Recommended Heating Element

[David Curington]

I bought a used system and my heating element is melting my 220 plug. What do y'all recommend for a replacement?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Broken Crow]

It's more likely a bad cord or dirty connections. Can you post a pic (close up so we can read the specs) of the cord and the connectors?

 

[hotbeer]

The plug on the appliance or the outlet it's plugged into? Little more details of what you have might help. Do you know that the circuit you are plugged into can provide the current the device draws?

And since it's used, do you know that the cord to the appliance is original and not replaced with a cord that can't handle the draw of the appliance?

 

[Bobby_M]

A poor connection is building up heat and that is melting the plastic parts. It's not guaranteed that the element is the sole cause.

 

[David Curington]

I bought the wrong chord. My chord was:

ACKING Extension Cord L6-30P/L6-30R SJTW 10GUAGE Generator Cord Adapter,Heavy Duty L6-30 Generator Power Cord up to 7500W (10FT)

but only 120 volts.

I'm assuming that was the cause.

On a side note, I am brewing with a 5500 W element and three 6" dia 1/4" thick round silicone trivets underneath my 18" dia kettle. I just built a wooden brew table. Are the trivets enough to prevent the heat from damaging the table?

 

[doug293cz]

I bought the wrong chord. My chord was:

ACKING Extension Cord L6-30P/L6-30R SJTW 10GUAGE Generator Cord Adapter,Heavy Duty L6-30 Generator Power Cord up to 7500W (10FT)

but only 120 volts.

I'm assuming that was the cause.

On a side note, I am brewing with a 5500 W element and three 6" dia 1/4" thick round silicone trivets underneath my 18" dia kettle. I just built a wooden brew table. Are the trivets enough to prevent the heat from damaging the table?

NEMA L6-30 plugs and receptacles are specifically intended for 240V use (that's what the "6" tells you.) So, there is no issue there.

The photos show heat damage characteristic of poor contact between the plug blades and the contacts in the receptacle. The poor contact leads to high electrical resistance, which in turn causes localized heating. I suspect your extension cord may have been constructed with low quality components. Another possible cause of poor contact could be failure to twist to lock the plug/receptacle pair after mating. The "L" in the plug/receptacle designation indicates a "twist to lock" plug/receptacle pair.

Brew on

 

[Bobby_M]

Your "cord" was fine. Cut that damaged end off and wire in a new L6-30C. Sand all that burnt corroded material off the blades of the element. Apply some conductive grease to the blades and that will improve conductivity and reduce oxidation of the metal parts.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/conductivecompoundkit1ml.htm