Broke both elements today

[lupulinaddict]

I was trying to wire up my new ss elements into their enclosures and I snapped one terminal off of each element trying to tighten the screw. Has anyone ever done this? Can i re-solder them? Does it have to be a special solder or technique for 220v?

 

[passedpawn]

I was trying to wire up my new ss elements into their enclosures and I snapped one terminal off of each element trying to tighten the screw. Has anyone ever done this? Can i re-solder them? Does it have to be a special solder or technique for 220v?

Nope, didn't happen to me. And I usually over-tighten stuff. I've built 4 element burners without any issue.

It would be helpful to know what the model numbers of the elements were. Where did you get them?

Picture?

 

[IslandLizard]

Soldering would be great! No stray strands. Use regular solder. As long as your soldering iron has the power, you're fine.

Added:
This is as long as the terminals don't get hot enough to melt the solder. Hmm....

 

[wilserbrewer]

Never heard of this issue before?

Perhaps posting a couple pictures of the damage might give you some repair options.

Unfortunately I think they may be toast.

Sorry to hear of your struggle.

 

[IslandLizard]

duplicate

 

[podz]

Photo, please.

Working with 220v is no different than working with 12v or 100v or 380v.

It's the amps that you pull that heat things up and if the wire is big enough and the connections big enough then it doesn't get hot.

 

[lupulinaddict]

Thanks for the help and quick responses guys.

They are ebrewsupply 5500w ss ripples. I have an email into Ryan to ask him, but I thought if it was a common problem I could fix them in the morning and try to do a test brew.

They both fully come off. I think it needs to contact that rod because there is no other metal. That is where I figured to solder if it could be done safely. I like, passedpawn, have the tendency to over tighten, but once the ring terminal was flat it only felt like an eighth turn. It didn't seem like I applied too much force, especially on the second one. I was trying to be more cautious because the first snapped so easily, but it didn't work. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456635316.856233.jpg

 

[IslandLizard]

Looks like a weak spot weld, a manufacturing error perhaps.

Depending on the metal alloy used in the "post" it may be impossible to solder to anyway. I doubt it's copper.

 

[passedpawn]

Unacceptable. I'd return. Do it right.

 

[BrunDog]

Something seems fishy. There must be a torque spec for these screws. If you didn't exceed them by much, then they are defective. Of course there is no way to determine them at this point.

Ryan is a good guy... My bet is he remedies this in a fair way.

 

[day_trippr]

Looking at those pictures, I'm surprised this isn't a constant problem.
The only thing keeping those terminals anywhere near the receptacle is what I guess is some kind of weld, but they look hellishly bad from here.

I'm guessing they had an unsupervised trainee on the job that day...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

Looking at those pictures, I'm surprised this isn't a constant problem.
The only thing keeping those terminals anywhere near the receptacle is what I guess is some kind of weld, but they look hellishly bad from here.

I'm guessing they had an unsupervised trainee on the job that day...

Cheers!

I think that's how they are all made. From memory, my Camco's were the same.

 

[lupulinaddict]

I think that's how they are all made. From memory, my Camco's were the same.

They are. When they broke I was thinking to myself these sure aren't well made, so I checked how the camcos were made and it was similar and similar amount of weld/solder.


The camco is on the bottom. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456638591.309773.jpg

 

[podz]

That design is so exceedingly bad that I really wonder how it got a UL stamp.

 

[IslandLizard]

That design is so exceedingly bad that I really wonder how it got a UL stamp.

Believe it or not, but that's how many if not most lugs are connected to heating elements. Water heaters, ovens, ranges, kettles, you see them everywhere. Spot welds like those can be very strong if done correctly. I've never seen them coming apart.

This case obviously doesn't qualify. Hello China?

 

[jcav]

Wow, I got my ripple elements from Bobby_M, and I tightened the heck out of them and they held fine. That's wild! Hope you get them replaced.

John

 

[k-moe]

As mentioned, those are spot welded without any filler being used. If the amperage was set too low, or the currnet cut off too soon, the weld will not have penetrated enough to be sound. The only real remedy is to return the elements for replacement. Soldering the joint will not be a reliable repair (if you can even get the solder to stick to the element).

 

[BrunDog]

The problem is not the weld. It's not practical to expect it to withstand the torque of the terminal. The problem is that the terminal is not well mounted in the base.

 

[podz]

Believe it or not, but that's how many if not most lugs are connected to heating elements. Water heaters, ovens, ranges, kettles, you see them everywhere. Spot welds like those can be very strong if done correctly. I've never seen them coming apart.

This case obviously doesn't qualify. Hello China?

All of mine look like this:

 

[IslandLizard]

All of mine look like this:

European standards tend to be set higher.

We generally don't find those kind of elements here. Perhaps in industrial environments?

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have never seen an element with screws like that, is it possible these are longer screws and they are forcing the terminal plate up and snapping the attachment weld? As you were tightenung them down, micht you recall the metal clip raising up prior to failure?

 

[Bobby_M]

When I got a bunch of samples from those same manufacturers, I found a broken spot weld on at least one terminal on about a third of the units. They sure do look pretty but that is definitely one of the failure points because like was mentioned, the screw base plates need more support than just the spot weld to the resistive wire.