Show us your element housings/pots. How did you do it?

Williams 728
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jcav said:
Hi Andrew, just curious is the hole required for the PG21 gland a lot bigger than the hole that is already drilled in the end cap. I have no way of knowing as Lowes and Home Depot did not have any left by me. So I will probably order two of them online. I wanted to know if my step bits will work and if they are big enough, or if I need to drill them out another way. Thanks for your time!

John
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As I remember, the hole just needed to be opened a slight bit. My step bit did the job easily. I just clamped the piece down and it was done in no time.

I think that after I added this gland, there was very little space for the ring terminal on the ground lug. I had to shave off part of the ring terminal on my grinder to get it to seat properly, but it all worked out fine in the end.

It seems that others here have found suitable glands that didn't require this hole to be widened. You might investigate that before you buy these. I'm not positive though.
 
Thanks Andrew that is exactly the info I was looking for. It seems many online vendors are out or only have one left. Many have bags of 10 or more. I did find some on McMaster Carr that will probably work just fine. Thanks again!

John
 
I have a stilldragon element housing and used the stock PG19 gland with my SJOOW 10/3 wire and it fit perfectly. I have some PG21 glands as well and they also fit the wire, but can be cranked down a little further.
 
masonsjax said:
I have a stilldragon element housing and used the stock PG19 gland with my SJOOW 10/3 wire and it fit perfectly. I have some PG21 glands as well and they also fit the wire, but can be cranked down a little further.
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That might be.

The first SJ00W I got was bigger diameter than the second piece. One was from HD, the other from Lowes. I remember being surprised that there was any difference at all (BTW, in case anyone's wondering, I'm sure neither one was SOOW). I ordered larger glands based on the bigger wire.

So I guess it's possible that the smaller SJOOW would have fit the plastic PG19 that came with the enclosure. I really like the SS, so I would still have replaced the plastic. But I think the PG19's are much easier to find than PG21.
 
jcav said:
Thanks Andrew that is exactly the info I was looking for. It seems many online vendors are out or only have one left. Many have bags of 10 or more. I did find some on McMaster Carr that will probably work just fine. Thanks again!

John
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John, I've still got the plastic PG19 glands that came with the stilldragon enclosure. Come grab them if you want to take them to HD or Lowes and match them up with their wire.
 
masonsjax said:
I have a stilldragon element housing and used the stock PG19 gland with my SJOOW 10/3 wire and it fit perfectly. I have some PG21 glands as well and they also fit the wire, but can be cranked down a little further.
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Thanks masonjax, I was wondering what the difference was. My wire is the 10/3 SJOOW from Ebrew Supply, they had a good deal on it so I bought enough to make two cords. I just checked and the diameter of this particular wire will fit the plastic stock gland that came with my StillDragon enclosures, which is the PG19 that you described, (I think it's 3/4 inch but I'd have to check the measurement). Thanks again for chiming in!

John
 
passedpawn said:
John, I've still got the plastic PG19 glands that came with the stilldragon enclosure. Come grab them if you want to take them to HD or Lowes and match them up with their wire.
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Thanks Andrew, my enclosures came with the plastic ones and I thought it might not fit the wires at first. The plastic ones open up wider than then look and my wire does fit through but there is not a lot of room. I like the idea of using metal ones better, (like on your enclosures) so I might just get the metal ones and replace the plastic ones that came with the enclosures.

John
 
Ok I measured and the diameter of the hole in the StillDragon endcap is 1 inch. The threaded end of the PG19 gland diameter is 7/8 and the nut on the threaded end fills the gap and makes the seal. In case someone else is wondering. I am going to order some stainless ones if I can get my hands on them.

John
 
passedpawn said:
Still Dragon housing here. Another member here welded the TC ferrule to the keggle. I removed the too-small plastic strain releif that came with it, widened the hole, and used a large SS PG21 gland. Works great. Nice to be able to remove the ripple element so easily for cleaning.

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For those of you that have a still dragon housing, in particular the TC cap with the threaded hole for the element. Could the heating element be threaded the other direction? Or are the threads tapered. Ive got a heatstick welded up similar to a hot rod, and I need the cap with the element going the other way. I have emailed Still Dragon with my inquiry and haven't received a reply. Thanks.
 
chessking said:
For those of you that have a still dragon housing, in particular the TC cap with the threaded hole for the element. Could the heating element be threaded the other direction? Or are the threads tapered. Ive got a heatstick welded up similar to a hot rod, and I need the cap with the element going the other way. I have emailed Still Dragon with my inquiry and haven't received a reply. Thanks.
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No idea, but jcav above will know. He's got all the stuff unassembled, so he could test that pretty easy I think. You could probably get his attention by PM'ing him. Hopefully one of you responds with the answer. I think the element uses straight non-NPT threads, and I would assume you could screw the element in from either side, but I'm about 50% with my assumptions.
 
