Been kicking around a “Classic American Pilsner” recipe. May brew it this weekend and pitch it with fresh yeast from the Czech Pale Lager I’ll be bottling.
What's your next brew
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I think it may have been smouldering away for some time but today I smelled that lovely burnt plastic aroma wafting up over the delicate boiling wort --- then I went in doors for 50 minutes and let it fry.... It boiled OK by its self. Result.
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So undersize wire for current?
I've fused a plug in its socket with my boiler
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No the connection between the original Thermal fuse and the neutral feed was one of these awful twist on connectors. Useless things I should have replaced at the beginning but thought it would have been ok as I hadn't touched it from original set up. Damn Chinese or Eastern European crap.
I use a paint strainer bag for my mash, so I know that would work, except its capacity is 5 gallons. I prefer something less expansive, so it is easier to keep above the bottom of the kettle. Certainly there is a solution to be found. I’ll come up with something.
Nothing wrong with solder I say
Depends on the current levels we're talking about, and the type of solder. I'll lean your way if you're talking silver solder, but lead/tin based stuff melts too easily. Mechanical (compression) fittings rarely have problems if properly installed. I've made up the odd electrical connection or two, including the bus work that feeds an arc furnace in a steel mill. Not sure you could get enough solder to put those together.Nothing wrong with solder I say
But back to target, just glad ya didn't have a fire and didn't ruin your wort.
Didn't say you were wrong, and in fact agreed that solder is great for things that don't move or have a high current through them. However, a higher ampere load can cause the solder to melt if something is not mechanically keeping the connection tight. I've watched it happen with my own eyes, repeatedly, because a customer insisted on a soldered connection where a mechanical one would have been a better idea. It was a little 10 amp circuit (14 AWG stranded wire) on a process line that shook like a wet dog. The melt-downs and interruptions in his production, (not to mention the temporary connections being better than his preferred connection) finally proved to him that this old blind squirrel can find an acorn on occasion. Every joint with dissimilar metals in wiring will heat up. It's just the nature of the beast. Then, because of the heat, the resistance in the connection will go up, and the heat will increase. It's an exponential effect. If you want to tin the ends of stranded wire to make them easier to manage and even to replace a cord, great idea. I do it all the time if I want to use stranded wire for wiring up receptacles. I can tighten the screw down beautifully on a tinned piece of SO.Ah glad to be wrong again
I'll continue soldering my connections
Bottom line, any and all connections need to be as absolutely clean as possible, tight, and beware the rating of the connections and wiring versus the load it will power. Use the right connectors and the right size wire (if not slightly too large). I prefer soldering on lighter rated circuits, surely, but it's a little difficult to solder a 1000 MCM 15KV cable. If I use any compression connector, it's on stranded wire. I see so many times where they're used on solid wire, which if properly crimped, will nearly pinch the solid wire in two and make a weaker connection. Larger wires don't lend themselves very well to soldering unless it's silver soldering. And normally, it's to silver solder a piece of copper on so that a bolted connection can be made.
Well that makes perfect sense .
I learnt alot through your post.
I just didn't think it's would heat up enough to melt the solder that's bloody hot eh? That's some high currents man!
Hot as an oven, or more.
Solder is kinda like glue, you still need something to keep the wires together so the glue doesn't crack. Twisting them usually works fine, a wire nut even better.
Solder is kinda like glue, you still need something to keep the wires together so the glue doesn't crack. Twisting them usually works fine, a wire nut even better.
Today I brewed an ESB. Once I’m ready to transfer from this keg/fermenter I’ll be brewing an 80 Shilling on top of the Windsor cake. Should make a good Scottish beer. Calling it Tolbooth since that was the first pub I ate at when I was in Edinburgh. Had a McEvan’s this of course will be no where close but still
Notice that the splice connector is burned. The heat started in that connector. I'd bet 40+ years of electrical maintenance and trouble shooting on it. The farther you get from the connection, the less damage. Wasn't the wire, was the connector/connection. Probably didn't crimp it well enough. Wait till you see conductors that are 1/2 inch thick and 6 inches wide do that.
What I want to know is where you learned the technical term Burny Burny. Burny Burny is typically the prelude to the escape of the Magic Blue Smoke. EVERYTHING runs on Magic Blue Smoke. The next stage is Stinky Stinky. Nothing like the smell of burning insulation first thing in the morning.
Clip the connector, tin the wires with solder, then wire nut them together. She'll be good as gold. Not likely anything other than that 6 inches of insulation burned up.
Umm, edit: Don't forget to remove the portion that went burny burny unless you can find all the magic blue smoke to put back in it. It won't work if you don't put the magic blue smoke back in.
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Look on the bright side: At least you didn't have to tell the wife you needed by buy a new house!
Probably try an IPA next, thinking Simcoe and Minstral at about 60 ibu and 7% abv. I don’t do hoppy ales much, mainly because there are 8 of them for every decent Pilsner at most liquor stores these days.
