Better Boiler elements

[Nunfa1]

Hi All,
I've just started building my first boiler using a HK 60 litre bucket. I've fitted 1 element from an asda kettle and the test boil struggled to get past 92 degrees. I know common practice is to use 2 elements but I wondered if anyone had found a better idea? I'm not too keen on the electrical connection either.
I think an element with a bigger cross sectional area would be better but don't know if something like that is available.

Thanks

[MightyMouth]

I think some are using home water heater elements without a thermostat.

[Garth]

If you are wanting to use elements and not go down the gas route, there are a few options

1. Stick with the Tesco/Asda cheapo elements, the electrical connection is the price you pay for cheap, easy obtainable elements, many lads use them on here without any problems, there are some ingenious ways of keeping liquid away from the connections. Do a search and you'll find them.

2. Buy two elements/leads from an element supplier or homebrew shop. The elements alone will cost you around £20 to £30 each, then there's the leads to buy ontop.


3. Buy some immersion elements from somewhere like BES, these are 3kW and a little over £10 each. Wire these as Jubby says, without using the thermostat. Some folk are jumpy about using these with a standard 13A plug and socket. in theory they should draw 12.5A so should be ok as long as you plug each element into different sockets. That's your choice if you want to go with it. I use 4 of these in my HLT and Copper but I have a separate box which only runs them.

[BrewingAgain]

As Garth has mentioned, go down the 3kw immersion heater route. They aren't as cheap as kettle elements but you've got (almost) the maximum of heat that a 13amp plug can provide. For a 60L you'd be better off having two elements on to get the rolling boil going. Also, insulate your boiler. The problem with adding heat into something is that the hotter it gets, the more heat that it loses to the cooler environment outside of it. It's easier to raise water from 10C to 20C than 90C to 100C. So, insulate and double up the elements but make sure that your electrics can hack it.

[Kev888]

Yeah, I'd second the insulation thing; even with two elements it'll reduce energy loss and help speed things up (I'm a bit new to brewing but have done a shed load of boiling for wine and stuff).

A big vessel filled with hot water is essentially what a radiator is, and of course thats made to lose heat into the environment. Obviously you won't get perfect insulation and you'll lose a lot of heat through escaping steam (so there's no point being excessive about it), but if you've only got the wall of the vessel then there's probably quite a bit of heat being lost from the sides and so even a bit of added insulation may help noticably.

(Were it 'perfectly' insulated you could theoretically reach a boil with 1watt, if you could wait a few months for it to get there anyway )

Cheers
kev

[Nunfa1]

Cheers Guys, I'll take it all on board and have a think.

[Nunfa1]

I'm not sure about the immersion element route, seems a bit too much for me and a bit close to the 13A limit. I have found these:
http://www.heatingelementcompany.co.uk/ ... roduct=287
which looks like a better electrical solution in terms of the leads. I don't like the idea of partially exposed connections and young children running about.

[escapizm]

my 2p worth...

Asda kettles work for me, using two get the boil going in about 15min and mines is insulated with foil backed camping mat. I ingeniously made two small electrical enclosures fit around my elements and cut holes for the switch to protrude through. Even allows for spare replacements, see my posts but i recently burnt an elemet out. Had to buy another Asda one but could only find cordless, fortunately the element and switch mechamism are the same.

Will email pics if needed but cant post on here now.

[Nunfa1]

Thanks for the info, there is no doubt I need 2 elements and asda is the most convenient at the moment. I saw someone on here had used the casing from a blue commando plug, the industrial 16A extension plugs and sockets in screwfix, so I may look at that route.

thanks for the ideas all of you, much appreciated. I never had this many questions when I started out on kits.

[Horden Hillbilly]

I'm not sure about the immersion element route, seems a bit too much for me and a bit close to the 13A limit. I have found these:
http://www.heatingelementcompany.co.uk/ ... roduct=287
which looks like a better electrical solution in terms of the leads. I don't like the idea of partially exposed connections and young children running about.

Be aware that is the older type 2750w element which takes the lead with 2 round pins & one rectangular one. Those leads are hard to get hold of these days. I believe that heating element company can supply leads for those elements, but iirc they are very "pricey".

These elements, the 2400w elements, takes the newer, three rectangular pin type of lead, this type,these leads are more readily available.

[Nunfa1]

Thanks for pointing that HH.