Stuff you should never do.

[Thirsty_Monk]

Like run your elements dry.

[euge]

I bet that stunk like the bejeezus! Did it with a heatstick. Freaky.

[thomasbarnes]

And now you know . . . 

[phillamb168]

Ah jeez, that sucks. Thankfully every time I've come "close" to this, I got to the plug before anything happened. Way too easy to have happen though. I've been thinking about installing a pressure sensor linked to a switch for turning the elements off if there's no water in them.

[bluesman]

Wow that sucks. Sorry to hear about that. 

[majorvices]

Sucks. I would recommend the low density elements. I have let them run dry once or twice and they survived in tact. Also much easier to clean. I stopped using the elements like you have after losing two batches due to a smoky off flavor. Thought at first it was pedio, but turned out to be improperly cleaned elements and caked on, burnt crust.

[dak0415]

Oops.

[blatz]

but turned out to be improperly cleaned elements and caked on, burnt crust.

apologies to TM for hijacking, but being that I am switching to electric soon, is there anything special to note about cleaning the elements?

[Kit B]

apologies to TM for hijacking, but being that I am switching to electric soon, is there anything special to note about cleaning the elements?

Be sure to get the ultra-low watt density & you shouldn't have to worry about it.
If you experience mineral build-up, you may want to soak them with something to remove the deposits.

[majorvices]

I soak mine in hot PBW over night and most of the stuff hoses right off. But I take a thin, rectangular "scrubby" pad and run it around the elements like dental floss. I occasionally acid wash them to remove mineral deposits.

[blatz]

cool thanks guys.

sorry about your luck there TM.

[Thirsty_Monk]

cool thanks guys.

sorry about your luck there TM.

No harm done.
I had spare elements so I am up and running.
Worst think was that I had to climb into the HLT to pick small copper nuggets.
I am thinking of installing a float switch that would prevent this.

Saniclean do the trick of cleaning the elements.
It is acid thou so do not soak it overnight.
It would eat your element.

[SpanishCastleAle]

Stuff you should never do.

Try to catch a falling glass carboy full of sanitizer.  As they said in one of my favorite movies; "Run away!"

[tschmidlin]

Ah jeez, that sucks. Thankfully every time I've come "close" to this, I got to the plug before anything happened. Way too easy to have happen though. I've been thinking about installing a pressure sensor linked to a switch for turning the elements off if there's no water in them.

As mentioned by TM above, I think I'd go with a float switch over pressure sensor/switch.

Sorry about the elements TM, but this just goes to show why heating elements are bad, and we should only use one of these:

[denny]