Blanking a hole.

Evening all.
Both of the elements in my boiler have failed, my own fault, I left it out in the rain for 2 weeks
So I've bit the bullet and bought a couple of 3kw jobbies off brew builder.
The problem is that the old, smoking, melted elements are 40mm holes, whereas the new ones are only 32mm.
Basically, I've got to plug two 40mm holes. Short of leaving the old elements in, any suggestions?

Cheers,
Jon.

I think I have an idea.
If I cut the element off at the flat plate, it should just leave a blanking plate. I'll have a go and post results
Cheers,
Jon.

Know I know that elements are hollow
Back to the drawing board.

Why would solder be a bad idea? It's hotside so sanitation isn't an issue and I doubt solder reacts to boiling wort does it?

Never thought about soldering. The only draw back is that I don't have a soldering torch. By the time I buy all the gear, I might as well
get a new pot.
But... being able to solder other fittings in the future would be beneficial.
I'll have to put a hammer to my piggy bank.

I wouldn't take just my word for it - I'm not exactly the most hands on of people. I can't see why it wouldn't work though.

https://www.brewbuilder.co.uk/weldless- ... khead.html
Two of these with triclamp blanks

Never thought of weldless tri clamps.
I've now gone down the route of banking plates. A small engineering shop near me is making some s/s plates with
a 34mm hole in 2 of them and a 12mm hole in another 2.

Cheers,
Jon.