Keg King Elements

[QldKev]

I wonder how many version of this element are out there. The first version had the plug in the base itself, the second had a longer cord. The replacement one I got in Feb (the one discussed in this thread) has a different length cord again, and the keg king logo is stamped in a different font and running in the opposite direction.

O'well, I've now sat down and cleaned mine up last night, and handed over my hard earned cash and now it is pickled. A few pits into the s/s but that is to be expected. Fingers crossed from here on out, I think I need too.

PS. if you think in the first pic the element looks crooked to it's base, it is...

 

[kelbygreen]

yeah, I think he would want to know about the issues more then just saying its your fault! It could be bad luck or a whole lot of other things but seems a few problems are arising with the product and by the sounds of it its not lasting the time people would expect from such a product.

I am not sure of a price but I am sure people will pay a little extra on a product that will last longer and have less or at best no faults. I hope this can be sorted as by the sounds of it and by people on the forum he might as well stop making them if they keep being returned. Plus this thread sure would put a dent in the sales, as I am rethinking my options for the HERMS I want to build and a simple cheap kettle element seems best ATM as only looking at that for long life which seems it does not have.

 

[JaseH]

I have a keg king element in my HLT, after 4 brews its still like new. I've always had good dealings with Kee and Keg King, its unfortunate that your experience has not been great.

As far as alternatives, I purchased an element from these guys for my kettle:

http://www.thermalproducts.com.au/hotwater...erheader.html#3

I use part number H03569 which is 3600W, but H03566 & H03565 are 2400W and 2000W. It was about $55. They use a 1" screw in boss. I purchased a stainless steel 1" lock nut from Geordi for a few bucks and works a treat.

You do need to do some handy work to box in the back and connect a lead, but its not overly difficult. Here is mine using an alloy jaycar box, I used to have a power lead wired onto the element but it was a PITA to move and clean the kettle with a lead permanently hanging off it so I just changed it to a male IEC socket.

 

[keifer33]

Nice setup Frothie and thanks for the link to the Elements. Have dropped them an enquiry as the price definitely suits more than chewing through a couple of keg king sticks at a time.

 

[Wimmig]

Seems to be some ongoing issues with elements. What exactly is the problem, tooling? How many actual versions of the design are there?

 

[Maheel]

What exactly is the problem, tooling?

i would say "not fit for purpose"

but i wish they were...

i am liking that screw in and 1" ss nut Frothie. top work and thanks

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I have a keg king element in my HLT, after 4 brews its still like new. I've always had good dealings with Kee and Keg King, its unfortunate that your experience has not been great.

As far as alternatives, I purchased an element from these guys for my kettle:

http://www.thermalproducts.com.au/hotwater...erheader.html#3

I use part number H03569 which is 3600W, but H03566 & H03565 are 2400W and 2000W. It was about $55. They use a 1" screw in boss. I purchased a stainless steel 1" lock nut from Geordi for a few bucks and works a treat.

You do need to do some handy work to box in the back and connect a lead, but its not overly difficult. Here is mine using an alloy jaycar box, I used to have a power lead wired onto the element but it was a PITA to move and clean the kettle with a lead permanently hanging off it so I just changed it to a male IEC socket.

Nice to see that Green/Earth wire, dont see to many rigged right.
Nev

 

[JaseH]

Seems to be some ongoing issues with elements. What exactly is the problem, tooling? How many actual versions of the design are there?

The main issues I've seen previously discussed regarding the KK elements are the durability of the wiring attached to the element. QldKev's issue appears to be a new one AFAIK, looks to be a quality control issue. I'm suprised Kee hasnt handled it better. I purchased one recently and have had no problems with it.

The Thermal Products element I purchased appears to be a solid quality component and I'm very happy with it, its not quite as 'plug and play' as the KK element. But I went with it because I needed a higher wattage for the kettle. If I required another element around 2000W again(when I go RIMS ) I may go for another KK element.

 

[pk.sax]

Just throwing it out there, is this problem localised to buyers getting these from resellers or to ones purchased from keg king itself - physical store?

