Wire elements formed in~ a coil allow a suitable length of wire ~ be accommodated in a relatively short space, and also absorb the effects of thermal expansion. When forming the coil care must be taken not ~ damage the wire by nicking or abrasion. Cleanliness of the element is also important. The maximum and minimum recommended ratios of inside-coil diameter ~ wire diameter are 6:1 and 3:1. The length of the close wound coil may be found using the table or equation below.
Where:
d Wire diameter (mm) D Inside-Coil diameter (mm) L Length of wire (m) x Length of close wound coil (mm)
Wire Diameter | Length of close wound coil (mm) per 1 metre length of wire Inside Coil Diameter : |
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SWG | in | mm | 3mm | 4mm | 5mm | 6mm | 7mm | 8mm | 9mm | 10mm |
10 | .128 | 3.25 | 166 | 143 | 125 | 112 | 101 | 92 | 84 | 78 |
11 | .116 | 2.95 | 158 | 135 | 118 | 105 | 94 | 86 | 79 | 72 |
12 | .104 | 2.64 | 149 | 127 | 110 | 97 | 87 | 79 | 72 | 67 |
13 | .092 | 2.34 | 139 | 117 | 101 | 89 | 80 | 72 | 66 | 60 |
14 | .080 | 2.03 | 129 | 107 | 92 | 81 | 72 | 64 | 59 | 54 |
15 | .072 | 1.83 | 121 | 100 | 85 | 74 | 66 | 59 | 54 | 49 |
16 | .064 | 1.63 | 112 | 92 | 78 | 68 | 60 | 54 | 49 | 45 |
17 | .056 | 1.42 | 102 | 83 | 70 | 61 | 54 | 48 | 43 | 40 |
18 | .048 | 1.22 | 92 | 74 | 62 | 54 | 47 | 42 | 38 | 35 |
19 | .040 | 1.02 | 81 | 64 | 54 | 46 | 40 | 36 | 32 | 29 |
20 | .036 | .91 | 74 | 59 | 49 | 42 | 37 | 33 | 29 | 27 |
21 | .032 | .81 | 68 | 54 | 45 | 38 | 33 | 29 | 26 | 24 |
22 | .028 | .71 | 61 | 48 | 40 | 34 | 29 | 26 | 23 | 21 |
23 | .024 | .61 | 54 | 42 | 35 | 29 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 18 |
24 | .022 | .56 | 50 | 39 | 32 | 27 | 24 | 21 | 19 | 17 |
25 | .020 | .51 | 46 | 36 | 29 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 15 |
26 | .018 | 46 | 42 | 33 | 27 | 23 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 14 |
27 | .0164 | .42 | 39 | 30 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 13 |
28 | .0148 | .38 | 35 | 27 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
29 | .0136 | .35 | 33 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 11 |
30 | .0124 | .31 | 30 | 23 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
31 | .0116 | .29 | 28 | 22 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 |
32 | .0108 | .27 | 27 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 |
33 | .0100 | .25 | 25 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
When this close wound coil is stretched the stretch should be about 3:1 as closer winding will result in hotter coils.
Apart from accidental damage the service life of a heating element may be shortened by localised burn-outs (hot spots). This may be caused by change ~ the wire’s cross section (e.g. nicks, stretching, kinks), or by shielding an area where the element cannot dissipate its heat freely, or by poor supporting points or terminations.