Process Technology

Wet Process Heating and Cooling Equipment

Troubleshooting Guide - SafeOneTM Heaters (Coming Soon)

1) Why is the power cable so large?
ANSWER
The SafeOne heating elements are able to operate on any supply voltage between 120V and 480V.  The SafeOne heaters models are built to work with any of these voltages, so the power cable is sized for the largest possible current draw (lowest supply voltage).  As a result, the wire gauge of the power cable will be correctly sized if the heater is to operate on  208V, but will be oversized if the heater is to operate on 480V.
2) How do I wire this heater?
ANSWER

Refer to the Getting Started quick reference guide for appropriate wiring diagrams for these heaters.  These diagrams are different, based upon the colors of the cable wires:

   

3) How do I wire this heater to the protector terminals in the combination control?
ANSWER
The SafeOne heaters have no over-temperature protector.  Therefore, the customer should jumper the protector terminals.  If they fail to do this, then the combo control will not energize the heaters or will not clear an over-temperature alarm.

Note: our combination controls will continue to be made with standard “PI terminals”, in case our controllers are used with resistance heaters.   These terminals will never be bypassed at the factory.
4) The measured Ohms are incorrect.
ANSWER
The SafeOne heaters are not made with resistance wire, so traditional Ohms measurements will not apply to these heaters.  You may also measure a large difference in Ohms between different heaters of the same Wattage.  This is due to the large manufacturing tolerances of the PTC chips.  In the future we will have a table listing the appropriate Ohms values for different Wattages.

5) There is a current surge (spike) when the heater turns on.
ANSWER
The electrical current surge is a normal behavior of the SafeOne heaters.  The current surge will disappear after a few seconds.  This is why the use of time-delay power fuses instead of fast-acting fuses is recommended.
6) The current draw is not the same (imbalanced) between the power phases.
ANSWER
An electrical current imbalance between the power phases is normal during the first few minutes of operation.  As the various sections of the hot zone start heating, the lower sections will generate more heat and reduce the output of the higher sections until convection to the liquid breaks-up the laminar flow along the surface.

If the current imbalance is persistent and is greater than 25%, the heater may have an improperly wired connection.
7) The heater won’t turn on.
ANSWER
Please verify the following:
·          The heater wires are properly connected to the control relay (contactor).
·          The over-temperature protector terminals in the temperature controller are bypassed (jumpered).
·          The temperature controller is trying to energize the heater.  That is, the set point is above the current tank temperature.
·          The power fuses have not tripped.
8) The newly installed SafeOne heaters take longer to heat up the tank than when resistance heaters were used.
ANSWER
This is probably the result of the normal auto-deration of the SafeOne heaters.  At higher operating temperatures or in viscous solutions, the heat output of the SafeOne heaters is reduced.  This may result in a noticeable increase in heatup time.  However, there should still be more than enough heat energy to maintain temperature once reached.

If the extended heatup time is unacceptable, then additional heaters will be needed.
9) The tank is having problems maintaining temperature after some time in service.  

-or-

It now takes too long for the tank to heat up.
ANSWER
The heat output of SafeOne heaters will be reduced by buidup or sludge covering the hot zone.  Scale buildup as thin as 1/16-inch can reduce the heat output by 20%.

Clean the surface of the heaters to remove buildup or remove the sludge from the tank.  An immediate improvement should be noticed.

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