Three Phase Immersion Heater UK

Three Phase Immersion Heater.

Shop for Three Phase Immersion Heater

To buy, click on the relevant link – 3kW, 6kW, 9kW, 12kW, 18kW & 24kW – stock available for rapid delivery.

Most industrial locations have the facility of a Three Phase electrical feed. Put simply, these are three of the same 240v, Single Phase feeds we share with our neighbours in a domestic house situation. Cleverer people have tried to explain to me why three lots of 240v equates to 415v, but it has never quite computed in my little brain. If you are reading this & are cleverer and wish to educate me so I am able to elaborate further, feel free on 01827 215684 or immhtr at gmail dot com).

If you have a three phase feed, the world is your lobster, and you can have any power rating, up to about 27kW on a screwplug, (who knows what is the limit on a flange) whereas single phase feeds are limited to 6kW at a maximum (unless you are a mad brewer, telling me they are running 12 & 15kW on a single phase, but that is mere rumour & hearsay, and my calls are not recorded for training & quality purposes).

Whereas a Single Phase heater can have just the one element, a three phase immersion heater, will by necessity require three elements, one for each 240v phase. Which is fortuitous, so that single phase three element heaters can be switched to 3 phase, and vice versa, by reconfiguring the busbarring of the terminals. So long as you are going to 4 WIRE STAR, but more on DELTA later.

Immersion Heater Images.

Element Configurations.

If the elements are arranged on the screwplug as three in a line (images 1, 2 & 3) it is easy to visualise the reconfiguration. When the elements are arranged as a triangle on the screwplug, (images 5 & 6) to maximise the room available fopr looping elements, squeezing on extra stat pockets, etc, triangular busbar will be required to common up 3 terminals. Element looping leads me onto watt density, sadly.

Put simply the more heating power coming out of every square inch or cm of your hot element, the higher the sheath temperature, the more sh1t sticks (calcium & magnesium in our gloriously hard water) and the more any chemicals, acids/alkalis, etc, in your solution will attack the glowing element, and cause it to go pop, sooner rather than later. I sometimes advise customers to follow this disposable route, which is fine if you are proving an application, limited on budget, etc.

On a 1.5″BSP screwplug (Domestic Standard in UK) it is only possible to fit 3 U bent elements (8mm ⌀ , and a coupla stat pockets if you know an ElementJedi) whereas on a 2.25″BSP screwplug (Industrial Standard in the UK) you can fit 3 looped elements, as below.

Looped Elements.

This enables even more element to be fitted into the space available. Which is why I often annoy customers by insisting on the “MAXIMUM immersed length”. An extra inch (Matron!) on 3 looped element is an extra 6″ of element, which is only gonna extend the working life of your heater a little bit more. So size is important, after all. As there are no kW power limitations with 3 phase heaters, you have your pick of our Industrial Immersion Heaters Range or our Brewery Immersion Heaters Range , or indeed any of the Oil Immersion Heaters Range.

Stock & Bespoke.

Also available are bespoke items to suit your specific needs if required. In BRASS that can include BSP screwplug sizes including 1″BSP, 1.25″BSP, 1.5″BSP, 1.75″BSP, 2″BSP as well as the British Industrial Standard size of 2.25″, which can be fitted with an adaptor to take it up to 2.5″BSP. In STAINLESS STEEL we can offer 2″ & 2.25″BSP screwplugs. Bespoke items usually take a coupla weeks, but can be shuffled to the top of the pile if you are willing to pay a premium surcharge of approximately 50%. Customers only tend to do this when they are desperate, due to a production line being down & costing £££’s due to not carrying a spare. The moral of this story being, CARRY A SPARE, especially if your heaters are not standard (ie, 2.25″BSP and a multiple of 3 in terms of kW power output) and stock as listed below.

STOCK 3 Phase Immersion Heater

BESPOKE 3 Phase Immersion Heater

  • Available at any kW loading from 500w up to 6kW.
  • 1.25″, 1.5″, 1.75″, 2″, 2.25″ and 2.5″ screwplug sizes are available in brass.
  • 2″ and 2.25″ BSP also available in stainless steel.
  • Available with 1 or 2 thermowells at 7, 11 or 18″ for thermostats / cutouts.
  • 1 additional M25 cable entry glands as an option.
  • Available with no thermowell if specified by the client. If you don’t need it, omit it from the build, as it is an unecessary weak point.

Call Jamie on 01827 215684 to discus your Three Phase Immersion Heater needs.

If you decide you prefer to go Over the Side of the vessel, have a look at our Vat Heaters Range.

Browse industrial immersion heaters