Kettle elements

[badgerdan]

Hi, can you guys have a look at these and let me know if they're good enough for a boiler? They come as a pack of 5 but will only use two, but they're 1kw are the usual ones about 2.4kw? Would they also switch off at boiling point or is that switch in the actual kettle part?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/REPLACEMENT-KETTL ... 56393010c5

[CrownCap]

Shame they're only 1kW or we'd all be snapping them up like there's no tomorrow. I've got 2x 2.4kW in my boiler and while that's too much for a rolling boil, it don't get it there in a hurry. Guess you could stick 3 or even 4 in with some switching to give you a lot of control. Suspect they have thermal cut outs, but they can probably be removed.

[Befuddler]

I've got a box of these in the post so I'll probably be putting the boiler together at the weekend.

Not really sure how many to fit since they're only 1kw.. All 5..?

[thankyousam]

I've got a box of these in the post so I'll probably be putting the boiler together at the weekend.

Not really sure how many to fit since they're only 1kw.. All 5..?

It depends what volume of liquid you'll be boiling and how long you want to wait. My 2 x 2.2KW elements will bring 30 litres of warm (50C) wort from the mash tun up to boil in about 20 minutes. One of those elements will hold a nice rolling boil for 90 minutes, although I do alternate between the 2 of them.

There's a water heating calculator here: http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/calc.html

Personally I'd stick with SmartPrice kettle elements. The only benefit I can see is you'll probably get a finer control with more and smaller elements, but you'll have to drill more holes and buy more leads and RCDs (if you feel the need to use them).

[Befuddler]

I've got a box of these in the post so I'll probably be putting the boiler together at the weekend.

Not really sure how many to fit since they're only 1kw.. All 5..?

It depends what volume of liquid you'll be boiling and how long you want to wait. My 2 x 2.2KW elements will bring 30 litres of warm (50C) wort from the mash tun up to boil in about 20 minutes. One of those elements will hold a nice rolling boil for 90 minutes, although I do alternate between the 2 of them.

There's a water heating calculator here: http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/calc.html

Personally I'd stick with SmartPrice kettle elements. The only benefit I can see is you'll probably get a finer control with more and smaller elements, but you'll have to drill more holes and buy more leads and RCDs (if you feel the need to use them).

These were just the easy option for me.. I don't drive and ASDA is miles away so delivery to my door is the way forward.

I'm probably going to fit 4 of the elements and wire them in parallel from a single lead for simplicity.. I'll plonk a control box on the side with individual fuses and switches so I've got something to play with. I might even put some lights on it if I get bored.. trick it out with some phat rims and a bangin' system, etc.

[thankyousam]

I'm probably going to fit 4 of the elements and wire them in parallel from a single lead for simplicity.. I'll plonk a control box on the side with individual fuses and switches so I've got something to play with. I might even put some lights on it if I get bored.. trick it out with some phat rims and a bangin' system, etc.

Pimping it out aside , I assume the control box (unless you're wiring it straight into the mains ) would take two power feeds too? And the single lead would be pretty big? 4kW @ 240V = 16A

[Befuddler]

I'm probably going to fit 4 of the elements and wire them in parallel from a single lead for simplicity.. I'll plonk a control box on the side with individual fuses and switches so I've got something to play with. I might even put some lights on it if I get bored.. trick it out with some phat rims and a bangin' system, etc.

Pimping it out aside , I assume the control box (unless you're wiring it straight into the mains ) would take two power feeds too? And the single lead would be pretty big? 4kW @ 240V = 16A

That's an extremely good point actually.. I was gonna jump straight in without doing the maths. What an idiot.

I'll have to stick to 3 elements to keep it under 13a and one feed. I'm in a rented property so I don't want to risk overloading anything, and I don't particularly want to buy more than one breaker.

I'll just add some go-faster stripes to make up for the extra 1000w.

[Befuddler]

These elements were just delivered.. with a free stick of Blackpool rock.. !?

Random, but appreciated.

[christhebrewer]

Hello,

I reckon two of these would be fine for a small (25-30L) boiler. One of the commercially-available boilers at 29L is only rated at 1.8Kw and they cope fine (from experience a few years ago). I suppose you'd want more power to get to the boil if you're a bit impatient though

Cheers,

Chris