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Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Nichrome Resistance Wire Consistently Failing
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[QUOTE="Windadct, post: 4977854, member: 311008"] Hello Lotus - Note on the silicone - in addition to the noted acidic curing issue - most RTV Silicones are Hydroscopic - meaning they absorb water - add to this thermal cycling and you accelerate the effect... so my first guess is you are getting the nichrome wet (or just moist) with an acidic solution... not so good. You may want to look into a marine store - for a true water proof and harsh environment type sealant. -- Found this [PLAIN]http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/umi-82180[/PLAIN] Looking at your plates - is is possible to get someone with a router to make channels for the wire? It looks like when you clamp the plates together - they are clamping against the wire - while good for thermal transfer - not so good for the wire - remember as this heats and cools it is moving back and forth- since it is very unlikely (impossible) the plates are clamped uniformly across all the wire there will be a couple locations that take all of the mechanical stress. ( with the above permatex - you may want to use a bead along all of the wire - to set the wire in place and probably have a better thermal conductivity than the air around the wire. I know you want to keep this as a DIY - and an electrical heater seems to be a simple enough system - making them work reliably in a real world application is really not trivial- and the compost is actually a pretty harsh environment.. So -- if the heaters are critical - you may want to consider some silicone strip heaters - you can get them for 12 V Side note : You seem to be doing excellent considering what you have been through and where you are! -- keep in touch. [/QUOTE]
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Nichrome Resistance Wire Consistently Failing
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