Is this element ok 5500watt

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Ok, I thought that was the element and now I'm certain. That's the same one I use in my RIMS tubes, except I run them at 120v instead of 240v. Those are Low Watt Density elements. The ripple element is Ultra Low Watt Density (< 50watts per square inch). Much less chance of scorching your wort with ULWD elements.
 
Ok, I thought that was the element and now I'm certain. That's the same one I use in my RIMS tubes, except I run them at 120v instead of 240v. Those are Low Watt Density elements. The ripple element is Ultra Low Watt Density (< 50watts per square inch). Much less chance of scorching your wort with ULWD elements.

They don't have to be rippled to be ULWD. I bought a 5500watt Camco incoloy element from Home Depot for ~ $17, and it was ULWD and looked just like the one in P-Js Lowes link. It was a bit confusing though, since the Home Depot price label tag on the peg that the element was hanging on said it was Low Watt density, but the back of the packaging says Ultra Low Watt Density. Either way I've boiled about 35 batches with it and it works great. I just did a 90 minute hard boil with an American Lite lager and the beer came out absolutely clean - no issue with scorching for me at all.
If you have a Home Depot nearby, check out the elements there. They seemed to have a better element selection than the Lowes near me.
 
They don't have to be rippled to be ULWD. I bought a 5500watt Camco incoloy element from Home Depot for ~ $17, and it was ULWD and looked just like the one in P-Js Lowes link. It was a bit confusing though, since the Home Depot price label tag on the peg that the element was hanging on said it was Low Watt density, but the back of the packaging says Ultra Low Watt Density. Either way I've boiled about 35 batches with it and it works great. I just did a 90 minute hard boil with an American Lite lager and the beer came out absolutely clean - no issue with scorching for me at all.
If you have a Home Depot nearby, check out the elements there. They seemed to have a better element selection than the Lowes near me.

Thanks for the info...I will check out the home depot near my work. How did you mount yours? Can they just be mounted with the locknut and silicone ring on the inside of the kettle?
 
Thanks for the info...I will check out the home depot near my work. How did you mount yours? Can they just be mounted with the locknut and silicone ring on the inside of the kettle?

I followed Kal's element mounting plan, except I used a single gang box instead of a double gang box (either way works), and used the SS nut and o-ring from Bargain Fittings to seal things up from the inside instead of using the McMaster o-ring on the outside like Kal does. The Home Depot near me carries the same gang boxes and covers that Kal uses, so look for them when you are at HD (assuming you follow his plan to mount the elements).

Here's pics of my finished build if you want to see more:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/my-two-5500-watt-element-1-pid-ssr-build-281085/index5.html

Have fun!
 
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