John> EHRRH! Wrong. I hadnt heard of Nikalloy, I assumed it to be a John> trade name of a nickel-containing alloy, but if its Inconel, John> then its NOT Stainless Steel. But its one step better. Inconel John> is a Nickel based, as opposed to Iron based alloy that has John> superior corrosion resistance to 300 series stainless. Just a John> nit, but I live for this sort of thing. :) Sorry folks, but John picked my nits correctly. I wrote from work and off the top of my head and the info from a couple of different manufacturers got intermingled and scrambled. What is still true is that the Chromalox or Accutherm elements are the ones to buy. The Accutherm elements, however, are in the $130 range for SS. Now from the reference material at home: Regular home store elements which I directed you all away from are copper based and tinned, not galvanized. Chromalox which makes the heater elements sold by Grainger and they are "Constructed with a nickel based alloy". Never says what nickel based alloy Accutherm makes heater elements which are made with "334 Stainless Steel which is equivalent to Incoloy 840". The average heater element you can buy in the "home store" for hot water heaters are *high density* elements. These are typically about 5000 watts in a loop about 12" long, or a total of 24" of element. These are too powerful and will scorch the wort. Also, they are galvanized, which in contact with wort is not a good thing. The proper heater element to use is a low density Nikalloy one which is essentially stainless steel. One of these with a rating of 240v 5000 watts is about 72" when uncoiled, it is bent back on itself twice. When run at 110v, it puts out a total of 1250 watts, which ends up being a watt density of about 10 watts per square inch. On top of that, it has a 1" straight pipe thread which threads into a 1 1/2" by 1" reducing bushing just perfectly. This is the heater element recommened by Rodney Morris in his article on how to build a RIMS in Zymurgy Special Issue 1992 on Gadgets. It is obtainable from W.W. Grainger for about $28. The Part # is 2E767. If you are planning on a 10 gal or larger system, it would be wise to get a 2E768 which is 6000 watts, but because it is longer, maintains the same heat density. You *must* have adequate wattage for your mash size and the watt density *must* be low. Add wattage by getting a bigger, longer heater, or putting a second heater in series. Never run these heaters on 240v or you run the risk of severe scorching of the wort. While there are several commercial heater element companies which provide heater elements which are suitable, the one from Grainger is the easiest to obtain. Again, the two critical factors are stainless steel (also called Nikalloy or Inconel) sheath and low watt density, around 10 wpsi. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just to let you know...Inconel and Nicaloy are not stainless steels. Inconel and Nicaloy are nickel based alloys and are quite different than any of the 300 or 400 series stainless steels. The physical properties of the nickle alloys are typically significantly superior to stainless steels and also much more expensive. They will work just as well regarding corrosion resistance but I thought you ought to know. Dan djtim@delphi.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------