Kettle element life expectancy

[Shug]

How long do folk find these last? On my 5th brew and I just failed to get a 60 min boil. Hopefully beer will come out acceptable after 45 min boil.
I have two homebase value elements in a fv, and use 2 to get up to temp and one for boil. Last time, one cut out after 35 mins so i switched to other. Now, they cut out after 20ish mins each. I clean them well after each boil to get rid of buildup but i suspect they are past it now.
Is it worth replacing them or should I just get some shiny and a proper element? (can only use 13 amp plug socket)

 

[johnluc]

hi shug, have you removed the little plastic pin behind the copper disc,mine worked for a couple of brews with no problems then started to cut out. there is a how to on here dont know how to do those clicky things.
ps dont remove larger pin towards the top of element, just break of copper disc and smallpin will drop out.
johnluc

 

[Muddy Funker]

Exactly what has happened to mine, started working fine now I'm up to AG10 and at AG7 one of the elements is cutting out.

I need to find the how to on removing the cut out :-)

 

[johnluc]

muddy, unscrew body of element, look you will see a white pin DO NOT REMOVE that. just below this pin you will see a metal disc if you bend it back and forth it will break off and a little pin will fall out, discard pin and disc screw element back together and no more cut outs.
johnluc

 

[graysalchemy]

They will also cut out if they are not scrubbed clean after use. I soak mine over night with one of them tablets you put in dishwashers to remove kettle fur and also scrub with a brillo pad. You get quite a build up of beer stone which will make them cut out mid boil.

If you have two elements once you have a rolling boil you can survive on one, but you do need a good boil for an hour to fix the alpha acids from the hops as well as securing the hot break.

 

[Muddy Funker]

muddy, unscrew body of element, look you will see a white pin DO NOT REMOVE that. just below this pin you will see a metal disc if you bend it back and forth it will break off and a little pin will fall out, discard pin and disc screw element back together and no more cut outs.
johnluc

Brilliant,

Thanks for that!!! :thumb: