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Buffalo Water Boiler CC193...40 litre

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baggybill

baggybill

Always learning...
Joined
May 3, 2014
Messages
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Location
Livingston, Scotland
Hi Bill. I've been looking for one of these for a while and just did my usually ebay scan... This thing popped up and I'd been looking for one, so I snapped it up. Then I came to check the forum and saw this post, clicked through the link to check and it was indeed the one I just bought. Nice one, thank you for posting it here in case I forgot to check ebay.

Quick question about yours. Have you done any of the modifications to stop cut-outs, etc? Just thinking ahead about whether I should get some things in?
 
rossydoodle said:
Quick question about yours. Have you done any of the modifications to stop cut-outs, etc? Just thinking ahead about whether I should get some things in?
Click to expand...

I've got a Buffalo and it's great, but I wouldn't under estimate the need to look at the cutout and thermal fuse. I'd read that these can only be an issue if debris builds up on the element after a few brews so I risked the first brew with no mods, but I had to tip it after the thermal fuse blew which was heartbreaking.

I'd recommend upgrading the cutout and thermal fuse before you start (to be honest, I've bypassed both at the moment but I wouldn't recommend it). Just make sure you use ceramic terminal blocks to cope with the high heat. After that you can decide whether you want to upgrade the tap or add a strainer.
 
I had a Buffalo before too and agree with the above post, I too had to bypass the fuse as it would cut out every so often. After that and keeping the bottom clean after every brew it worked great.
 
I don't see why not, just have to adjust on the loss of 5L space but it all depends on the size of brews you will be doing. After going from 21L to 40L I now realise bigger is better. :-D
 
rossydoodle said:
Hi Bill. I've been looking for one of these for a while and just did my usually ebay scan... This thing popped up and I'd been looking for one, so I snapped it up. Then I came to check the forum and saw this post, clicked through the link to check and it was indeed the one I just bought. Nice one, thank you for posting it here in case I forgot to check ebay.

Quick question about yours. Have you done any of the modifications to stop cut-outs, etc? Just thinking ahead about whether I should get some things in?
Click to expand...

No mods yet as only just got the thing. Have tested it half full with water, no cut-out issues with a rolling boil for 10 mins but... not risking 30L+ of wort for 60 mins so planning on tap, strainer, cut-out & thermal fuse upgrades over Xmas period.

I will need to do a bit of research to find out exactly what I need but no time at the moment (and I still have and am using my 30L Burco - no mods & no issues!).
 
Hi folks,

Thanks for all the replies. I won't want to be tipping any wort away, so I'm going to get started with the mods immediately.

So, if I've read everything correctly, I need to replace the thermal fuse and also the temp control sensor/switch. After reading a few other forums I've found the links to these products;

Thermal fuse: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/167c-thermal-fuse-ra18u

Temp control switch: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084CDPWQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Do these numbers look about right, or should I go a little higher?

I've heard people just bypass the thermal fuse with a ceramic connector. Is this just as viable an alternative? Are there any dangers with this if I still have an upgraded thermal cut-out?

If I replace the thermal fuse, am I just opening myself up to trouble for it blowing one day?

I'm happy to do the mods, but not an electrician, so any advice on the best balance between performance / safety would be much appreciated!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For my second attempt at my first brew I hadn't received the parts to upgrade the components so I just bypassed them both by shorting them out and all went well. For my second brew I used the cutout you've linked to and I had issues maintaining a boil. I'm still undecided what to do next but most likely I'll be going for a fuse around 180-200 degrees to protect the internals from catastrophic failure and leave the cutout bypassed and accept the risk that I may kill my element.

The only reason I'm dithering is that I don't really want to remove the cutout and I've got a theory that some of my issues may have been due to break material, hops etc. building up around the bazooka which sits over the element. I'll be giving it thorough scrapes and stirs during the boil next time so may get away with the higher rated cutout but it's difficult to prove without making a batch and possibly suffering a poor boil again.

I'm electrically minded so happy to play with these things... but your boiler, your mods, your risk etc etc...
 
Thanks for your info.

Mickeywheelspin said:
I'm electrically minded so happy to play with these things... but your boiler, your mods, your risk etc etc...
Click to expand...

Of course. Everything seems reasonably straight forward, so I feel quite comfortable.

After reading about, it seems that some people who have solved their issues have settled on a cut-out switch rated at 140, and a thermal fuse of 184.

Obviously there may still be issues, which I'll deal with as and when it happens, but does this sound like a reasonable compromise? I.e, just lifting the boundaries a little but should still be a good deal safer than bypassing everything completely.
 
rossydoodle said:
Thanks for your info.



Of course. Everything seems reasonably straight forward, so I feel quite comfortable.

After reading about, it seems that some people who have solved their issues have settled on a cut-out switch rated at 140, and a thermal fuse of 184.

Obviously there may still be issues, which I'll deal with as and when it happens, but does this sound like a reasonable compromise? I.e, just lifting the boundaries a little but should still be a good deal safer than bypassing everything completely.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right to me :thumb:

Good luck!
 
mike-os said:
So are these better than burco/ace or about the same?
Click to expand...

I've never used any of the others so cant compare I'm afraid, my selection was mostly down to cost and availability. That said, I really like my buffalo now its modified and the concealed element is really easy to clean.
 
OK, thanks. I'll give it a go and update in case anyone else is following this.

Mickeywheelspin said:
the concealed element is really easy to clean.
Click to expand...

Are you literally just cleaning any wort / debris / hop from the bottom inside surface of the boiler then? Or are there other places that need to be cleaned as well?
 
I give the whole inside a scrub and dismantle the tap / bazooka each time to wash it, but having an (almost) flat base makes cleaning and occasional de-scaling easy.
 

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