120v on 220v element?

[LakewoodBrew]

the e-bay china ones get to me in a week, I was surprised when that showed up before alot of the other stuff I ordered that didn't have to cross the Pacific

Yeah, great price too. The Crydom equivalent is an order or magnitude more expensive, and works exactly the same (actually the china specials have a little light on them that tell you when they are on, Crydom does not.)

 

[wilserbrewer]

I just hope the 1000w or 1500w element can get the 10 gallon batch to boil in a decent amount of time.

1000w or 1500w will not boil ten gallons, you will need 3-4000w. If you are going 120v, I would suggest 2, 20 amp circuits driving 2000w each.

 

[hatrickwah]

Maybe I should have just lead with the question, can it boil the beer. Would have saved lots of time. I won't bother with two elements, especially since I plan on going to 220v anyway. Just now I have more of a reason to push the wife into it.

 

[bruin_ale]

haha, sounds like you're coming around. 220V is probably mandatory for 10G. 1500W is probably a struggle to boil 5G without a ton of insulation.

 

[Walker]

Just a side comment about the suggestion to try and obtain 240V by tapping two separate 120V circuits that are derived from opposite hot lines in the panel...

If you are using GFCI to protect yourself (and you really should be doing this), then that suggestion will get you nowhere. As soon as you fire up the thing, the GFCI circuitry on those 120V circuits will not be happy and will shut down the system.

 

[gritzngravy6]

220 Volt elements on 120 work fine. You will get 25% or so of the power. So a 6000 watt element will net you 1500.

How do you wire a 240 element for 120. Do you need a neutral wire. I want to use 2 switches for a 240 element. Both one for full power and one on for 1/4 power to maintain a boil.

 

[doug293cz]

How do you wire a 240 element for 120. Do you need a neutral wire. I want to use 2 switches for a 240 element. Both one for full power and one on for 1/4 power to maintain a boil.

You do need neutral to run an element at 120V, whether it's a 240V or 120V rated element. You need a switch and a relay to go between 240V and 120V, or else you need a SPDT, 30A rated switch. Here's a design that shows how to do the switching:

It also shows how to wire a pigtail to allow the control panel to be plugged into a 120V outlet. If this pigtail is used, the element will run on 120V no matter which position the voltage selector switch is in.

Brew on

 

[Bobby_M]

1375 watts is not enough to maintain a boil on 7 gallons anyway.