Connecting Kanthal A1 heating wires with each other ...

[irpheus]

Hi All,

I have a likely simple question that I hope one of you may be able to help with (and I also hope this is the right subforum) ...

As it is I would like to connect two Kanthal A1 heating wires with each other (Ø3 and Ø1.2, at 1200 degr. C max), however, for various reasons I would prefer to use a "connection" based on suitable screws and e.g. a short connecting tube with threads. To this end I have looked into some of the stainless steel alloys but it seems that when heated to e.g. 1200 degr C. these alloys loose quite some mechanical strength. So I am therefore wondering if there may be another more suitable alloy - or in case the thickness and size of the stainless steel used is large enough if stainless would be fine anyway?

Any insights in this is appreciated

Jesper

 

[XL83NL]

Depends on how heavily such alloys are stressed or loaded. In general, there a few nickel alloys, but maybe even also austenitic stainless steel alloys suitable for such conditions.
At 1200°C though, there's little left to cherry pick from - most alloys loose their strength beyond say 1000°C.

Do you have some sort of sketch or photo? We have some experience with Kanthal heating wires for a furnace, but Im not sure if we had to connect them to each other.

 

[EdStainless]

What is the atmosphere?
We used to use crimps made of plain Fe, our procedure was to re-crimp them every couple of months.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy

 

[irpheus]

Hi both,

& thanks for your feedbacks

@XL83NL ...

... I don't have a drawing that shows in detail how the wires are connected but maybe a description can help (?): As it is the Ø1.2mm A1 wire is wound up in a coil and at the end of the coil this end is to be connected to a straight Ø3 A1 wire. The Ø3 wire and the Ø1.2 wire point in the same direction, i.e. they run parallel with a 15mm separation. I hope this can be visualized ... ?

Anyway, with EdStainless' post in mind I am thinking if it would work to do something like what is shown in the attached drawing? That is to make some small incisions into the A1 Ø3 wire and then tighten the A1 Ø1.2 wire against the Ø3 wire with some Ø0.9 A1 wire that is "twisted"/"rotated". I don't know what the exact word is but the top & bottom "ends" of the Ø0.9 wire are twisted together to create a low pressure on the the Ø1.2 wire which is then pressed against the Ø3 wire. I have not drawn the Ø1.2 top & bottom twist as (to me) it takes some time to draw such structures... But I hope you may get the idea ...

Another option could be to drill a 1.2mm hole in the end of the Ø3 wire and then insert the Ø1.2 wire into this hole (just inserting it as I would like to replace it in case it breaks for some reason).

Any thoughts on this?

Cheers & thanks again,

Jesper

 

[irpheus]

Hmmm ... it seems that the attachment is not there ... will try again ...

... it seems it should be ok now ...

Jesper