TC Elements burning up

[NCBeerMedic]

So I just toasted my second TC element on my BK. The first time was all me, the wires had worked loose in the plug and arced. I went back, cleaned up the connections and got a new plug. Nice tight connections were made. So I'm brewing last weekend and I smell that sick burnt plastic smell. Quickly killed the panel and looked, the BK element was smoking. I took the plug apart and the wires were still tight and snug. The element, however, is toast, the one prong with the keyway on it for the plug, the same one as last time. WTF is going on here? Do I need to buy stock in the element companies??

 

[augiedoggy]

I have 12 of these types of elements between my home brewery and the brewpub its been well over 2 years now and never an issue with any of them... where did you get yours and whats your process? are you moving the kettles around with the elements still installed? If they are physically breaking I would have to believe they are taking physical abuse? if they are just melting at the plug then somethings wrong with the power delivery circuit.

BTW the prong with the keyway is supposed to be the ground so im not sure how its melting with no voltage going through it? unless its wired wrong?? these ground pins are known to break on the older models brewboss/brewhardware used to sell. I am pretty sure they have been redesigned to prevent this.

I havent had this problem with even the elements I paid $16 for directly from the manufacturer.

 

[PrrCabin]

I would have to think there is something up with the wiring.

Like augie said "keyway is supposed to be the ground". You shouldn't have any current on the lug.
I would check that first

 

[NCBeerMedic]

I have 12 of these types of elements between my home brewery and the brewpub its been well over 2 years now and never an issue with any of them... where did you get yours and what's your process? are you moving the kettles around with the elements still installed? If they are physically breaking I would have to believe they are taking physical abuse? if they are just melting at the plug then somethings wrong with the power delivery circuit.

BTW the prong with the keyway is supposed to be the ground so I'm not sure how it's melting with no voltage going through it? unless its wired wrong?? these ground pins are known to break on the older models brewboss/brewhardware used to sell. I am pretty sure they have been redesigned to prevent this.

I haven't had this problem with even the elements I paid $16 for directly from the manufacturer.

Augiedoggy, I didn't know that, thanks for that info. I will redo my plugs. The elements I got from Amazon and it's just the BK element. So I will look at my process and see if it is something I'm doing. I do move the BK around while plugged in, so maybe that's where my issue is. Where can I get the elements for $16 at??

 

[augiedoggy]

I bought mine from yuling in china... I dealt with Allen Gu. his email is [email protected] but keep in mind I bought mine as samples from him almost 3 years ago... the price has likely gone up. With shipping 2 of them came to like $62 and I had them in a couple days... obviously theres more savings when you buy more than one. I only know of 2 manufacturers making these... Yuling and Dernold but I could be wrong.

 

[Bobby_M]

You have to inspect the prongs occasionally or just give a light sanding for good measure. Make sure your ground terminal is still attached to the element. The cheaper Amazon elements are known to lose their ground pin due to the welds flexing over time.

 

[NCBeerMedic]

You have to inspect the prongs occasionally or just give a light sanding for good measure. Make sure your ground terminal is still attached to the element. The cheaper Amazon elements are known to lose their ground pin due to the welds flexing over time.

So I guess I’ll go through the wiring making sure the keyed prong is ground, keep the element unplugged until time to use it and start inspecting it before every brew day. Thanks for all the input guys. Sláinte

 

[augiedoggy]

if your ground pin is the one that melted though (pin with the bent ear/keyway) I would check your wiring since that definitely shouldnt have happened.. if it was wired wrong though it should have tripped your GFCI since it would have electrified the kettle and also only powered the actual element with 120v so im not sure how thats possible here

 

[golfindia]

The element leads are spot welded to the prongs very crappily, and they break easily. The ground wire is the weakest. I tig welded them back on, and reinforced all ther ones that haven't broken yet. The ground wire may have a little blackness from current leak after broken but should not be burnt or melted.....

A prominent vendor was knowingly selling the shoddily welded elements for a while. Contact whomever you bought it from and see if you can get a refund.... (or tig weld it back together)