Bake a "leaky" element?

[GotPushrods]

I left a 5500W stainless element in my occasional beer-stone acid bath and forgot it overnight. Now it trips the GFCI every time I gets power.

I'm getting 1-3 MOhm resistance between the leads and the threads, which is just enough to trip the GFCI every time. (20-60 mA leakage)

Anybody successfully baked an element dry in the oven or is this guy toast? I ASSume it's just moisture but maybe there's some other failure I'm not imagining.

I would just pulse dry-fire it w/out the ground, but that just sounds like a steam-bomb waiting to ruin my day.

 

[srice]

Never had to bake one dry, but it sounds like you at least understand what is going on with your element. You have an element that trips the GFCI so unless you want to start running without the GFCI (bad idea), you have a useless element. Might as well go ahead and bake it to see if you can fix it. Otherwise, toss it and get a new one.

 

[GotPushrods]

I already ordered a new one from Bobby... it would be nice to have a backup if this does work. This old Brewmation element has been great until now.

Googling found 1 reference in some manufacture's PDF about baking an element between 350-700 F until the resistance is above 20 M Ohm. (Hmm... infinite would be nice) I have no idea what kind of plastic is up near the terminals so I think I'll stay in the low range and see what happens. Worth a shot!

 

[cilestiok]

Sub'd

 

[IslandLizard]

Could it be a film of residue that deposited itself between the terminals and the mantle? It was in an acid bath... galvanization?

What plastic parts? Maybe teflon?

To get 20 mA leakage the resistance would be 12k Ohm.
1 Mega Ohm would result in 240 micro Amps leakage (@240V).

 

[BrunDog]

For $45 this isn't an experiment worth undertaking, IMHO.

 

[GotPushrods]

For $45 this isn't an experiment worth undertaking, IMHO.

Just to be clear, I already ordered another element. This one has a current leak so it's either into the trash can now, or possibly later. I'm just playing at this point.


After looking up the melting point for various plastics I decided to just stick with 350*F to be safe. Turned on the over and came back to check on the smell an hour later...

Not safe enough! LoL

The good news the element still reads 10.5 ohms and the leak from terminal to threads is up to 10 M ohm. So it appears this is working. Moral of the story is you can fix an element that has taken up moisture, but you'll have to do it at a very low temperature to avoid melting the terminal housing.

 

[BrunDog]

Oh my!! Glad this is an easy fix (replace it). Wonder how liquid got inside?

 

[kevink]

Did you submerge the entire element in the acid bath?

 

[doug293cz]

At least you had the foresight to put foil under it in the oven!

Brew on

 

[GotPushrods]

Well this worked out well. Once cooled I now read no continuity to the case. I clipped the excess plastic away and the element works perfectly. Looks like I have a stainless backup.

It wasn't totally submerged, the idea was to leave about an inch out. It shifted at some point and fell to where the liquid just touched the terminal base and some must have seeped in.

I think at lower temp this is a perfectly acceptable method for reviving a soaked element.