Open Coil Air Heating Elements

Open coil heating elements are coiled resistance wire (usually Ni-Chrome, but also others) fixed onto a supporting element.

The selection of the correct wire gauge, wire type and coil diameter requires quite some experience. There are standard elements available on the market, but quit often they need to be custom built. Open coil air heaters work best below air velocities of 80 FPM. Higher air velocities could cause the coils to touch each other and short out. For higher velocities, select a tubular air heater or strip heater.

We recommend the use of a flow switch in the airstream to avoid any overheating of the system. Because of the low mass and fast response time, we recommend the use of a zero-cross SCR or phase-fired SCR.

General Applications

The big advantage of open coil heating elements is the very quick response time.

There are standard open coil heating elements available on the market and we carry some in stock. Most of these elements need a constant airflow over the resistance wire, but if the watt densities are low enough they may not burn out in still air.

Here is an expample of a standard open-coil air heaters:

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We custom build and repair open coil heating elements for convection ovens, comfort heating and industrial heating. Before we can build a heater, we need to know at least airflow, delta temperature, volts and watts.