Maintenance

Sep 11, 2017

What shortens the lifetime of Resistance heaters? Aside from mechanical abuse and manufacturing defects, there are three basic causes of earlier heater failure. REASONCONTAMINATIONOVER-TEMPERATUREEXCESSIVE CYCLING What it is ? Any foreign material that is or becomes electrically conductive. Anything that causes the temperature of the resistance wire in the heater or the lead wire to exceed its temperature rating. Turning the heater on & off on a cycle that allows the resistance wire in the heater to cool of by several hundred degrees below the temperature reached when "on". What it does? Makes a conductive path between the resistance or lead wire and any "grounded" object (such as the heater sheath or metal lead protection) thus causing an electrical short. If the insulation rating is very high such as a ceramic, as used in cartridge heaters , the resistance wire itself may oxidize or melt; otherwise, the insulation breaks down, allowing the resistance wire to short through. Any temperature cycle, even one, shortens heater life because it causes more rapid oxidation on the surface of the resistance wire, then tends to break off the oxide coat when cooling. The greater the temperature difference in the cycle over time, the shorter the lifetime. Typical causes ? Water, when soaked into the insulation of...