Element failiure explosion

[Bailey]

Had a 28litre batch of pale on a rolling boil 20mins in when I hear a thump and splash in the kitchen. First I thought it was something falling off the units above into the wort as there are about 5l all over the floor. Turned off and started draining only to find a black hole on the inside of the 'turn' of the element. Must have flashed some of the wort to steam as it went and chucked it all over the kitchen. The mrs is going spazo again which, to be fair, is justified this time as someone could have got a f##kload of boiling liquid all over them. It was old but that was a surprise to say the least.
Back to the clear up....

[Bailey]

Any one else had anything like this happen??

[Befuddler]

That's a new one on me. What kind of element was it, a cheap kettle salvage job?

[Bailey]

Was the original that came with my plastic boiler. Has seen some action but was not prepared for that. If I can figure out how I'll take some pics tomorrow and post them.
Last time I brew in my pants, could have been nasty. Watch out

[Martin G]

Shiney light! Sounds like it shorted and vaporised a little bit as you said, didn't realise this was quite such an extreme sport. May just keep a bucket of cold water nearby in case of getting badly splashed, don't really fancy wearing goggles or face sheild and gauntlets but there are actually lots of reasons why we should.

[boingy]

That's a new one on me too but, yes, boiling large quantities of sugary liquids is always going to carry some risk.

[Baldbrewer]

When I was a young sparky we used to see a lot of immersion heater elements that had blown through the side, vaporising in immersion tanks! We lived in a hard water area.

It's always a good idea to clean your elements with some citric acid after use this is readily available on tinternet , I sprinkle it in with some water and turn the elements on to heat up the acidic solution and give them a good scrub, they come up really clean.

Beer stone will insulate the element and cause it to trip out if you still have the little thermal cut outs still attached. Go one ask me how I know

Cheers all.

[far9410]

i clean my elements with scouring sponge, but realise i need to do more, have you got a link for cheap citric?

[vacant]

have you got a link for cheap citric?

I got this

[Baldbrewer]

Ditto, 500g bag lasts about 6-8 cleans for me, don't know if this is about right for 500g?