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| heating elements, a better way? |
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| JHovel:
I suspect the reason for not haing an element in the bottom is for mechanical protection. if something melts or falls over all hell could break loose.... :zap: |
| PK:
--- Quote from: JHovel on April 14, 2016, 06:19:54 AM ---I suspect the reason for not haing an element in the bottom is for mechanical protection. if something melts or falls over all hell could break loose.... :zap: --- End quote --- :-) I think the phrase "What could possibly go wrong?" was coined in a foundry. You really have to just accept that it's a bit risky and press on..... Worst case would be that you trip a breaker...... Another reason not to put the element in the bottom is because of the thing I forget the name of.....bugger... But it's basically a property of the element wire that limits the power density (ie Watts per unit area) you can have before the wire overheats and cracks. I ended up having to fit a higher resistance element, so I could space the coils more. This dropped the unit from 250V 15A to 250V 9A with a corresponding increase in time to melt. It's more of a problem with small furnaces (like mine)... I really should have sprung for carbide bar elements... Or just built a bigger furnace... I digress... On a small furnace you want as much surface area as you can get to keep the watts/m^2 low... |
| shipto:
ok I will consign that idea to the "not worth trying" section of my brain then. |
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