An inexpensive element connection cover

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Dfitz

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While diddling around looking for a reasonable cover for my element connections on my brew pots these came to mind.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W9 ... p_summary#
with
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HBJE8EM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
http://www.glaciertanks.com/NPT_TriClamp_Adapters-

NPT_1_Female_to_1_1_2_TriClamp_Heavy_Duty.html
or
http://www.glaciertanks.com/NPT_TriClamp_Adapters-NPT_1_Female_to_1_1_2_TriClamp_Heavy_Duty_1.html

These caps when fit properly don't come off without a great effort. A good snug water proof fit that doesn't pull loose for about $5 per element.

IMG_0077.JPG


IMG_0075.JPG
 
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After receiving my Still dragon, I have to say, drill a small weep hole at the bottom facing part. If it's totally sealed and a leak develops between the element and the housing thread, you won't see it until the entire housing fills up with wort and causes a bad short. At least with a weep hole you'll see drips from it and the housing won't fill up and keep everything safe.

This is how the StillDragon housing is, it has a slot on the cap to do just that.

You only need it to to be splash proof, you'r not submerging the element and housing with the cord in water/wort.
 
Nice idea. I generally check my plumbing connections for leaks but if I were to miss something I could see where that would be beneficial.
 
Nice idea. I generally check my plumbing connections for leaks but if I were to miss something I could see where that would be beneficial.

It's not about checking, more about the seal faling at some point since it's always heating and cooling.
 
It's not about checking, more about the seal faling at some point since it's always heating and cooling.

Perhaps you should understand better how the seal in the ferrule relates to the element. The element being threaded and the threaded connection tight and not leaking, a gasket failure would be outside of the sealed electrical connection. As long as the threaded connection doesn't leak, liquid cannot be exposed to the electrical connection. Its really as simple as that.
 
Perhaps you should understand better how the seal in the ferrule relates to the element. The element being threaded and the threaded connection tight and not leaking, a gasket failure would be outside of the sealed electrical connection. As long as the threaded connection doesn't leak, liquid cannot be exposed to the electrical connection. Its really as simple as that.

Yup, I understand how seals work and the seal I am referring to is the one between the threaded base of the element and the element housing, the seal is on the inside of the housing where you can't see once it's closed . I am not talking about the actual ferrule seal between the kettle and housing. When a seal is subjected to constant heat they start to Crack, expansion come into play as well where you thought you tightened the element really good but due to expansion and contraction, it can become loose enough to leak. If it leaks into the housing (again, the seal is inside the housing between the element base and where the element threads into the housing) and you make the housing water tight, it's going to collect in there. It's very easy to develop a leak since the ferrule in the pot and the housing are water tight, the only place for the liquid to go is inside the housing. So when liquid collects inside the housing, where the wiring is, guess what happens when liquid and electricity get together.

If it's a weldless setup like Kal's setup at the electric brewery, then the chances of liquid getting I to the housing is slim.

It's a very easy and small modification to put into place for peace of mind. Don't like it, don't drill one. I'm only giving a safety tip.
 
Yup, I understand how seals work and the seal I am referring to is the one between the threaded base of the element and the element housing, the seal is on the inside of the housing where you can't see once it's closed . I am not talking about the actual ferrule seal between the kettle and housing. When a seal is subjected to constant heat they start to Crack, expansion come into play as well where you thought you tightened the element really good but due to expansion and contraction, it can become loose enough to leak. If it leaks into the housing (again, the seal is inside the housing between the element base and where the element threads into the housing) and you make the housing water tight, it's going to collect in there. It's very easy to develop a leak since the ferrule in the pot and the housing are water tight, the only place for the liquid to go is inside the housing. So when liquid collects inside the housing, where the wiring is, guess what happens when liquid and electricity get together.

If it's a weldless setup like Kal's setup at the electric brewery, then the chances of liquid getting I to the housing is slim.

It's a very easy and small modification to put into place for peace of mind. Don't like it, don't drill one. I'm only giving a safety tip.
forgive me since I may not be following correctly but are you saying the element itself develops a leak? if theat were the case a lot of hot water tanks would go up in smoke no? I have been using one at my cabin for over 20 years and never seen them leak this way... in a brewery setup theres actually less chance of issues due to the lack of corrosion.

The TC connection prevents liquid from getting through any other way... I use a weldless myself but would prefer the TC connection someday for easy cleanup.
 
I am not talking about the actual ferrule seal between the kettle and housing. When a seal is subjected to constant heat they start to Crack, expansion come into play as well where you thought you tightened the element really good but due to expansion and contraction, it can become loose enough to leak.
There is no seal inside like the still dragon. Just threads for element to thread into.
 
forgive me since I may not be following correctly but are you saying the element itself develops a leak? if theat were the case a lot of hot water tanks would go up in smoke no? I have been using one at my cabin for over 20 years and never seen them leak this way... in a brewery setup theres actually less chance of issues due to the lack of corrosion.

The TC connection prevents liquid from getting through any other way... I use a weldless myself but would prefer the TC connection someday for easy cleanup.

The seal, not the element, the seal can leak. Hot water heaters don't have the back of the element with the electrical connections sealed up where it can trap water. Plus, the elements and the seals on a hot water tank are not used the same way we are using them on our kettles.

Again, just a simple safety suggestion I'm making, that's all.
 
The seal, not the element, the seal can leak. Hot water heaters don't have the back of the element with the electrical connections sealed up where it can trap water. Plus, the elements and the seals on a hot water tank are not used the same way we are using them on our kettles.

