Case Study #176: When Increased Watt Density Causes Poor Heater Life

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Case Study #176

A customer contacted our engineers a while back about an issue they were having with an industrial heater that was getting poor life.

The Case:

The customer said he was using 480V 3-phase power and was bringing out two legs. He had been using a heater rated for 600W at 240V. The power that was actually applied to the heater was 277V, but he was getting poor heater life.What was going on?

The photo above is a diagram of the two lines he was bringing out. The customer was applying 277V to a 600W 240V heater.

What was the actual wattage generated?

The formula below described to our engineers what was happening.

Conclusion

So, in this case, he was actually generating 800W, which is 1/3 more wattage than the original designed wattage of 600W. The watt density was increased by 33% also, hence the shorter life.

Written by Jim Dixon and Shelby Reece
Edited by Kyle Otte
Date Published: 06.19.2019
Last Updated: 11.21.2019