HWD heating element

I am trying to get my E-keggle up and running and I have a question about the type of heating element to use. Someone has a brand new 3500 watt HWD element that said I can have for free. Is it okay to use a HWD? I have seen most people use a low density is there any big difference besides blowing the HWD if it's not in water?

From what im told, the hwd will blow real quick if not submerged. Of course it's not good to run either dry.

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It is better to use a ULWD element (or at least a LWD) element.

I have only used an ULWD element, but bought it based on the risk of scorching the wort with the HWD element.

howabouttheiris said:

I have only used an ULWD element, but bought it based on the risk of scorching the wort with the HWD element.

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That myth has actually been debunked.

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Will a 3500 watt element be enough for a 10 gallon batch boil?

wildwest450 said:

That myth has actually been debunked.

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Yes, the risk of scorching wort (myth) is greatly exaggerated, but there can still be significant color (browning) formation from the use of HWD elements if the heat output is not properly controlled.

Personally, I would only use HWD elements in the HLT.

wildwest450 said:

That myth has actually been debunked.

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OK... I retract my comment.

However... When doing a late extract addition, I would prefer to pour liquid extract onto a hot ULWD element vs a very hot HWD element.

Thekeez said:

Will a 3500 watt element be enough for a 10 gallon batch boil?

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Imo yes, for the boil. I have a 4500 watt that needs to be cranked way down once the boil starts. A controller of some sort is a must.


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Yeah I want to get a controller running but I'm low in cash at the moment. Any way to run the boil without one? This may seem like a stupid question but can you run the element through a dimmer switch and gauge the power from that? Temporarily till I get a controller set up?

No dimmer switches that are cheap and readily available are rated for 3500w. If a controller is not possible at the moment, I would suggest trying the 3500w element running at 100% without a controller. Please report back w/ your findings.

wilserbrewer said:

No dimmer switches that are cheap and readily available are rated for 3500w. If a controller is not possible at the moment, I would suggest trying the 3500w element running at 100% without a controller. Please report back w/ your findings.

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That's going to be a massive wort tossing boil.

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wildwest450 said:

That's going to be a massive wort tossing boil.

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Just curious WW, how many watts do you figure you use boiling ten gallons? W/ 4000w, for ten gallons I get a vigorous, but not out of the pot boil by any means. I recall others reporting 3700w for a sustained boil in a keggle. Control becomes more valuable the closer you are to the kettle rim.

I maintain a ~13gal rolling boil with 5500w @ 65% capacity, so 3575w. YMMV since my boil kettle is insulated.

I don't have any "real" numbers, but my 10 gallon batches are 14 gallon preboil (12gallon batch), I still had to turn my 4500 watt element down. And i'm not shy about good rolling boils.

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I don't want to start another thread to ask this question, so I'll just bump this one up to the top.

Is there a real benefit to using the HWD in the HLT as opposed to the ULWD? Will it reach temp that much faster?

lunchbox said:

Is there a real benefit to using the HWD in the HLT as opposed to the ULWD? Will it reach temp that much faster?

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Either HWD or ULWD will work fine in an HLT. Time to temperature is a factor of watts, NOT element density.

lamarguy said:

I maintain a ~13gal rolling boil with 5500w @ 65% capacity, so 3575w. YMMV since my boil kettle is insulated.

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I think depends on a few factors, like the shape of your BK. I used 4000W for 13-14 gallon boils and thought it worked great. But that was an old Coors keg that had a bulge in the middle. I switched my BK to a Miller Lite Keggle without the bulge and the boil seemed less vigorous. So I insulated. After scorching issues in the RIMS tube I switched to a single 4500W element. Boil off is about 1.5Gallons per hour. It's vigorous, but I think it's fine. I think 4000W is typically about right, but a bit more or less depending upon humidity and your vessel, etc.

I use a 5500W HD element in my BK, and have not noticed any scorching.

lamarguy said:

Yes, the risk of scorching wort (myth) is greatly exaggerated, but there can still be significant color (browning) formation from the use of HWD elements if the heat output is not properly controlled.

Personally, I would only use HWD elements in the HLT.

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I have yet to brew and bottle a really light beer, so I really can't refute this. However, I just brewed 10g of BierMunchers centennial blond (3.9 srm), and it looks pretty blond in the fermenter. Element at 100% for 30 minutes, then throttled back to 70% (my BK keggle is not insulated) for thirty.

TheZer said:

I use a 5500W HD element in my BK, and have not noticed any scorching.



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Almost same experience here using HD elements, one time I shut the kettle off for 20 minutes to run an errand and all the trub settled, and burnt like hell on the element...just a word of caution. Keep the trub in suspension.