Black stuff on heatsticks

So I just finished the 2nd brew with a pair of heatsticks I built. They are 1500w elements from lowes and I was brewing a light rye ale.

After removing the elements I noticed they had black all over them. Like they were burnt. It doesn't smell and doesn't appear to have come off in the beer in any way. When I cleaned them it started to flake off. After leaving them hanging up for an hour all the black started cracking and peeling and flaking off.

Any idea what it is or what is causing it and if I should be worried about it?

Thanks all!

I know mine tend to get a white film on them either from proteins or minerals (guessing). Black stuff?? Hmm, maybe you had some of the same proteins minerals burn onto them. Just a guess. I'm sure you will have someone come by soon with a better answer and idea of what it is.

Not sure what it is, but I have this same issue. It apparently doesn't affect the beer in any perceptible way because i've brewed very light beers (e.g. kolsch) that had no burnt flavors.

I just switched to a low density element and i've very curious to see if it still happens. Sometimes the buildup would be pretty hard and took some work with a scotch bright pad to remove.

Just completed another brew and no black stuff this time. Maybe it had something to do with the rye? Not sure.

One thing I noticed when I cleaned them pre brew was that it seems to be a layer of chrome or metal or something that is flaking off the element. One of them is now completely cleaned back to bare metal the other is about 80% there. Not sure what the coating is that these elements have and if its an issue?

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Do you have a link to the actual elements you bought?

Here it is:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_26371-135-6...1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=1500+watt+elements

BrooklynBrewClub said:

Here it is:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_26371-135-6...1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=1500+watt+elements

Click to expand...

My first element was copper, my new one is SS. I wonder what impact the material/finish of the element has, if any?

Is your element under PID control, or is it running 100% all of the time? I wonder if at 100% for an hour or so you'd be collecting burnt sugars on there?

Maybe a more experienced eBrewer (Kal, Rage) can comment with their experiences.

No PID. They're on flat out the whole hour. 2 sticks at 1500w is just enough for a gentle boil. They're a temporary set up till I can work out a power source for higher watt built in elements.

Probably a combination of protein and zinc from the element. After a few brews, the coating will be white, and will be mostly protein.

A short soak in warm oxyclean water and it will wipe right off.

Brooklyn Brew Club - you said your elements were made of 2 different metals? SS and Copper?

I bet you were doing 'electo-plating' or whatever it is called. You can do it in water, but beer would be better because of the ions. Basically your are striping the metal off one and depositing it on the other. The heat generated would make it more likely. I know cromium plating should prevent that with the SS, but if the copper were the anode, it would come off and perhaps mix with something from the beer.

Copper rust goes bright copper to dark copper to black to bright green (statue of Liberty green). I'd personally not mix metals, while electro plating should require active current, the fact that wort is highly ionized and also heated would speed up reactions.

I don't think they're made with two metals. Looking at the description it says copper but is obviously coated in something.

Anyone think its a concern? I've got 15 gallons of beer fermenting away. I'd hate to make people sick or worse, have to ditch it.

Tootsie roll.

ACbrewer said:

Brooklyn Brew Club - you said your elements were made of 2 different metals? SS and Copper?

Click to expand...

You might be referring to my post. My previous element was copper, that melted and i now have a SS element.

SORRY my bad not reading that correctly. Yeah, I'd personally try to keep all the metals invovled the same if possible.

As to 'is it bad' I guess I fall back on the 'did you sample and taste it?' It really pays to cultivate a sense of where it is going by where you are. I taste everything all along the way, hops, spent hops, malt, grains, wort, 'green beer' etc. Get a feel for 'does this taste off'

Also try the 'black stuff' on your elements, again, taste or atleast smell might help there.

Yes I've been tasting every step of the way and it doesn't affect anything taste wise and I can't see any of it actually coming off in the beer. I'm going to assume its all OK. I know I'm not the first person to experience this and no one seems to have any problems with it.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Gritsak said:

You might be referring to my post. My previous element was copper, that melted and i now have a SS element.

Click to expand...

Your copper element melted!? WTF? I just got a copper one for my new build. It was the only local option for a 120V 2000W element.

IrregularPulse said:

Your copper element melted!? WTF? I just got a copper one for my new build. It was the only local option for a 120V 2000W element.

Click to expand...

Yep, here's a thread with a picture:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/heatstick-melted-218324/

Still not quite sure what happened. Don't think it had anything to do with the element being copper though.