A little 240 mishap to share

[Peam]

Just thought I would share my misadventures with all you fine folks today. I bought myself a new pot the other day, and while trying to get the element to seal on the pot without leaks, I guess I twisted the connections of the element a bit to the point where they made contact. So as you can imagine, I had a real nice spark shoot out from the element when I fired it up. After fixing the element and trying again this morning I was disappointed to see the element wasn't turning on. Thankfully for me, I have extra SSR's kicking around once I was able to see parts sitting in my panel lol.

I was real happy to see my spa panel and breaker box do it's job properly.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

That is why we install certain devices as protective measures; and it is also a good reminder that we are working with serious power here. Glad that in this case brewer and property are OK! Having to replace an SSR is about the best case scenario here, so we're all glad that anything worse didn't happen OP.

 

[Peam]

Definitely happy that's the worst of it, especially when I have spare parts. I'm most happy to see everything worked as it should have which brings a little piece of mind. Thought I would share this as a reminder to others to double check everything even after a simple change. Goes to show a GFCI isn't something to overlook either

 

[crane]

I don't understand why people don't buy a frickin multi meter. You are seriously that cheap that you won't even spend $20 on a cheap one to potentially protect your life? You should always ohm out electrical connections before powering them on the first time. Also would have prevented you from burning up that SSR.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

I doubt it's to save money since funeral's average about $12,000 these days. I'd rather spend $20 instead of $12,000. I think many people don't know that this is a best practice

I don't understand why people don't buy a frickin multi meter. You are seriously that cheap that you won't even spend $20 on a cheap one to potentially protect your life? You should always ohm out electrical connections before powering them on the first time. Also would have prevented you from burning up that SSR.

 

[bruce_the_loon]

SHOCKING.

Lessee, first, http://goatlocker.org/resources/nav/safety.htm.

Secondly, welcome to the Cult of the Magic Smoke. All electronic devices contain a measured amount of magic smoke, apparently sourced from some nether pit of hell, that makes them work. When this smoke escapes, the devices stop working.

Lastly, a transistor is a $5 device designed to blow in order to protect the 10c glass fuse.

 

[Peam]

I have a multi meter, in fact a nice one at that. In hindsight yeah I should have given it a quick check but I didn't think too much of it since I was sliding the housing and element out from one pot into another. Because the opening was slightly smaller on the new pot I ended up twisting it a bit to get it in which is clearly where things went wrong. It made for a learning lesson, albeit a lucky one, but that's also why I shared it so others can learn from my experience.

 

[crane]

I think many people don't know that this is a best practice

Yes I have seen multiple people on here do the same thing the OP did. Create a post that says, holy crap I made a big mistake and burnt up some components in my panel or melted a wire, or got shocked from their improperly grounded kettle. But they still don't realize this could have been easily avoided by ohming out their connections, until someone like myself comes and actually gives the answer to avoiding their mistake. Creating a post that's says be careful or double check stuff doesn't help anyone, unless you provide specifics about what to double check and how. In this case the OP never even listed any lessons learned in the first post.

 

[mattd2]

I don't understand why people don't buy a frickin multi meter. You are seriously that cheap that you won't even spend $20 on a cheap one to potentially protect your life? You should always ohm out electrical connections before powering them on the first time. Also would have prevented you from burning up that SSR.

Personally I don't just do it the first time... but periodically check grounds, ect. in case something has worked loose - I can't trust the guy that built my panel