Again, just a simple safety suggestion I'm making, that's all.

what seal? There is no seal. Hot water heaters don't boil over either. I suspect there is no getting you to understand that the only connection to leak is a threaded connection. I give up!
 
The seal, not the element, the seal can leak. Hot water heaters don't have the back of the element with the electrical connections sealed up where it can trap water. Plus, the elements and the seals on a hot water tank are not used the same way we are using them on our kettles.

Again, just a simple safety suggestion I'm making, that's all.

The liquid side and dry side are isolated the same way... by sealing the threaded area with steel and an oring.... Normally thats as complicated as it needs to be really.. the TC to1" fitting will prevent any liquid from getting to the electrical side unless one is a sloppy brewer and doesnt pay attention to boil overs and in that case a sealed electrical enclosure will prevent problems one could also seal the TC adapter threads with teflon tape which would prevent any chance of a cracked plastic housing from causing a leak with the plastic sandwiched in there (I think this is your concern?)... thats about it as for as I know leaving weap holes can be dangerous too...what about when cleaning the element?
 
The first and third links in the original post do not currently work. It's harder to follow this without seeing the original parts.
 
The liquid side and dry side are isolated the same way... by sealing the threaded area with steel and an oring.... Normally thats as complicated as it needs to be really.. the TC to1" fitting will prevent any liquid from getting to the electrical side unless one is a sloppy brewer and doesnt pay attention to boil overs and in that case a sealed electrical enclosure will prevent problems one could also seal the TC adapter threads with teflon tape which would prevent any chance of a cracked plastic housing from causing a leak with the plastic sandwiched in there (I think this is your concern?)... thats about it as for as I know leaving weap holes can be dangerous too...what about when cleaning the element?

This seal (see pic) , they must have some type of seal like the black one in the below picture before they screwed the heating element into the housing?

The other picture is of the still dragon where you can see the thread port where the element screws into, I assume their setup is similar, I'm not sure since none of his links to the parts work. You'll also see in that same picture the weep hole (a slit really) on the opposite side where the wire gland attaches to.

The housing is a sealed TC tube. If the seal on the element leaks, it's going to leak into the housing, this isn't about a boil over since that seal is the only thing between the liquid side and electrical side.

If they are not using a seal on their element like in the first pic I posted, I'm not sure how they're creating a seal? :what:

When I was referring to the water heater, I wasn't referring to boil overs I was talking about that same seal which does fail at times.

View attachment 1441459496096.jpg

View attachment 1441459578403.jpg
 
what seal? There is no seal. Hot water heaters don't boil over either. I suspect there is no getting you to understand that the only connection to leak is a threaded connection. I give up!

See my previous response with pics. Not sure why your getting all worked up, I made one safety recommendation that's all, I didn't put your housing down.

No hot water heaters do not boil over and that's not what I was referring to, but they all have a seal on the base of the element which can leak. The difference is the electrical side housing of the element is not sealed so when it does leak, it never hits the wire and you see water on the floor before complete failure.

See my pictures in my previous post.
 
I gotcha... most use the silicone orings and with telflon tape I dont see how it "will likley" fail over time but yeah I can see where this weeping hole could be a good safety measure on top of the GFCI.
 
Seal is not likely to fail, but of course if it did somehow, that weep hole might be beneficial. **** happens, like they say.

Regardless, a GFCI will let you know right away there was a leak when current finds a path from the hot wires to GND, so make sure to ground any exposed metal or the GFCI won't trip until you touch the pot (zap!). If you have both a GFCI and grounded metal, the weep hole is pretty unnecessary I'd say.
 
Seal is not likely to fail, but of course if it did somehow, that weep hole might be beneficial. **** happens, like they say.

Regardless, a GFCI will let you know right away there was a leak when current finds a path from the hot wires to GND, so make sure to ground any exposed metal or the GFCI won't trip until you touch the pot (zap!). If you have both a GFCI and grounded metal, the weep hole is pretty unnecessary I'd say.

GFCI circuits are not 100% reliable, that's why there is a test button on them so you can regularly check that it functioning. How many people here can state when the last time was they actually tested their GFCI outlets?

Maybe it's just me being too safe being that I was a fireman and electrician and I've seen a lot of fires started due to electrical and water.

Fuses in a fuse panel sometimes don't trip when they are supposed to, faulty GFCI circuits or non existing GFCI circuits where they should have been.

I'm still a little baffled why everyone is against one additional layer of safety even as simple as drilling a small hole. Either way, good luck and happy brewing.
 
I'm not against safety. All I'm saying is that the threaded connection is tightened 100% leak free using Teflon tape well before the rubber element washer comes into contact with the fitting.

Again, this is not a stilldragon nor are their parts incorporated in the photos I posted.
 
Could you please fix the links or add descriptions and part numbers of the products you used so that this thread will still be usable down the road when Amazon and Glacier change their websites?

I'd like to do my elements this way but some key information is missing.
Thanks!
 
What about the greater possibiltiy or moisture coming IN through that weep hole during cleaning or some other bad accident? I would think its kind of more likely to happen that way than the silicone seal failing? since now you have taken what would be a waterproof electrical connection and made it not waterproof? Am I wrong in thinking this?
 
What about the greater possibiltiy or moisture coming IN through that weep hole during cleaning or some other bad accident? I would think its kind of more likely to happen that way than the silicone seal failing? since now you have taken what would be a waterproof electrical connection and made it not waterproof? Am I wrong in thinking this?

I have a hole in mine and it's never been an issue. I hose my gear off, so no doubt there's been potential.
 
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