Another cool product from Brew Hardware

[Matt F]

Check out these new elements. All stainless, connect with a tri-clamp and a detachable cord. Pretty cool. Has lots of different ways to add a compatible tri-clamp fitting to your kettle too.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/ ... ple_tc.htm

[whitedj]

I saw that as well. Not too sure if it would be worth it or just get the element to triclamp adapter if I went that route.

Guess it depends how often elements burn out, and I'm your willing to wait for a replacement, cool though.

[czubak]

Yeah unsure I'd go that route for reasons Dan mentioned. Very slick though


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[Matt F]

The detachable cord is worth it on its own. Plus, no need to purchase any external protection to cover up your wiring. If using as a boil kettle would make cleaning the element a lot easier.

[whitedj]

I like the triclover to npt that fits the element, like they sell on the RIMS tube. The electrical covers are great, too.

[UndeadFred]

Very cool, actually. It would be a "no-brainer" at $50 at $75, I suspect rigging up a TC system would be better. It would be a very expensive mistake to dry fire the element by accident. I'll never do that with my $9 close out Home Depot element (base painted with some food grade paint left over from a project 10 years ago) but surely would with a $75 one. My luck.

[karl]

I suspect the element is has standard NSP threaded base. This is the way that a similar product from ebrewsupply is designed:

http://www.ebrewsupply.com/1-5-tri-clam ... sing-ripp/

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[Matt F]

From the pictures it does not look like the element has a screw in base. At least not on the liquid side where it counts. Regardless, cheaper than buying a $30-$40 element plus the $62 housing. Plus you still would not have the standard detachable cord.

Dan, glad you like those electric covers. I need to get one to replace my PVC elbow just sitting on there not really providing much in the form of safety.

[andrewmaixner]

Very cool, actually. It would be a "no-brainer" at $50 at $75, I suspect rigging up a TC system would be better. It would be a very expensive mistake to dry fire the element by accident. I'll never do that with my $9 close out Home Depot element (base painted with some food grade paint left over from a project 10 years ago) but surely would with a $75 one. My luck.

Would it be relatively easy to add a sensor so that an element could not fire unless it was submerged? A float, or conductive? I know my ANOVA has an conductive liquid level sensor in it, if both probes are not submerged the circuit is broken and it will not heat.

[TappedOut]

Yeah, you can get float switches from http://mcmaster.com. Wire it inline w/ the control signal to the SSR. Pretty sure I got the idea from Lee. It's low voltage/current, so I used speaker cable and connectors that I had laying around.

[karl]

Yes, the float switch adds a degree of safety. That's the way I did my HLT. But I didn't want to have a float in the BK because things get messy and sticky. And I didn't want the design hassle of finding a good conductivity sensor for wort-like liquids. I settled on using the temperature probe as sensor and wiring a relay to use the PID alarm low to disable the element unless the temperature is above 150 degrees. That way once the sparge has submerged the temperature probe the element can be fired.

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[Matt F]

I dry fired my S/S element for a bit once and nothing happened. It is not recommended, but the low density ones have some forgiveness. My first cheap $9 copper one was toast almost instantly. I still have no device for this which means a dry fire could happen. I have to make sure to unplug the element before it runs dry. I have a dial thermometer mounted half way up the HLT, thermowell for PID closer to bottom and a sight tube. I usually notice the top thermometer crashing indicating it may be time to turn off the element. Not exactly a fail safe system.

[UndeadFred]

The amusing thing here is that the $9 I got was actually a $25 Camco LWD Incoloy fold over, they were selling out ones that didn't have the new Home Depot brand name on it. I should have bought all they had at that time.. It might survive a short blast.. I don't want to try it. Got a couple of 120V HWD elements for $4 each (also Incoloy) for super ghetto HLT use at the time too. Don't ask me what I use those in (or I'll tell you two 5 gallon HDPE buckets... and yes, you can boil in them).

The Float switch is an OK Idea, but make sure it can handle the current.. I suppose you should NEVER hot switch it (i.e. turn it on while filling the kettle up) but it would likely be quite bad for the switch.

One thing my setup has going for it is that I ran a SSVR in series with the SSR on the PID because it was cheaper to do so than buying a new PID that has boil control (since I had a spare TA4 that I used for non-beer related stuff).. but I'm glad I did so because I turn that knob all the way down before switching the unit off. I'd have to flip the switch on and ramp up the SSVR (phase control) in order to dry fire the element. It also lets me cheat and on-the-fly tweak the PID a little.. I usually run the mash at maybe 70% on the SSVR and let the PID run longer.. I don't know if that's better or worse for control but it seems like I can tune in over and undershoot a little that way on the fly without messing with P,I,D or re-autotuning...

[whitedj]

Yes, the float switch adds a degree of safety. That's the way I did my HLT. But I didn't want to have a float in the BK because things get messy and sticky. And I didn't want the design hassle of finding a good conductivity sensor for wort-like liquids. I settled on using the temperature probe as sensor and wiring a relay to use the PID alarm low to disable the element unless the temperature is above 150 degrees. That way once the sparge has submerged the temperature probe the element can be fired.

Agreed. Less (and easier) cleaning the better. I thought about trying to find an in-line flow meter that was food safe for boiling temperatures but I don't think they exist in a price range that I'm willing to pay, let alone the cleaning that would have been required.

Are the NEMA L6-30P cords splash resistant? Even though I have that enclosure I still wrapped the connections in pig tape just for extra protection.

[karl]

No, NEMA L6-30 are not splash resistant without some housing enclosing the connection. Neutrik Powercon would be better, but still not officially splash resistant.

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