Wire a switch to a heat stick?

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tarponteaser

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Please excuse what may sound like a dumb question, but what is the proper way to wire a switch to a heat stick?

I bought a weather proof box and a weatherproof cover w/ a switch.

The switch has a ground screw for the green wire, and the single gang box that the switch goes into has a green grounding screw.

Question... I was going to put the ground from the incoming wire to the green screw on the switch...do I put the green wire from the heatstick to the ground screw on the box...or do I have to put both wires on the switch ground (difficult with 12 guage wire!):confused:

I definately want this thing grounded properly to heat my mash water so any tips will be greatly appreciated.


The heatstick is 1650 watts 120 volts and I'm using 12 gauge wire. The plan is to have a male plug on the 7' heatstick cord, have the weather proof switchbox with male and female outlets on it ( for use with heatstick and camping) then connect switchbox with 25 ' 12 gauge extension cord to 15 amp gfi outlet.

Regards

ps. potted the element today with the coupling and jbweld technique I learned from here...still seeking the food grade silicone...found a perfect DAP product, just need to fnd a local source
 
regarding grounds: you want all of those grounds to be connected together in some way or another.

Ground wire from power source needs to be connected to the box, the ground out to the element, and the switch.
 
BTW, you could use a 1 1/2 to 1 1/4 slip reducer which will allow you to use the gasket that comes with the element and not have any exposed jbweld. I did that and then filled the inside around the element with jbweld.
 
Thanks for the reply Walker. A switch wiring diagram I found on the web showed a grounding wire from the switch to the metal box the switch is mounted in. The green wire from power supply was connected to the green ground wire going to the light ( in this case the heatstick), the white wires from power supply and light (heat stick) were connected, and finally teh power in black to teh bottom of the switch and the heatstick black to the top switch.

That is what I did yesterday and tested it with a portable radio in the garage and it worked.

Saw that the box ground is connected to the power in and power out. Thanks for the review
Regards
 
Hey Seabass, I did pick up the reducer you mentioned (thanks to another tip from someone here) and plan on using the silicone on the inside threads to provide additional sealing from the liquid. Wanted the silicon versus jb weld to seal the threads of the reducer/element connection so I can remove the element if necessary.

Regards
 
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