I LOVE waking up to hot strike water. Easy as 1-2-3.

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Gotta be on a GFCI breaker, or more likely, straight into a GFCI plug.

OK I tried mine again this time into the GFCI outlet in the room. No problems. I'll make sure to use the GFCI outlet next time :drunk:

Thought about suspending mine somehow in the middle of the kettle so it isn't leaning on it in any way.

I made a hook type set up under the Cooler lid to hold it in the center of the cooler without touching anything. It seems to work ok.
 
That's cool, poptarts! I'll have to give that a shot. The point with the electronic sous vide system I showed though is to potentially use it to automatically heat up your HLT tank water to an exact temperature and then hold it there without any supervision from you so you are ready to mash in as soon as you wake up, get home from work, etc without needing to use propane.
 
That's cool, poptarts! I'll have to give that a shot. The point with the electronic sous vide system I showed though is to potentially use it to automatically heat up your HLT tank water to an exact temperature and then hold it there without any supervision from you so you are ready to mash in as soon as you wake up, get home from work, etc without needing to use propane.

Thats what I do with mine. The temp is monitored with an stc-1000. The evening before I brew I put water and salts in the tun, set the temp and go do w/e. Wake up in the morning and the tun is all pre heated and the water is at exact temp. I keep my grain in the fermchamber the night before so I know its exact temp as well. In beersmith I have the tun specific heat and weight set to 0 since its all preheated. I hit my mash temp dead on every time with this method. Super easy.
 
Hoping someone here can help. Just got these in the mail yesterday. Was anxious to test them out so I dropped the heater into a pot of water, plugged them into a 20 amp circuit in the kitchen, it ran for a minute or less, then POP! A little spark, a little smoke.

Unplugged everything, went to check out the breaker box and sure enough it had tripped. Turned it back to the on position and came back in the house to realize I still didn't have electricity to those outlets. I searched around in case there was a GFCI on the circuit I'd forgotten about. No dice and I'm stumped.

And I've done this twice now. Two sets of outlets now with no electricity. I thought the first time was a weird fluke.

I'm gonna be in deep schnitzel if I don't fix this quick like. The wife uses these outlets to run appliances that make me some really good food, and I like to eat.

BTW, I tested the heater on another outlet. It still works just fine, but i only plugged it in long enough to confirm. I was afraid of zapping another outlet.

Any help is appreciated.

EDIT: Should have mentioned, the heater is 1500 watts, 110V. GFCI is rated for 15A, 125V.

1410527004147.jpg
 
Your kitchen outlets are most likely gfi and there is another outlet that needs to be reset.

Check bathrooms, garage, basement, outside for a gfi outlet that is tripped.

Try resetting the breaker again fwiw. I doubt you have disabled your kitchen circuits permanently.

Sorry best guess here...keep looking!


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/
 
First question, where did you see the sparks and smoke? That's the place to start looking for problems.

Since you have multiple outlets that are off, I would suspect a wiring problem at the outlet wired closest to the breaker panel, or in the panel at the circuit breaker. Shut off the circuit, test the outlet with a multi-meter or a lamp to make certain that it's off, take the outlet from the wall and check the wiring. I have had a couple of GFCI outlets that have failed and won't reset, so the rest of the outlets wired downstream quit working.

Before using the heater again, get an ohm meter and check out the resistance of the heater. Your heating element should be drawing 13.64 amps (1500w/110v). Resistance should be 8.1 ohms (110v/13.64a). If the resistance is lower then the current draw will be higher.
 
First question, where did you see the sparks and smoke? That's the place to start looking for problems.

Since you have multiple outlets that are off, I would suspect a wiring problem at the outlet wired closest to the breaker panel, or in the panel at the circuit breaker. Shut off the circuit, test the outlet with a multi-meter or a lamp to make certain that it's off, take the outlet from the wall and check the wiring. I have had a couple of GFCI outlets that have failed and won't reset, so the rest of the outlets wired downstream quit working.

