Bend ripple element

[esteban]

Hi everyone!

The (Chinese) ripple element in my system got fried when I accidentally set the pump to full blow while and got air under the basket.
I took it as an opportunity to upgrade to something better. Since the element enclosures from bobby where taking forever to be in stock again, I just bought the element from him, and the enclosure from some ebay guy who told me that it will fit (I messaged him in advance asking if it will fit that specific element and he was positive about it). It doesn't fit.



I'm weighing my options here, and I guess one of them would be to try to bend the element to get this damn thing on. But I'm not sure if that's possible without breaking the element (It looks pretty sturdy).

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[esteban]

I got it! Using a pair of vise grips I was able to slowly slide the enclosure to the bottom without damaging the element (I hope)

 

[SalParadise]

Which enclosure did you buy from ebay? I'm looking to install one of those same elements from brewhardware.com on my system.

 

[esteban]

I got this one 304 Stainless Heating Element Enclosure, Moonshine Still 2" Tri clamp x 1" NPS | eBay
I didn't like the ground screw placement much, but otherwise it's pretty well done.

 

[augiedoggy]

I got this one 304 Stainless Heating Element Enclosure, Moonshine Still 2" Tri clamp x 1" NPS | eBay
I didn't like the ground screw placement much, but otherwise it's pretty well done.

View attachment 704158

Just curious where would you move the ground screw to?

 

[esteban]

Just curious where would you move the ground screw to?

To be honest, I don't know.

This enclosure consists of 3 pieces, the tube with the nut for the element, the clamp, and the cap. The wires for the element end up (indirectly) attached to the tube, and the ground to the cap, what makes it a bit difficult to assemble (with the ground in the inside of the enclosure). I guess it would be nicer to have the ground in the tube somehow, so you could slide the cap and close it, however, there would be no room (I'm using 6 mm2 wire).

I ended up cutting the outside insulation of the cord, screwing the ground from the outside of the enclosure, and taping the cord back together to pass it through the press.

It works fine, but doesn't look right.

 

[augiedoggy]

To be honest, I don't know.

This enclosure consists of 3 pieces, the tube with the nut for the element, the clamp, and the cap. The wires for the element end up (indirectly) attached to the tube, and the ground to the cap, what makes it a bit difficult to assemble (with the ground in the inside of the enclosure). I guess it would be nicer to have the ground in the tube somehow, so you could slide the cap and close it, however, there would be no room (I'm using 6 mm2 wire).

I ended up cutting the outside insulation of the cord, screwing the ground from the outside of the enclosure, and taping the cord back together to pass it through the press.

It works fine, but doesn't look right.

The gound is on the plate so you can screw the wire to the inside of the plate before final assembly. I believe its in the best spot possible as the wires should all be inside the enclosure otherwise the purpose is sort of defeated.

 

[esteban]

Yeah, I think you are right, but that means that the ground wire should be long enough to be able to screw it while the element wires are already connected. That didn't work for me because when putting the cap on, the ground wire would curl up and dangerously press the other wires around. Maybe it's because I'm using thick wires (~9 AWG).

I figured that having the ground out the outside is no big deal, since all the enclosure is grounded anyway, besides being aesthetically awful.

 

[augiedoggy]

Understood, since its the ground the only danger you have is the higher likelyhood of it getting knocked or pulled loose. Id just me mindful of it and you'll be fine.