Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

howdy all, i bought 2 elements from 5star got the sockets welded onto the keg... and now i cant get a sparkie for love or money.

a sparkie looked at them for me and said i need an earth on them... how have others done this?

any advice appreciated, cheers guys

Earth usably goes on the metal parts that you could touch and probably need earth leakage as element has high capacity fuse and could kill before it trips the breaker.

Weld a small bolt onto the keg and earth to that. The RCD is recommended to protect you as well.

Trick is to bring the earth out and seal up the fitting. I wrapped mine in amalgamating tape and super glued a plastic cylinder to the fitting, it should handle it.

totally need rcd in meter box. Earth lead off boiler and element metal xover. Dont relay on liquid in boiler connecting the earth. Obviosuly dont connect live or neutral to earth :handgestures-thumbupleft: hook it up then get it checked if you cant get sparky to do it...

chipboy wrote:Weld a small bolt onto the keg and earth to that.

What did I tell ya this eve slothy :teasing-neener: :laughing-rolling: :happy-partydance:
You haven’t got a pic to inspire have you chippy ??

I suppose I can do that for you, so here it is.



I would recommend clamping the lugs onto a surface other than the keg its self so a nut and washer for flat mating, also a larger bolt would bet better this is what I had available, m4.

RCD definately (or earth leakage device in other peoples terminology) which makes sense for any power circuit, not only for this hobby.

You could just nut and bolt it to the chime if you are using a keg rather than welding on a nut. You would just need to check continuity of earth circuit. As is always the advice get it checked by an electrician :law-policered: .

ok so heres what i got up to today. first time trying anything electrical lol, hows my work look? safe?

Being off the grid I just use the big green sheds bottles and I get atleast 3 runs out of a bottle, now using elements how does this compare with a long run using the grid ?. I don't know as I've been off the grid for close to 20 years but using bottled gas seems to me the best option.

Cheers Bryan

sloth wrote:ok so heres what i got up to today. first time trying anything electrical lol, hows my work look? safe?

If we dont hear from you for a couple of days we will assume its no good :laughing-rolling: :teasing-neener:

Bryan1 wrote:Being off the grid

Lets play "off grid" - how may times can 1 person say "off grid" in 1 sentence?

sloth wrote:ok so heres what i got up to today. first time trying anything electrical lol, hows my work look? safe?

Looks acceptable to me, as long as the silicone is covering all connections very well made all the safer with the plug cover and to a nice solid bolt. I do hope you have ELCB/RCD in the house / building / shed.

Bryan1 wrote:Being off the grid I just use the big green sheds bottles and I get atleast 3 runs out of a bottle, now using elements how does this compare with a long run using the grid ?. I don't know as I've been off the grid for close to 20 years but using bottled gas seems to me the best option.
Cheers Bryan

The sad answer is the grid is greener, you being off grid make a lot of CO2 using gas! How much solar do you have, alternatively add 2.4Kw of panels and wire to the element, distilling is now a sunlight only experience.

The Stig wrote:

sloth wrote:ok so heres what i got up to today. first time trying anything electrical lol, hows my work look? safe?

If we dont hear from you for a couple of days we will assume its no good :laughing-rolling: :teasing-neener:

Bryan1 wrote:Being off the grid

Lets play "off grid" - how may times can 1 person say "off grid" in 1 sentence?

Ok Stig lets play out how many power bills you have paid since '03 :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

No. That is not safe. dodgey as! Look up Mac's thread where he shows you how to make a SAFE element guard. If you don't reply to this I will assume you are dead. :laughing-rolling:

Im guilty of doing my own wiring from time to time (if its an easy job) but tgat does look a little dodgy. Also silcone doesnt usually set in a sealed environment so it may be wet and 'mooshy' inside the plug itself. Also, i have the same element and it can get quite hot.
I recommend getting the elementgaurd from 5 star simply because i use them anf theyre great.
Also, electricians dont get it right everytime.0.75 mm2 cable for 15 amp element anyone? Wondered why itused to get so hot. Only figured that one out as i was sorting out charger cables for my ev. Had to upgrade them both and the gaurds made it a piece of the proverbial.

think 15a is 2.5 ??

Heating element has another problem with being use for extended time the insulation on the wiring can also get hot from the element and from the current and deteriorate so do not use low quality wire.

bluc wrote:think 15a is 2.5 ??

15 amp extension leads seem to be 1.5 but considering the extended use the elements (and how hot) get i used 2.5 and 1.5 respectively.. still waiting to test them out.
PITA trying to fit the 2.5 into a 15 amp plug.