kettle elements, metal boilers and earthing

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bod

kettle elements, metal boilers and earthing

Post by bod » Tue Apr 04, 2006 5:09 pm

on my current quest for a new boiler, i have come across a couple of stainless steel bucket like things from work that are going spare. they hold about 8 gallons, so loads of room to be used for boiling a 5 gallon batch.

anyway, my main concern is fitting a kettle type element into one of these, as i'm not sure if they need to be earthed. obvously the kettle lead has an earth/ground lead in it, but does this need to be attached in some way to the body of the boiler itself, incase theres a fault in the element and the whole thing becomes live?

cheers,

bod.

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Jim
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Post by Jim » Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:22 pm

The metalwork of the boiler should definitely be earthed for safety.

If the element goes phut it's theoretically possibleto get a short to the element casing which will then find its way to the metal boiler and then to you!

tribs

Post by tribs » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:10 pm

QUOTE The metalwork of the boiler should definitely be earthed for safety.


Agreed. I have two SS tea urns. Both have an earth wire screwed to the body.

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Andy
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Post by Andy » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:54 pm

As does my Burco - I may have discovered how useful this is when a boilover spewed down the side of the burco straight into the simmerstat control dial ;) on the side and caused the house fuse to trip. Without an earth that could be a very nasty situation if you happen to touch/brush the casing (or happen to be stirring the brew with a metal spoon as I do!).

bod

Post by bod » Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:49 pm

great, cheers for the advice! where abouts on the burco and the tea urns does the ground connect to?
i've spoken to a few folk about this now and some seem to suggest it has to be above the water level.

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Andy
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Post by Andy » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:00 pm

Yup, I've already got at least two RCD units - I might even use one next time :D

tribs

Post by tribs » Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:09 pm

QUOTE great, cheers for the advice! where abouts on the burco and the tea urns does the ground connect to?
i've spoken to a few folk about this now and some seem to suggest it has to be above the water level.


Nah, they are connected underneath the base. I don't think it matters as long as its not IN the water.

bod

Post by bod » Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:19 am

thats perfect news then! :lol:

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