Environmental Test Chambers: Temperature Range: High End

When it comes to high temperature requirements, what are the current limits of environmental test chambers?

First, a little bit about how high-temp chambers work...

They are heated by wire heaters (wire material may be Nichrome). Using successive loops of heater wire, allows one to increase the amount of heat generated. This principle is similar to that used in a household space heater.

85°C — Often a limit for walk-in chambers. May use use expanded urethane or fiberglass for insulation.

150°C — Fast-acting chambers may have this temperature as an upper limit. This avoids problems with accidentally tripping overheat protection devices.

170-180°C — Many models stop at this temperature range. This is due to the risk of overheating the refrigeration oil inside the cooling coil.

210°C — An upper limit on thermal-shock chambers. Since these types of chambers separate the hot and cold sides, it's possible to exceed the limits of the refrigeration oil. Please note that near 200°C, one is hovering around the engineering limits of several materials used in constructing the chamber.

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