100% Stainless Heating Element

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Any hopes for the 5500 watt ripple elements at a more competitive price than Brewmation's? I need 5500 watts, but paying Brewmation more than double the (shipped) price in order to get the stainless base is a bit hard to swallow.
 
Anyone see rust on their SS element that they purchased from southernboystills.com ? I bought two but been too busy to try them out yet, but a friend that I told about the SS elements on southernboystills.com site has been using his and noticed rust on the element after his first use.

sselement_rust.jpg
 
AleForce1 said:
Anyone see rust on their SS element that they purchased from southernboystills.com ? I bought two but been too busy to try them out yet, but a friend that I told about the SS elements on southernboystills.com site has been using his and noticed rust on the element after his first use.
Click to expand...
Hard to tell but Looks more like burnt wort and not rust to me.... but some grades of stainless can rust especially when used in extremely hot applications like exhaust and heat element applications.
 
augiedoggy said:
Hard to tell but Looks more like burnt wort and not rust to me.... but some grades of stainless can rust especially when used in extremely hot applications like exhaust and heat element applications.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought too, but he swears it's rust.
 
AleForce1 said:
Anyone see rust on their SS element that they purchased from southernboystills.com ? I bought two but been too busy to try them out yet, but a friend that I told about the SS elements on southernboystills.com site has been using his and noticed rust on the element after his first use.
Click to expand...

Yep. Mine only ever touched water and had this after one use. I sent mine back due to the misadvertised wattage and now have the brewha unit. One use on it and all is well.

Edit. Technically two uses on each. Forgot that I ran an auto tune before brewing with them.
 
Oh I like that brewha element. I see it has the triclover clamp on it. Not sure if it's an issue with the mobile site, but does it say what size that is?


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AleForce1 said:
Anyone see rust on their SS element that they purchased from southernboystills.com ? I bought two but been too busy to try them out yet, but a friend that I told about the SS elements on southernboystills.com site has been using his and noticed rust on the element after his first use.
Click to expand...

This looks like surface rust that may have been caused by the element being shaped with tools that had been previously used with carbon steel or tools made from carbon steel. You may be able to passivate with acid or just scrub it with Bar Keeps Friend and remove the rust if it is just surface type.
 
So I'm trying to compare the electric heating element options. We've got...

1. Brewha element. 5500W/240V $215. stainless steel. attachment: 1.5" triclover
2. Blichmann element. $130-$200. 115/240V, 1500W-5500W. stainless steel. attachment: direct threadless (2x5/8 holes in brewpot.)
3. TheElectricBrewery element. $200 assembled or $150 kit. 240V/5500W. NOT 100% stainless. attachment: direct threadless (hole in brewpot) OR via NPT OR triclover.

Any others to add here?
 
Just heard back from my friend that found the rust on his Southernboystills.com SS element. He sent them an email and they replied back that they were having trouble with the finish on one of their batches....
 
aangel said:
So I'm trying to compare the electric heating element options. We've got...

1. Brewha element. 5500W/240V $215. stainless steel. attachment: 1.5" triclover
2. Blichmann element. $130-$200. 115/240V, 1500W-5500W. stainless steel. attachment: direct threadless (2x5/8 holes in brewpot.)
3. TheElectricBrewery element. $200 assembled or $150 kit. 240V/5500W. NOT 100% stainless. attachment: direct threadless (hole in brewpot) OR via NPT OR triclover.

Any others to add here?
Click to expand...

you must be talking about the fancy unnecessary accessories and not just the elements... The standard ULWD camco elements like used in the electric brewery are like $30... the stainless ones like brewnation sells are about $55.... the there are many different enclosures for the housings which all do the same job... they are mostly about cosmetics besides the triclover setups that allow for easy removal and cleaning but even those can be bought separately much cheaper in most cases than from the guys reselling them with elements as a kit..

I used a 1" plastic conduit coupler filled with epoxy for my elements.(like $5) and a nut and oring from bargainfittings.. not as nice as the triclover setups but actually safer than the reconfigured electrical boxes like Kal used in the electric brewery build... I can submerge my whole kettle/ element and all in water while cleaning with no fear of a leak.
 
Augiedoggy: got a pic of your electrical elements?
I'm certainly interested in cutting a couple hundred dollars from my setup cost.
 
