
As far as a parts list for my project, I will have to look around for a receipt. But what I did was just go to Lowes and start putting parts together. Here is what I remember. The heating element is a 1250 watt water heater element. 1500 watts is about as large as you can go on a typical 15 amp houshold circuit. The silver part is 1.5 inch chrome plated sink drain pipe. I used an extention tube ( also called a drop tube) that would normally attaches to that tube and joined them with epoxy. The problem is trying to attach that to schedule 40 PVC. I found a piece of electrical conduit that worked (the grey piece), but that isn’t the only way to do it. The rest is just sked 40 PVC. Oh yes… the wire was a heavy duty 3 prong 12 guage appliance cord, also from Lowes. Or you can make your own cord, but I suggest 12 guage or heavier.
Part of the problem of using these things, is that you can only have 1 per circuit. I have to run a heavy duty extention cord from a different circuit in another part of the house. I made a cord with a 2 gang outlet box and put a GCFI wired thru a light switch in it. It’s nice having the on/off switch instead of plugging/unplugging the heatsticks. It was so handy I made another one for the other heatstick.
That’s about all i can think of. They work great. I have considered making another one with a somewhat smaller element, partly to bring the wort to a boil faster by using 3 sticks, but mainly sometimes there are cases where 1 is not quite enough to boil 6 gals, and 2 is a bit much, so I have to cycle one on and off at first, in order to avoid a boil over. My thinking is using a 1250 watt element and a 700 watt element (if there is such a thing, might work better. Also, a smaller element might be more useful to adjust the temperature in a mash tun, where larger elements are prone to scorching but at this point i am guessing.
Good luck
Jim
Jul 12th, 2009
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