Kettle - Gas To Electric

[user 1153]

I still reckon it is funny you guys keep mentioning scorching a liquid.
Totally defies the laws of physics.

As for the build up on the kettle elements, just give them a clean after every use, no drama.

4 brews down now and absolutely zero problem using kettle elements. No overheating of cords, no "scorching" of wort. I even run them on the same circuit without hassle. It actually gets so much of a boil that I can turn one element off during the boil.

 

[enoch]

I still reckon it is funny you guys keep mentioning scorching a liquid.
Totally defies the laws of physics.
As for the build up on the kettle elements, just give them a clean after every use, no drama.

I'm running two elements in a 70 litre converted HPDE drum with no major troubles. Scrub the elements with a green scrubby before each brew and all is well.

On the laws of physics - when the liquid boils on the surface of the element you are going to have gas bubbles, a bit of local deposition and potential for a bit of a syrup coating (hence the build up). I haven't had obvious flavour issues from it however.

 

[ausdb]

Do any forum users run a simmerstat to control the element output. This idea has been thrown at me. I have a 15 amp outlet that I could dedicate to an element of say, 3000watt. If the simmerstat idea worked I most probably would only have to run it at 2/3rd speed once the boil was reached. Any opinions? :unsure:

BYB

I have a 40L urn with a 3000w element with thermostat, and a 20L with a 2400W element with a simmerstat. I have boiled batches in both. The 20L / 2400W urn with simmerstat give a very ON-OFF type boil, the 40L /300W with thermostat control seems better but still pretty on again off again in its operation. I really think some form of variable power control where you can proportionally regulate the heat input is best and am taking some advice from our friends who produce "distilled water" and trying to make a little circuit to provide a variable pulse width to drive a 40A solid state relay.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Back again, I just got off the phone to a rep from Stokes and his opinion was that provide there were not any undissolved particles of sugar he could not see to much of a problem. A problem could occur when you had any form of sugar type crystals floating around which could hit the element and "burn or stick to it" So in the case of the liquid from sparged out grains it should not be a problem. Give them a clean after evey brew and it should be fine. When making the strong Belgians I may have to watch out because of the Golden Syrup and the rock candy that I may use. But that is easy to fix.
Turned out to be an intersetsing thread for me, this one.Currently saving my moola for the elements. Will post pics and more info once I have it rigged. B)

BYB...

 

[Plastic Man]

If you read back through the early HBD debate on plastic breweries and electric elements there was a lot of concern with scorching the wort. Do a google on "electric plastic brewery" and you'll find the early designs from Ken Schartz and C.D Pritchard who I think from memory both covered this issue & concern. The issue seemed to concern the power to surface area of the kettle elements - which were typically a lot higher than the water heater elements.


I was a bit worried when I used the Belle elements a few years ago and posted this on HBD:

"Reading back through the early posts on this subject, the critical factor seems to be power per surface area of the element with a safe zone proposed to be about 50 83 watts / square inch, (refer to Ken Schartz and C.D Pritchards excellent posts in the archives plus their web sites many thanks !!). My element is about 5/16 inch diameter and about 20 inches long so surface area (I think) is 5/16 x 3.1416 (PI) x 20 = say 19 square inches, (maths aint my strong point). At 2200W the power per square inch is 115, which is well over the safety zone. (my maths maybe wrong. I reviewed a few similar equations on the web and could not understand the maths for this. Am I missing something or it this logic correct.??)"

The answers back were all over the place. But bottom line was many people were using the kettle elemenst with no worries and no evidence of scorching. Might be worthwhiel working out your watts / square inch calc and seeing if you are in the reported safety zone of 50 - 83 watts / sq inch. I don't think its an issue if you are over though.

The Belle elements are around $10 each, (Big W), so it's a cheap option to try them first anyway.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Installed the 1.8kw element tonight and it works a treat. After reading all the feedback on thermostats and simmerstats I have decided not to do it.A provision has been left for the 2.4kw later. I have a 2300w hand held element that I can use to tie me over. The only problem I had was when the threaded bush was welded in. It was not welded straight. I may have to move the provisioned one later which is a bit of a pita :angry: If I move the provisioned one later I was thinking of putting it almost oppossite to the other. Can anyone see any problems with that?

BYB

 

[Tony]

Installed a 2400w element into a 50 liter SS vessel thisarvo.

My burst fire controller turned up in the mail so in it went. all i need is some heat transfer paste to put between it and the alloy box which is effectivly the heatsink.

firstly i got MHB to weld a SS 1" BSP fitting to the keg. thanks mate you did a great job :super:



got all the parts together ready for the job



I drilled a 32 mm hole in the box, wrapped the thread on the element with lots of thread tape and wound it in using multigrips. it was tight with all that tape but it wont leak.





