Help! New EBK burning elements

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Arazcamaro

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Chesterfield, VA
I just burnt both of my electric BK elements and need help figuring out what happened. :confused:

I just built a 8 gallon electric BK using two 1500 watt elements from Home Depot. I bought 14 gauge wire for each element that runs a receptacle that I fashioned onto a length of 10/3 wire that I already had (didn't use the red wire).

I installed a 30 amp / 125 volt plug on the 10/3 and plugged it in to a 30 amp outlet on the side of my house for RV hook-up. The kettle worked great for about a hour and then the top element burnt out (melted). I had a spare and put it in and within an hour it burned out along with the bottom element.

The outlet is working fine and I have no idea why these things are melting.

181969_1856779983739_1368047550_32056946_3578473_n.jpg
 
I am taking a wild guess that the 30 amp outlet on the side of your house is 240 vac. You could check it by looking at the breaker in your load center or by using a multimeter on the outlet. Please check this out before plugging anything into this outlet. Be careful.
 
Sorry I wasn't clear on that. The 30 Amp plug is list as 110v but it is a double pole 30 amp breaker so I don't know if that makes a difference. The outlet is for a travel trailer and the plug I bought matches. I installed a standard (non GFCI) outlet on the end of the run and plug each element into the outlet separately.
 
How long did they last? Yeah it sounds like you are delivering 30amps at 240volts to them.

Edit: I see they lasted about 1 hour. When you say they melted that sounds crazy. Any pictures of them melted would be cool?
 
Wow, crazy to see how those thing melted on you like that! And if you have a double pole breaker in your box then it most definitely is supplying 240V to whatever outlet you were plugged into. The double breakers pick up both the Hot A and Hot B lines running into your home to provide both phases of 120V to get you to that 240V number.

Sounds like you are way over-powering these small elements and is the root of your issue here.
 
I just burnt both of my electric BK elements and need help figuring out what happened. :confused:

I just built a 8 gallon electric BK using two 1500 watt elements from Home Depot. I bought 14 gauge wire for each element that runs a receptacle that I fashioned onto a length of 10/3 wire that I already had (didn't use the red wire).

I installed a 30 amp / 125 volt plug on the 10/3 and plugged it in to a 30 amp outlet on the side of my house for RV hook-up. The kettle worked great for about a hour and then the top element burnt out (melted). I had a spare and put it in and within an hour it burned out along with the bottom element.

The outlet is working fine and I have no idea why these things are melting.

181969_1856779983739_1368047550_32056946_3578473_n.jpg

Just a WAG at this but it sure looks like you have 240V going to those heaters. If they are 120v heaters there is no way they could burn up like that if they are designed for 120 and your providing 120. The resistance of the heaters wouldn't allow the current to get high enough to destroy them (designed for 120).

If you hit them with 240V, you double their output and they pull current they are not designed for. 120V heaters are ROUGHLY 1/2 the resistance of a 240V heater.

Edit: You could burn up the heaters if you are providing them with 120 if they are not submerged.
 
You can do one of 2 things to fix this. Get your wiring sorted out and provide 120V to the heaters.

Or wire the 2 heaters in series and power with your existing circuit. You will double the resistance with it wired in series and the current flow will be then limited to 120V normal amperage a piece.

I would opt for the 120V solution. If you blow a heater with them wired in series, then the good heater will not work either.
 
Sorry I wasn't clear on that. The 30 Amp plug is list as 110v but it is a double pole 30 amp breaker so I don't know if that makes a difference. The outlet is for a travel trailer and the plug I bought matches. I installed a standard (non GFCI) outlet on the end of the run and plug each element into the outlet separately.

I missed the double pole statement. Sounds like you have 240v.
 
If it were me, I'd sell/scrap the pot and start over with a single 220v element. 8 gallon pots can be had for cheap (Al or SS is fine), or you may decide to go bigger. You have 220, why not use it? Just make sure your wiring up to the element is rated for 30A; the 10/3 should be fine.
 
If it were me, I'd sell/scrap the pot and start over with a single 220v element. 8 gallon pots can be had for cheap (Al or SS is fine), or you may decide to go bigger. You have 220, why not use it? Just make sure your wiring up to the element is rated for 30A; the 10/3 should be fine.

