Elsewhere, someone has just claimed that fan-assisted ovens have aluminium elements. My immediate reaction was "Of course they don't". But then I realised that I really don't know what the elements are made from.
So - what is the outer casing of typical electric elements such as these made from? Could any be made from aluminium? Maybe there is even some sort of "heatsink" (can't think what else they'd be called - so terminology from a PC seems reasonable!) that isn't the element itself.
polygonum formulated on Saturday :
A stainless steel alloy tube with magnesium oxide as the insulator.
The element yes, but not the outer tube.
resistance wire: nichrome insulation: Mg oxide jacket: steel/alloys
they run upto red hot, so cant be ali
NT
Sheath is normally austenitic stainless steel AFAIK.
Thank you all.
Ones that are designed to run under water (not oven ones;-) are sometimes copper, sometimes with a plating.
he said 'outer casing' not 'the wire inside'
Typically they used to be steel or copper. Steel is cheap, copper conducts heat better, but is monumentally expensive these days, so aluminium could be what's in play.
Inside that will be some form of refractory cement as an insulator, and inside that the nichrome element..
I seem to remember at least one kettle element that looked like copper when it was descaled. But that was a long time ago.
I guess it depends on the heat required as ally tends to burn, well oxidise very fast at least. Brian
The outer case is commonly copper, steel, stainless steel, brass, bronze. Depends on operating temperature and environment.
Never heard of aluminium being used, though I suppose it's possible. If the fan packed in, I think the element would overheat and melt pretty quick.
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