Heater Elements... Tefel coated & Titanium?

livin

0
Sep 15, 2015
18
Denver, CO
I'm looking to replace a Balboa M7 5.5KW heater element. What is the difference (which is better and why) between Tefel coated & Titanium? Also, what is the cost of each.

I searched the web but could not find any info comparing the two.

Thank you for the help
 
Unless I'm completely mistaken there's no such thing as tefel coating. It should be Tefzel (ETFE). It's a Teflon type coating. It's probably a toss up as to which would be better. Titanium would be as long as it's not just Titanium plated due to the heat generated by the wire.

I know you asked for people with direct experience and as I have no direct experience with these heaters, feel free to discard the above advice.
 
Tefal is a ceramic based coating (you find it on high-end cookware). So the element is basically a ceramic coated Incoloy metal. Incoloy is a corrosion resistant metal alloy made mostly of iron, nickel, cobalt, chromium and small amount of copper with some trace elements in it. It's probably the Incoloy-DS alloy as that is used in heat-cycle applications. Titanium heaters are as they sound, made of titanium metal.

Titanium heater exchangers are found in high-end (read $$$$) gas pool heaters. Titanium is a very stable metal in water that forms a strong passive oxide layer that can withstand pretty corrosive environments. There's almost no chance of the heater element galvanically corroding.

Ceramic coated metals are fairly inert as well but they can suffer from thermal stress-induced cracking of the ceramic layer. Once the ceramic film is compromised, the Incoloy is exposed to the water environment. Incoloy should be able to withstand spa water conditions but it will not perform as well as titanium.

If I had the choice and the money, I go for the upgrade option and install a titanium element.
 
Tefal cookware can also come in a Teflon-coated forms as well (typically marketed as Non-stick) but I doubt, or would hope, they are not using a Teflon coated heater element for a spa. I don't see that surviving very well.

My vote is for Titanium in any case.
 
Apparently tefel is a special coating the pool industry tradenames as is seen here in this clip from a retail site:
4 kW, 240V Tefel Coated Incoloy (coated nickel alloy) - p/n: 25-4041-ET-BI - $41.99 - (1 kW when wired to 120V)
5.5 kW, 240V Tefel Coated Incoloy (coated nickel alloy) - p/n: 25-4034-ET-BI - $41.99 - (1.4 kW when wired to 120V)


But I have no knowledge beyond what I read there...
 
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