Plastic bucket boiler elements

alsch890 · Mar 14, 2017

Hi,

I've got my mash tun more or less ready, there is a little leak but I'm confident I can seal that up. I made one silly mistake whilst sanding the cut out hole so a very small area around is slightly scratched.

Now I am on to the boiler. I am looking to buy the elements and was thinking of a pair of 2.4Kw elements. First I have a couple of questions:
- are two elements required for boiling max 30 litres? Or would one be sufficient?
- how do I work out whether the electric supply in my house could handle 2x2.4Kw tugging electricity for up to 90 minutes? twice probably since I'll use it as the HLT as well. I live in the Czech Republic, I think the electricity here is 220v if that helps?

Cheers,

Allan

simon12 · Mar 14, 2017

1 element will be OK but 2 will speed things up and is well worth it. You need to have a 32A ring main to run 2 safely, in my house in the UK the fuse box says what power each circuit is rated for.

stigman · Mar 14, 2017

Not sure on Czech wiring but 2400w divided by 220v is just under 11Amps. If that was over here in Britain a standard double socket wouldn't handle both elements. But the ring main would just means having to use two separate sockets that's all.

Fil · Mar 14, 2017

Hi Allen,

cheap sillicone baking sheets and the flat bases of cake moulds make the ideal donner material to cut soft sealing diy gaskets from,

alternatively cut a card template and wind round n round with ptfe tape until it pillows off the
'flat' surface by 2-3mm

To overcome wiring limitations we tend to run suitably rated extension leads from a 2nd ring main or circuit to power 2nd elements, and while 2 may not be needed to maintain a boil in a well lagged kettle it will speed up the boil and provide a backup as kettle elements are not designed for 60-90 minute runs

good luck with the build..

alsch890 · Mar 14, 2017

wow, thanks for the quick replies chaps. I just checked one of the main circuits in the house and its 32A. We have about 3, its a big house with three families in, although i am not sure if the sister-in-law would like it if I trip the lot whilst brewing beer, on second thoughts how much the Czechs like their beer she might think its worth it.

Thinking about it though, my mash tun is 32l so I expect I'll actually be boiling closer to 25l or less so perhaps 1 element would be sufficient. Or would the second one add enough value to justify the additional messing about?

Speccy · Mar 14, 2017

2 x 2.4kW sounds like overkill to me. I use 2 x 1.5kW (cheapo ones from eBay), and it takes a while to get up to temperature but gives a mighty rolling boil once it's there. Plus it works fine off the standard double socket in our back porch. A single 2.4kW would also be fine I'd have thought.

stigman · Mar 14, 2017

I only have 1 2.4kw in my boiler but it takes an age to get to a boil I'm Gona get a second soon. To speed things up just switch 1 off when it gets boiling. This means I'll always be able to finish a brew if an element packs in.
Go with two plugged in to two socket outlets on the same ring it only just over 20amps so unlikely to trip unless someone turns a kettle on or decides they want toast.

Bigcol49 · Mar 14, 2017

Hi!
Are you sure that you have a ring main in your house?
You may have radial circuits with dedicated outlets for the washing machine, tumble drier, oven etc. You standard sockets may only be on 16A circuits and there may be more than one socket per circuit (according to one website the Czech Republic is wired to French electrical standards).
My 30l SS boiler is fitted with two hidden elements, but one has been disconnected at the factory, meaning that I only have 1600W available; I'm looking at about 28l maximum to avoid boil-over. It does take a while to come up to a boil, but maintains a rolling boil that isn't overly vigorous.
The point that I'm making is this: a single 2.4kW element will perform well, although it may take some time to get to a boil.

alsch890 · Mar 14, 2017

Thanks BigCol, uh I'll have to check. we've pretty much had all the electrics renewed in the house in the past couple of years so I should be able to find out what the set up is.
So by the sounds of it my choice would be a single 2.4kw or double 1.5's. Presumably a 1.5 could run off any socket without hassle given thats what, 7 amps at 220v?

Bigcol49 · Mar 15, 2017

Hi!
A 16A circuit at 220V could supply just over 3.5kW, so two 1.5kW elements would be within its limits, as long as nothing else was using the circuit. A single 2.4kW element would be well within the limits of the circuit.
One other solution if you want to go with two 2.4s may be to make a trailing socket using 16A flex, making sure that each element was plugged into a different circuit. The trailing socket must not be coiled up when in use.

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