Kanthal A1 wire diameter, temperature and service life question

[kucukler]

I've been designing an oven with using Kanthal A1 wire.

If we compare 1,2mm & 3mm wire with the same power value

For 4000W and 230VAC according to the ohmage chart we should use these lengths below;

1,2mm wire length should be: 13,6 meters

3 mm wire length should be: 84,8 meters

But I've got a question;

Do they heat up to same degree at the same time or the thin wire will heat up more because of its small diameter even though it has the same power value with the thick one?

The points that important for me are;

Reaching a specific degree (1000Celcius degrees for example)

with a small amount of time possible

with a long heating wire service life.

Thanks.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Welcome kucukler. Fill out your profile so we know a bit about you and where you live.

The thicker the wire the longer it will last.
Fast heat-up times are false goals. You need time for the whole oven to soak the refractory and get a proper heat.

Use the Custo Search Engine in the stickys to find the many threads on choosing the Kanthal wire when building a HT oven. There are also many threads on oven build projects you might want to look at before starting.