That said, I bought a couple of SS fb from KK recently and even in the shop itself, they had spots of rust on them. Flap wheel took care of it and the rust hasn't returned whatsoever. It just might be that walk in customers pick and choose the better handled sticks... Also, Kevin's lost 2 in a row so the shop response sounds like they are suspicious and defensive about it. Their customer service in the store was pretty awesome. Hope they decide to give the thread some credence and check up on the quality control of these. After all, not every buyer complains, most DIYers just fix it (like I did).

 

[kelbygreen]

well if they are rusting in the store then why cant they admit to it when kev asked about it??? he has taken it into his own hands! But if I bought a new item that is stainless steel I would be pissed after heating water once or twice that its rusted, Its SS it shouldnt rust and if they cared about there product you shouldnt have to fix it yourself.

I am a carpenter and if I got a bit of timber that was bent I would send it back sure I can fix it but it will fail what the code says can be done. I can cut and wedge it like the old tradies used to do but its not legal to do now and it is not safe. I feel sorry for bunnings as I went threw there whole rack of like 30 lengths of timber and picked 2 bits out, they where the only straight sticks in the whole place. I dont know why people go there and if there stuff got delivered on my site I would tell them to pick it up and take it back.

off topic I know but I want to do things right at home or at work things like this dont fly. People want quality but most dont want to pay for it. I get funny looks when I go threw timber in the yard but **** them I want my work to be good. If I get stuff delivered for a reno I go threw the timbers all the straight bits go in the hall ways and the bathroom the rest can go anywhere else. The little things matter and if people dont appreciate it then why do we bother??? thats prob the attitude retailers are getting why it leads to shit products

 

[Yob]

I get quite a lot of my bits amd pieces from springvale, a while ago i noticed that the ss barb on my HLT was rusting which i thought very strange, it was kind of scored on the inside and a look at his in store stock showed more like it. He replaced it without question when i told him about it and without him even laying eyes on it (returned to him next visit) so perhaps the problem is not just restricted to these elements and with his manufacturer.

Either way a faulty product should be replaced.

Late last year I had my immersion element fail on a brew day (xmas swap brewday) amd flew off to get an element like kev's from boronia as an emergency fix.. Christ... i just suspended it in the HLT probably not even fully immersed.. I rang the supplier the following Monday fairly irate and they sent me a replacement on the spot without even sighting the blown up one.

Yob

 

[QldKev]

Just throwing it out there, is this problem localised to buyers getting these from resellers or to ones purchased from keg king itself - physical store?

That said, I bought a couple of SS fb from KK recently and even in the shop itself, they had spots of rust on them. Flap wheel took care of it and the rust hasn't returned whatsoever. It just might be that walk in customers pick and choose the better handled sticks... Also, Kevin's lost 2 in a row so the shop response sounds like they are suspicious and defensive about it. Their customer service in the store was pretty awesome. Hope they decide to give the thread some credence and check up on the quality control of these. After all, not every buyer complains, most DIYers just fix it (like I did).

I don't really want to bring third parties into this, although it is a Keg King product, the initial purchase was not from Keg King. Keg King sent the replacement element to me as I live several hundreds of km's away and couldn't just pop in to the initial retailer for a replacement, and this retailer said he was sick of sending out replacements at his expense. So when I sent the email about the replacement product having issues, the email was forwarded to Keg King to verify it is ok to replace without me needing to send this one in to help save cost of postage. I even mentioned I would be happy to place an order for other goods so we could just add the element to the package to eliminate costs for sending it out.

So it seems this element has rusted, the false bottoms have rust, ss barb's have rust, and I've been told about thermometers also with rust. But somehow he says this is my problem?


QldKev

 

[Parks]

... and this retailer said he was sick of sending out replacements at his expense.

This to me suggests the retailer is stupid in continuing to stock a faulty product.

 

[pk.sax]

They stock what people buy. Not everyone complains really. That's the thing. HBers are generally quite handy. And complaining and waiting for replacements is a huge bother if it's mail order, partly the reason why some very good online/mail order companies will send replacements without a question, it's just not worth eroding the confidence.

I don't think they had made in china standards in mind when they dreamed up our original warranty laws etc. it's a big issue and I don't think any particle retailer can do more than why they do atm. I bet if Ross had a readily available heating element with comparable ease of installation and cost, he'd have switched by now. (yes, I believe taking a name is better than anonymising an obvious person).

