My system is built as cheaply as possible. It's all common electrical boxes, switches,etc. At least half was salvaged from jobs I worked. I use a 3 way switch to switch between 240 and 120v rather than a reostat and ssr. @120v The strait element can keep a good roll after boil has started, but the ripple does not (I'm impatient, so yes, my bk has two elements. I also have a heat stick that I use to boil as well as decoct in the MT). It is still putting out the same joules, just over a larger area, so the boil seems less vigorous. It works fine for me. I simply kick it up 240v for the last ten min to burn off any extra dms (if any). If you already have a strait element give it a go. I think you would need a high gravity to get it to scorch. I only run my strait elements@ 120v, so I can't say. I have scorched a batch using hd 120v elements before. I figured the extra $10 for the ripple was a good investment to ensure I never have to taste that again... I'm forcing myself to drink it as punishment for stupidly destroying a good bitter. Lol.
Another good thing is with the ripple the heat density is so low you can dry fire it for longer before destroying it.
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. Just sayin that @that low a heat density there is certainly nothing to worry about and it should be enough for holding temp easily. With a 240v option you could step real easily on the rims.
