Modifying a buffalo boiler

[BeerCat]

Well spotted Colin. They are not SS. Probably nickel coated. Glad i had not ordered yet.
I have a couple of those 90 degree elbows as well. Dip tubes seem to be very expensivce for some reason.

 

[BeerCat]

Finally fitted the false bottom and so far i am really please. Managed to connect it to the tap with a spare piece of silicone tube. Drains from about 1cm from the bottom. Will be able to mash 2 or 3kg more grain easily.

Really please with the bag as well. Good value for £20 and a lot easier than buying a basket imho.

I have decided not to add a whirlpool port on here as its mainly going to be used for mashing but i still need to add a thermowell for the sensor and a thermometer.

 

[CliffC]

Have you modified the buffalo electrics to maintain a constant boil or are you just using it to mash?

 

[BeerCat]

Have you modified the buffalo electrics to maintain a constant boil or are you just using it to mash?

At the moment I boil in it as well as its the largest pot I have. All i did with the electrics is to move the temp sensor from underneath the bottom plate to the side. It's taped on. Obviously now I have no temp control anymore but I use a PID. I have a decent rolling boil which has not cut out once.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!

All i did with the electrics is to move the temp sensor from underneath the bottom plate to the side

I made two mods - I disconnected the thermal sensor and simply connected the wires to complete the circuit. I reasoned that moving the sensor is more of a faff than taking it out of the circuit.
I also released the thermal fuse holder and moved it a little higher, away from the element.
I realise that I now have a boiler with no temperature control and no boil-dry safety cut-out, but I reasoned that I am never going to use it unsupervised, so to speak, so it will be OK.

 

[CliffC]

At the moment I boil in it as well as its the largest pot I have. All i did with the electrics is to move the temp sensor from underneath the bottom plate to the side. It's taped on. Obviously now I have no temp control anymore but I use a PID. I have a decent rolling boil which has not cut out once.

When you say the temp sensor do you mean the thermostat (long metal tube) or the thermal cut out in the centre of the base?

What are you using as the PID?

Thinking of converting my Buffalo to reduce the risk of losing power during the boil but would prefer not to disconnect all safety devices as this could shorten the life of the heating element.

Sent from my Paris using Tapatalk

 

[BeerCat]

When you say the temp sensor do you mean the thermostat (long metal tube) or the thermal cut out in the centre of the base?

What are you using as the PID?

Thinking of converting my Buffalo to reduce the risk of losing power during the boil but would prefer not to disconnect all safety devices as this could shorten the life of the heating element.

Sent from my Paris using Tapatalk

Sorry i was a bit unclear. I meant the (long metal tube). I unscrewed it and taped it to the side of the inner bottom wall if that makes sense. Just away from the heat source. I have to say i did not try it before doing the mod so i cannot say if it would work before or not. I use an inkbird pid. These tea urn boilers seems to be pretty hardy and not come across many people complaining about them dying. My buffalo was dead when i got it but my ace boiler has done well over a hundred so far.

 

[Bigcol49]

prefer not to disconnect all safety devices as this could shorten the life of the heating element.

Hi!
From where do you get your information about shortened element life?
The thermal cut-out can be upgraded to prevent the element cutting out during the boil without compromising the safety feature.

 

[BeerCat]

Good point Colin I had forgotten about that. A lot of people seem to have no trouble at all without doing anything. Might be worth trying it out as long as your prepared to tinker with it if it does. I think the main cause of cut outs on these type of boilers is crud on the plate. If you recirculate the wort and make sure it's clear before the boil you should not have this problem.

 

[CliffC]

Hi!
From where do you get your information about shortened element life?
The thermal cut-out can be upgraded to prevent the element cutting out during the boil without compromising the safety feature.

Hi both and many thanks for your responses.

I have read a couple of posts elsewhere that suggested the heating element had burned out and had to be replaced. These were from people who had modified. Not in any way evidence, just speculation on my part.

This is a tricky subject as there are lots of posts on different forums, but quite a few of them relate to different boiler sizes or older Buffalos and the design of the electrical components has changed over time.

I have the latest 40 litre GL349 model.

As I see it there are two components which could be causing a cut out/ preventing a rolling boil. The thermostat (long metal tube connected with a metal wire) and the thermal cut out (round switch attached to the centre plate, connected to power cables).

Either or both could be causing the boiler to cut out.

A common approach is to completely remove the cut out and reconnect the wires and also move the thermostat outside the boiler and cable tie it to the bottom of the boiler (see YouTube videos).

This basically removes all the safety features and renders the temp control knob useless.

