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seagu

Registered: 03/03/18
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Has anyone measured
#26723639 - 06/06/20 08:56 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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The amount of water used to steam a full 55 gallon barrel or half a barrel of substrate bags? Sure most everyone hooks up a constant water supply and set and forget but..... what about for those offgrid that don't have a constant water supply and so would need to setup a reservoir or something if they wanted to go the steam barrel route?
-------------------- Plan to win or you are planning for failure. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. Just figure out the solution. Even if that means banging your head on a wall until the solution oozes out of you.
Edited by seagu (06/06/20 09:34 AM)
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SHROOMSISAY01
Mr. Shrooms



Registered: 01/22/17
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Re: Has anyone measured [Re: seagu]
#26724798 - 06/06/20 06:43 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Set up 3 drums drum 1 is your steamer drum two is to give drum 3 some hight. Drum 3 is your gravity feed water fill drum that connects to the float valve water cut off. There are other ways that you can do it without a float valve but a float valve would be by far the easiest.
Edited by SHROOMSISAY01 (06/06/20 07:15 PM)
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SHROOMSISAY01
Mr. Shrooms



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seagu

Registered: 03/03/18
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Last seen: 8 days, 10 hours
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Hrmm.. now I had thought about something like that but the float valves I had seen would have needed a much taller gravity feed drum height to give enough pressure to open the float valve. Unless I am remembering it incorrectly. Unless you know differently? I think it would have set me back a tower much taller than my house or shed.
-------------------- Plan to win or you are planning for failure. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. Just figure out the solution. Even if that means banging your head on a wall until the solution oozes out of you.
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SHROOMSISAY01
Mr. Shrooms



Registered: 01/22/17
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Loc: Virginia, USA
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Re: Has anyone measured [Re: seagu]
#26725093 - 06/06/20 09:31 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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The valve will open without any water pressure at all. The valve works by gravity not by water pressure. It will just take longer to fill up the drum because you won't have any water pressure.
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SHROOMSISAY01
Mr. Shrooms



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seagu

Registered: 03/03/18
Posts: 952
Last seen: 8 days, 10 hours
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What I did was stand the bricks on end so they are much taller now and then put the grill on top so that the shelf is roughly close to half way of, more than a third of a 55 gallon plastic barrel of my pasteurizer. So that I can fill to a few inches under the shelf with water. I can fit a few bags... And steam sterilize... And it is working so far. Practically no water has steamed off. Its gone down maybe an inch over a period of running close to 20 hours. Which makes me think I might not have even needed to turn the bricks on end. I will have to wait until this cycle is done to find out. But if this little of an amount of water is used during a steam cycle then if I raise my false bottom stand a little and put a time safety shutoff then I might be able to run the steamer without having to run a water line. Which because of pipes freezing has been a configuration placement issue. Although I have finally learned the solutions for that, but even still the idea of not needing to run a water line even though I would have to fill it up every time with a hose is appealing for the short term while I dig up everything and finalize placement and plans for a more permanent sterilizer so that I am not being held up. Way to many melted bags in the pc lately. 4 out of 8 was the last straw...
-------------------- Plan to win or you are planning for failure. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. Just figure out the solution. Even if that means banging your head on a wall until the solution oozes out of you.
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seagu

Registered: 03/03/18
Posts: 952
Last seen: 8 days, 10 hours
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Re: Has anyone measured [Re: seagu]
#26728248 - 06/08/20 06:54 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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So maybe it uses roughly 2 inches worth. Maybe it would have used more if I hadn't put a plastic piece over the bung hole so that no pressure would build up and try and block any dirty air getting in and of course to try and prevent more water from steaming off.
So looks like these plastic HDPE barrels can handle steam sterilization temperatures sustained: https://www.bayteccontainers.com/hdpe1.html
The water will basically stop rising in temperature at the boiling point, which varies depending on your sea level but roughly 200-212 F. Which is well below what they list as a temperature HDPE barrels can handle sustained @230F. The heating element will make your water roiling boil, but by keeping it not under pressure it won't rise in temperature since this isn't super heating anything. And if you have never noticed the water under the barrel is probably cool/cooler even though the rest of the barrel is hot.
With a proper grounding and GCFI setup for the electricity and Oring and sealant, this might surely eliminate sterilization barrel rust without breaking the bank.
But don't try this at home kids.. Only you can prevent Forest Fires.. and from injuring yourself because you didn't take all safety precautions...
-------------------- Plan to win or you are planning for failure. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. Just figure out the solution. Even if that means banging your head on a wall until the solution oozes out of you.
Edited by seagu (06/08/20 07:05 AM)
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