I just pulled mine out after reading this to make sure it was ok. I started with hot water from the tap so already around 60 degrees.hathro said:Hi all,
So I purchased a 40L Buffalo hot water urn and I'm currently doing a test run with water. It's been going on full whack for about 2 hours and still hasn't reached a rolling boil. It reached a rolling boil with the lid on but not with the lid off.
The ambient temp is around 26ºC and the water temp in the urn won't go above 92.5ºC .
I'm not sure what to do here. I'm thinking I'm either doing it wrong, or I need to insulate the urn. Pics below and any advice is greatly appreciated.
Filled to about 25 litres and let it go. Took a good hour to get up to temp, maybe more. Once boiling it is not a strong boil with lid off, but it is a boil non the less.
You mention yours boils with lid on so indicates it is not cutting out with the thermostat.
Is it that you expect a more robust boil?
Also with your thermometer are you sure it is accurate? Maybe put it in your boiling kettle and compare the temp. Mine for example read 98 degrees. So was out a bit too.
If you think it is cutting out early their are mods around to replace the thermal cutout, or bypass the boil dry. Just google buffalo thermal cutout and will give you plenty of hits of how to do it.
Also for insulation I used air-cell insulation, it's what they use in wall cavities to insulate houses. Silver foil with a foam in between. Just warped it around a couple of times and certainly helps a lot. The yoga matts you linked to have been reported to melt and stick to the walls of the urn. Try get some air cell from a local house building site, off cut is all you need and works well, just ask the brickies doing the job if they have some left over. They will normally help out.
http://www.kingspaninsulation.com.au/Products/Kingspan-Air-Cell/AIR-CELL-Permicav/Overview.aspx