Point here is that when the cost of fixing DIY is so small, the manufacturer isn't gonna get tons of impetus to improve things.

btw, when I visited, none of the SS fittings had rust, pretty good quality as from everywhere else.

 

[iralosavic]

I have a keg king element in my HLT, after 4 brews its still like new. I've always had good dealings with Kee and Keg King, its unfortunate that your experience has not been great.

As far as alternatives, I purchased an element from these guys for my kettle:

http://www.thermalproducts.com.au/hotwater...erheader.html#3

I use part number H03569 which is 3600W, but H03566 & H03565 are 2400W and 2000W. It was about $55. They use a 1" screw in boss. I purchased a stainless steel 1" lock nut from Geordi for a few bucks and works a treat.

You do need to do some handy work to box in the back and connect a lead, but its not overly difficult. Here is mine using an alloy jaycar box, I used to have a power lead wired onto the element but it was a PITA to move and clean the kettle with a lead permanently hanging off it so I just changed it to a male IEC socket.

Where does the earth screw end? Is there room between the keg and the jiffy box for the bolt head to fit (I thought it would sit flush given that the element butt is within the case)? Cheers

Kev, have you spoken with Kee on the phone or have you dealt with him via written media only? A friendly discussion could help change the outcome of your situation. Emails etc are very impersonal and there is no reality of conflict to keep things in check.

 

[Parks]

Where does the earth screw end? Is there room between the keg and the jiffy box for the bolt head to fit (I thought it would sit flush given that the element butt is within the case)? Cheers

I would expect the bolt to go right through and into the keg. If you look at the photo it is attached to the base rim so this wouldn't be a problem.

 

[QldKev]

I had a quick read of the safety recalls website, not so much for the rust issue, more concerned about the melting of the wires that has happened on a few of these.

It does not matter this is an imported product, it must confirm 100% to Australian Standards to be sold here. From what I read it is the responsibility of both the supplier and the retailer to ensure products meet the standards, and if not withdraw the product from sale and if necessary perform a safety recall. If someone is electrocuted/killed or a fire breaks out then they could be held liable as they obviously know about this issue.

As far as the rust and general product is concerned I realize Keg King / http://mchaustralia.com/ is a China Trade Specialist which is great to help get some cheaper products in our shops, I own one of their fridge setups etc, but I expect their products to be QA'd prior to them being released for sale here and that they will conform to the relevant safety standards.

 

[JaseH]

Where does the earth screw end? Is there room between the keg and the jiffy box for the bolt head to fit (I thought it would sit flush given that the element butt is within the case)? Cheers

The earth bolt goes right through the bottom lip of the keg, there is a nut and spring washer on the other side. It also serves to secure the box to the keg. One thing I found with these elements was that the thread on the boss was not quite deep enough to sandwich the jiffy box, keg wall and seal altogether and still be able to start the nut. So I mounted the element in the keg wall then cut a hex shaped hole in the jiffy box so it slips neatly over the boss of the element. It works quite well. I ran a bead of silicon around the gap between the box and element boss to seal it up.

 

[NickB]

I bought one of these elements recently (I use 3 in my setup) and straight out of the box there was surface rust, and a visible seam running the length of the element. Returned to CB and swapped no questions.

As for the melting cables - mine do get extremely hot, and I am sure this will be a failure point in the future. The problem seems to be that these were not designed to be used for extended periods at boiling temps... If you look at the cables, they're all .75mm² cables, that are really not suitable for puling 9 Amps through for an extended period. You will get overheating and insulation breakdown. They should all be at least 2.5mm², and if/when mine die I will be wiring them with this size wire.

It's the same as any IEC kettle cord. Wires are too small, but they're only designed to be pulling that amount of power for a short amount of time (i.e. the 3 mins it takes to boil a kettle).

If I could get a weldless element in this style (same size mounting hole for example), with either better quality cable OR the need to wire yourself, then I'd be sold, regardless of the cost. I'm just not overly taken with the electric elements designed for HWS etc as the stainless models are super expensive.

Also, good to see people earthing things properly. Will save your life if something goes wrong. I would also suggest to make sure your brewery circuits(s) are connected to RCDs/Safety Switches.

Cheers

 

[lagers44]

Has anyone thought of these guys ? Turks I got mine 15yrs ago and still going strong. Used in the HLT 2400W screw in and insulated just needed something like a 2" hole.