Electric BIAB Heating Element Upgrade

[ScrewyBrewer]

After four years of brewing the heating element in my boil kettle needed replacing. Finding the best replacement element was very easy after contacting Dave Knott at High Gravity Supply. He sent me an email later that day with three options. Option #1 was to replace the 5500-watt element with a Blichman Boil Coil. Which I ruled out because retrofitting it to my kettle would involve a lot more work. Option #3 would cost less but meant rewiring the new heating element to the original 220-volt cord. I opted to get option #3 which was a new design and came pre-wired with its own weldless bulkhead fitting and gasket.

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While waiting for the parts to arrive in 4 or 5 days I started to remove the old heating element. Boiling some 500 gallons of wort had pretty much glued the element to the bulkhead fitting. This made it nearly impossible to loosen. A trip to Home Depot to buy another pair of channel lock pliers and some WD-40 oil and I was ready to try again. After a 24 hour soak with penetrating oil and using two pairs of pliers, I was able to remove the old element.

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The day the parts arrived I was able to install the new element and test the kettle for leaks. I am now ready to brew the next 50 batches of beer without worry.

[BlackDuck]

Nice shiny new element you've got there. Nice work.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Thank you.

[Beer-lord]

If I ever go electric, I’d buy from High Gravity. Great people from reviews.

[ScrewyBrewer]

If I ever go electric, I’d buy from High Gravity. Great people from reviews.

It's been over 4 years since I bought my system from High Gravity. To this day when asking for his help Dave still thanks me for the wonderful online posts, I have given to his products and support.

[Beer-lord]

Just curious if it was suggested that you remove the element regularly for cleaning and also, did it just stop heating altogether or just taking longer to get to temperature?

[ScrewyBrewer]

No actually while cleaning the element using a small brush like always I heard a snap. Then I found some pieces of black plastic on the kettle bottom. It still heated the same and there were no leaks. But I figured why take any chances since either thing could go sideways at the worst possible time. The 15-gallon kettle is clean in place (CIP) because the power cord is permanently mounted to the heating element.