Buffalo boiler cutting out

[bicyclerepairman]

It seems that a few people are having this problem. I've got a 40l Buffalo boiler, and after the first few brews, it started cutting out with the orange light coming on, and occasionally the thermal fuse would kick in (all lights out, including switch light). It first happened after I turned the boiler on with insufficient water (it really bubbled when I added more water), but not sure if the two are related. It got so bad it would only boil for about 30 seconds every few minutes. I found some of the information on this forum very useful, and would like to add my own solution.

I decided not to disable the thermal cut out or fuse, as I'd prefer to keep these safety features. Instead, I drilled some ventilation holes into the bottom and side of the boiler, and raised it up on bricks when boiling, to encourage airflow. By drilling the extra holes in the side (they're about as high up as they can be without drilling into the boiler section), I hoped that natural convection would draw air through the bottom and out the side. It seems to work, as I've now done two brews with it and not had a repeat of the problem (except in the last few minutes of the most recent brew, but it was a black beer and there was some residue on the element when I went to clean it).

Hope this information is useful!

Holes in the bottom (there's actually 4x7 holes):



Side:

[sbond10]

Good fix there a lot simpler than hacking electrics

[Cpt.Frederickson]

Easier option would be to upgrade the thermal switch (the bit that attaches to the element), just slide the old one out of the spade connectors and replace. It would worry me having holes like that with water about...

[bicyclerepairman]

It did look like an easy enough job to change the thermal switch, but I decided to try and stop the bottom of the element getting so hot in the first place. Also I had a drill to hand...

[Cpt.Frederickson]

Good ol' power tools! Lucky you didn't have a hammer, mind...

[AdyG]

I took out the thermal cut out switch and fuse in mine, it works fine now with no cut outs at all. I've done about 4 brews with it set up like this and it's been fine. I don't have it turned up to full, can get a rolling boil at 95 and keep an eye on it.