Load Tester

I made a little load tester with some stove elements. They draw 27A at 260V. The camera is sensitive to near infrared -- they don't look as bright in real life. I think I will have to improve the cooling system before running it at higher voltage. The 3rd element away from the fan runs hottest, probably because the 4th element radiates heat away on it's outside and heats the 3rd element with the other.

Connecting this thing is not entirely straightforward. At low currents, you can use an Anderson disconnect with moderate safety, but things go badly at 27A and 260V. When I connected all 4 elements for the first time, the pins hit end on and the plug didn't go together. I don't know if disconnecting would have gone better with the small run-up that a fully mated connector offers, but I do know that separating from half connected went badly. There was a pop and a ball of white a big bigger than a hand span. When the after-image started to fade I could see the outline of the connector with a jet of white exiting the connector at 45 degrees on each side.

Safe disconnection is easily achieved with the right contactor. A small flash is visible inside the arc chamber during disconnection.