Immersion heater elements

[Stefano]

Hi all,
I use a standard 11" 3 kW copper immersion heater in my boiler but there's always a white film on the element afterwards. I'm looking into upgrading and going all stainless.
There are 2 other (more expensive) types of element available - incoloy for hard water and titanium for severe water areas. For the record our water is as soft as you can get.

Does anyone have a recommendation as to which one to go for or should I simply stick to the devil I know?

Thanks in advance,

Stefano

[Fil]

dbl post

[Fil]

ive bought a few lemon elements, plated elements are a pita as i tend to get a kitchen scrubby on mine as soon as the hops are rinsed out as i am in a hard water area and the calcium build up if left will set rock hard.. a side effect with a plated element is it can loose its plating thru scrubing and then your left with the base?? this one appears to be brass? any lead? without plating its very maliable/(bendy)..


incolly afaik is good on paper but if its what i think it is? has a non smooth surface and may be a sod to scrub back?

after scouring ebay for budget elements and buying too many bad punts i went to Mrlard aka the homebrewbuilder, He has 2 versions of his made to spec SS brewing elements 2.4kw and 3kw 100% stainless and over a meter of element tube so a low watt density so u shouldnt scorch the wort.
and come witrh a nice SS backing housing too u just need to ad cable and a gland..

and also a doddle to fit with a nice fat silicone oring which seals with hand tightening.



after use...

[chastuck]

I just got three 5500w stainless steel 14" elements from here: http://brewmation.com/Heating_Elements.html. They arrived yesterday. Not fitted them yet, but will be soon as I'm upgrading my brewery to a three 100L vessel set up. One element will be a spare. They need 23 amps at full power, but I've also wired up a dedicated 32 amp commando socket to cope. The elements look the DB's. Can't wait to try them.

[jmc]

ive bought a few lemon elements, plated elements are a pita as i tend to get a kitchen scrubby on mine as soon as the hops are rinsed out as i am in a hard water area and the calcium build up if left will set rock hard.. a side effect with a plated element is it can loose its plating thru scrubing and then your left with the base?? this one appears to be brass? any lead? without plating its very maliable/(bendy)..


incolly afaik is good on paper but if its what i think it is? has a non smooth surface and may be a sod to scrub back?

after scouring ebay for budget elements and buying too many bad punts i went to Mrlard aka the homebrewbuilder, He has 2 versions of his made to spec SS brewing elements 2.4kw and 3kw 100% stainless and over a meter of element tube so a low watt density so u shouldnt scorch the wort.
and come witrh a nice SS backing housing too u just need to ad cable and a gland..

and also a doddle to fit with a nice fat silicone oring which seals with hand tightening.



after use...

Hi Fil

I'm still looking to add elements to my 70L pot.
I've been looking at 3kw elements from MrLard. . Not cheap but they do look to be quality and easy to clean.


How did you wire up your 3kw elements? Any pics?
Did you make end caps with cable-exit glands for the shrouds to keep splashes from electricals?
eg IP68 Polyamide Gland



TIA John

[Fil]

yes John.. i used gable glands.. with the 2.4kw elements the shroud is a bit deeper allowing the glang to be used as usual tightening a plastic locknut inside the shroud. However the 3kw element shroud is a bit squatter and shorther and if a galnd is used as usual it encroaches onto the electrical contacts.. SO i chopped off most of the securing thread and used a heat safe epoxy to fix the glands to the shrouud ends.

to wire up i got 3 x crimp on eyes to secure onto the threaded connection posts with the supplied lock nuts, and that i wrapped up in electrical insulation tape before surrounding with a slip of pet bottle cut with scissors to wrap round the electrical connections within the shroud.



there are ceramic spaces on the posts allowing u to mount the connections at slightly different heights,,

earth is the central post live/neutral can be attached to the other posts L and R..


all wrapped up and a slither of pet bottle to dble insulate too..




with the gland cut back and epoxy'd in place there is no unnecessary ingress into the shroud to interfere with the doing-up.

It dawned on me afterwards I could also have cut back on the contact posts??as they all stand about 20mm proud off the element back

hop[e that makes sense

[jmc]

Thanks Fil

Really useful info

[jmc]

Finally got around to wiring up my 3Kw element from MrLard last night

Thanks again to Fil for advice.

I included Neutrix M/F connectors so I could disconnect element from long cable to make cleaning easier.
First neutrix I've used, very solid connection. Gland from Maplids fitted existing hole in shroud with no need to change size or glue etc.
2.5mm flexible cable used.

[UpTheToon]

jmc, is that heat proof cable, tape or crimps?

I have the same element and after 9 brews my cable crimp melted through. I've just re-wired it and tested it again and some electricians tape that was near the post melted! Those posts get very very hot it seems...

[jmc]

jmc, is that heat proof cable, tape or crimps?

I have the same element and after 9 brews my cable crimp melted through. I've just re-wired it and tested it again and some electricians tape that was near the post melted! Those posts get very very hot it seems...

I used standard cable tape and crimps. Not noticed any problems and I've done loads of brews with this kit.
Would expect temp to not be too high as long as a good connection.
I'll check the joints when I get a chance as upload a pic.

[Fil]

fwiw the shrouds on my mrlard elements remain fairly cool during the boil, they arrived with 3 x ceramic stand offs 1 on each pole including earth, i took the earth one off and slid it on the live pole so all 3 contacts were stood off at different heights..

[Rhodesy]

Finally got around to wiring up my 3Kw element from MrLard last night

Thanks again to Fil for advice.

I included Neutrix M/F connectors so I could disconnect element from long cable to make cleaning easier.
First neutrix I've used, very solid connection. Gland from Maplids fitted existing hole in shroud with no need to change size or glue etc.
2.5mm flexible cable used.

Can I just check which size of cable gland you used?

[Rogermort]

I got two 3kw elements from Mr Lard last week. 16mm glands (from City Electrical) fit and the shrouds seem to have been extended since this thread started as the glands don't need trimming.

[Rhodesy]

I got two 3kw elements from Mr Lard last week. 16mm glands (from City Electrical) fit and the shrouds seem to have been extended since this thread started as the glands don't need trimming.

Thanks! Will give them a try

[BertieBassett]

Hi
I'm trying to find some of these elements for my boiler, who is this MrLard, I have searched eBay to no avail
any help will be much appreciated