elements farting out during boil

[barkar]

The last 2 brew days have turned a bit of a marathon due to my Tesco elements farting out , the first time both stopped at 80c , I finished off the brew with a smalller tea urn, I scrubbed them thoro the next time only one farted out, again when cleaning after both were coated in , the reason I can think of is that both were overnight brews, and also I let the pump suck the mash dry, I think I may have brought some fine grain into the boiler, and it settled on the elemnts, anyone come across this , do I need to replace the elements or will a citric acid bath solve it , maybe running the sort through the hopfilter in the kettle b4 starting the boil

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Did you remove the safety cut-outs?

BB

 

[barkar]

The little pin in it ? I did, never happenned b4

 

[Steamedbeech]

There's a plate you need to bend too, check out Big Yins how too guide . :

 

[wilsoa1111]

if elements were working before doing a full boil etc then scrubbing will fix, if never got up to boil, need to bend (or better yet remove) the wee bendy disc

 

[barkar]

Hi sorry yeah no problem boiling b4, I think it might b something re pumping all from mash run , at the end I would imagine I am takng loads of grain sediment, once the boil starts it coats the element, I cleaned them thoroughly between the 2 boils , might tray and build a screen filter a round each element, or run it through the boiler via the hop filter

 

[barkar]

Well , scrubbed this with citric acid , managed to loosen some other cud that was on the under side of the elements although this seemed to come mostly from the element that there was no problem with. Anyway both were working , but one of them the little leds light to signify its on stopped working or it seemed a very very dim orange tinge to it , however the element was working away no bother , anyone any ideas ?

 

[WelshPaul]

It happened to one of mine last month. As they were both pretty well covered with burnt on beer, I simply replaced it.
As others have said though, be sure to remove the heat cut-out disc entirely. It looks a bit like the rebel insignia from Star Wars and will come off with a little persuasion from a pair of pliers.

 

[barkar]

My element (the electrical housing part)are sealed using water weld to the stock pot to avoid any leaks so i would like to avoid getting rid of them , what concerns me is the light and it swtiching out dimming despite the element going full throttle , i didnt get rid of the plate at the back but i did get rid of the little pin it pushes in once it overheats/boils, never had any issues with boiling until now

 

[barkar]

Well took a part my boiler the underside of the element was scorched with black burnt on stuff , scrapped and removed most of it , also identified that i didn't remove any cut off on the element ie the copper plate not the little pin behind it , so done that , fitted everything back only to find its leaking badly can t get a good seal ,
i think i disturbed the water weld sealant holding the electrical part . Anyway so now i am looking for a good food grade sealant that can hold at high temperatures plus some tough silicone (think i will look for some baking trays in aldi / lidl) ! I would use water weld , but i have none left , was always very curious of the smell of it when binding and cured, so not keen on reusing