I then drilled a 10mm hole in the lid and mounted the controller. as said... all i need is some heat transfer paste to make sure i dont burn it out.



Mounted a 20mm cable gland in the bottom, ran in some 2.5mm flex and hooked it all up. yeah i know..... one of the earth wired is blue but this bit of gear doesnt have an australian standard h34r:



screwed the lid on and all went together well.



looks cool too. Will put some water in it when i have the heat paste in place. If i fill it i will have to run it...... and i dont want to blow it up.

all up $9 for the ss coupling + fitting cost (not too much)
30 pounds for the controller ($75) got free delivery from UK which was cool but it took a couple of months
element was from a previous job but id say around the $30 mark

took me 1 hour to fit

all to easy. Im thinking of doing this for my kettle in the future and ditching the gas

cheers

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Installed a 2400w element into a 50 liter SS vessel thisarvo.

My burst fire controller turned up in the mail so in it went. all i need is some heat transfer paste to put between it and the alloy box which is effectivly the heatsink.

firstly i got MHB to weld a SS 1" BSP fitting to the keg. thanks mate you did a great job :super:

View attachment 14819

got all the parts together ready for the job

View attachment 14821

I drilled a 32 mm hole in the box, wrapped the thread on the element with lots of thread tape and wound it in using multigrips. it was tight with all that tape but it wont leak.

View attachment 14822

View attachment 14823

I then drilled a 10mm hole in the lid and mounted the controller. as said... all i need is some heat transfer paste to make sure i dont burn it out.

View attachment 14824

Mounted a 20mm cable gland in the bottom, ran in some 2.5mm flex and hooked it all up. yeah i know..... one of the earth wired is blue but this bit of gear doesnt have an australian standard h34r:

View attachment 14825

screwed the lid on and all went together well.

View attachment 14826

looks cool too. Will put some water in it when i have the heat paste in place. If i fill it i will have to run it...... and i dont want to blow it up.

all up $9 for the ss coupling + fitting cost (not too much)
30 pounds for the controller ($75) got free delivery from UK which was cool but it took a couple of months
element was from a previous job but id say around the $30 mark

took me 1 hour to fit

all to easy. Im thinking of doing this for my kettle in the future and ditching the gas

cheers

It looks the ants pants :super: Was wondering if you could give me some info on the element you have used. It looks quite small and compact compared to what I am looking at. As I write I am awaiting for the arrival of my 2.4kw element. It is a stokes brand with a 1 1/4" BSP thread. I currently have a 20ltr urn which is not really big enough. I have in the pipline a mod of another SS container . So I will be looking at another 2.4kw element. So if you have any others the same "left over from a job" drop me a line.

BYB

 

[Tony]

All i know about the element is its 2400W, 1" BSP thread and i got it from Lawrence & Hansen electrical distributors.

yeah its fairly compact. I origionally git it for a RIMS heater but never went down that road.

None left over sorry

cheers

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Found the site where you bought the controller and will be interested on the report once the paste is in place. I assume it is a controller something like my urn has at the moment. Can't understand why it took 2 months to arrive. Did it come surface mail??

BYB

 

[Tony]

yeah surface i think but they had a free postage deal going. Who cares if its free.

Its the best controller you can get for this aplication. instead of turning on and off like a simmerstat, it pulses power to the element. the higher the dial the more power input. Its basicly a variable wattage element with this hooked up.

cheers

 

[BrotherNutz]

yeah surface i think but they had a free postage deal going. Who cares if its free.

Its the best controller you can get for this aplication. instead of turning on and off like a simmerstat, it pulses power to the element. the higher the dial the more power input. Its basicly a variable wattage element with this hooked up.

cheers

Really? So it is a solid state device? How much was it?

I built a similar thing for my RIMS using a 40AMP 1200volt SCR and circuit based on a house light dimmer. It has an optocoupler in the circuit as well though to switch the RIMS heater on an off. So it is kind of a combined dimmer and solid state relay!

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Here we go, more kettle questions. Has anyone cut the top off a 50ltr keg and then welded another half on top so as to make the kettle into a 75 ltr one? I had a picture of one to show, but I can not find it. Was wondering what the pro's and con's would be.

BYB

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I'm sure i've seen a pic of a setup on here where some one had done just that

I can't see any cons - so long as it seals

It'll allow you to do bigger batches and not worry about boil overs

Cheers