Hot Rod heat stick with thermostat

[pbrennan10]

Set up with a simple thermostat from aliexpress in an outdoor conduit box and ran the bulb down to the element. Hoping it'll get me close enough on strike and sparge and I'll be able to drop it in bk if necessary. Using 3500w element right now, thermostat says it's good to 32a.

 

[Franktalk]

Nice modification! Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[IslandLizard]

Sounds good!
I'm curious how that element is attached. I see a 1/2" 90° bent stainless pipe going down the kettle...

I hope you're running that on a GFCI circuit and have a solid ground connection, yes?

You probably don't even need the thermostat unless you walk away from it and want it to shut off at a set temp.
How are you protecting that thermostat "bulb" and the thin capillary against creases and chafing?

 

[pbrennan10]

First brew went well. 165f ended up being 55c on the thermostat. It covered HLT for strike and sparge water, then moved it over to bk after fly sparging enough to cover the element and cranked the thermostat to max. 3500w worked well for 12g boil.

Yes it's grounded, gfci, etc. The assembly is the hot rod heat stick from brew hardware, a $12 on Amazon 1"npt camco element, and conduit box/fittings from lowes.