Cheap Kettle Elements (a cautionary tale)

[Spud395]

My point was, out of the 2 new elements I got, which have only done a few brew's.
One is good, one is shite.
You could just be unlucky.

[orlando]

It doesn't work anymore worryingly. If you have only one in your boiler you may be vulnerable, if you have two I would share the load between them rather than keep both going all the time.

[WishboneBrewery]

I have a couple of cheap Curry's Kettle elements in my HLT (Never needs to boil) and they have been working really well for many brews.

[orlando]

I have a couple of cheap Curry's Kettle elements in my HLT (Never needs to boil) and they have been working really well for many brews.

And there lies the crux of it.

[WishboneBrewery]

If I ever go all electric I'll buy a short Immersion element I think.

[StrangeBrew]

The use of cheap kettle elements to boil wort has always been worrying in my mind!

I'm just glad I went gas.

[Dr. Dextrin]

My take on this...

The "buckling" and "welding" is a normal part of the way they are made. The element is bent into that shape and then welded to the back plate. I have one that's never been used and it's identical (possibly older, but made exactly the same way).

The element can't have "shorted" by touching the back plate. Both bits of metal are already connected together so there can't be any voltage between them. Touching together (even it it happened) would have no effect.

The blackened area does look like evidence of local overheating. It might be burnt-on wort, but if the element is no longer working then it looks like it has burnt out. That'd be due to local failure of the internal heating wire and it's the "normal" way for an element to fail (and then go open-circuit). It doesn't necessarily indicate anything dangerous.

In this case, it's obviously failed rather quickly, so it may have been a bad-un, but you can't expect good quality control in something so cheap. Quite possibly it's from a bad batch, but equally likely just a one-off. OTOH, if it wasn't clean before use, then that may have caused the over-heating, or at least hastened its demise.

[jonnyt]

I reckon it's just cut out and not failed at all...

[micmacmoc]

Just some info on my recent experience with buying backer elements. If you buy them from Backer there is a handling charge AND a carriage charge, unless you buy online. What they don't tell you is they don't come with leads (I thought this practice had been outlawed), so you will then have the two charges again as well as the lead cost. The leads arrive without plugs on (another thing I thought was now illegal) and you can't buy the leads online anyhow. The leads are the old 1960s/70s kettle leads, round things with an oblong and two round elements, only available from Backer (or so it seems). Don't get me wrong, these are excellent kit but I'm quite annoyed at the time it took to find all this out and the cost was outrageous. Mind you my boiler is the dogs danglies now, 50 litre shiny with 2 x 2.4kW elements!

Also the shroud/fixing bolts are'nt great, i've used the nut from an old element as the moulding on those supplied was crap. They did send some replacements, free of charge, but they're really not great.

[Kev888]

Sorry to hear about your trials! Domestic appliances have plugs on these days, but its not at all illegal to sell individual parts (or industrial appliances) without a plug.

That said, the backer elements are quality jobs so after all the aggro at least you'll have ended up with a great system. If you were to do it again, perhaps consider the similar looking 2.4kw types that use the modern IEC plugs/leads (e.g. about a fiver from homebase with plug). They also have a shroud that is separate to the back-nut - so if you wanted to you could then replace the backnut with a KM8 nut without losing the shroud.

I now use immersion elements and they're superb (if more tricky to fit initially), but I also used the backer type kettle ones for many many years and they were also great - I'm sure they'll last you for years to come.

Cheers
Kev

[raiderman]

Just some info on my recent experience with buying backer elements. If you buy them from Backer there is a handling charge AND a carriage charge, unless you buy online. What they don't tell you is they don't come with leads (I thought this practice had been outlawed), so you will then have the two charges again as well as the lead cost. The leads arrive without plugs on (another thing I thought was now illegal) and you can't buy the leads online anyhow. The leads are the old 1960s/70s kettle leads, round things with an oblong and two round elements, only available from Backer (or so it seems). Don't get me wrong, these are excellent kit but I'm quite annoyed at the time it took to find all this out and the cost was outrageous. Mind you my boiler is the dogs danglies now, 50 litre shiny with 2 x 2.4kW elements!

Also the shroud/fixing bolts are'nt great, i've used the nut from an old element as the moulding on those supplied was crap. They did send some replacements, free of charge, but they're really not great.

I use 2 backer elements, the lead issue is a bit of a non point - you only buy leads once and when you replace elements you don't need another lead. The element has a screw thread and can be attached to the boiler with a stainless steel locking ring which locks it solid and beats using the plastic shrouds they come with

[micmacmoc]

nOt being a very practical person....where could I get some of these s/s rings? I'm not best at DIY!

IN the end it really has been worth it, the cost aside, the boiler is superb now. The missus can't keep me from playing with the thing, she'm getting jealous!

[orlando]

Backer offer two elements, non automatic and standard, can someone tell me the difference and which one I should choose to replace the Tesco one in my plastic boiler? I noticed in the spec it said 9/16ths wheras my "hole" is 1 1/2" or about 40mm I think, so will it fit where the Tesco one went? micmacmoc has alerted me to the new lead problem as I asssumed they would be usable with my old one, so that is annoying and the site is so rubbish (or I am) because I can't find them or indeed do they seem to be mentioned, I searched on the word lead and it came back blank??!?!!

I'm already up to £23 so how much are the leads, I hope the post and packing covers both?

[micmacmoc]

The leads were about £8 each if i remember correctly. I'll dig the receipt out tomorrow if i can find it. Although as i had to hide it from mrs.moc it may have been binned! This did end up costing a hefty amount. As I say though the set up is as near perfect as I could hope for. I could'nt find the 2.4kW elements with the modern fittings anywhere.

[orlando]

Any reason I shouldn't do for this? I will at least save a lead. http://www.copperkettlehomebrewing.co.u ... afd3d36877