Jan

10

3 basic types of heating elements

Posted by : admin | On : January 10, 2012

Category: electric heater, Electric Heating Element, Heating Element Knowledge Base, Heating Elements Information, Heating Elements Manufacturer

Tags:, , , , ,

Heating elements – NiChrome coils or ribbon, Calrod, Quartz

metallic heating elements 3 basic types of heating elementsAll heating elements perform the same function: convert electricity into heat. In this they have one other characteristic in common: they are all nearly 100% efficient. The only electrical energy which does not result in heat is the slight amount of light (usually red-orange) that is produced by a hot element.

There are 3 basic types of electric heating elements. Nearly every appliance on the face of the planet will use one of these:

  1. NiChrome coil or ribbon:NiChrome is an alloy of Nickel and Chromium which has several nice properties for use in heating appliances – First, it has a modest resistance and is thus perfect for use in resistance heating elements. It is easily worked, is ductile, and is easily formed into coils of any shape and size. NiChrome has a relatively high melting point and will pretty much retain its original shape and most importantly, it does not oxidize or deteriorate in air at temperatures up through the orange-yellow heat range.NiChrome coils are used in many appliances including toasters, convection electric heaters, blow-dryers, waffle irons and clothes dryers.The main disadvantage for our purposes is that it is usually not possible to solder this material due to the heating nature of its application. Therefore, mechanical – crimp or screw must be used to join NiChrome wire or ribbon to another wire or terminal. The technique used in the original construction is may be spot welding which is quick and reliable but generally beyond our capabilities.
    Popcorn Machine Heating element.summ 3 basic types of heating elements

    Testing: Visual inspection should reveal any broken coil or ribbon. If inspection is difficult, use a multimeter on the low ohms scale. Check for both shorts to the metal chassis as well as an open element (infinite ohms).

  2. Calrod(tm) sealed element:This encloses a fine coiled NiChrome wires in a ceramic filler-binder inside a tough metal overcoat in the form of a shaped rod with thick wire leads or screw or plug-in terminals.These are found in toaster oven/broilers, hot plates, coffee makers, crock pots and slow cookers, electric range surface elements, conventional and convection ovens and broilers.Testing: When these fail, it is often spectacular as there is a good chance that the internal NiChrome element will short to the outer casing, short out, and melt. If there is no visible damage but the element does not work, a quick check with an ohmmeter should reveal an open element or one that is shorted to the outer casing.
  3. Quartz incandescent tube:These are essentially tubular high power incandescent lamps, usually made with a quartz envelope and thus their name.These are found in various kinds of radiant heaters. By running a less than maximum power – more orange heat – the peak radiation is in the infra-red rather than visible range.

    Testing: Look for a broken filament. Test with an ohmmeter just like an incandescent light bulb.

Read More

Heating elements information center

Electric Heating Elements Leading Supplier

Jan

07

Make Electric Heating Elements Instructions

Posted by : admin | On : January 7, 2012

Category: electric heater, Electric Heating Element, Heating Element Knowledge Base, Heating Elements Manufacturer, heatingelementsinc.com, How To, http://cnxsf.en.alibaba.com

Tags:, , , , ,

How to Make an Electric Heating Elements

how to make electric heating elements heatingelementsinc.com Make Electric Heating Elements Instructions

Connect Nichrome to a battery to create an electric heating element

The essential components of electric heating elements are a battery, copper wire and Nochrome wire. Nochrome wire is the heating element used in toasters. Connecting the Nochrome to the battery runs an electric current through the Nochrome, which resists the current releasing heat. Lengthening the Nochrome reduces the heat produced; shortening the Nochrome increases the heat produced. Attaching a potentiometer to the circuit allows the operator of the heating element to control the temperature with a knob.

Instructions

    • 1

      Connect the battery to the potentiometer. Use the copper wire to connect the positive (+) end of the battery to the “input” end of the potentiometer. Use another piece of copper wire to connect the “output” of the potentiometer to the negative (-) end of the battery.

    • 2

      Disconnect the circuit. Disconnect the copper wire from the “output” of the potentiometer.

    • 3

      Adjust the potentiometer to maximum resistance. There is usually a knob that controls resistance that the potentiometer produces. In some cases, a slider adjusts the potentiometer, which increases or decreases resistance when the operator moves it along a linear path.

    • 4

      Connect the Nichrome. Attach the Nichrome to the “output” of the potentiometer. Connect it to the copper wire that connects to the negative (-) end of the battery.

    • 5

      Adjust the potentiometer to reach the desired temperature. Lowering the resistance of the potentiometer will change the temperature of the Nichrome.