Bobby_M said:
It looks like I'm about 3 weeks away from having some all stainless elements. It was only a matter of time before a few more vendors got with the program to keep the prices reasonable. I just bet $10,000 that you guys will help me get rid of them.
Click to expand...

Waiting patiently.
 
Here's where I'm at. The 5500 watt I was about to pull the trigger on was a pre-spec'd design that measured 14". It would have been fine for direct installs in most kegs and pots, but I knew it wouldn't fit with my new HotRod heat stick hardware included. If I'm going to go with a large quantity to keep the cost down, I wanted it to fit more applications while still keeping it LWD. Long story short, I had to spec out a new design at 12" long with an offset so that the bundle of four tubes (the pair and the foldback) will be centered on the mount bushing. Why? It will fit our RIMS tube like a glove also.

So, the same element will now be able to fit direct installs, heat stick use, and RIMs use. As soon as they get the design drawn up and quoted for me, I'll know the ETA.

At this time, I'm not going after an ULWD ripple design because I anticipate the LWD of around 120 watts per sq.in. to be fine for boils.
 
Thanks Bobby. Any changes/info on the status of the 120V/2000W element?
 
Most definitely will be interested in one around the first of the year for a biab with recirc.


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This is what the BrewHa elements look like. Not pretty to look at! Looks like a lot of heat was used to bend these things! Hope it hasn't compromised the stainless! I'll use BKF to be on the safe side. The base looks like it has some copper in it but the surface that comes in contact with the liquid appears to be stainless...


element5.jpg
 

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My new elements will look very similar to those. I know everyone is used to the Camco darker incoly finish, but these brighter stainless ones are perfectly corrosion resistant. I had one going through cycles of starsan, air, water several times and the sheath and base look the same as new.

And 25% cheaper than current suppliers...
 
Looking forward to the elements you're bringing to market Bobby. Another question for you - any idea whether a guy be able to slightly bend your elements? I ask because I'm looking at a dual element 120V build and, as I'm sure you've seen on various threads, this type of setup often requires a little bending for the elements to fit.

Thanks for the info and cheers.
 
Bobby_M said:
No, you can either get the 8" 120v/2000w or the 12" 240v/5500w (which can also be run on 120v for 1375w).
Click to expand...

Need to build two HERMS systems. One using 26 gal pots and the other using 3 55 gal drums. Definitely want to use trip-clamps for maximum flexibility. Will have access to 120v@15A and 240V@50A power.

What would be best elements for each. My understanding is 2 240/5500W for the large setup. Should I use just one for 20 gal batches or go with a 120V one?

Cheers
 
505-Brewer said:
Need to build two HERMS systems. One using 26 gal pots and the other using 3 55 gal drums. Definitely want to use trip-clamps for maximum flexibility. Will have access to 120v@15A and 240V@50A power.

What would be best elements for each. My understanding is 2 240/5500W for the large setup. Should I use just one for 20 gal batches or go with a 120V one?

Cheers
Click to expand...

1 240v element for the smaller setup... 120v is too small and less than ideal for everything but rims tubes in most cases.
 
505-Brewer said:
Need to build two HERMS systems. One using 26 gal pots and the other using 3 55 gal drums. Definitely want to use trip-clamps for maximum flexibility. Will have access to 120v@15A and 240V@50A power.

What would be best elements for each. My understanding is 2 240/5500W for the large setup. Should I use just one for 20 gal batches or go with a 120V one?

Cheers
Click to expand...

Honestly, if I were trying to heat anything over 15 gallons at a time, I'd run double 5500w elements
 
Bobby_M said:
Honestly, if I were trying to heat anything over 15 gallons at a time, I'd run double 5500w elements
Click to expand...


Agreed that above 10 gallon batches can benefit from more than 5500w. I have a 20 gallon stout setup. 5500w is plenty for the BK as it is heating from mash temps so it gets to a boil quickly and can easily hold a hard boil running at 60-70% of the time. However I wouldn't mind a faster heat up time in my HLT as I usually bring 15+ gallons up to 170 from ground water temp. For 55 gallon drums Id want at least 3 elements for the HLT to save time.
 
sethhobrin said:
Does anyone know of any 240V elements that are around 2000watts and stainless? My setup is all 240V.
Click to expand...


Just make a special 240v plug adapter that just wires the 120v 2000w element to one of the hot wires, plus ground and neutral. I'm assuming your 240v outlet has two hot, one ground and one neutral like mine does. That's basically how I wire my 120v pump.


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