disaster!! not sure what I can do

[Covrich]

So mashing with my Ace boiler for the first time and bang it just keeps on tripping the house out I cannot even plug it into the wall.. tried changing the fuse.

No idea what to do to be honest.

Looking like a lost brew and a dodgy boiler :-(

 

[McMullan]

Not sure where you're brewing mate, but could you extend from a cooker outlet in the kitchen?

 

[Covrich]

it was plugged into conservatory I also plugged into kitchen. the mash temp has dropped to 62 degrees

I just cannot plug it into teh wall even with the 1/0 set to 0 it will trip out

Sounds like dodgy electrics applicance.

 

[McMullan]

it was plugged into conservatory I also plugged into kitchen. the mash temp has dropped to 62 degrees

I just cannot plug it into teh wall even with the 1/0 set to 0 it will trip out

Sounds like dodgy electrics applicance.

Check plug wiring?

 

[Covrich]

replaced fuse.. the thing goes sealed into the unit

 

[McMullan]

That might be some protection for the boiler. Is there a fuse in the power plug too?

 

[Tony1951]

That's a shocker Covrich. Sounds like it may be tripping the earth leakage trip in the control board. If the plug could be dismantled, I'd be inclined to disconnect the earth lead in the plug FOR A TEST ONLY. Obviously you shouldn't use un-earthed electrical equipment. Maybe there is a faulty insulation in the element. You can phone the supplier. I think they had a phone number for warranty enquiries. My house electricity has an old fashioned fuse box so no earth leakage trip here even if things are dodgy. :shock:

 

[Tony1951]

Had you plugged the boiler in before Covrich or is this the first time? I'm trying to work out if it has developed a fault or if it was faulty before today.

If you have a multi meter, you could try measuring the resistance between the earth pin of the plug and the live and the neutral pins. The resistance should read as infinite I think. If it doesn't there is a short somewhere. There will be a lowish resistance between the live and neutral pins when the boiler element is connected like when the thermostat and the timer are arranged for the element to be connected across the power lines.

 

[Covrich]

That is the fuse I changed in the plug itself.. the electrics go sealed into the bottom of the unit..

If empty it doesn't trip.. so I put 15 liters of warm (60 odd degrees wort) back in ... and it came on.. then just died.. without even trying to heat it up..

coulnd't sparge properly and am trying to improvise on the stove..

I emailed the seller on ebay

I am gutted to be honest feels like £100 up the swanny/

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Shame to hear that. If it were me, I would chalk this one up as a loss, get onto the supplier and also explain that you lost a brew and try and get them to compensate as well as replace the boiler. If you start messing about with it, it may invalidate your warranty and then be out of pocket.

 

[Goodcat]

Sounds like it is trying to draw a lot of current from an insufficient circuit, or even a spur circuit.
Mine did this on the last brew whilst I was working on a machine.
My circuit for the garage is only a spur and it could not handle it.
The RCD's on modern fuse boxes are pretty sensitive and it only takes 1 additional electrical item to be turned on to trip them. Even the fridge tripping in can upset them.

Up grade the particular RCD the the boiler runs on. The house will still be safe because you can only buy approved upgrade RCD's

 

[Tony1951]

That is the fuse I changed in the plug itself.. the electrics go sealed into the bottom of the unit..

If empty it doesn't trip.. so I put 15 liters of warm (60 odd degrees wort) back in ... and it came on.. then just died.. without even trying to heat it up..

coulnd't sparge properly and am trying to improvise on the stove..

I emailed the seller on ebay

I am gutted to be honest feels like £100 up the swanny/

I understand your feeling but you will be either refunded or the unit will be replaced. I guess you bought it on ebay and you have total protection. I am sure the seller will see you alright, but what a bummer for today!!! I feel your pain mate. :-(

 

[McMullan]

:nah: if it ain't working demand your money back. PayPal?

 

[Tony1951]

Sounds like it is trying to draw a lot of current from an insufficient circuit, or even a spur circuit.
Mine did this on the last brew whilst I was working on a machine.
My circuit for the garage is only a spur and it could not handle it.
The RCD's on modern fuse boxes are pretty sensitive and it only takes 1 additional electrical item to be turned on to trip them. Even the fridge tripping in can upset them.

Up grade the particular RCD the the boiler runs on. The house will still be safe because you can only buy approved upgrade RCD's

This looks like an interesting line to follow up. The boiler is pulling a few kilowatts. I remember at work we had a computer suite that used to trip out the power circuit. They had to upgrade the board. There was nothing wrong with the computers, but the rcd didn't like switch mode power supplies.

 

[Covrich]

I appreciate the advise you uys given but I don't know how to do these things.. I do not want to try and crack it open because I am not sure I want to fiddle with it and I have emailed the seller already now..

Also upgrading an RCD? I tried two seperate wall sockets both tripped.. how would I upgrade an RCD??

 

[Covrich]

For the record I did test this last week on 7 liters of water and it boiled fine.. but today after mash BOOM game over.

 

[rodabod]

If empty it doesn't trip.. so I put 15 liters of warm (60 odd degrees wort) back in ... and it came on.. then just died.. without even trying to heat it up../

Sounds like the element is showing electrical leakage from live to ground, and this only happens when there is water present. I would contact the seller.

You can use a multimeter as suggested to measure resistance between earth and either live/neutral. It should read open-circuit, ie. no continuity at all.



Do you have enough cooking pans to finish off at least part of the wort?

 

[LarryF]

Gutted or you Corvich, can't offer any advice but gutted for you mate. I hope you can rescue it.

 

[Covrich]

Right well, I have ended up with about 22lts of wort which is somehow the correct gravity.. god knows how I managed that.. I used my 15 liter pot a 6 liter and the largest sauce pan I had and I did top up with boiling water throughout.. the large 15 liter was pretty much mash water the two others were pretty much squeezings and sparge water.. I tried some hop ration divide.. not a lot of hops in the recipe anyway..

Wort tasted sweet and you coudl taste the honey actually (which went in the end).. I think the saison is mostly yeast falvour so fingers crossed.

The whole thing felt like such a mash together I don't feel confident although I think it also might be okay.. just got to see.. It was like just one of them brew days where things just felt like they never worked... even when I managed to carry my pot through and put the chiller in the in pipe of the chiller blew off spraying cold water all over the floor..

My dad (who is very much DIY type) said he wondered if it was the same thing likewater getting in and causing a trip out.

Have to wait and see what the seller says... I assumed I shoudl have contacted the seller first and not ACE whose number is on the ebay article.. (could be the same thing?)

HOpefully Ill hear back tomorrow.,

 

[McMullan]

I'm sure the beer will turn out good: 90% yeast, 10% us. Tell the eBay seller you are a member of a powerful, international forum. He will sh*t his pants.