Element sag

Kevin McGovern

Kevin McGovern

Joined
Jul 31, 2015
Messages
3,118
I left out a staple on one of my coils and it sagged. Is this thing going to break when I move it back once it's cool?
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Well, it can't stay where it is and there's only one way to find out. [emoji4]

I work on used industrial ovens frequently and elements get more delicate with use. Sometimes they break when we move/ship ovens, most of the time they hold up fine.
 
Silly as it sounds, move it back hot. Turn the oven on and let the coils heat for a few minutes. Shut off the power and using a long piece of wood, push it back where you want it to go. The wood may char or burn, but the hot coil will go back in place and cool to re-form. Put in the staple after the oven cools off.

Nice chatting with you last night. Did the autotune smooth the target swing out?
 
Auto tune did settle things down. I did move the coil back before it cooled, it went well. Thanks again for the help. Good talking to you.
 
woodster said:
i was going to suggest turning the heat down very slowly to anneal the element :D
Click to expand...

Stop and think about that for a while :)
The element is always at full heat every time the power is turned on by the PID. They don't get cooler as the set point is lowered, they just burn for shorter periods of time.

The nichrome wire used will set hard after a few firings and becomes more brittle with age. It can't be annealed to soften it. It is more flexible when hot, though.

If you shut off the oven and let is cool while shut, the coils would slowly cool. I don't think they would anneal, though.
 
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I did wait for a bit to move it , as I figured it would be better to do so before it was cool. I didn't touch it, but I'm sure it was still pretty hot. But yes, you can't " turn down the heat" per se.
 
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