calling all electricians

[PD]

My chinese boiler kept cutting out at the end of a 60 min boil I assume its a thermal over-ride causing the problem. The temps are controlled by a thermostat knob on the side. I want to see if I can disable top top temp cutout in some way but keep contol of the temps ( hope you understood that.
heres a pic of the gubbins. can anyone tell me where the temp overide disc /switch or whatever is...

pic 2

thanks in advance

 

[EskiBrew]

The pink think screwed onto the bottom and with a red and white wire going to it is the thermal cutout device. Basically a bi-metalis strip in a case.
It is designed to cut-out in the event of boil dry.

Edit: Not sure what the other thing is that is inside the silicone sleeving clamped to the base :wha:

 

[PD]

can I just disconnect the wires ? or do they need joining back together ?

 

[Baldbrewer]

Think the other thing in the silicone is the thermocouple.

I would try just removing the pink disc by undoing the screws that hold it down.
Then place it away from the base, I think it just works by when it gets too hot the bi metallic disc bends and open circuits cutting off power to heaters.

By moving it away from the fix position you don't have to disconnect anything.

Give a test and see what happens with jus water for now :thumb:

 

[PD]

Baldy...your a star ! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

edit
so are you eskimo....

 

[PD]

well that was easy certainly looks like a cut out when unscrewed ! now tied back out the way. and boiler still works ! fingers crossed for my next boil in anger.

 

[EskiBrew]

nice one :thumb:

 

[Asalpaws]

Just getting in on this thread, have the same problem with my Brewpacks boiler, damn saftey squad!

 

[SweetMoFo]

Think the other thing in the silicone is the thermocouple.

I would try just removing the pink disc by undoing the screws that hold it down.
Then place it away from the base, I think it just works by when it gets too hot the bi metallic disc bends and open circuits cutting off power to heaters.

By moving it away from the fix position you don't have to disconnect anything.

Give a test and see what happens with jus water for now :thumb:

Just to let you know the pink thing is a thermal switch, they turn off when they reach a certain temp and then back on when the temp gets bellow a certain temp (usually 10-20 deg C lower than the off temp).They can work the other way but not in this instance.

Now the reason for this post is the other item in the silicone is not a thermocouple but a thermal fuse and is designed to blow at a certain temperature. Now that you have removed the thermal switch the temperature may keep on rising and blow the fuse and then your boiler will stop completely. You can just short out the fuse but it is there for safety reasons and should be left. If it does blow you can read the temperature rating on it and order one from any good electronics shop like this one http://www.cricklewoodelectronics.com/C ... hp?cat=210

p.s. thats my shop so any money spent there will eventually turn in to beer. :

 

[PD]

Thats worth knowing thanks is it worth replacing it with a higher rated one ?

 

[DirtyCaner]

Is there any real danger in removing/bypassing the thermal fuse?

I just ask cos that's what my friend has done in one of Buffalo boilers. He told me that there was no real need for it as if there was a problem the fuse in the plug would blow and thus protect me from any harm.

Thanks,

DirtyC

 

[SweetMoFo]

Is there any real danger in removing/bypassing the thermal fuse?

I just ask cos that's what my friend has done in one of Buffalo boilers. He told me that there was no real need for it as if there was a problem the fuse in the plug would blow and thus protect me from any harm.

Thanks,

DirtyC

Your friend is not totally correct. the thermal fuse is different to the plug fuse. The fuse in the plug will blow when too much current is drawn ie there is an electrical fault.

The thermal fuse blows when there is too much heat. eg The electrics of the boiler may go faulty so that the element wont turn off, the element will still be drawing the same current so the plug fuse will never blow but your now boiled dry boiler will be getting hotter and can possibly burn your house down with the plug fuse still not blowing.

Saying that when you are doing what we are doing with them the extreme circumstances that could lead to a fire are very very unlikely so as long as you keep an eye on things and your boiler is working ok then don't worry too much.

Thats worth knowing thanks is it worth replacing it with a higher rated one ?

I wouldn't bother until it blows which it may never do then change it for something a bit higher but not much.


p.s. this is only my opinion and I will not be held responsible for any burnt down houses or spoilt beer

 

[PD]

quote

p.s. this is only my opinion and I will not be held responsible for any burnt down houses or spoilt beer

That is understood and thanks for taking the time to warn of the possible effects.

a saving grace when we home brewers are boiling is that we are usually stood watching over our baby and if any problems occur we are in a position to switch off the electrics.
I think a lot of my particular problem may have been caused by losing a lot of volume of liquid during the boil and shall in future keep the brew well up in the boiler by trying to collect more wort during mashing so I can top up.

Thanks again, the next brew is going to be an interesting time !

 

[DirtyCaner]

Thanks for that.

Very unlikely just to boil dry as PD says, we're stood watching/waiting.

Just as well really cos same fuse went in primary boiler today and I had to do exact same thing to that after moving wort to HLT then move back again once defused!

Cheers,

DC

 

[Asalpaws]

Hi there could anyone help me with my Brewpacks boiler, always cuts out halfway through a boil!

I assume the saftey bit is the silver disc, the element is on the other side of the black plastic fitting:

Here is the wiring behind the control knob. The silver wire runs from the silver disc.

Could I cut the silver wire? As previous posts state it is very unlikley I would let 23 l of wort boil dry! If anyone can help it would make me really happy : )

 

[DirtyCaner]

I suspect the silver wire is the probe that is attached to the thermostat, so I wouldn't cut that. Not 100% sure but it looks like that.

 

[Asalpaws]

Thanks, so hard to find info on this problem! Can't believe there are not more people out there with this issue.

 

[Morgan]

Not sure that the silver wire is the safety cut out, but the element is the black thing with 3 wires.

Reading the instructions / manual they do say that you must keep the element spotless and clean it after every use, probably best idea is to call brewpacks and see if you can get some technical advice, play dumb and ask them in a circular manner what the sliver wire is - if you tell them your element broken as it is silver with one wire they will fall over themselves to educate you!!

 

[Baldbrewer]

+1 to Caner , that's a thermostat. If my rusty old memory serves me right I think it's was what's known as a bourdon tube type.
No wire mate just works via pressure ? College was 28 years ago lol!

All that's doing is feeding the temp back to the controller.
Have you rang Brewpack?
What's in the black box that the thermostat goes into?

If you cut it your elements will just run balls out! Just so you know.
If your on a rcd protected circuit you should be fine.

 

[Asalpaws]

Thanks guys, next day off I'll try the play dumb card and see if I can get some one from Brewpacks to tell me. I always keep the element spotless but inevitably end up jugging out all the hot wort to clean the element half way through a boil. Interesting that it works via pressure, I think at some point I should build my own boiler as the commercial ones don't seem ideal for BIAB.