Broken Burco elements

[soilboy]

Hi Guys

I purchased an Old Burco Boiler some time ago to use as a brew kettle.

It's one of these;


I didn't get around to using it for a few months due to work commitments.

Only realised when during brewing last weekend after waiting AGES to get my water up to temp that something was wrong. I had to transfer into my HLT. It was late and I was annoyed so I just poured it in! Hot side aeration heaven since 1911! Arrgh!!

Realised that 3 of the 5 flat plate elements are blown and therefore have only been running at 1kW. Can't remenber who I bought it off and have now added thermometers and new taps etc.

The heating elements are concealed flat plates (500W) attached to the underside of the heater.

Anyone have any spare elements they want to sell or know of where to get them?

Should I just save time and effort an stick a new 3kW element through the side instead?

I am currently waiting on an email from Burco but I don't hold out much hope as the boiler is so old.

Cheers

[brewsters millionths]

the elements for these usually work out more expensive than the boilers themselves. i've got one of the stainless versions of yours with just one 3kw element, which has blown. was going to cost 30 quid for a replacement, got a different boiler for twenty. a shame because i prefer the first boiler.

[Andy]

iirc it works out cheaper to get spares direct from the Burco Manufacturer rather than the E-bay suppliers that are around. Worth double checking before buying anything.

Yes, someone on here or the UK Homebrew list got a new element for a very reasonable price direct from Burco.

[brewsters millionths]

might need to check that out. my favourite duff element boiler is a lincat.
haven't seen any contacts for them have you?

[Andy]

http://www.lincat.co.uk/

[Russ]

I've also discovered my recently purchase second hand burco boiler is bust It's similar looking to yours soilboy but SHINEY

Having replaced the defective tap (I knew this was duff when i bought it)so she should hold water it looks like I've go a leak underneath

Seems to be seeping out from round the base seam or could be the element conection

Thinking I might get some high temp silicone and run a bead round before I resort to giving it a damn good thrashing

Wish I'd bought a new Leyland boiler now.....

Hey soilboy we could butcher both and make a good one between us my elements OK (but only 2.5kw) and not a flat plate, it looks like a kettle element.

[Andy]

Seems to be seeping out from round the base seam or could be the element conection

Mine does this from the element seal I believe - once it's up to temperature it seems to stop

[Russ]

Thanks Andy

It is only a seep so It could heal when warm........

I left if full of cold water overnight and noticed the water on the floor following evening

A little worried about getting the wet stuff mixed with the lekky so I'll be doing my best to get her watertight before the launch......

[soilboy]

Just incase anyone was interested. Here is what one of the 5 elements looks like;

It's pretty strange but looking at it again it may be possible to get inside it and see if I can fix it. It looks like the two tabs are linked by some heater wire and electrically insulated from the outer casing by some weird shiny cardboard stuff (sorry for going all technical on you).

They don't make em like they used to!

[soilboy]

Right, opened that sucker up and its basically a mica (my dad reckons) sheet with wire wrapped around it which is then insulated from the casing my another couple of sheets.



I checked it with a multimeter and found the break in the wire. I was thinking of soldering it but am not sure if the element will get so hot it melts the solder. Or should I just bridge the gap with a conductor and let the housing hold it in place?[/img]

I'm holding out this will work. I think my girlfriend will kill me if I have to buy another boiler!

[Andy]

Unlikely to melt the solder.

"A solder is a fusible metal alloy, with a melting point or melting range of 180-190°C "

[soilboy]

I would of thought that an element would get a lot hotter than that. I hope I am wrong?

I couldn't find a lot on the web about it. I think its a case of suck it and see. What's the worse that can happen it's already buggered!

[Graham]

If it is the element wire itself that is broken, then you will be lucky to be able to solder it. Nichrome has just about zero solderability in the conventional sense. If you do manage to solder it, it will promptly melt again when you power it up. A typical electronic type soldering iron is less than 25 Watts, and you have 500 Watts there. You need some sort of high-temperature technique.

I take that Burco can't or won't supply one? I bought some replacement metal lever-type taps from them a few years ago, and they were not expensive. I was very pleasantly surprised.

[prodigal2]

Google and ebay are your friend, if you do a bit of hunting there are plenty of Burco spares suppliers

[soilboy]

I'm hoping that Burco will reply to my email at some point and offer me a good price on some spares as I've heard plenty of good feedback about them.

As for looking on ebay/google, I only seem to be able to find the more modern burco spares i.e. the curly element type. I may be able to find them eventually if I wait but then that's time I'm not brewing! Boohoo. I've also got to get used to my new setup so I can brew some wedding beer!

In the meantime, as soldering doesn't seem a viable option with the equipment I have, I might just try to bridge the gap with some metal. The clamped cases "should" lock it in place.