Help repairing electric brew kettle

[kennyconley0269]

Hey all,
Does anyone have experience fixing these brew kettles? The manufacturer has been zero help. This component has fried a couple times now and I don’t know what it is or where I might be able to source a new one… Or why it keeps frying for that matter.
Thanks

 

[whoaru99]

Looks like a thermal switch, likely a high temp/over temp cutout/safety.

Based on the look of the one for sure really burnt terminal my opinion is the female spade connector was a bit loose, causing localized heating and the damage.

Any high current connections have to be clean and tight else that sort of thing can happen. And, all but certainly will happen again if not totally fixed up with new terminals on clean wire, with proper crimps, and tight fit to a new switch with clean terminals.

Looks like another burnt area further up the one wire. What's that about?

Switches of that general nature are pretty common, but of course need to find the temp rating and mounting pattern. Myself, I would start looking at like DigiKey or Mouser. They are more electronics oriented, but they have LOTS of various doo-dads.

 

[whoaru99]

DigiKey has 669 variants listed as in stock. I'm sure at least one, likely several of same/similar characteristics, would be drop in.

The screen snip below is not suggesting the item shown is the the correct one. It's merely an example.

 

[Bobby_M]

Probably a good idea to understand why it's failing. Have you been dry firing the kettle at all?

 

[kennyconley0269]

Probably a good idea to understand why it's failing. Have you been dry firing the kettle at all?

No but when it initially failed I was wrapping the kettle in blankets to try and insulate for more consistent mash temps and I left in on during the boil for more rapid boil. I think the blankets were blocking the vents and it probably overheated. The next time may have been like whoru99 suggested- connections loose or corroded… If I can find the right part to get it going again I think it will be fine. This only happened after 40 batches.

 

[kennyconley0269]

Looks like a thermal switch, likely a high temp/over temp cutout/safety.

Based on the look of the one for sure really burnt terminal my opinion is the female spade connector was a bit loose, causing localized heating and the damage.

Any high current connections have to be clean and tight else that sort of thing can happen. And, all but certainly will happen again if not totally fixed up with new terminals on clean wire, with proper crimps, and tight fit to a new switch with clean terminals.

Looks like another burnt area further up the one wire. What's that about?

Switches of that general nature are pretty common, but of course need to find the temp rating and mounting pattern. Myself, I would start looking at like DigiKey or Mouser. They are more electronics oriented, but they have LOTS of various doo-dads.

Could be some sort of safety mechanism but it doesn’t look like this pic you posted. It just looks like a piece of ceramic, smaller around than a dime, maybe 3/8” thick, with the two terminals which are coming directly from the wall plug before going on to the heating elements. It is screwed in on both sides and then there is some sort of white liquid/caulk looking stuff underneath it… I have a couple of kettles from different manufacturers and they both have this part in the same configuration.

 

[Bobby_M]

It is absolutely a thermal circuit breaker. Just need to take a guess at the trip temp. Maybe 250f for starters

 

[whoaru99]

Like I said, what I posted is an example, not necessarily the exact one you need.

Very likely could be some fine print somewhere on the part that give the temp rating. Might even be able to use those numbers to find an exact replacement. Or, sort through all the variants to find the suitable replacement based on the info you glean from the burnt one.

The white stuff is "heat sink grease". It's a (typically) zinc oxide compound intended to fill the tiny/microscopic voids between the sensor and mounting surface to reduce the thermal resistance between the two parts.

 

[simbabrew]

What brand is the electric kettle? I have a Mash & Boil that is at least 6 years old, and just replaced the thermal switch. Here is a link to the Mash and Boil replacement part if this helps:

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Hom...Mash-Boil/Mash-Boil-Thermal-Cutoff-Switch-Kit
Also, I noticed that your elements are 1000 watt and 800 watts. If your unit is 110 volts, this is a bit too much for a 15 amp 110 volt circuit which may explain something.

 

[Bobby_M]

What brand is the electric kettle? I have a Mash & Boil that is at least 6 years old, and just replaced the thermal switch. Here is a link to the Mash and Boil replacement part if this helps:

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Hom...Mash-Boil/Mash-Boil-Thermal-Cutoff-Switch-Kit
Also, I noticed that your elements are 1000 watt and 800 watts. If your unit is 110 volts, this is a bit too much for a 15 amp 110 volt circuit which may explain something.

We don't know what the OEM thermal overload switch is rated for (max current), but the household circuit's current limits would have no effect. If the kettle is really pulling 1800/120v = 15amps then it's right on the edge. As long as there are no other devices on the circuit the breaker won't trip.

 

[kennyconley0269]

It is absolutely a thermal circuit breaker. Just need to take a guess at the trip temp. Maybe 250f for starters

Bingo! Thanks guys https://a.co/d/epOZhtV

 

[whoaru99]

It's not a tough inference. The temp rating has to be something above boiling plus a little cushion and considering tolerances to avoid nuisance cutout.