Ohmic heating to heat hockey stick blade glue

coolbackyard

I am an ME, looking for resources or advice to assist my team in designing an ohmic heat source. The device will transport hot air with a small fan. We will be utilizing a 120VDC power source. This heater must produce temperatures in the range of 500-1000F. We are anticipating using a wire geometry similar to the resistance wire in a blow dryer or heat gun. Are there any standards for wire gauge/cross section, or suggested wire materials to achieve maximum heat transfer?
Any advice and/or external resources would be appreciated.

berkeman

Welcome to the PF.

Nichrome wire is commonly used in heater elements:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichrome_wire

Is the reason that you can't use a standard heater because of the unusual geometry of the blade and stick?

sophiecentaur

A hot air gun (or several) blown into an appropriately shaped tube / enclosure with thermal insulation? Top and bottom halves of the enclosure could be clipped together or hinged.

You really don't want to get involved with home made mains heating elements. It's not a trivial job. For those temperatures you would need good refractory supports for the heating elements and good electrical safety. Use an off the shelf heat source and concentrate on getting your enclosure the right size and shape and with the right insulation.

coolbackyard

Excuse me, I meant 120VAC source. We will not be building a prototype, this is just for the design phase.

sophiecentaur

For design or development I should have thought you'n need to establish the power needed. Much easier with off the shelf heaters. I would think.