He did pm me and I replied. The threads do appear to be straight thread (sometimes also called heating element thread I read somewhere), and NOT NPT. The problem is the end cap is not loose and is welded to the metal tube so to turn it around you would not have the benefit of the enclosure protecting the wires. If the end cap was loose and you could clamp it the way you needed it for your particular install, that would be different, but it is fixed to the metal tube and ferrule. Hope this helps.....

John
 
Ok I see, now I understand what you are doing. I would give them a call and see if they will give you a valid answer, I know they are pretty technical and do work with people on custom stuff and builds (especially on the distillery end of it). StillDragon's phone number is (561) 845-8009. I called them with a question about their element enclosures and they were happy to answer me and were great on the phone.

John
 
Just got my aluminum box in, drilled the HLT and box out and installed it - looks perfect. Waiting on the pilot light and I still have to get a cord grip for it, but forward progress!

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I was worried about the wall thickness of the box and the low profile threads on the element, but it fits perfect inside.

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Nice job lextasy23! If you need cord grips and don't mind plastic I have them left over as I bought metal ones. Let me know and I'll send them to you....

John
 
I see cord grips seem to be the topic. I just had to search up some for .39 and .75 in cables with stainless mesh grips for a real life job;). I couldn't find a better price or selection by far than the old elecdirect standby. I just put in my order.

Here are some multi-hole grips and at the bottom of the page, there are some slotted bushings.:

http://www.elecdirect.com/catalog/cord-grips-cable-glands-strain-relief/multiple-hole-cord-grips

This is the cord grip page:

http://www.elecdirect.com/catalog/cord-grips-cable-glands-strain-relief

They seem to cover most options at very reasonable prices IMO. I have been very pleased so far with the products I have used and their shipping has been quick.
 
Here are the plastic ones I have. The white ones are PG19's and the black ones are 3/4 inch trade size. The PG19 threaded end will fit in a 7/8 inch hole. The 3/4 inch will fit a 1 1/16 inch hole, if this helps someone out.

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The ruler doesn't show the size too well in the photo.
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lextasy23 said:
Just got my aluminum box in, drilled the HLT and box out and installed it - looks perfect. Waiting on the pilot light and I still have to get a cord grip for it, but forward progress!

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I was worried about the wall thickness of the box and the low profile threads on the element, but it fits perfect inside.

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Wow, you got that thing low in there. That's the best place to keep the water from stratifying. In mine, the element is about 12" up, and the water at the bottom stays almost at room temp until it boils. If I'm looking for strike temps (i.e., ~163) I have to run a pump or stir or the top part will start boiling.
 
Ok finally had some free time to get mine done today. I had to enlarge the hole in the end cap for the metal cord grip/strain relief that I added. That stainless steel cap is very thick and took awhile to enlarge with my step bit. I clamped it in a vise and even with a small towel covering the vise teeth I still beat it up a little bit. Oh well it's just cosmetic. I also had to grind down the conduit nut on the inside of the end cap as it was too big in diameter and the cap would not fit back on the tri clover ferrule. I held it with pliers and grinded down the tabs all around the nut on my electric grinder and it fit fine after that.

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I drilled the ring terminal a little larger to fit the stem on the grounding screw.
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I used a 5/32 Allen wrench to tighten the grounding screw, pliers would have stripped the metal with my luck.
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Here she is all done with the plug attached.
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It appears to me that you need your gasket in place before you attach the wires.

Nice build. Have you got your control panel done yet?
 
chessking said:
It appears to me that you need your gasket in place before you attach the wires.

Nice build. Have you got your control panel done yet?
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You got a great eye! Actually since I cut a slit in the gasket to match the slit in the end cap in case water gets in, I put the gasket on after which is possible once you cut it.

I wish my box was here so I can brew!!! It's supposed to be completed near the end of November so I have to wait a little more.... Their assembled control box is pretty popular and they have a few in front of me. It's ok I still have some more work to do on my rig before it gets here.

John
 
passedpawn said:
It would have been done a LONG time ago, but he asked me for help :eek::eek::eek:
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Your a good man Andrew! I am glad that you were very busy with work because I made the decision to go electric and if you wired my other box I would have been very upset with myself. I really appreciate all your guidance and tips, and I consider you a good friend.

:mug: John
 
passedpawn said:
Looks really really good John. You really do things the right way. The assembly of your Still Dragon enclosure is very similar to mine, with similar modifications. It's a tight fit, and a little bit of elbow grease, etc., but in the end it's tits.
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Thanks! Your right about the tight fit.....The first one was a pita and the next one went on much faster.

John
 
I stole the Kal style system. Used it to add 2 power boxes to my brew kettle. Each runs a 2000w
20 amp element from a separate 20 amp circuit. Got a little fancy with some spray paint too!
I used Neutrik connectors for power input and a 20 amp toggle switch.

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augiedoggy said:
Does the new one have a stainless base? looks like the old one did not..
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Yes it does have a stainless steel base. It's a much-improved version of the element shipped with the original design. The picture shows how beat up the old element was after finally getting it unscrewed from the kettle.
 
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