heating element meltdown

shogun0660 · Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 6 Location: Northeast PA

Hey guys, looking for some help/advice

Have used an electric setup since 2013. All elements, control panels, cords ordered from this site.
I brewed on it consistently for all of 2013-4 (1-2 a month).
Last year we moved, and I did not brew for all of 2015.
After finally settling in the new house, I got the brewery re-set up.
I had an electrician come out, and he installed the 240V/30A line/outlet, and a double pole 30A breaker.

Two weeks ago I heated some water in the HLT to about 160, then pushed it through the coil just to get it clean. All was well. No obvious leaks.

Today was to be my first brew day since 2014. As the HLT was heating the water up today, I began to smell a burning plastic smell. A few minutes later, the breaker tripped. It took awhile, but eventually I felt the outside of the heating element box, and it was really hot.
With all the power off, I emptied all the water and took off the plate cover for the HLT heating element. This is what it looked like:
The sealant is still in place, and i don't see any obvious signs of water getting in there (although it's so hot would probably have turned to steam right away?). Rusty ground screw maybe indicates there was water???

Not good.
I went back and fished out the electrician's invoice, and confirmed it was 240V/30 A line. It's a 30A double breaker on the main panel. I have a voltage detector and confirmed 240V across the hot, and 120 across Hot/neutral, hot/ground.

So what should i do? Any idea how/why this happened?
This element appears fried, time for a fancy new stainless one? I'm more than OK with that, I just want to make sure i'm not missing any other error here. I'd hate to install a new element and have that one get fried too.

thanks in advance for any help/input

Rodney

wscottcross · Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 12:23 pm Post subject:

Looks like you may have had a loose connection on the white wire, maybe happened during the moving. The screw and lug are charred on that wire. Loose connections cause high resistance, which creates heat. I would just replace the element and rewire it, making sure that the connections are secure.

**kal** · Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:57 pm Post subject:

mvakoc · Joined: 19 Sep 2011 Posts: 152 Location: Evergreen, CO

I had a similar thing that I attribute to a bad connection (must have been). You can search posts by me to see the details.

The intereseting thing in your photo is that the ground screw and other screws in there appear rusted. Are they actually rusted? This can lead to excessive resistance as well.

**kal** · Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 11:23 pm Post subject:

The rust is indeed curious. There's even rust on the 4 bolts that hold the cover facing the kettle in place. Where they stored for extended periods in locations of high humidity when they weren't used possibly? Or near ocean air?

Kal

itivino · Joined: 11 May 2016 Posts: 4

I've had almost the exact same thing, except when i opened it, one wire was completely detached from the element. Plastic melted, strange residue, etc. Im chalking it up to not tightening enough, but one sign before it happened was a very hot power cord (near the kettle) and weird smell. Going to check connections more frequently now and check the cord temp.

**kal** · Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 6:00 pm Post subject:

milldoggy · Joined: 23 Dec 2010 Posts: 569 Location: Pottstown, PA

With all that rust, your sure water did not get in there?