Resistance and Power

[Squidgy]

Ok, here’s my take on this and I’ll try and explain it without boring you too much…

Kanthal has a mass of 7.1g/cm³ (gram per centimetre cubed)
SS316 has a mass of 7.98g/cm³

Kanthal requires 0.46 Joules to heat 1g by 1°C
SS316 requires 0.5 Joules to heat 1g by 1°C

So heating the same volume of 1cm³ of each material works out as…

Kanthal (0.46J x 7.1g) = 3.266J/cm³-°C
SS316 (0.5J x 7.89g) = 3.945/cm³-°C

Based on the above SS316 will require approx. 20% more power to provide the same heat output based on identically sized coils.

 

[hack400]

Ok, here’s my take on this and I’ll try and explain it without boring you too much…

Kanthal has a mass of 7.1g/cm³ (gram per centimetre cubed)
SS316 has a mass of 7.98g/cm³

Kanthal requires 0.46 Joules to heat 1g by 1°C
SS316 requires 0.5 Joules to heat 1g by 1°C

So heating the same volume of 1cm³ of each material works out as…

Kanthal (0.46J x 7.1g) = 3.266J/cm³-°C
SS316 (0.5J x 7.89g) = 3.945/cm³-°C

Based on the above SS316 will require approx. 20% more power to provide the same heat output based on identically sized coils.

Makes sense. Looking at the heat capacity of both wires in the earlier screen shots shows that SS316L is 25% higher than KA1 for the same sized coils

 

[Crispycritters]

So do you mean that 7 wraps 2.5mm id of each kanthal and ss316l would both work the same with 12w of power?

Essentially, if the total of the wire used is the same length and diameter, Yes. There would be some difference because the metals have different content, but it would be minimal. The assumption that a lower resistance coil requires more power than a higher resistance coil to avoid slow ramp up only works if the same type of wire is used for both coils.