Plastic Barrel/drum Heating

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Feistymic

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Anyone have any experience with external band heaters for heating plastic drums? I have a Gator Greaser parts washer that uses a 30 gallon steel drum equipped with a separator and a heating element which has corroded and begun to leak. The manufacturer will replace the whole thing (Steel drum, separator, heating element) for $1200. I'm looking for a cheaper, longer lasting solution and am considering getting a poly plastic 30 gallon drum and equipping it with a separate heating band like a Briskheat #DPCH13.
I'm just wondering if anybody has any experience with this product or one like it on a plastic barrel and how well it heats. Intuitively i wouldn't think a plastic drum would not conduct the heat very well.
 
Is there an extra bung in the barrel for inserting an immersion heater?
 
Nope, it actually uses an open head barrel. So an immersion heater could work. I hadn't even thought of that option, I'll have to look at pricing for one of those. Are immersion heaters typically capable of heating 30 gallons?
And further on that line of thought, would an immersion heater hold up over time, given that it is heating a corrosive fluid?
 
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Use a water heater element ad suspend it in the tank.

I use PVC pipe for the mounting
 
They use immersion heaters for electric water heaters. For your application I suppose you would need one with some sort of ceramic coating. The temperature can be controlled by using a thermostat. I'll do a quick look...
 
The prices are high at places like Grainger and other online suppliers. Maybe the best bet is to simply get heaters off of worn out domestic water heaters. The issue with those is that the wire connections cannot be submerged unless they are properly insulated or you will get a short circuit (and an electrocution hazard!)
 
How hot does it need to be? Farm supply places have 1500 watt Teflon coated immersion heaters for water troughs. I don't know what thermostat control they have.
 
Yes, that is what I am finding as well. I think I may stick to my initial line of thought and stick with an external heating band. The other option I have is to remove the heating element from the original barrel and attach it to a new barrel, preferably Stainless. I've found used barrels online for a decent price. That option would just require a bit of welding.
 
I've used water heater elements for all Manner of processes from parkerizing to large scal tye dyeing.

It is easy enough to use PVC fittings to mount
 
Band heaters work just fine, especially if you insulate the barrel. The real question is: What is the operating temperature? A poly-barrel is not going to take much heat. Another option might be an in-line hot tub heater, or maybe even a water heater.
 
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