I wired up my SCR to the heating element this afternoon. I sacrificed a 12 gauge extension cord I got from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N4MBKPL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I clipped off the female end, and wired it to the heating element:
The black and white wires attached to the 2 main element screws, and then green (ground) wire went to the side screw. This should provide ground to the entire still if it's connected correctly:
I then cut the extension cord again around the midpoint. I wired the Black line into and out of the SCR. I spliced the White line to itself with a pigtail connection. In retrospect, I wish I would have carefully spliced into the cord, leaving the white wire intact. The green ground I also pigtailed to itself, along with a small (red) wire that I attached to a random screw on the SCR body. I figured this would ground the SCR. I don't know if this is necessary. If not, again I would have tried to not splice the green wire, splicing only the black wire into and out of the SCR:
It's all a bit janky, but I will see if works here pretty soon. I am hoping to make my 1st run in the next week or so.