heat stick...short?

[jlatenight]

Guys, I made a heat stick following these directions which worked once, then leaked water so I had to undo it, reseal it, and close it back up again. This time I used this stuff to seal the terminals inside because I had it laying around. I completely encased the terminals, let it set-up (not completely dry yet) and put it back together then sealed around the bottom (where the element comes out) and around the threads w/ silicone. I just tried it and it pops the GFI as soon as I plug it in. Is it possible that Qualco stuff is electrically conductive and is shorting out the two terminals? Maybe it's still not fully setup and still liquidy inside shorting it out (i used a lot)? I appreciate the help!

 

[MercMan]

Unless the package states it's an insulator you have to assume it's conductive. Also, most epoxy's may not start out conductive but they will become conductive as they absorb water. The only way to guarantee you won't have a problem is to use something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EPOXY-RESIN...789?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item484363c315

 

[alien]

I don't know whether the Qualco stuff is electrically conductive, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want it in contact with my beer unless I had found out a bit more about it. :|

I'm not a fan of heat sticks generally but the designs using chrome waste pipe look particularly unsuitable to me. I suspect you are far from alone in having leaks and failures after following these instructions. Honestly, I would can the heat stick and try to find a safer way to heat stuff up.

At least you know your GFCI works though!

 

[stlbeer]

Take your multi-meter and stick both probes in the Qualco stuff. See if it's conductive. If it is, you've found your problem.

On many occasions I've wondered why people seal up the ends of heat sticks with materials like JB Weld - that contains metal. Seems to me you'd rather use something like Silicon sealant or use a water tight electrical box instead.

 

[jlatenight]

Thanks for the replies guys. I actually did take my multimeter and stick the probes in a blob of the stuff while wet and it wasn't conductive, so does that mean it's not that stuff causing the GFCI to trip? Also, I only used the Qualco stuff on the inside of the pipe to seal the terminals on the element. It doesn't touch the outside. I used 100% silicone to seal it up on the outside. Not sure what's going on here. Guess I need to crack it open....again.:smack: