Brew UK Forum | Equipment
Electrim Boiler
Hi there,
I got one of those Electrim mashing boilers for Christmas and let's just say I'm less than impressed.
First time I used it all seemed well. Second and third times (third time being right now) it's kept cutting out before it comes to a proper rolling boil. I bypassed the control unti by pluging an old kettle lead directly to the element, but it still keeps cutting out before reaching a decent boil.
I've read that the thermostat on these things can be a bit dodgy, but this is ridiculous. I'll be here all night getting down to the required volume.
Anyone out there had any similar experiences with this unit, or know how the thermostat can be bypassed?
Thanks,
-Barry
Planning: Marstons Pedigree or London Pride clone
Conditioning (Bottles): Sam Adams Boston Lager Clone
Drinking (Bottles): Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Drinking (King Keg): McMullen's Country Best Bitter
Conditioning (Bottles): Sam Adams Boston Lager Clone
Drinking (Bottles): Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Drinking (King Keg): McMullen's Country Best Bitter
Responses
Posted 2 years ago by Member
Hi Bazza
I have one of those and had pretty much the same problem with it. I decided long ago that it wasn't good enough to use as a boiler. For a while I used it as a mash tun but even when wrapping with a considerable amount of insulation, it would lose temp quickly and the thermostat wasn't able to hold it at a constant temp.
My brew temps were fluctuating between 60 and 75 degrees so I decided to go for an insulated mash tun (ex cooler) and use the electrim for heating strike water and then for sparge water. This set up works quite nicely now as the tun doesn't even drop by a degree in more than an hour.
I would suggest looking out for a boiler on freegle or ebay (I have an old baby burco which I now use as a boiler).
Sorry that I can't be of any help with bypassing the thermostat but good luck with your brew, I hope you weren't up all night!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 2 years ago by Moderator
Not that I know much about boilers and such, but have you noticed any scale on the elements? Its worth descaling if it is as this will produce a better rolling boil. Burco's can suffer this but as you have only used yours a few times it probably wont make a difference, still worth a go just so you can rule out that problem.
I made my boiler DIY stylee! It cost me about £50ish and its a beast! Its not that hard to do and is half the cost of a burco, but will maintain a rolling boil without breaking a sweat!
Then use your electrim as a sparge boiler like tony said.
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 2 years ago by Member
hey Nath!
what size is your homemade boiler? Did you use a stockpot and if so - where did you find one of a reasonable price?
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 2 years ago by Moderator
Its made from a 30ltr brupack fv, 2 asda kettle elements and come bits n bobs from screwfix!
I love it. Used it 4 times, no problems what so ever. It will produce a rolling boil on 1 element easy, I use 2 to heat up quickly. It would easily do a 60ltr bucket.
I will put a couple of threads up soon on the construction of my boiler and brewfridge if you like.
Making homebrew from my homebrew!
Conditionin' - LEB Pale
Conditionin' - Thwaits Nutty Black
Plannin' - A user upper!
Posted 2 years ago by Member
Hi guys,
Thanks for all the help, guys. The element is brand new so didn't get a chance to gather any limescale.
Finishing off the brew now with my old stock pots. Hope leaving the wort for 24 hours in the stock pots and then re-boiling doesn't affect the final product too much.
On the subject of mashing, I've found that setting 2 stock pots on the hob at the lowest setting is pretty effective. As long as you stir the mash every 10-15 minutes it won't get too hot at the bottom of the pots, and you can maintian a temp of 63-67 degrees pretty well.
Nath. I would be very interested to see how you constructed your boiler. Never any harm in having a second one.
Conditioning (Bottles): Sam Adams Boston Lager Clone
Drinking (Bottles): Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Drinking (King Keg): McMullen's Country Best Bitter
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Bazza, I have one of those Electrim boilers. Mine does produce a lively rolling boil, even when I fill it as far as I dare to prevent boil over. So no problems there. The problem I have with it is the collar which screws down on the thermostat plate pulling in the element and creating the seal. The collar started to fail as the water approached boiling causing it to spring a leak and before you know it you have lost the lot, not good. I phone the supplier and it seems that it is the collar at fault and they are sourcing a more robust version which should solve the problem. They sent me another collar as a stop gap before the new ones arrive and that worked. I removed the thermostat from the bolier as I think it makes it harder to get a proper seal. Turn it up to max and it seems to do the trick. If it gets the water up to the biol the rest of the process goes OK. I would have launched the thing if it had failed during the wort boil.
I tried to use it as a mash tun. Couldn't control the temperature at all, and it wasn't very practical in my view. I now use an insulated barell with a tap on it I found at COSTCO for £20. Works a treat, and at that price its a bargain really.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Hi ChallengerToo,
I suppose I should have updated my status on this thread a bit earlier. Since I replaced the element and started to remove and clean the element after every boil, my Electrim's been doing a lively boil too (3.5 - 4L) evaporated in an hour.
Thanks for the warning on the collar. I've only been doing 2-gallon brews so far but now that I've more confidence in the Electrim, and since my wife has agreed to buy me a King Keg for my birhtday I'm thinking of doing my first 5-gallon very soon. The thing's been pretty watertight so far but with the pressure of 3 or so extra gallons I need to be careful. I guess if there is a problem I've the collar that came with the old knackered element as a stop-gap, but would be interested to see what your supplier comes up with.
Was thinking of removing the thermostat too at one point, but I can keep a good rolling boil without having it at the max setting so I'm probably fooling myself by thinking I'm saving electricity keeping the thermostat attached.
I got a regular Brupaks mash tun a few months back. Have had no issues with it at all. Preheating it before adding the mash and strike water, as well as keeping it wrapped in a duvet in a warm room has kept my temp pretty consistent for the duration of the mash. But, like yourself (I'm guessing), I never once considered using the Electrim for mashing. Far too messy.
Cheers,
-Barry
Conditioning (Bottles): Sam Adams Boston Lager Clone
Drinking (Bottles): Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Drinking (King Keg): McMullen's Country Best Bitter
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Barry,
I didn't actually 'remove' the thermostat completely, I took it off the side of the boiler but still wired in, it just sits on the counter top by the boiler and the collar screws up tight to the wall of the boiler. Difficult to explain, but it works!
Glad to hear its all sorted now.
Charlie
Posted 1 year ago by Member
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Member
ChallengerToo,
Yeah, I know exactly what you're describing. I think having the thermostat fixed to the side of the boiler probably causes unnecessary weight to the collar/element set up. Might keep it detached from now on too.
As it turns out, I may have spoken too soon about the Electrim performance. Kept cutting out on me on Monday night. After about 2 hours I stopped the boil with a whole half litre still to boil off to reach the desired OG, but I was tired and fed up so will settle for an extra bottle of a slightly weaker beer. Anyway, I took the element out and it was totally caked in white. I think it may have been to do with the extra malt used for a higher strength brew, there was more Crystal malt than usual, and I don't think I really filtered it properly during sparging. I suppose it was more the fault of the brewer than the boiler.
Either this is a case for pre-treating the water with a Camden tablet, or it could be that the Electrim doesn't perform so well with the higher-malt boils.
Does anyone else get this behaviour with their Burco, etc?
-Barry
Conditioning (Bottles): Sam Adams Boston Lager Clone
Drinking (Bottles): Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Drinking (King Keg): McMullen's Country Best Bitter
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