Fix For Crown Urn Boiling Issues

[goldstar]

Well I pulled apart my urn last night and found that the general condition of the thermostat and wiring was good. The element however is beyond repair and requires replacement. I'm reviewing solutions to replace this element with something that is more robust.
I'm favouring the idea of using an exposed element that can be wrapped around the diameter of the kettle. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[LethalCorpse]

Probably the reason these elements are blowing under continuous power is that they are concealed, ie, > half of their surface area is in contact with air, not liquid. The heat can't be removed from the air side as easily as it can on the liquid side. A fully submerged element, which comes in from the bottom or side of the urn, will have a much better chance of survival.

 

[MarkBastard]

Damn this sucks. I really did my research before buying the Crown and then a couple of weeks after this comes out <_<

 

[Fents]

Probably the reason these elements are blowing under continuous power is that they are concealed, ie, > half of their surface area is in contact with air, not liquid. The heat can't be removed from the air side as easily as it can on the liquid side. A fully submerged element, which comes in from the bottom or side of the urn, will have a much better chance of survival.

ala the birko urns.

so glad i got them in the end. i dont even boil wort with them just use as HLT's.

so Lethal do you think the OP should get a mod to make a bold heading at the first post of this thread with a warning not to do the mod to the crowns?

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

crap. I'm going to spend my next few brewdays sniffing the base of my kettle and anticipating The Worst.

 

[EK]

Has anyonw else done 15+ brews with a Crown urn? Can you tell us fellow Crown owners how the urn is holding up?

:icon_cheers:
EK

 

[MarkBastard]

Does anyone use the Crown Urn without the modification?

I brew in my garage with no wind and probably 25 degrees + ambient on a cold day, and I have it permanently insulated with a camping mat. Should I give it a go with the boil-dry in place?

Does the boil dry just literally cut out the element during the boil? If so, how long for? A few seconds? A few minutes?

 

[Pollux]

With the boil dry in place, it cuts out constantly, it will basically hit a boil, then stop, then boil again, then stop.....

And thanks to whoever just jinxed me, I just check and I've done 14 boils since I did the mod.......

Given I plan on using this urn as a HLT in my system once I get my larger pot and burner, I might just wire the boil dry back in and suffer the poxy boil for the next few batches.

 

[MarkBastard]

So I guess it's basically designed to keep coffee or tea close to 100 degrees but not actually constantly boiling. Makes sense I guess. Just sucks because mine is working really well for me. I'm really happy with it, but really unhappy at the prospect of the element just blowing one day. FFS. Guess I should have got a Birko after all but it sucks because I was really careful before hand. Can't win them all I suppose.

 

[JMan]

Long time reader, but finally something i can add to!

I've had mine blow as well, though i suspected i may have had the temp set too high.

You can get a replacement element direct from http://www.crownindustries.com.au/ , just send them an email. I paid $58.52 shipped.

For now i've got an over-the-side element on its way, and the Crown will become a HLT once i've got the funds to upgrade.

 

[Pollux]

I just found another folder of recipes in beersmith, forgot they were there...

Puts my urn at 24 90min boils since I have modified it.


I must hold a record now

 

[whitegoose]

Well I just un-modified my urn, better safe than sorry. I'm going to wrap it in yoga mat insulation and see how it goes...

Anyone else had theirs blow recently? Any happy stories?

 

[goldstar]

Well to fix mine I've actually removed the concealed element completely and replaced it with a 3000W element used in the Birko's. It works a treat. Much quicker heating to temps than the original and I get a great rolling boil. It's something for people to consider if the element does go. It's a bit more hassle but at least I'm not waiting for the element to go again now.

 

[kanemari]

just to add my 5c worth to an old topic.

i blew up my element doing this mod when my grainbag stuck to the element and proceeded to burn. rookie mistake yes, but the boil dry switch is there for a reason. mine looked like the above pic too, which after talking to crown i found out the element is some sort of magnesium powder coated in aluminium... and it gets so hot the aluminium melts off. no liquid should require this sort of heat.

according to crown specs, the boil dry switch kicks in when the element reaches 130 degrees, then turns itself off until it cools back down to 70, which is kinda low. but this is separate to the thermostat on the liquid which on mine goes up to 110. so basically if something cakes onto the element and starts to burn when the boil dry is off, the water doesnt heat up but the element does... and its soon cactus.

i got a new element and put boil dry back on, and ive had no trouble maintaining a rolling boil on lower gravity worts. its not explosive but its decent enough. this is inside the shed wrapped in a blanket, so no wind. it might get difficult if you have something high gravity that could caramelise on the element cos that might trip the switch. i also got an element cover to protect the bag from the element in the event i am stupid again. you never know... a phantom hop sock may sink one day as well.

 

[whitegoose]

OK so I un-modified my crown urn, wrapped it in a yoga mat for insulation, filled it with about 30L or so of water and cranked it up to 110.

I left it outside on what was a pretty cool night in Perth, with the lid on, and came back 1.5 hours later and it was boiling like crazy!! So I took the lid off... and pretty quickly the boil had died down to a pretty minor simmer - defintely not a rolling boil. Is this what I should be expecting from an unmodified crown? Is this really boiling enough to get rid of DMS etc?

Also, I noticed that the red light never really seemed to go off. In an unmodified crown, when the "boil cut out" mechanism kicks in should the light go out? Or does the light only go out when the target temperature is reached?

Any help would be appreciated...

 

[leiothrix]

The light is wired in parallel with the element, meaning if the light is on the element is on.


Basically it's power in -> thermostat -> boil dry protector -> element & light -> power out.

 

[whitegoose]

The light is wired in parallel with the element, meaning if the light is on the element is on.


Basically it's power in -> thermostat -> boil dry protector -> element & light -> power out.

Thanks for the reply...

So in an unmodified crown urn, with the temp set to 110 (max) would I expect the light to go out? It doesn't seem to, and I can't noticably hear the element cut out. I'm wondering if I didn't un-modifiy my urn correctly?

Pretty sluggish boil without the lid on though, only just ticking over. Is this what I should be expecting?

 

[leiothrix]

I suppose that really depends on the ambient conditions.

Mine cycled on and off often enough, but I used it over summer (and yes, the light should go out). The boil was pretty lame though, and didn't last too long before it went back to a simmer.

Being a bit cooler now I'd imagine that it is able to dump a bit more heat into the air. I think the main point of the boil dry protector is with the enclosed base at the bottom the heat from the element can cook everything underneath.

I'm pretty sure that's what happened to mine (see post #71). I think it still works, I just have to get around to replacing the wiring.

Rob.

 

[Bribie G]

Has anyonw else done 15+ brews with a Crown urn? Can you tell us fellow Crown owners how the urn is holding up?

:icon_cheers:
EK

Not doing a Ford vs Holden thing here but my unmodified Birko 40L is about to do its 150th brew. At the end of the day Urns are supposed to provide endless cups of tea and coffee for Bingo ladies and Church congregations and their application to home brewing is purely purely purely coincidental. I'd even go further and say that the boiling ability of the Birko is a serious safety fault as it could lead to the demise of some poor old bingo lady, but from the POV of a home brewer I hope they don't ever fix it

 

[Nick JD]

"Cuppa Tea, Father?"