Yep, the 3rd solution I didn't concider as he had 120 heaters. Good call. Buy 240's and be done with it :)
 
If it was me I'd hire an electrician as I obviously am playing with things I don't fully understand. Not meant to be harsh, more along the lines of saving your life & property!
 
I bet you had a pretty nice boil going for the hour prior to meltdown...please try and get some help on the rebuild...not sure this is the place though. Good luck and be safe.:mug:
 
Get a multimeter (they're pretty cheap, plus they're good to have around) and verify the voltage you have at the outlet. It may say 120V, but someone could easily f with the wiring and make it 240V (3 wire outlet; 2 hots and 1 neutral/ground). That's what it sounds like. If you do have 240 there, get the proper 240 outlet and plug and use 240V elements. If you'd rather use 120, verify the wiring at the outlet and change the 2 pole breaker to single pole. The old breaker should have a black and white wire. Attach the white wire to the neutral bus and the black wire to the new breaker. If you're going the single pole route, technically speaking, you should either get a panel blank or another 1 pole breaker that won't be hooked up to anything. Since you're removing a double pole breaker and installing a single pole you'll now have a gap where the other half of the double pole was. You'll have to fill that gap with something.
Like samc says (and as an electrician :D), if you don't feel comfortable/confident sticking your fingers in the panel, get an electrician to help. (not all of us are thieves, btw ;) )
 
Thanks for all of the advice guys! This has been very helpful in helping me to figure out what happened. It seems one of the previous home owners wired the 120v / 30a outlet to 240v. At least now I can go with 240v heating elements!

I did have a wicked boil going for a while there. I guess I have another trip to Home Depot coming up.
 
Thanks for all of the advice guys! This has been very helpful in helping me to figure out what happened. It seems one of the previous home owners wired the 120v / 30a outlet to 240v. At least now I can go with 240v heating elements!

I did have a wicked boil going for a while there. I guess I have another trip to Home Depot coming up.

I hate to say this, but... two commants about safety.

If there is really a 120V/30A outlet that is carrying 240V, then it needs to be replaced. That isn't safe (for your house).

And, for YOUR safety, you shouldn't be using that outlet for an electric boiling kettle unless the 2-pole breaker feeding it is a GFI breaker.
 
Yeah, my bad. Additionally, I should've said a GFI breaker, single or double pole depending on what you plan to set up. All the rest still holds true.
I'm a licensed electrician here on Long Island.
Two commandments 1) Safety first and foremost. Otherwise your friends will be drinking your homebrew at your funeral... (I now plan on putting taps on the side of my coffin.) 2) Never underestimate the power of stupid people! The second rule is the reason for the first.
 
Follow-up: So now I'm back to square one. I bought a volt meter and tested the outlet, the voltage is 110 even though the breaker is a double pole. I'm assuming it's just wired as a singe pole since I haven't pulled the panel yet.

Any idea on what could have caused 3 different elements to fry when using the correct voltage for the elements used?

I did go ahead and purchase a 240V element, wiring, and receptacles. I think my best bet at this point will be to change the double pole to 240V GFI breaker and be done with but I still would like to have an idea of what happened the first time around.
 
Are you sure it's a double pole and not just a tandem breaker? You can tell because a double pole has both handles tied together with a bar. A tandem is just two individual breakers in a single breaker size. Who knows how that receptacle is actually wired. Are you sure you're not just measuring one leg to ground? You'd read 120 there for sure but maybe you're still wiring the elements across the two hots on a real 240v circuit.
 
IrregularPulse said:
I think you should just get an electrician to come in and tell you what you have and fix it for a 240V 30A GFCI breaker if he can.

gunner65 said:
This is the ONLY advice that you should follow. (I know it was said by several others)

Being redundant for emphasis. ^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^

Those elements have clearly been blown by over-voltage, yet you've tested 120V. Either you're confused, your house is fubar, or both. Time to bring in an expert.
 
Yep, if you are not familier with electric, you should get a electrician to check it out for you.

A whack with 220 VAC will definatly wreck your day. Interestingly enough, more folks die from 120 than higher voltages. Must be people take more risks with the lower voltage and not concidering the potential.
 
Yep, if you are not familier with electric, you should get a electrician to check it out for you.

A whack with 220 VAC will definatly wreck your day. Interestingly enough, more folks die from 120 than higher voltages. Must be people take more risks with the lower voltage and not concidering the potential.

There's a lot more 120 volt outlets, wiring, lamps, toasters, etc to zap yourself with.
 
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