There's nothing wrong with the Brutus 10 as designed. That's true. I like having all my controls in one place, though. Besides Budrock, who is an experienced welder, ran into all kinds of problems trying to build one. Also, I don't have the scratch for stainless, so I opted for the bed frame stand. as far as switching valves go. Swagelock makes a 316 stainless three-way ball valve in 1/2". I don't know how much they want for one yet, but I'm sure it ain't cheap. If you order one, so you only have one throw instead of two and no possibility of screwing it up, I would suggest you get one with the spherical ball. I would give you a link, but they don't operate that way. you have to download a PDA and then contact a local supplier (there's one in Broussard that I bought my purge valves from.) The purge valves just make it really easy to prime the March pumps, and I'm wondering if that is what you've been calling the pressure-relief valves. The only PR valves I know of in brewing are the ones on the corny kegs.
As far as using the HLT as an ice water bath for chilling your BK, I don't know how well that will work. Everyone else uses a high-flow sump pump from Harbor Freight in a big plastic bucket full of ice water. This has the added advantage of allowing you to clean and dry your other vessels during the boil (if so inclined) so you only have your BK and chiller to clean afterwards.
Having said all that, It's
your system and you set it up however you like. Just be aware, there are reasons we do things the way we do, and it's usually not because we haven't tried it another way. Be patient. Carefully observe others (especially where they have problems) and adapt accordingly. We all hope that the next guy's system will be better than the current best. (That gives us a good reason to build another system every five years or so. We like to build stuff.)
