National Homebrew Club Ireland

Brewing Discussions => All Grain Brewing => Topic started by: Blueshed on January 04, 2015, 03:35:57 PM

Title: Brew Day Disaster
Post by: Blueshed on January 04, 2015, 03:35:57 PM
just had a disaster of a brew day and poured 19L down the drain  :'( :'( :'( :'(

There i was brewing what should have being a beautiful Dusseldorf Altbier, even got the whitelabs yeast.

35mins into my boil and sat down with a cup of coffee when the element on my Burco boiler burnt out.

The copper filter came loose and made contact with the element and tripped out the burco and burnt some electrical bits.

So about 5kg of grains, 45g of hops and a day wasted.

Anybody here know if the elements are fixable and what cost.
Title: Re: Brew Day Disaster
Post by: Will_D on January 06, 2015, 11:25:19 AM
Sory to hear this Blueshed.

Anyways for other people's benefit:

You could have continued to boil smaller batches on the stove top until you had boiled/hopped the full batch This would have saved the brew!

Regards the boiler:

The Burco element is bonded into the base of the pot and is not replaceable. If it was a separate element then it can be replaced.

However, Having a copper pipe touching the base of the boiler should not cause a problem!

Have you checked the elements and wiring underneath as it may just be that a cutout has cut out.
Title: Re: Brew Day Disaster
Post by: mcgrath on January 06, 2015, 04:41:13 PM
Quote from: Will_D on January 06, 2015, 11:25:19 AM

The Burco element is bonded into the base of the pot and is not replaceable. If it was a separate element then it can be replaced.

Is it a concealed element or does it look like this one? (http://www.ebay.ie/itm/GENUINE-BURCO-ELEMENT-C18HX2-C20ET-C30ET-C10EH2T-C26HX-F24L334446-CF15L2646-/181091714097)

I know the buffalo and swan boilers have their elements  bonded to the bottom which would be a problem. My Burco's element is the same as the one in the link, which I assume can be swapped out.

If its not concealed I'd fancy your chances of getting it going.... If not, I'm looking for a lid for a 20l Burco  :P
Title: Re: Brew Day Disaster
Post by: lordstilton on January 08, 2015, 06:41:00 AM
John sounds like your thermal fuse went...bypass it and it will be fine..Give richie a shout he should have a multi-meter to check the element for you.