Before using the heater again, get an ohm meter and check out the resistance of the heater. Your heating element should be drawing 13.64 amps (1500w/110v). Resistance should be 8.1 ohms (110v/13.64a). If the resistance is lower then the current draw will be higher.

Good tip on the ohm meter. I'll check that out because I'm really surprised I had any issues on the 20 amp circuit.

AND.... I found the hidden GFCI that was causing the "problem". It was in the pantry. All is right with the world again.
 
"Hidden" GFCI outlets are always interesting. Since you not only tripped the breaker in the panel but also the GFCI outlet, I would suspect that there is a serious problem with the heating element. The breaker trips with an over current situation, but the GFCI trips from an unbalanced load, not all current returning through the neutral wire. Don't forget that GFCI outlets DO NOT protect for over current in the circuit, only for the unbalance.

Wilserbrewer, there should be no problem with multiple GFCI's, one or both will trip with current leakage.
 
"Hidden" GFCI outlets are always interesting. Since you not only tripped the breaker in the panel but also the GFCI outlet, I would suspect that there is a serious problem with the heating element. The breaker trips with an over current situation, but the GFCI trips from an unbalanced load, not all current returning through the neutral wire. Don't forget that GFCI outlets DO NOT protect for over current in the circuit, only for the unbalance.

Wilserbrewer, there should be no problem with multiple GFCI's, one or both will trip with current leakage.

Thanks for the insight on the overcurrent issue. After thinking about it, I'm not sure I tripped the GFCI and the breaker. The breaker was tripped for sure though.

I'm doing another test run now on a 20 amp circuit. So far so good.
 
Well, I think I just need to stick with chemical engineering and leave the electrical stuff to the sparkies. The picture below is what happens when you connect a newly built temp controller (I'm assuming with inadequately sized wiring) to a 1500 watt immersion heater and try to heat a pot of water.

Luckily there was no damage to the controller. I'm now second guessing my decision to build the controller with 18 gauge wire. But that was all I had readily available.

On the bright side, my controller turned out looking pretty spiffy.
 
Killin me just killen me tex wine.

You built a controller for that lil 1500 watt stick, what the hell for, to turn it down? J/k

You had me puzzled troubleshooting your gfi issue this morning, you didn't mention you were building circuits beyond the outlet ....shame you owe me a beer but glad you helped yourself and have it straight now.

Toss that thing directly in a pot, and temper back in the morning with a few ice cubes next time....cheers!!!

It's crystal clear now...the smoke was your supplemental circuitry :)

Looks like a computer power supply, those things look large but are only 18ga.

Haha happy lesson learned.
Cheers

How many amps is that controller rated for? Are you running it on a relay or putting 1500w / 13 amps through it?
Not sure they are rated for that kind of load, maybe you unknowingly built in a fuse with the light power cord :)

Specifications:
1. Temperature Range: -50℃ - 99℃
2. Power Supply: 110VAC±10%, 50/60Hz
3. Temperature Accuracy: ±1℃(-50℃ - 70℃)
4. Sensor: NTC Sensor(1PC)
5. Relay Contact Capacity: Cool(10A/ 250VAC); Heat(10A/ 250VAC)
6. Ambient Temperature: 0℃ - 60℃
7. Relative Humidity: 20 - 85%(No Condensate)
8. Storage Temperature: -30℃ - 75℃
9. Resolution: 0.1℃
10. Product Dimensions: (3.39 x 2.99 x 1.38)" / (8.6 x 7.6 x 3.5)cm (L x W x H)
11. Front Panel Dimensions: (2.95 x 1.36)" / (7.5 x 3.45)cm (L x W)
12. Mounting Dimensions: (2.8 x 1.14)" / (7.1 x 2.9)cm (L x W)
13. Sensor Length: 78.74" / 2m(Include The Probe)
14. Weight: 6.28oz / 178g
15. Color: Black
16. Sensor Error Delay: 1 Minute
17. Power Consumption: <3W


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/
 
Good grief I feel like a ignoramus. I blindly read this thread where several folks suggested hooking an immersion heater to a controller. I thought that was a great idea, but didn't think it all the way through obviously.

