Buffalo 27L boiler. 3KW. Model J520.
The boiler was being used for the cereal mash for a a Belgian Wit. See Brewday topic here
I carried out the first step of the cereal mash fine.
Everthing was going great until the brew gave off an odd smell. As it was a new wheat ale recipe and my first cereal mash I thought it was the cereal mash at first. But then smoke started wafting up from the bottom of the boiler with a hot plastic smell so I disconnected power, poured cereal mash in a plastic bucket and investigated.
After taking off the cover at the base of the boiler, nothing was obviously wrong, but on closer examination there was charring at the edge of the boiler element. There was also a few signs of liquid (wort?) present.
I unscrewed the element assembly and took out the element and its seal. It didn't look good. Lots of indications of something carbonized. I assume wort. The element seemed to be bedded on the seal with a thermal putty / paste.
The thermal cutout looked brown, but when unscrewed it was really a mess showing charring internally. I had previously disconnected this to stop boiler cutting out and was pleased with rolling boil I got. Maybe this resulted in thermal cutout plastic housing getting too hot. I therefore decided to remove it as it was doing nothing, but it was potentaily a hazard.
I was mid-brew so was keen to continue. I sent a post to Jims about whether it was a good idea to clean up and refit using Fernox LSX to fix the leak.
I looked at the LS-X website Fernox LS-X website
Its product sheet says
I decided to clean everything up and refit the element using Fernox LS-X as a sealant. The boiler was cleaned and LSX placed in the element hole.* Ideal for use on compression joints and screwed fittings
* Never sets rock hard, joints can easily be undone
* Ready to use, no mixing
* Does not shrink or crack with age
* Suitable for use from below freezing point to above boiling point of water
* Completely safe to use with drinking water
* WRAS – Approved Product
After refitting seal with LS-X on outside and inside, I fitted the cleaned-up element and screwed it back in place.
Element was wired up as before, except (disabled) thermal-cutout was not refitted.
I was progressing with mash and was relying on the boiler being OK otherwise brewday was ruined.
Once Fernox had 2 hours to set in a warm room, I did a test boil.
This went OK with no sign of a leak so once mash was completed I used boiler to boil wort which went fine!
Finally 12 hours after starting mash I managed to pour wort from repaired boiler.
I know that at some stage I'm probably going to need a new element, but the cheapest replacement element I could find is over £62.99 +VAT = £75.58
http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Stainless-Stee ... il.ractionDoes anyone know of cheaper Buffalo element suppliers?"