Have I killed my Burco?

[Lime Corridor]

Hi tmh, I am fairly confident (from memory) that the brown wire comes directly from the mains exit i.e. where the blue wire comes in too, and is attached to the bottom left hand side of the stat.

Really appreciate your brains on this, apologies for thinking it blind.

LC

[themadhippy]

if its only going to the stat then id disconect it and conect it straight to the element,however id double check theres nothing else in the line like a thermal fuse,its worh keeping them in circuit as there a lot cheaper to replace than an element if you ever forget to fill it up before turning it on

[Lime Corridor]

great stuff, so that will essentially mean nothing is going to the thermostat...sound about right?

LC

[themadhippy]

Correct.
if you leave the live going throught the stat it might work fine without the neutral,however on some stats the neutral is needed to power a small heat sorce inside the stat to stop it switching on and off constantly at the set point

[Lime Corridor]

thanks tmh, I will try it tonight and let you know how it goes. If you don't hear from me tomorrow you will know it has gone badly...I don't know why I am joking about this!

LC

[Lime Corridor]

Well the good news is I am still here. The very good news is that it worked, rolling boil on the short test I gave it last night. Aim to get a brew on this weekend. A massive thanks to themadhippy, blown away by your super helpful response. Top man.

LC

[Dave S]

if its only going to the stat then id disconect it and conect it straight to the element,however id double check theres nothing else in the line like a thermal fuse,its worh keeping them in circuit as there a lot cheaper to replace than an element if you ever forget to fill it up before turning it on

Bypassing fuses is asking for trouble - and fires.

[themadhippy]

Bypassing fuses is asking for trouble - and fires.

indeed it is,and does,however a thermal fuse or link is not designed to oparate on an overload current ,its there to protect the element from getting too hot,and not all heating apliances have them fitted

[Dave S]

Bypassing fuses is asking for trouble - and fires.

indeed it is,and does,however a thermal fuse or link is not designed to oparate on an overload current ,its there to protect the element from getting too hot,and not all heating apliances have them fitted

Quite so, too hot -> current overload -> fire.

[Lime Corridor]

cool guys, thanks. No thermal fuse to speak of, everything is plugged straight into the element. I only ever brew outside. I will be very careful.

LC

[Deller12]

Bypassing fuses is asking for trouble - and fires.

indeed it is,and does,however a thermal fuse or link is not designed to oparate on an overload current ,its there to protect the element from getting too hot,and not all heating apliances have them fitted

Providing there is a fuse in the plug it should be protected. I plug my haydens straight in to the socket with no problem.

[Lime Corridor]

there is a fuse in the plug. Plus I am a lucky guy.

LC

[themadhippy]

The term thermal fuse is misleading,there not there for electrical safety,they don't operate in the event of an over current fault,thats the job of the fuse in the plug and fuseboard,there more for mechanical protection to stop the element burning out and as mentioned not every heating device has them fitted,nor did i recommend bypassing them,my advice was to keep them in the circuit if already fitted.

[Dave S]

The term thermal fuse is misleading,there not there for electrical safety,they don't operate in the event of an over current fault,thats the job of the fuse in the plug and fuseboard,there more for mechanical protection to stop the element burning out and as mentioned not every heating device has them fitted,nor did i recommend bypassing them,my advice was to keep them in the circuit if already fitted.

Yes I know that, I'm just being pickie Must have got out of bed the wrong side.

[Lime Corridor]

Aaaahhh! After a sucessful brew last week (Burco was giving a quality 90 min rolling boil) after the fix previously discussed on this thread, I brewed yesterday and the damn thing kept getting to around boiling point and then cutting out. Then, I would remove the contents of the boiler, turn it upside down to check my crimps, and then try again. Same thing i.e. reaches near boiling and cuts out.

As you can see on this thread I have by passed the thermostat. Essentially it is wired directly to the mains, so there is a live, a neutral and an earth going to the element. There looked like a little 'heat' had been happening around the earth, but nothing major.

After going throgh the process of checking crimps, recrimping twice, on the third occassion nothing...is it dead?

Any help gratefully received.

LC