But, for clarity's sake, the GFCI problems (and the pop and smoke) were when I only had the immersion heater and the portable GFCI plugged in. The melted cord was the second time I had a pop/smoke event :/

And thanks for all y'allses help. I've learned a lesson (or two).
 
I've learned a lesson (or two).

I've worn those shoes as well, I am also an engineer, so like you I know enough to get myself in trouble...:eek:

Either take a shot on blowing the ST1000, or use it on a keezer. You can also wake up to hot strike water with an inexpensive appliance timer. Likely not difficult to add an SSR to your controller, then you can build an e-kettle!
cheers
 
I just picked up this one last week from ebay. It's a 1350W element for less than $10 shipped. I did a trial run with 10 gallons in my 10 gallon Rubbermaid round cooler. It takes about 2 hours to get from room temp (68 ish) to 168. This will work great for weekday brews. I can set it on a timer to start a few hours before I get home from work and be ready to Mash in as soon as I get home :rockin:

Thanks for the tip !!!

How's that heater working out for you? I'm looking to buy another one, but I don't want to shell out $40 for one.
 
Guys do not buy this heater. This POS got hot really fast, started sparking and burned out within one minute. I should've went with the heater that the OP bought.

I tested both of mine (ordered two) and they worked fine once I got them on a circuit that could handle the amperage. I plugged it in to a 20 amp and it was smooth sailing.

Oh and don't plug this thing in to an STC 1000 :)
 
I tested both of mine (ordered two) and they worked fine once I got them on a circuit that could handle the amperage. I plugged it in to a 20 amp and it was smooth sailing.

Oh and don't plug this thing in to an STC 1000 :)

Glad to hear you've had better luck. Luckily, the eBay seller had excellent customer service and issued a refund without me having to return the unit. I ended up ordering this one saturday night and it will arrive tonight (thanks amazon prime!). I'll test it out later this week and post my impressions.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FO8FY68/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
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I tested both of mine (ordered two) and they worked fine once I got them on a circuit that could handle the amperage. I plugged it in to a 20 amp and it was smooth sailing.

Oh and don't plug this thing in to an STC 1000 :)

I spoke too soon. Used it yesterday and saw smoke coming from the unit. Unplugged it and looked closely at it. Looks like it was melting the plastic housing around the element.

Glad to hear about the customer service. I'll give it a try.
 
I spoke too soon. Used it yesterday and saw smoke coming from the unit. Unplugged it and looked closely at it. Looks like it was melting the plastic housing around the element.

Glad to hear about the customer service. I'll give it a try.

That's unfortunate. I'm guessing the majority of these things are returned. Good luck!
 
Regarding the Amazon bucket heater the OP linked. I've got about 200 batches so far out of this unit. The durability is excellent.
I usually heat up my mash and sparge water the evening before in a 12 gallon cooler and dispense out of there into my mashtun or HLT as needed.
*Note-The hottest the water gets is 190.

http://www.amazon.com/MARSHALLTOWN-Premier-742G-Bucket-Heater/dp/B000BDB4UG

Heat Stick Data.jpg
 
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Are you using it in a metal kettle? And I take it this one is better quality than the last one.

No, I'm using it directly in my Rubbermaid Mash Tun. The quality is a bit better but only time will tell. Since the other one failed on my on the first try, I definitely think this one is the better buy. Did you have any luck getting a refund?
 
No, I'm using it directly in my Rubbermaid Mash Tun. The quality is a bit better but only time will tell. Since the other one failed on my on the first try, I definitely think this one is the better buy. Did you have any luck getting a refund?

Laziness, or really business, has overcome me and I haven't attempted the refund.

Let us know how it holds up.
 
I Have a 15A lamp timer, is the $7 amazon heater good? Anybody have good idea on the longevity of it? What's the length that has to be submerged?

