Reddit mentions: The best ground fault circuit interrupters

>I need a 'my grandpa was an electrician and his janky house never caught on fire' fix

OK:

ALCI cord from an unwanted/broken/thrift-store hair dryer, with the hair-dryer cut from the cord and replaced with a NEMA 5-15R extension cord female end, as an adapter for the conditioner.

The air conditioner may already have an overcurrent protective device as its plug, but this does not fill the same role as the Appliance Leakage Current Interrupter. An ALCI is essentially the same thing as a GFCI

Don't exceed the current rating of the cord, or of the house circuit. I find it is useful to map what few circuits there are, and even label them visibly, to help people remember "Oh, I can't plug in the hair dryer to outlets with a green dot when the big-screen TV is on". In such a house it is often easy in daylight to unscrew all but one fuse and then walk around with a lamp, putting a (1) sticker on each outlet that works on circuit 1, etc.

Most importantly, if it is still on fuses, make sure they have a good supply of the 15A variety and disappear the 30A spares.

You could go with a single-pid version of this for pretty cheap: http://www.instructables.com/id/Electric-Brewery-Control-Panel-on-the-Cheap/

As others have said, you'll want to be sure you're venting all that moisture out of your basement. And a GFCI breaker on that 240v circuit is pretty sensible (you can use a spa box if you've already got the circuit pulled to where you will brew, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Square-Schneider-Electric-HOME250SPA-Homeline/dp/B000BQT1AS)

Last thing worth considering is a pump (I'm partial to the Chugger) to recirculate your water while coming up to temp. The less expensive option is just to stir the water frequently while heating - moving that fluid around makes a big difference in keeping it all at the same temp.

Good luck, keep us posted on your choices and how it comes out!

Ok that is understandable.

By its listing you cannot use the one mentioned as it was not indented for the flexible cord you have (used for 16/3, 14/3, or 12/3 SJTW cable).

Tower used to sell this 2 prong version which seems to be discontinued but you might be able to find if you call a local electrical store. Otherwise, you should be better off using this or this made for two wire equipment.

I built one and it was pretty easy and not very expensive considering. Warning: The following instructions are probably dangerous. This is what I did, and it's to demonstrate how simple it was to make.

1. Get a 10 gallon pot with a steamer basket.
   
2. Drill one or two 1" holes across from each other with a hole saw in the bottom of the pot, depending on how many elements you're putting in. Put some scrap wood inside the pot while drilling for support. One hole if you're doing it for 220, two for if you only have 110.
   
3. Drill another hole for the bulkhead valve.
   
4. Attach your electric elements. If you have 220. If you have 110.
   
5. Assemble everything.
   
6. Wire up the heating elements with some heavy duty wire. I covered the whole element backside with j b weld so that it won't short out.
   
7. Put some GFCI plugs on there to be extra sure.
   
   It's maybe two hundred bucks and when combined with an inkbird it makes biab a breeze.

Looks like it's $18 for a replacement. Weigh the cost of repair vs. buying a new one.

Any issues with something like this?

In lieu of replacing your breaker, you can buy and wire a spa panel for a GFCI.

https://www.amazon.com/Square-Schneider-Electric-HOME250SPA-Homeline/dp/B000BQT1AS

Put this as a part of your extension cord build to make things easier for you.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend building your own cord, just don't spring for the cheap cords.

Run 50 amps to preferably a spa pack. Tubs that run on 120v are usually garbage and 27/32 hot tubs I've done required a 240v 50 amp breaker

Should be possible if you can DIY the electrics or know someone who can...

• Kettle, $125
  
• BrewBag, $30
  
• HotRod, $60
  
• Element, $30
  
• 30A Cable disconnects, $20
  
• SSVR + Heat Sink, $40
  
• Spa Panel/GFCI, $80
  
• Breaker, $15
  
  ... that's $400 not incl shipping. Still need a bunch of 30A cable at $3/ft, a project box of some sort to mount the SSVR in (I use a $6 toolbox), maybe a chiller.
  

By the US definition, it isn't. Residential GFCI (UL 943 Class A, required by NFPA 70) is defined to trip at 6mA and above. There are, however, equivalent Class A GFCIs that go into a circuit breaker, such as this one, which also includes partial AFCI functionality.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077FV6RQT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_fDpYCbF574K1C