an electrical question

[lawnseed]

what happens to an immersion heater if it is run at low or variable voltage? is it damaged? or does it just not work at all? or does it just not heat up the same as it would on 240v. is it the same as trying to boil a kettle on a small generator.. it works but it takes along time... does any one know i'm thinking of a wee project

[laoislad]

It's Immersion not Emersion.

[lawnseed]

It's Immersion not Emersion.

i before e..

[laoislad]

So what's this project you want to do?

[muppet]

It's Immersion not Emersion.

Didn't Hughie Immersion play for Laois?

[Shamrock Shore]

Laois had a great half back line in the late 60s:

Immersion, Lake and Palmer

[lawnseed]

So what's this project you want to do?

ive a brand new immersion heater in my hot water tank its never been switched on in the 10 years i've lived here i want to connect it to a wind turbine and just let it batter away into the hot water 24/7. sometimes it may boil the water, sometimes it will do nothing i dont care its not costing much. no damage can occur since if the tank boils the water will overflow and cold water will come in cooling the whole thing down. as they say every little helps

[laoislad]

So what's this project you want to do?

ive a brand new immersion heater in my hot water tank its never been switched on in the 10 years i've lived here i want to connect it to a wind turbine and just let it batter away into the hot water 24/7. sometimes it may boil the water, sometimes it will do nothing i dont care its not costing much. no damage can occur since if the tank boils the water will overflow and cold water will come in cooling the whole thing down. as they say every little helps

Huh?

[east down gael]

You can't just leave the immersion heater on non stop,very dangerous.nothing to do with what it will cost.

[lawnseed]

So what's this project you want to do?

ive a brand new immersion heater in my hot water tank its never been switched on in the 10 years i've lived here i want to connect it to a wind turbine and just let it batter away into the hot water 24/7. sometimes it may boil the water, sometimes it will do nothing i dont care its not costing much. no damage can occur since if the tank boils the water will overflow and cold water will come in cooling the whole thing down. as they say every little helps

Huh?

ive an open system with thermal relief valves. if the water gets too hot the valves open and let it out and more cold water will flow in.
i dont think boiling water will be a problem too often its only a 3kw alternator

[laoislad]

You can't just leave the immersion heater on non stop,very dangerous.nothing to do with what it will cost.

Who told you that?
Even if an Immersion is switched on 24/7 it doesn't mean the heating elements are on all the time.
An immersion is controlled by a thermostat which switches off the elements once a set temperature is reached.
There is no danger in leaving an immersion switched on.

[lawnseed]

You can't just leave the immersion heater on non stop,very dangerous.nothing to do with what it will cost.

wind turbines charging batteries use immersion heaters to dump access energy when the batteries are full. im not having batteries i'm going to use my hot tank as my battery and put all the power into it. are you thinking of a fire hazzard?

[east down gael]

Is that not only true if the safety devices are working(thermostat).if this fails could you not end up with a situation were the water is being constantly heated.the boiling water goes up the vent,into the tank,which then feeds the cylinder again.if this cycle continues for too long,and the cold water storage tank is plastic,you could end up with a larger amount of boiling hot water in a plastic tank that will eventually melt.
      I could be way wrong,but I have it in my head this happened in England or Wales,and a child got badly burnt when the tank burst.

[east down gael]

Rihanna Hardey was the child's name.

[lawnseed]

Is that not only true if the safety devices are working(thermostat).if this fails could you not end up with a situation were the water is being constantly heated.the boiling water goes up the vent,into the tank,which then feeds the cylinder again.if this cycle continues for too long,and the cold water storage tank is plastic,you could end up with a larger amount of boiling hot water in a plastic tank that will eventually melt.
      I could be way wrong,but I have it in my head this happened in England or Wales,and a child got badly burnt when the tank burst.

my boiling water goes out in steam through a hole in the wall. i suppose i could get another failsafe just for backup