9kW 3ph Immersion Type Heater run in Single Phase

[JonBPhilippine]

Hi, I received a 9kW 3ph heater from a friend from india, i was hoping to use this in steam production for a distillation project i am working at. I rewired it and made the 3 heating element in parallel connection. Now my problem is the 6 gauge wires i am using are always heating up, also some outside connection smokes. what do you propose i do.? also, what will the effective current of this heater be in single phase?

 

[telectrix]

Hi, I received a 9kW 3ph heater from a friend from india, i was hoping to use this in steam production for a distillation project i am working at. I rewired it and made the 3 heating element in parallel connection. Now my problem is the 6 gauge wires i am using are always heating up, also some outside connection smokes. what do you propose i do.? also, what will the effective current of this heater be in single phase?

what's you supply voltage?

 

[JonBPhilippine]

what's you supply voltage?

220V power source

 

[telectrix]

was the heater originally designed for 415V 3 phase or 230V 3 phase.should say on rating plate

 

[Pete999]

what's you supply voltage?

Also how has the N connection been produced, can you post up a diagram of the wiring arrangements?

 

[JonBPhilippine]

was the heater originally designed for 415V 3 phase or 230V 3 phase.should say on rating plate

its originally 230V 3ph he said

 

[JonBPhilippine]

Also how has the N connection been produced, can you post up a diagram of the wiring arrangements?

sorry Pete999 i dont have the original wiring diagram, i will ask my friend and will get post it here once i received it.

 

[Pete999]

sorry Pete999 i dont have the original wiring diagram, i will ask my friend and will get post it here once i received it.

OK thanks

 

[telectrix]

if it's designed as 230V 3 phase in star configuration, then each element requires 133V, not 230V. that could be the problem.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Or do you have pictures of the connections before you modified them?

If the elements were in delta and are designed for 220V, then each element requires 3000/220=13.6A. Total single phase load will be 3x13.6=41A.
#6 cable is about 13mm² which will easily carry 41A. Either the elements are 133V as Tel suggests (which would be a bit surprising as I would expect them to be normal single-phase heaters) or your connections are not properly made and have excessive resistance.

BTW normal immersion water heaters are not designed to raise steam. The element sheath will run hotter when not all of it is in contact with water, and its life may be shortened.

 

[Pete999]

Or do you have pictures of the connections before you modified them?

If the elements were in delta and are designed for 220V, then each element requires 3000/220=13.6A. Total single phase load will be 3x13.6=41A.
#6 cable is about 13mm² which will easily carry 41A. Either the elements are 133V as Tel suggests (which would be a bit surprising as I would expect them to be normal single-phase heaters) or your connections are not properly made and have excessive resistance.

BTW normal immersion water heaters are not designed to raise steam. The element sheath will run hotter when not all of it is in contact with water, and its life may be shortened.

Spot on Lucien

 

[JonBPhilippine]

hi everyone. thank you very much for giving time. my friend hasnt sent me anything yet. but i think the connection should be on delta because i didnt notice any neutral wires before. it was delivered with a #10 3 wire.
an electrician suggested that it may not be able to supply the same energy to generate steam in single phase compare to when it was in 3 phase. is it true?
will this 9kW 230V 3ph heater cant produce the same heat energy to raise steam if connected to single phase even though all wire gauge requirements and proper wiring connections are in place?

 

[JonBPhilippine]

Or do you have pictures of the connections before you modified them?

If the elements were in delta and are designed for 220V, then each element requires 3000/220=13.6A. Total single phase load will be 3x13.6=41A.
#6 cable is about 13mm² which will easily carry 41A. Either the elements are 133V as Tel suggests (which would be a bit surprising as I would expect them to be normal single-phase heaters) or your connections are not properly made and have excessive resistance.

BTW normal immersion water heaters are not designed to raise steam. The element sheath will run hotter when not all of it is in contact with water, and its life may be shortened.

also, the #6 cable i use is aluminum, which should have 40 amps max only

 

[Lucien Nunes]

an electrician suggested that it may not be able to supply the same energy to generate steam in single phase compare to when it was in 3 phase. is it true?

As previously explained, you need to find out the voltage rating of the individual elements, or their resistance in ohms (from which you can calculate the voltage if you know the power rating), or whether the original connection was star or delta. They may have been in star even without a neutral cable, as they would be equal and balanced and the star point would sit at the correct voltage without having to be connected to the supply.

Aluminium cable is notorious for making bad connections. If you are not familiar with the correct technique and use anticorrosive paste etc, then you can easily make a joint that looks good but overheats.

 

[GeorgeCooke]

if it's designed as 230V 3 phase in star configuration, then each element requires 133V, not 230V. that could be the problem.

That configuration is not used anywhere in the world.