NEW HOT WATER TANK BUILD FOR YOU LARGE BATCH GUYS.

[pikeman_95]

Well I finally got my 100 Qt tank together. I was trying to come up with a easy way to stir the water and came up with the idea of using a aquarium air pump. I modified a propane burner to work off of natural gas. It would heat faster with propane but I figured I would have plenty of time while things are smoking. I heated the tank full of water from 134 to 165 in just a little more than a 1/2 hour. I used a PID controller to control the temperature. I turned off the PID function so that it would not fire the relay constantly. When it reaches temp it floats up for a 1/2 degree and then goes 1/2 degree below set point and restarts the burner. The air stir is adjustable and I am very happy with that function. I cut a propane torch burner off and added an extension of tubing to it so I could place the tip under the burner and keep the valve handle away from the heat. I have some still pictures and a video of the system running at the end. Here is the video.

You can click on the link to watch the video.

http://s943.photobucket.com/user/pikeman_95/media/HOT%20WATER%20TANK%20VIDEOS/VIDEOFORPHOTOBUCKETFINISHEDPROJECT_zps231430e1.mp4.html

And the pictures first the air pump. I have the end of the manifold sealed off and the hose barbs are ground open the center so that the air that is coming from the different ports will feed the central manifold tube. The hose barbs in the bottom of the manifold are also center ground open so that the air can feed the individual stones.



now the rest of the manifold and air stones.



the burner set up



This is the solenoid valve that turns on and off the gas supply.



and the controller



This is the process running.


Thanks for watching.
Kirby

[Sailor]

Fantastic invention Kirby!  How deep is the pot?  How many pounds of sausage do you think you can get in there?

[tailfeathers]

I wish I were even 1/10th as inventive/creative as that! I used to ask myself, who thinks this stuff up? Now I know, its people like pike!

[pensrock]

Nice build, looks like you are using a type J thermocouple. That is what I use in my Bradley. Works great for lower temperatures.  :)

[pikeman_95]

Fantastic invention Kirby!  How deep is the pot?  How many pounds of sausage do you think you can get in there?

The pot is 19 1/2 inches to the lip with out the basket. If you hung sausage sticks on 1.2's so that just the sausage was under water you could probably do just about any stick that would fit well in the Bradley. I would say that you could probable get 60 pounds of franks and maybe more in weight in sticks. The sticks could be hung almost touching and quite a few would fit in there. As for the smaller batch guys that would like to use turkey fryers or roasters. The air pumps come in many different sizes and cost. It would make the turkey roasters much safer to use if you had a good source of circulation,
kc

[RexLan]

Really a nice job Kirby

[Mr Walleye]

Awesome job as always Kirby!  8)

Mike

[Saber 4]

You are truly a master inventor/designer Kirby.

[SiFumar]

You are truly a master inventor/designer Kirby.

X2! 

[cobra6223]

Hey Pike... I bet if your wife don't find you handsome she sure as hell finds you HANDY !!! ;D You are a true Mr. Red Green although I don't see duct tape in the pic.

[pikeman_95]

Hey there are only two things a handy man needs to know. WD-40 makes it go and duct tape makes it stop and that's all you need to know. She hates my shop but is surprised with what comes out of there. Besides Red Green is my hero. I do try to keep the duct tape out of the pictures.

Pike

[lumpy]

You are a true artist Kirby, I always enjoy your posts.
Time for us to chat again.

Lumpy