quench tank heater?

Will52100

Will52100

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Dec 4, 2001
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I did a search but couldn't find much info. Seems I remember a thread where someone used a water heater element to heat there quench tank.

Any ideas?

thanks
 
I have a five and a ten gallon tank that is a converted water heater. The simplest choice is an immersion "rod" style heater. These are simple and can be hooked up to a PID and SSR for temp control if desired.

That said, I think 99% of quench tanks are heated by bringing up a 1" round bar of mild steel to red hot and stirring the tank with it. A few re-heats and even the oil will warm up on even the coldest day.
 
They are called bucket heaters at the local hardware or feed store. Mine are run through a pid control so I can keep track of the temp as well as the auto control.
 
Might'a been me Will... My old tanks all had water heater elements in them.

Mine were super simple- just get a threaded coupling that matches up to the element's base, cut a hole in the tank and weld the coupling in place. I took cords off a couple old shop lights and wired them to the element. I didn't even bother with toggle switches or anything... just plug it in, then stand there to keep an eye on a thermometer in the oil.

5 gallons would heat up in a minute or two.

All that said... I only use Park 50 and AAA anymore, so none of my quench tanks have heating elements in them now.
 
That's a whole lot of work just to make a $30 turkey roaster... that's what I use to heat up my medium speed oil (peanut oil). Parks 50 in a soda keg might get a hot RR spike every now and then if the oil is really cold.
 
how well does it work? My quench tank is the bottom off a kerosene heater, you know the ones that look and sound like a jet engine? Basically rectangular and shallow, about 3" deep oil.
 
Will52100 said:
Bucket heater huh, never thought of that. Something like this? http://www.amazon.com/Allied-Precision-Premier-742G-Bucket/dp/B000BDB4UG

I've been heating chunks of scrap for years, but want something a little neater and won't have to fire the forge up to do it.
Click to expand...

If you read the specs of the quench oils, they can specify that the heating elements be under a certain wattage per volume


I expect that you get longer oil life with gentle heating vs red hot steel to preheat.
 
Will52100 said:
how well does it work? My quench tank is the bottom off a kerosene heater, you know the ones that look and sound like a jet engine? Basically rectangular and shallow, about 3" deep oil.
Click to expand...

You need an oil depth of 10 + inches for a bucket heater to function.
 
here's my quench tank, a little over 2.5" deep. If I was quenching more than 3 or 4 knives at a time I might have issues with the oil getting too hot.

I've thought of mounting a burner under it, but if I have to do that I'll just stick with heating scrap in the forge.
 

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