gas and electric kettle, how to wire?

[grathan]

Burners can throw quite a bit of heat around the sides of the kettle. It can melt my shirts almost instantly (polyester) and most plastic parts on the kettle (valve handles, sight glass) are pretty much brown at this point.

I'd like to add an element to the kettle without worrying about the plastics melting. I was thinking making the cord detachable so portable cleaning and dumping would be easier.


Would a simple metal plate protect my wiring or would the heat wrap around the top anyways?

 

[Ravenshead]

A plate will help depending on your configuration but it sounds like you dealing with a lot of heat. I remove my element and install a plug when I want to use gas. That's actually why I went with a soldered in coupler as my bulkhead instead of weldless.

 

[grathan]

That interesting. Do you find yourself using the gas much at all if it's one or the other?





I wonder if there are inexpensive, heat-resistive building materials out there..

 

[grathan]

I wonder if a fan would be helpful...

 

[kal]

What's the reason for wanting to use both gas and electric in the same kettle?

Kal

 

[grathan]

What's the reason for wanting to use both gas and electric in the same kettle?

Kal

Mainly speed and convenience of choice.

Some factors that would affect choice: winter and wanting extra heat in the room, propane tank is low and not having time to refill , or perhaps eliminating the chance or running out of propane mid-batch, not having to clean off an element that has stuff scorched on, power goes out and can continue boiling.

I originally thought of using both propane and electric on the HLT, but soon found that just electric was ample for my needs. This may also be the case for the kettle, but would like a design that allows both while I decide.

 

[processhead]

I use a keggle with one of Bobby's tri-clover fitting soldered to it.

With one of Bobby's adaptor kits, I can go electric with a 5500 watt element or remove the element, close the port off with a blank, and throw it on a propane burner for my boil.

This works great and can be switched in seconds.

I find myself boiling outdoors with the propane burner in the summer to reduce the heat in my basement.
The rest of the year, I electric boil indoors.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

I'd head over to brewhardware (no affiliation)

http://brewhardware.com/rimsherms-parts-93/176-elementparts

get a triclover kit, solder or weld it on, and get a 1.5" triclover cap for when you want to run with gas.

 

[grathan]

Thanks. I really do picture using both at the same time though as I assess my needs to use either one fuel source or the other. To further complicate things I have two completely different burner setups on my stand and am not sure which I want to use for the kettle yet.


Maybe I can just wrap the connections in tin foil?

 

[processhead]

If you are considering wrapping your electrical connections in foil, I can guarantee you will do permanent damage to the wire insulation and element terminals, the first time you fire up the burner.

 

[grathan]

What about regualr owings corning R-30?