Brewzilla dead - burnt out socket

[Consett26]

Hi

I just put my Brewzilla 65l gen 4 on to pre-heat the mash water but almost immediately there was fizzing and smoke from around the power socket and the circuit tripped.

I unplugged the lead and discovered this:

I think what has happened is that, with the proximity of the Brewzilla to an often open back door during the recent heavy rain, water has somehow got in and caused the problem. If so, I'm thinking I might be able to get away with replacing the lead and socket. Is the socket a spare part that its possible to buy and does anyone in the UK stock them?

(Also, is anyone in the Newcastle area who's comfortable playing with this sort of stuff willing to help (and by "help" I probably mean do it all for a reasonable fee))?

 

[MashBag]

Take a pic on the socket for me.

I don't think this is rain, I would bet you have used this a few times. It has overheated, but recovered a few times until it failed.

This is fixable.

 

[The Baron]

No expert but it looks like the issue that brewers suffered from with Peco leads when used too long they used to overheat and melt

 

[MashBag]

Sure is.

The 65 is 15amp, right on the limit even for this wiring. It only takes the supply to be a bit high and the Chinese plastic melts. Who would have thought it

 

[MashBag]

The plug on the wire is easy to fix.

The 65 is probably a mess too, and the melted plastic can be a $hîte to remove and we need to get inside.

 

[The Baron]

Hard to tell but from the picture the lead does not look heavy duty enough for a 65ltr vessel(don't know the wattage of element) which was the problem with the Peco leads they were only rated at 10 amps I believe and not the full 13 amps. It is was not possible to get higher rated than 10 amp replacements if I remember correctly.
As I said no expert so listen to members that have more electrical knowledge mine is just repeating from previous members in past posts

 

[MashBag]

The 65 is 3500w.

 

[tigertim]

It looks like it once used to be an IEC C19 plug (for which the IEC C20 is the matching socket). These are rated to 16A, as is the IEC 60309 (Commando) plug on the other end.

So as long as the device doesn't consume more than a theoretical 3.8kW (at 240v) then the connectors are suitable. It looks like classic thermal runaway where some corrosion on a connection causes impedance which causes heat, which causes more impedance ad infinitum.

As the sockets are off-the-shelf parts, repair should be simple enough but you'd need to see if the socket in the equipment is chassis-mount, PCB mount (unlikely) or something else, in order to get a match.

 

[MashBag]

Absolutely. I think it's this...

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/iec-...-_-7769129&matchtype=&&gad_source=1&gclsrc=ds

So 16amp (just in spec 230v +\–12% does not give a lot of margin)

 

[The Baron]

Hi Tigertim as I said I am no expert but I was under the impression that you should not run a standard house socket at over 3000watts also so if I used the connector you have said rated @ 16amp would this cure the Peco lead issue too.

 

[MashBag]

It looks like it once used to be an IEC C19 plug

 

[tigertim]

So 16amp (just in spec 230v +\–12% does not give a lot of margin)

Or at 230v (as is the theoretical EU harmonised voltage we're supposed to be running at, and the voltage the unit is probably designed for) the margin is even less.

 

[MashBag]

Hi Tigertim as I said I am no expert but I was under the impression that you should not run a standard house socket at over 3000watts also so if I used the connector you have said rated @ 16amp would this cure the Peco lead issue too.

Technically yes. If you replace the lead and the socket.

 

[The Baron]

So replace the lead connector and the connector on the Peco bucket as well not just one, they have to match in wattage then

 

[tigertim]

Hi Tigertim as I said I am no expert but I was under the impression that you should not run a standard house socket at over 3000watts also so if I used the connector you have said rated @ 16amp would this cure the Peco lead issue too.

Ideally household sockets shouldn't really be run at much over 10A (2400w at 240v) for any length of time. They are rated for (and the plug tops are fused at) 13A but this is really designed for relatively short durations. This is why the EVSE (chargers) which allow the charging of EVs from domestic sockets will not authorise the car to draw more than 10A, because they'll potentially be running for many hours.

However, the OP shows the other end of his flex to have an IEC 60309 (Commando) plug attached to it, so I'm assuming they have the matching socket installed in their premises directly on an appropriately specified radial circuit.

 

[The Baron]

Right so am I understanding this correctly that you should not run over 2400watts off a standard socket and that is why most smaller AIO's are under 2500watts usually with 2 elements so that you can run the boil for a length of time at a reduced power.
Does the 65ltr models as used by consett need to be on a uprated dedicated plug such as a cooker socket, mine is rated @ 30 amps obviously while the cooker is not on at the same time?

 

[tigertim]

Although It should be mentioned (for Dull types who are interested ) that the UK Wioring Regulations (BS7671) state :

553.1.201 Every socket-outlet for household and similar use shall be of the shuttered type and, for an AC installation, shall preferably be of a type complying with BS1363

Which technically prohibits the installation of IEC 60309 (Commando) connectors in a domestic setting because they are not shuttered, although some sockets are interlocked which means that the socket can't be energised with no plug inserted, and the plug physically can't be removed whilst the socket is energised. Granted, a lot of electricians don't know this (or choose to interpret the regulations differently and they are VERY open to interpretation with many contradictions) so you might get lucky.

 

[tigertim]

Right so am I understanding this correctly that you should not run over 2400watts off a standard socket and that is why most smaller AIO's are under 2500watts usually with 2 elements so that you can run the boil for a length of time at a reduced power.
Does the 65ltr models as used by consett need to be on a uprated dedicated plug such as a cooker socket, mine is rated @ 30 amps obviously while the cooker is not on at the same time?

Essentially you shouldn't really run over 2400 watts over any BS1363 plug/socket, whether it's on a final ring circuit, a radial circuit or a cooker socket (which is just a radial circuit). It's the connector which imposes the limit rather than the circuit itself (most rings, radials and cooker circuits can take a total load of 32A or 7.6kW).

BS1363 (standard UK household plug) included below in case any international readers don't know what the heck we're talking about!

 

[MashBag]

Nicely done.

 

[The Baron]

So TigerTim what plug do we use on uprated AIO's etc?.
Where do we get these plugs too