I replaced mine and just used white teflon tape. Joseph (Joe) Helminiak (314) 556-4488
On Mon, Nov 30, 2020 at 8:01 PM James Mitchell <[email protected]> wrote: > Things aren't going so well with our Brewtus II - Katherine was making our > morning shots, and as she turned towards the sink with its drip tray: > "There was this 'Swizz. Pop., BANG!' and all the kitchen lights went out." > > No, it wasn't our neighbors playing with an RPG - it was the blessed brew > boiler heating element going South and taking out a GFCI socket in a fairly > spectacular fashion: > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C0w2AIcqeqiuG6vqQHi5FW9MmCvCIcL7/view?usp=sharing > > It looks like there was water intrusion near the element's base, and when > it flashed to steam it ripped the element apart. The loud bang was a very > marginal GFCI socket failing to deal with a dead short on a twenty amp > circuit. > > The circuit is now on a 15 amp breaker, there's a medical-grade dual > socket rated for 15 amp continuous service, and a new boiler element is due > this week from WLL. > > No one appears to have stock on the Expobar-specific thread sealant - > Stefano recommends an italian sealant which looks very good - which I'd > buy, but USPS from Oregon to North Carolina is pretty glacial at the best > of times, and we're getting impatient. > > The local HVAC folks who keep our 75 year old steam heat system working > swear by Permatex 56521: "It applies easily, sets up quickly, remains > flexible, and in a clean joint - never, ever leaks." > > 56521 has no NSF rating, and its MDS lists ethanol as a primary carrier, > with 1% Methanol as an additional carrier. While folks have maintained that > K's coffee: "Could stun a horse & blind a donkey..." I've no desire to > actualize their experience, and will use the sealant only on the the upper > threads with 4-5 wraps of teflon tape on the lower threads to isolate it > from the brew water. > > There appears to be good water flow through the E61, with no portafilter > the Elka pump will fill an 8 oz glass in less than 15 seconds - I'll pull > the water level probe, clean and inspect it for continuity and scale, to > eliminate it causing an underfill condition. > > Much past this point, my troubleshooting gets fairly mystical, since the > volume of water flow through the grouphead belies issues with the parker > valve or Elka pump, my most popular theories tend to include demons, > Maxwell Houses, and extremely bad JuJu. > > Cheers & Thanks > Jim > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Brewtus" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/2e070887-e040-46a8-a389-a475b2f26cedn%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/2e070887-e040-46a8-a389-a475b2f26cedn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/brewtus/CAGs_PrOB%2B4nC1GOdxpQKMaTsyXZLRiEJ4T2mwh1uGd%3DQW8n_xw%40mail.gmail.com.
