Why did this element burn out?

[nosco]

Im selling my old brew pot. It "had" a SS 5500w element in it. I went to take it out to re use it but its cactus.

What could have caused this?

Its from brew hardware. I havnt used it and the old pot for a while but is still disapointing. My old element isnt SS so this one is supposed to be the better one.
One screw is totally rusted in and i cant budge it.

 

[captain crumpet]

Without proper testing this becomes a dangerous guessing game. I think talking about the electrical side is against forum guidelines anyway. Im in aspendale if you want someone to check it out. I wont even charge.

 

[Bonenose]

Dodgy connection would be my first guess based on photo

 

[blotto]

I agree with Bonenose, most likely a bad connection causing that point in the circuit to get very hot. It might still be ok as long as it's not shorted to the other side of the element and you can connect the wire securely and keep things cool. Some testing might be in order before you use it next.

 

[TheWiggman]

See the white stuff in there? That's calcium. Looks like there is water trickling in there and when it's running that box would become nice and moist leading to the terminal corrosion. This is probably seperate to the hot joint but that is also something that needs to be addressed.

 

[MHB]

There are several signs of moisture getting in.
The two visible case screws are rusty

Looking at the top of the element, the white stuff (some sort of salt) and the dark crust around the base of the contact are both signs of moisture induced corrosion.


The other thing that concerns me is that its the Neutral rather than the Active (black other than red) wire that has cooked. normally if its just an undersized or over loaded circuit that is getting too hot, it will be the active that goes first - I would look at the polarity of your wiring - For the neutral to melt could be an indication of a bad connection, possibly another sign of moisture ingress

Mark

 

[billygoat]

There are several signs of moisture getting in.
The two visible case screws are rusty

Screw.jpg
Looking at the top of the element, the white stuff (some sort of salt) and the dark crust around the base of the contact are both signs of moisture induced corrosion.

Contacts.jpg

The other thing that concerns me is that its the Neutral rather than the Active (black other than red) wire that has cooked. normally if its just an undersized or over loaded circuit that is getting too hot, it will be the active that goes first - I would look at the polarity of your wiring - For the neutral to melt could be an indication of a bad connection, possibly another sign of moisture ingress

Nutral.jpg
Mark

No polarity sensitivity on that element.

 

[MHB]

Oh I know elements aren't polar sensitive, just that its a really good idea to make very sure you are switching on the active not the neutral. As I said it is usually the active wire that goes first, unless there is something wrong with the neutral connection as may well be the case here that is causing it to heat up. You are pulling 23ish Amps through there.
Still worth making sure you are wired right, you know safety and all that...
Mark

 

[nosco]

Im thinking the moisture getting in has rusted the parts and made the bad connection. The Electric Brewery housing was always pretty lousy.

Ill try and get the screw out and get my mate to test it. Ill probably bin it though since it looks to be rusted out.

 

[sp0rk]

if moisture has ingressed into the element you'll probably have shorted between the heating wire and the sheath, making it go foof or bang
Best to just bin it and get another one

 

[nosco]

Still using my old one so its not a complete disaster.

 

[Camo6]

Oh I know elements aren't polar sensitive, just that its a really good idea to make very sure you are switching on the active not the neutral. As I said it is usually the active wire that goes first, unless there is something wrong with the neutral connection as may well be the case here that is causing it to heat up. You are pulling 23ish Amps through there.
Still worth making sure you are wired right, you know safety and all that...
Mark

I reckon you're on the right track MHB and from what I can gather it's not so much a case of incorrect polarity but incorrect colour coding. It looks as though the active is wired in black. I wonder if this was wired in the states which might explain the use of black as an active colour but regardless it's piss poor practice for whoever wired it. I'd suspect the moisture or the ****** terminal has caused excessive resistance which has increased power dissipation resulting in an increase of heat and insulation failure.

 

[S.E]

Im selling my old brew pot. It "had" a SS 5500w element in it. I went to take it out to re use it but its cactus.

What could have caused this?

Its from brew hardware. I havnt used it and the old pot for a while but is still disapointing. My old element isnt SS so this one is supposed to be the better one.
One screw is totally rusted in and i cant budge it.

What size wire is it, hard to tell from the photo? Did you upgrade and fit that element yourself or is it the original element and wiring?

 

[nosco]

It was installed by a mate. He swapped the old element out into my new pot as the thread was bit worn and the Electric Brewery housing didnt leave much room left for the thread to take. He put the new element in my old pot because the thread is stainless.

 

[S.E]

[SIZE=11pt]Is it possible your mate overloaded the wiring and got the colour code wrong way round? [/SIZE]

 

[nosco]

This is the plug and cable that came out of it so i dont think the wire gauge was the problem. If its wired around the wrong way I wouldnt know. I thought it didnt matter with elements but apperently thats not the case.

Anyone need a 3 phase male plug?

 

[S.E]

I was thinking wiring gauge in the appliance not extension lead.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

That is the classic result of a HR joint

 

[nosco]

HR joint?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

A joint that has gone HR





High Resistance