I am wondering if this is actually necessary? If the boiler is cutting out because the thermostat is reaching its maximum, maybe moving away slightly or insulating it might allow a continuous rolling boil without losing the safety / control features?

Any views? I may experiment a bit with mine.

Sorry for the long post but hopefully this will be of use to someone.



Sent from my Paris using Tapatalk

 

[Sheepish]

FWIW I have a 20l tea urn with no temp control. I’ve unscrewed the thermostat and cable tied it under the base. As it’s 2.5kw (and only 20l) the full boil was a bit lethal, and the patch on the base where the element is kept getting coated in burnt sugar and causing it to cut out, so I’m now running it through a 10,000W scr voltage regulator and I can turn it down to a steady rolling boil rather than something out of ‘the land time forgot’ ...works a treat.

 

[BeerCat]

I suppose you could put a small strip of metal in between the thermostat and the base. You can also use a PID as a voltage controller but i have not yet.
This was my boiler after doing a step mash. I cleaned it all off before starting the boil. Apart from spoiling the taste it can make it trip.

 

[Sheepish]

This was my boiler after doing a step mash. I cleaned it all off before starting the boil. Apart from spoiling the taste it can make it trip.
View attachment 12900

That’s what mine looked like before I used the voltage regulator. I now only use it on full power when heating plain water, as soon as it’s got grain /sugar in I only ever go up to three quarters power and regularly scrape the bottom. Since then, it stays all clean and shiny.

 

[BeerCat]

I was surprised it has so much gunk on it but its possibly down to the super fine grain crush. Only the 2nd time i have mashed in it so not used to it yet. I get much less when boiling. Will have to try reducing the power.

 

[BeerCat]

I wonder if i should put a hole in the lid for the recirc pipe to go through or if its even worth the hassle? Not sure what the advantage for me would be as its stable mashing already. What fittings would work best? I could use silicone tube on the inside to return under the mash but it might go everywhere when i take the lid off and will make adjusting the height impossible.
Still need a plate on top of the grain. As i have no way of cutting the sheet i bought going to buy one of these to lay on top of the mash. A splatter guard from Ikea. Looks like it will fit perfectly inside the bag so i can squash the grain down a bit and improve efficency. Should also improve sparging.

 

[Bigcol49]

I wonder if i should put a hole in the lid for the recirc pipe to go through or if its even worth the hassle?

Hi!
Have you considered fitting a male quick disconnect on the side of the Buffalo, just below the rim, with a hose tail connected to it on the inside to take a length of silicon tubing. This would allow you to mash with the lid on and make it easy to remove the lid during the mash; I am thinking of doing this on my ACE mash tun. However, although it would look nice is it really necessary? The recirculating wort is being heated by the element, so why worry too much about temperature loss through an open lid?
I have my vessels insulated with exercise mats, and I also have my silicon tubing sheathed in pipe insulation - I wonder whether the latter is really necessary, given that any heat loss will be compensated for by the mash heater.

 

[BeerCat]

I think you have laid out many reasons why its not worth it. I really cant stop thinking about what to brew next and what i can modify. I did think of putting a return port near the top but i might want to do a mash to the brim sometime. At least if the lid is off i can see what happening. I retuned my PID for the buffalo and its holding the temps bang on.

 

[BeerCat]

Nothing's in it. It's just the tube. You need to buy a sensor that's the correct diameter to fit into it. That's a remarkably good price for a thermowell by the way. Seriously considering one for my fermenter now I've seen that.

I have tried a 200mm tube in a 10l fv and worked well. Only problem I find is the maximum tubes I can find are 300mm. It's a neat set up but requires more parts to sanitise. I need to compare the temp when it's taped on.

 

[BeerCat]

So far this system is working really well apart from once when I forgot to turn off the pump when mashing in. It still recirculated but I had to move the bag off the pipe from the flash bottom to the tap. I think the weight of the grain squashed squashed the silicone. I really need to drill some holes for my thermometer and thermowell.

 

[Fil]

Perhaps try adding an insulation jacket and attempt a good ol safe no active heat input mash if scorching is occurring during the mash, your probably denaturing the bottom 1/4 of your grainbill if its getting that hot..

for the boil, a simple power controllercan be made from a resistance controlled ssr and hook p a 500kohm 2w potentiometer (electric guitar volume knob) across its control terminals to dial up and down the output power for your kettle element..

an ebay example selected for its clear pic nothng else https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SSR-75VA...418920&hash=item5d67820f19:g:jTMAAOSw65FXqz~P