Planning my new Boiler

[Fil]

**** IM NOT A SPARKY NOR AM I QUALIFIED IN ANY ELECTRICAL TRADE..... dont take my electrical suggestions as gospel and if ive made a blunder please shout!!



If talking about the locknuts for the elements i linked to.. yes 1" bsp.. and yes the nuts go in the inside the washer on the outside to make the seal, i have one element pictured with washer and one with locknut.

use a 32.5mm 1" bsp equivelant qmax to cut the hole,

to wire and enclose use a MK metal clad blank faced single gang box.(3-£4).. hope i got it right.. u can see 1 in the pic. Use the same qmax punch to hole the rear of the box, this should fit snugly over the element rear. feed the
cable in thru a 22mm gland, and side of the box popout, use thick heat proof cable, im going a bit overboard with 2.5mmsq butyle rubber coated cable but got it for a knock down price of £6 for the 3m + odd left off the reel

wire earth to the box terminal and live and neutral to the 2 element terminals, there is no distinction. tighten the gland and face off the box...

I dont know if earthing the box this way is a reliable earth for the pot?? however i rely on a rcd to trip in case of problems if your circuit is not rcd protected look into this more. im beyond what i know for certain here..

hope thats helpfull...

**edit use some heat proof glue to secure the box on the element if you feel it needs it. if using jbweld or a similar epoxy consider if you need to change an element and spot the glue where it will be easy to drill cut off in 2 or 3 places only

And if your question was about locknuts for other elements at least you know my plan im copying from someone else.. ivanmalley of Jims, who sold me the locknuts among other SS bsp bs21 fittings... 95p each b4 vat for the locknuts

 

[CheshireCBR]

On a boiler they are not used much. you want the water to boil and hold that boil only there's little altering of temps to do.
Most folks have a measure of control by having 2 elements fitted into a boiler, 2 to be used to get the water up to boil then one switched off for the rolling boil.
Of course in a hlt more control is needed over temps and then other methods have to be used.

Cheers for the answer, maybe im just getting myself all confused, and I am still trying to get my head round this lot before I start getting stuff together for my first AG or BIAB brew and all the recipes that I have seen have said do this bit at 78 degrees and another bit at 65 degrees, and then the last bit is to boil it all up and was just wondering isnt it easier if it had a thermostat to hold temp?

On to the electrical bit, I am not a sparky by any means but my old line of work I had to deal a lot in the electrical codes, from what I can remember to make it right there should be a separate earth connection from the box to your s/s vat but like you say it should be ok but if you want to be bullet proof then its best to put it in

 

[BrotherMalice]

**** IM NOT A SPARKY NOR AM I QUALIFIED IN ANY ELECTRICAL TRADE..... dont take my electrical suggestions as gospel and if ive made a blunder please shout!!



If talking about the locknuts for the elements i linked to.. yes 1" bsp.. and yes the nuts go in the inside the washer on the outside to make the seal, i have one element pictured with washer and one with locknut.

use a 32.5mm 1" bsp equivelant qmax to cut the hole,

to wire and enclose use a MK metal clad blank faced single gang box.(3-£4).. hope i got it right.. u can see 1 in the pic. Use the same qmax punch to hole the rear of the box, this should fit snugly over the element rear. feed the
cable in thru a 22mm gland, and side of the box popout, use thick heat proof cable, im going a bit overboard with 2.5mmsq butyle rubber coated cable but got it for a knock down price of £6 for the 3m + odd left off the reel

wire earth to the box terminal and live and neutral to the 2 element terminals, there is no distinction. tighten the gland and face off the box...

I dont know if earthing the box this way is a reliable earth for the pot?? however i rely on a rcd to trip in case of problems if your circuit is not rcd protected look into this more. im beyond what i know for certain here..

hope thats helpfull...

**edit use some heat proof glue to secure the box on the element if you feel it needs it. if using jbweld or a similar epoxy consider if you need to change an element and spot the glue where it will be easy to drill cut off in 2 or 3 places only

And if your question was about locknuts for other elements at least you know my plan im copying from someone else.. ivanmalley of Jims, who sold me the locknuts among other SS bsp bs21 fittings... 95p each b4 vat for the locknuts

That looks good to me, may have to give that a try :)

Do you have links to the nuts and enclosure boxes?

Also, can you confirm the size qmax cutter I need 1" is 25.4mm I believe or do I need the 32.5 like you suggest above?

 

[BrotherMalice]

Shiney is here

 

[Fil]

Hi colin,

when i was holing tight onto the major thread of the element it measured just over 32mm, the jaws relaxed a ad when i put it down..


sorry no link to the box, i had searched ebay and screwfix and that got me as far as the description i used when in the shop "mk metal clad single gang surface box with blank face plate"


will pm about ss bits..


As i had the stuff laid out i thought i would attack the hole in the back box and see how snug a fit the element back is..

I drilled the 10mm pilot hole for the qmax no problem with a stepper bit. i wound the qmax on and in my hands i didnt have the strength to hold or the leverage to punch thru so gave up until it was light and i could soft grip the box in towels in the vice and punch thru later today..

ive only used the smaller 21mm punch on thinner SS on a great big pot so holding and leverage were not an issue...

Also.. the gland i got will need a bit of hacking once in as it will screw in deeper than needed or wanted.. hacksaw blade- and plastic- easy.. but unexpected.. also the much thicker cable i got might be an issue cos of the gland depth so i may need to strip the outer layer right after the grip in the gland...


in the light of this the gland may be better put on the face plate, and if so the hole may be better off not central but slightly off?? Or if you can get a faceplate with a cable hole already, they exist with switches and fuses with cable holes, and i did consider one with a neon switch, but the mechanism sits too deep in the box...

so if you go this route you my want to plan the box hole cut with other components in mind rather than just go central...

 

[BrotherMalice]

Thanks for the reply, good to know I will only need to buy 1 qmax :)

Will have a look around and see that I can find

 

[Fil]

Ok i can confirm in a soft vice grip, i used a bar towel, the qmax makes light work of the box hole and it is a snug tight fit.. glue would be a failsafe...
the gland and cable enter without any problems or mods needed.

also the element back isnt too deep into the box, i think a faceplate with features could be used

like http://www.neweysonline.co.uk/crabtree- ... on.raction

not bought from these just the result of a google,,,

Now for the pots....

 

[Fil]

one down... 3 to go.... the initial hole took AGES!!!! and me drill is dead after opening up for the qmax. so i fitted it while the battery charges i thought id see how it would look... and the outside..

if you wanted a switched face with a neon light and cable out point im sure one would fit in over the element rear.

the box stands off the pot about 4-5mm the thicknes of the uncompressed rubber washer and hex backplate which the box sits against...