Another newbie question. This time about heating elements.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
F

firstRWD

Active Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2011
Messages
39
Reaction score
0
Location
Madison
Do I need to look for anything specific? I have an acquaintance that works in the industry(replaces boilers, furnaces, water heaters, etc) and I'm thinking I could ask him to keep an eye out for something in the 3500-5000W range for me out of an old water heater or something and get a heating element for free. Then I could use the plug for my stove and build a control panel to brew without the propane. Will that work or is this idea a no go?

I'm young, poor, and live in an apartment, so I'm trying to go electric for as cheap as possible...
 
A normal element would only cost you in the $10-$30 range. Any type of control panel will setup back a few hundred bucks. Look at the Higher Gravity products if that's the way you want to go.
 
I would look for an ULWD (ultra-low-watt-density) heating element like the Camco 5500W that most of us use. Of the benefits is that if you turn it on by mistake when it's not in water or wort, you won't fry it.

Kal
 
PWM $13
SSR W/ Heatsink $17
Camco ULWD 5500watt Element $25
TOTAL $55

Cheap Electric Brewing $Priceless
 
OK, what does PMW stand for? You can't search for it because it's too short and the search function refuses the term. I've found that term in several places now, but no one uses whatever it stands for so I never figured out what it is. Judging from what you said, yjfun, it looks like it would take the place of the control panel, but only cost $13?

EDIT: Oops. That explains why I got no results searching around for PMW...
 
firstRWD said:
Do I need to look for anything specific? I have an acquaintance that works in the industry(replaces boilers, furnaces, water heaters, etc) and I'm thinking I could ask him to keep an eye out for something in the 3500-5000W range for me out of an old water heater or something and get a heating element for free. Then I could use the plug for my stove and build a control panel to brew without the propane. Will that work or is this idea a no go?

I'm young, poor, and live in an apartment, so I'm trying to go electric for as cheap as possible...
Click to expand...

I picked up my element 5500W ULWD at Farm and Fleet ( or Fleet and farm) for $23. You should have one in or near Madison.
 
firstRWD said:
OK, what does PMW stand for? You can't search for it because it's too short and the search function refuses the term. I've found that term in several places now, but no one uses whatever it stands for so I never figured out what it is. Judging from what you said, yjfun, it looks like it would take the place of the control panel, but only cost $13?

EDIT: Oops. That explains why I got no results searching around for PMW...
Click to expand...

PWM = Pulse Width Modulation.

The circuit switched on and off and you vary the percent on, usually with a variable resistor or potentiometer.
 
So looking at the Camco ULWD 5500watt heating element they have on Amazon, it says it's a 14". Is that just the heating element part or the whole thing? I'm going to be using a keg(keggle) and just want to make sure that's not gonna be too long for my brew pot before I order one.
 
Thanks. I just didn't know if it mattered if it was within a couple inches of hitting the other side of the brew pot. I guess thinking about it more, it'll probably be up to full heat on the side it enters from within a couple inches, so yeah, I guess I was just over thinking/worrying. Dumb noobs. :p
 

Similar threads

Dland
Reminder, check and tighten contacts on cords
Replies
1
Views
215
Broken Crow
Broken Crow
Nick Poggetti
Heating Element Scorching - Long boils w/ High OG Wort
Replies
25
Views
1K
Nick Poggetti
Nick Poggetti
M
Removable heating element
Replies
25
Views
2K
Broken Crow
Broken Crow
S
New to Electric brewing
Replies
14
Views
1K
Exception13
Exception13
S
Induction Brewing with 120V
Replies
20
Views
2K
BrewnWKopperKat
BrewnWKopperKat
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top