Element touching ferule inside

[birzzz]

Hi,

Might be a stupid question, but I was wondering if it matters or not that the element touches the inside of the ferule or not? Just want to make sure before I have it soldered to the kettle. Here are some pics of it:

Cheers,

 

[Golddiggie]

Touching the ferrule means it will transfer heat to it when live. While that might not be a huge impact, it would be a concern to me.

None of the elements I have loop back that far. Plus, mine are all stainless steel elements, which (in the picture at least) that doesn't appear to be. For me, I want the element to have stainless where it comes in contact with the wort.

 

[IslandLizard]

Looking at your pix, I wonder how you got the element inside the ferrule. And once the ferrule is welded/soldered into your kettle wall, would you still be able to insert the element?

Once it's inside the kettle, we usually spread the element open a bit to reduce localized (over) heating.

You can shorten that ferrule quite a bit, or get a shorter one, so the end of the element won't be trapped. That will also allow you to open it up.

+1 on using stainless elements, although I've never had any problems with my black ones.

 

[Golddiggie]

From what I see in the picture of the ferrule and element, I don't know if there's a ferrule short enough to NOT touch it once in place. Also, doing more than a minor amount of tweaking to the element isn't advisable due to what's usually inside them. They have a certain amount of flex, which means you can squeeze them to get inserted through ferrules without damage.

BTW, this is the element in both my BK and HLT.

Notice how far from the TC connection the folded back/ripple section ends?

 

[sibelman]

fwiw, I've got this situation in my Spike kettle. It's not ideal but doesn't cause trouble. A shorter ferrule and/or better element geometry would be good. @birzzz's element is probably stainless even though not shiny.

 

[Golddiggie]

fwiw, I've got this situation in my Spike kettle. It's not ideal but doesn't cause trouble. A shorter ferrule and/or better element geometry would be good. @birzzz's element is probably stainless even though not shiny.

I have all Spike+ kettles and bought the element they offer (picture above). Which means no touching between the ferrule and element once installed.