Burned out element

[Oneiroi]

I recently moved from stovetop BIAB 10l batch’s to 20l by building a diy pot from a hdpe bucket and 2 cheap 2.2kw elements cannibalised from kettles.

First brew went perfect, used both elements to heat water pre mash and both to bring to boil before turning one off to maintain a rolling boil.

On my second brew (a rye ipa) the one element left on for the boil cut out about 40 mins in to the boil.

After finishing the brew with the second element and emptying the pot, the dead element was burned black. I’m assuming it burned out and is completely dead but haven’t properly tested it yet as I don’t have a meter at the mo.

Was it just a faulty element? Or could there be something I did to cause it?

I read another thread here about scorched elements (can’t find it on mobile at the mo) which suggested that rye might be a problem for elements?

I’m struggling a bit to imagine how it happened. I assumed the elements wouldn’t get much above 100c and that the movement of wort in a rolling boil would stop anything being in contact long enough to burn. The circuit breaker didn’t trip so I’m assuming there wasn’t a short.

Any thoughts? Unlucky with a bad element or caused by the process somehow?

 

[BeerCat]

I used to run a bit pot with an old element and it used to trip all the time. It got coated in black once and i left it on without water and a lot of it popped off. If you did BIAB and had a very floury wort its more likely to coat the element and rye is stickier so that's perhaps what they meant. 2 x 2.4kw elements is a lot for a 20l bucket imho. I have a 30l boiler which is only 1.6kw.

 

[Oneiroi]

Intresting insight thanks. I don't crush my own grain at the mo so don't have much control over flour content, guess I can try to leave as much as possible in the grain bag (and i assume take a small efficiency hit).

I bought 2 elements following a build guide somewhere. I did try with one and it worked ok, took an hour to get from mashout to boil though so I figured 2 would cut at least half an hour off my brewday.

I think I'll try a few brews with the remaining element for now, if it survives fine I might just buy another cheapo one to replace the old, if it craps out too I'll probably spend a bit more on a better one.

One thing I hadn't though of was the effect on the beer, does the scorching usually have much of an impact on taste?

 

[BeerCat]

Scorched beer tastes horrible i am afraid to say. I was not referring to the grain crush just that BIAB creates a cloudier wort than a recirculating sytem (such as a grainfather) and that extra gunk will stick to the element. It did in my case as i used a 50 year old baby burco with an enormous element and looking back i now think thats why my beers were not great until i bought an ace boiler.

 

[Fil]

#1 Beer boils @ higher temps 107c+ depending on the OG primeraly.

kettle elements should be fine in a diy kettle, they do require a bit more elbow grease to clean back to shiny metal post brew but if attacked asap post boil you can catch the calcium build up while its still soft and can be easily removed with a pan scrubby.

Kettle elements are High Watt Density solutions, that means they are short with respect to the power they put out, LWD or low watt density elements are the best choice but they do cost a bit more..

However in my limited experience kettle elements are generally fine for most brews but can scorch/burn if its an exceptionally dense (high gravity beer) with a lot of ebu contributing adjuncts.. OR the elements were not scrubbed back to shiny prior to the brew, crud build up can lead to element overheating..

If neither and the element didnt simply fail.. a brewday is a bit beyond the expected use after all ....

One cheap fix is to get some power control for the main boil element, I assume element #2 for quick starting and as and when needed?? if not then 2 x power controllers 1 per element may be prudent.

you can buy off the shelf solutions or a nice simple diy build can be based on a resistance controlled ssr and 500kohm pot.. as i just mentioned here..
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/modifying-a-buffalo-boiler.75541/page-3