240V weldless element

[SMOKEU]

With a decent gas burner costing a lot to ship over to NZ, I'm thinking of making an electric brew kettle. It's a 50L stock pot and I will be putting 23L into the fermenter so it needs to be able to boil a little more than that.

Will one of these be powerful enough, especially if I insulate the outside of the pot with some foam or something? https://www.brewshop.co.nz/heating-element-2200w.html

I will be doing extract brews. Will the extract scorch on the element? Will it be easy to stir the extract in without damaging the element? Will very hop heavy beers be OK with the element exposed like that if I don't use a hop spider?

 

[LeeH]

It looks to me quite high watt density meant you will have a lot heat over a small surface area.

Here in the uk ULWD elements are popular due to the extremely low chance of anything burning.

https://www.brewbuilder.co.uk/3kw-lwd-ripple-element.html

 

[processhead]

If you read the catalog page for that element, they warn against using with malt/grain products at full power in a mash tun. While they do not explicitly warn against using it in a boil kettle, understand that everything in the boil kettle application requires higher heat output from the element. With that element I would foresee scorching as likely since it would appear to be fairly high watt density.

 

[IslandLizard]

It's 25 mm diameter and 30 cm long. Calculate the surface area and compare to that of a ripple element. It may be about half or a little more.
But it's also less than half the wattage, 2200W not 5500W. So, very comparable or even better watt density, isn't it?

It should not cause any or more scorching, as long as you don't pour LME or DME in the kettle while the element is on. Heat water, turn off, dissolve extract by stirring well, turn back on. Hops should not scorch either, but do keep the element a few (at least 3) cm off the bottom to prevent trub from scorching.

Insulating the kettle (including the bottom, use some foam) will definitely help, but 2200W may not be enough to get the kettle to boil if it's very cold or windy outside. Keeping the (insulated) lid (partially) on will help tremendously too. Since it's extract you don't need to boil off much or anything, that helps too.
Maybe also use a plug in immersion heater, a heat stick, or so to help bringing the water to a boil. Remove the stick when adding the extract, and let the kettle element do the rest, keep it simmering.

If push comes to shove, you can always add a second element a little higher up for double the oomph.

 

[IslandLizard]

Make sure the element fits inside the kettle. A wider aspect kettle, in that regard, is better than narrow and taller.

 

[mongoose33]

I went back and re-read this. The element isn't very powerful, despite it being a 240-v element. Mine, which is a ripple element, is also 240-v, but it is rated for 5500 watts. It's a low-watt-density element.

I usually start with about 8.25 gallons of strike water in my BK. I get a 4-degree-per-minute rise with my element. Takes a little more than half an hour to bring that water to a boil (I pre-boil to remove oxygen). If I just wanted to take it to strike temp, well, maybe 22 minutes.

My point is can you get the higher wattage element someplace else?

If you look on this page, you'll see the different varieties of ripple elements rated for 240-v. I know that it's here, in the US, and not New Zealand. Maybe you can find them elsewhere in NZ? Maybe international shipping isn't that bad?

Anyway, the point is to get what you want, if you can.

 

[IslandLizard]

@mongoose33 has a good point (as always)!

I just saw they recommend an STC-1000 based controller ($15 worth) for that element. I would never use that thing as is, the small relay contacts will fuse. It would need a solid state relay (SSR) or something like that to switch the element on or off.

Now you may not even need a controller using that element, your boil may very well be perfect as is at 2200W. My induction burner set to 2500W or 2700W keeps 6-7 gallons of wort at a nice simmer with the lid off.

 

[ZmannR2]

I boil 14 gals with a 5000W 240V boilcoil element with ease.....I would give Blichmanns elements a look

 

[IslandLizard]

I looked at some things at that site you linked to. Pricing seems fairly high, and they lose a lot of credit pushing the STC-based element "controller" being the wrong instrument for the job, as is.

Maybe things are indeed expensive in NZ and your dollar may not be worth as much as ours. But $10 for a keg gas QD? They're under $4 here in the right places, and also true CMB(ecker).

 

[mongoose33]

I looked at some things at that site you linked to. Pricing seems fairly high, and they lose a lot of credit pushing the STC-based element "controller" being the wrong instrument for the job, as is.

Maybe things are indeed expensive in NZ and your dollar may not be worth as much as ours. But $10 for a keg gas QD? They're under $4 here in the right places, and also true CMB(ecker).

The current exchange rate for the NZ dollar vs. the US dollar is the NZ dollar is worth about .64 US dollars. Or 64 cents.

Thus, an item costing $4 in the US would, due to the exchange rate, cost 4/.64 or $6.25 in NZ currency.

Some of the remaining expense may be international shipping, or simply a lack of local competition.