Looking to use with metal (AL) pot on gfci outlet on analog lamp timer.
 
I Have a 15A lamp timer, is the $7 amazon heater good? Anybody have good idea on the longevity of it? What's the length that has to be submerged?

Looking to use with metal (AL) pot on gfci outlet on analog lamp timer.


I'd be interested in this as well. I BIAB and would be interested in finding a submersible heating element that is safe to use in a metal kettle.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
You guys all already have a ready source of hot water in your homes. I don't get why you'd spend all this money and effort on timers and additional heaters.

I draw my strike water from "hot" faucet of the laundry sink in the basement. This water starts out at around 120° F. I put it on my burner and light it. In the time it takes me to mill my grains, the water gets up to 160-165° F, perfect strike temperature depending on the beer I'm making. A device like the ones described in this thread wouldn't save me any time at all, and would cost me money.
 
You guys all already have a ready source of hot water in your homes. I don't get why you'd spend all this money and effort on timers and additional heaters.

I draw my strike water from "hot" faucet of the laundry sink in the basement. This water starts out at around 120° F. I put it on my burner and light it. In the time it takes me to mill my grains, the water gets up to 160-165° F, perfect strike temperature depending on the beer I'm making. A device like the ones described in this thread wouldn't save me any time at all, and would cost me money.

That's great you can take that approach, but if you lived somewhere the water quality was horrendous, like me, then I think you'd see the benefits.

I start with room temp water because I either have to buy it or collect it from my RO system. If I can have it hot when I wake up, then I'm ready to dough in and it saves time on my brew day.
 
I like the idea.

I brew out in the garage (detached) or in the driveway depending on the wind. I don't have hot water out there or that would also be a good option.

I have a single tier three keggle system, I am assuming that bucket heater would be fine in the keggle to pre-heat the HLT... Right?
 
I have to admit, I like this idea. My only issue is that I like to sleep, and god knows when I'm gonna wake up when I have a day off from parenting :p

My buddy built something like this with an arduino, where his e-kettle can be timed and turned on/off remotely, and there's an alarm when the strike water hits temps.

I have so many doodads, I want to do this, but not sure I can justify it. My tap water gets to 115f, and it's usually heated with a bit of propane and a Cajun Injector (submersible element). It's easily at 160-165 by the time I'm done setting everything up in the garage.
 
You guys all already have a ready source of hot water in your homes. I don't get why you'd spend all this money and effort on timers and additional heaters.



I draw my strike water from "hot" faucet of the laundry sink in the basement. This water starts out at around 120° F. I put it on my burner and light it. In the time it takes me to mill my grains, the water gets up to 160-165° F, perfect strike temperature depending on the beer I'm making. A device like the ones described in this thread wouldn't save me any time at all, and would cost me money.


I'm under the impression that water that goes through the hot water heater isn't as clean. Is this inaccurate?
 
I'm under the impression that water that goes through the hot water heater isn't as clean. Is this inaccurate?

I've heard that argument before, and the best answer, as far as I can tell, is "it depends."

If you have an electric water heater, then I understand there can be significant mineral buildup on the inside of the tank and/or on the sacrificial anode. While personally I don't think this is a problem (the minerals are being taken OUT OF the water and onto the anode, so the resulting water should have even LESS minerals than water straight from the cold water tap), but I can understand why people would prefer not to gamble at all and just use bottled spring water.

However, my water heater is natural gas, and thus the water coming out of it should be identical to water coming out of my cold faucet, except considerably hotter.

As always, do what works for you.
 
You guys all already have a ready source of hot water in your homes. I don't get why you'd spend all this money and effort on timers and additional heaters.



I draw my strike water from "hot" faucet of the laundry sink in the basement. This water starts out at around 120° F. I put it on my burner and light it. In the time it takes me to mill my grains, the water gets up to 160-165° F, perfect strike temperature depending on the beer I'm making. A device like the ones described in this thread wouldn't save me any time at all, and would cost me money.


Sorry duplicate. Error with app.
 
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