Immersion Heater Electrim 75 (Fully submersible)

FXRS

Hi,

Santa brought me a Youngs Beer kit and I am eager to be getting on with it. I have no previous experience of brewing so please be gentle with me!

I have a Electrim 75 heater which I am told can be put inside my fermenting bucket. The bucket does not have a bored lid. The instructions state the heater must be placed in liquid and then switched on. Fair enough! The question is, should the heater only be immersed up to the rubber grommet at the temp adjuster knob? The packaging states the heater is "fully submersible". Will it not "blow" if the whole unit and some of the cable, goes in to the liquid? The instructions also states the heater should not touch the fermenting bucket. Is this because the bucket will melt or something else?

Help me before I electrocute myself.

Thanks

HBO_Staff

It's always best to check these things, but don't worry you're on the right track - the immersion heater is suitable for being fully immersed, it is watertight and is designed to be lowered into the brew until the cable is in the liquid. It is similar in this respect to a pond pump for example, which does the same thing with the cable in the water. The heater though must not touch the sides or bottom of the vessel, this is because of the high temperature at which it operates, and damage could occur if it were to rest on the container, to either the container or the heater, or both. The easiest way might be to make a hole in the middle of the lid and lower it in

FXRS

Thanks for your response.

I submerged the heater in the liquid, put the lid on the bucket, plugged it in and a few seconds later there was a blue/white flash and the heater blew! I guess it must be a faulty heater. Spoke to the vendor and they are happy for me to take it back.

Think I'll stick with heating trays.

HBO_Staff

Certainly sounds like a faulty one, we've had no reports of anything like that happening - glad it didn't do you an injury, you certainly won't have a problem like that with a heater tray, electricity and the liquid are kept well apart, and they are also easier to set up, just sit the vessel on it, turn it on, and leave it to it, they are our heater of choice at HBO HQ