***********************************************************************
Make Electric Heating Elements InstructionsWish for good friends for better business & life.
www.heatingelementsinc.com – Leading Heating Elements Manufacturer

cnxsf.en.alibaba.com is our products showroom on alibaba.com.
Alibaba Heating Elements Gold Supplier Make Electric Heating Elements Instructions

***********************************************************************

Tips & Warnings

Adding copper wire between the potentiometer and the Nichrome will give the apparatus more flexibility (i.e., you can attach the heating element at a distance from the potentiometer).

  • Use heat resistant gloves, if you need to handle the Nichrome while it is connected to the circuit or while it is still hot after disconnecting.
  • Do not attempt this experiment near water or flammable substances.

 

 

 

 

Dec

30

How to repair broken heating elements

Posted by : admin | On : December 30, 2011

Category: Heating Element Knowledge Base, Heating Elements Information, How To

Tags:, , , ,

Repair broken heating elements instructions

heating elements How to repair broken heating elementsIn appliances like waffle irons and toaster ovens, these are usually welded. This is necessary to withstand the high temperatures and it is cheap and reliable as well. Welding is not normally an option for the doit yourselfer. However, if you are somewhat suicidal, see the section: Improving sensitivity of garage door openers receivers for a more drastic approach.

I have used nuts and bolts, say 6-32, bolt, wire, washer, wire, washer, lockwasher, nut. Depending on how close to the actual really hot element it is, this may work. If you are connecting to the coiled element, leave a straight section near the joint – it won’t get as hot.

The use of high temperature solder or brazing might also work.

The best approach is probably to use high temperature crimp connectors:

(The following from: szxsf@szxsf.com ( Joanna Deng)

You can connect heating element wires with high-temperature solderless connectors that are crimped onto the wires. Be sure to get the special high-temp connectors; the ordinary kind will rapidly oxidize and fall apart at high temperatures. If you want to join two wires to each other, you’ll need either a butt splice connector (joins the wires end-to-end) or a parallel splice connector (the wires go into the connector side-by-side). To fasten a wire to a screw terminal you can use a ring or spade connector (though as noted above, a screw, nut, and washer(s) should work fine — sam). If your waffle iron has quick disconnect terminals you’ll need the opposite gender disconnect (AkA Faston). These come in both .187″ and .250″ widths.

high density heating pipe.summ How to repair broken heating elements

Your best bet for getting these connectors in small quantity is probably a local appliance parts outlet that caters to do-it-yourselfers. If you can’t find what you need there, try Newark Electronics (branches all over the place). I have an old copy of their catalog which lists SPC Technology Voltrex Brand High Temperature Barrel Terminals in several styles: ring, spade, disconnect, and butt splice. The prices were around $10 to $12 per 100 (this catalog is a couple of years old) for wires in the 22-18 or 16 to 14AWG size ranges, almost twice that for the heftier wire gauges. (Be sure to determine the wire gauge of your heating elements so you can get the right size terminal.)

You can spend a lot of money on crimp tools, but for occasional light use you can probably get by with one of those $10 gadgets that crimp, strip & cut wires, and cut bolts–the sort of thing you’d find in your local home center or Radio Shack.

The thin stainless steel strip found spot welded to multicell NiCd batteries make good crimps for joining breaks in heater resistance wire. Form a small length of this strip around a needle or something similar to make a tight spiral with enough clearance to go over doubled-up heater wire. Abraid or file the cut ends of the broken wire. Crimp into place with a double lever action crimper. If there is an area of brittle heating element around the break then cut out and splice in a replacement section with two such crimps. Such a repair to my hot-air paint stripper (indispensable tool in my electronics tool-kit) has survived at least 50 hours.

Another old trick for nichrome repair is to make a paste of Borax, twist the two broken end together, and energize the circuit. A form of bond welding takes place. I’ve have used this on electric clothes dryer heater elements with good luck.

Here’s a “quick fix” that sometimes works for a long time and sometimes fails quickly (depending, I think, on just how old and brittle the nichrome wire is).

Mix some ordinary “Boraxo” powdered hand soap with a little water to make a thick paste — and you don’t need much.

Take the broken ends of wire, bend a small loop into each, and interlock the loops so the wires stay together.

Pack the Boraxo paste around the joint, and turn on the heater.

Keep your eyes on that joint. As the coil heats up, the hook joint will be the worst connection, so it’ll naturally get the hottest.

When it gets hot enough, the nichrome wires will melt, and, being fluxed by the borate, will fuse together into a blob. The blob, now being larger than the rest of the wires, will immediately cool down, and will never again get as “red hot” as the rest of the heater.

Allow the coils to cool down and, using pliers, carefully crush any glassy flux deposit that remains on the joint.

If the joint doesn’t behave as I describe, or if the wires are too brittle to be formed into hooks, the wires are likely too old to produce a long-lasting joint. If the joint behaves as I described, it may last for a good long time.

See Also

Electric heating element information center

3 basic types of heating elements